My Summer Break Christmas Vacation To THe Beach

December 20th and I am switching on the airconditioner dieing of heat. I roll out of bed careful not to wake up my wonderful roomates, Johanna (Reno) and Chelsey (Canada). I walk out onto my balcony where my nostrils are filled with the smell of the salty sea. Chelsey and Johanna wake up and we head to breakfast. After eating we walk along the beach as our skin begins to turn the color of mocha from the scorching sun. To our left there are beautiful mountains, covered in green trees, and jungly creatures. As we continue our walk giant sand dunes appear out of nowhere. We buy some sand boards and hit the hills. After we decide to keep walking through this swamp land. Almost every kind of environment seemed to appear around us. After walking for about a half hour a new beach opened up. It was a professional surf beach! We sat and watched them for a while and then headed back to the hotel. The city of Florinapolis is glorious as well. There is always something to see and do. Every street has a bar, a place to eat and live music. Artsy people have stands set up trying to get you to buy their crafts.

CHRISTMAS EVE.

My family is so wonderful and large here in Brasil. They invited all of us to play secret santa with the family. We each pulled a family members name we were to shop for. We arrived in a private room with all of my family members and a gift. In all I would say there was almost 40 people. It was so beautiful to see my grandparents and realize all these people wouldn't exist without them. They were holding hands and were looking so proud of what they had brought into the world. Everyone walked into the circle and said beautiful and funny things about their secret AMIGO and everyone would guess who the gift belonged to. This room was filled with so much love it brought Johanna, Chelsey and I all into tears. After the touching festivities all we could think about was how wonderful it would be to be able to do the same as my grandparents had. They never leave their door locked, always are welcoming people into the family, and gave so much love that everyone that was given a piece of it, cherished it, and passed it on by adding onto the family. It made me realize what I really wanted out of life. I wanted to be successful, but not just for me, but for the other people in my life, the people I could help with it. The last night we were in Florinapolis I woke the girls up at 2 in the morning and asked them to go on a walk with me on the beach. We walked to the sand dunes where there was no light and laid on our backs and looked at the stars. We were seeing a new part of the world we had never seen before, It was beautiful. We created constellations together, talked about the future, laughed about the past, and enjoyed how beautiful our life was now. I am now back home to my city in Rio Preto. Johanna and Chelsey are still living with me and they have become family to me. We are getting ready to go out and spend our first new years in a new country. Happy New Years, Happy Hannukah, and Merry Christmas!!! I love you all so much and miss you too!. I know I have changed a lot from being here, but something I have learned is the beauty of family is that they will always be there for you, always accept you and always love you for who you are.

Danielle