Monday, December 28, 2009

Holiday Changes

Hey everyone.
So the big piece of news is that Im changing host families. Apparently my host parents decided that we werent the best match. So currently I am staying with a temporary host family for a couple of weeks while my original host parents are on vacation giving my AFS representative time to find me a new family. This is quite the change and hopefully Ill find myself in a better place.
*Power goes out*
Yesterday I went to the mall with my temporary host family and I saw the movie Avatar. It was very good. I didnt feel like the special effects were too choking and they looked pretty good. Im not sure if the price tag for making the movie was worth it but it was definately a good movie.
My christmas was a bit overshadowed by the sudden change in family. Christmas came and went with suprisingly little fanfare. How was everyone elses Navidad? Tell me about it in the comments :D

Thats about all for now. Chau.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Worst Power Distribution System Ever... Of All Time...

So today the power went out 3 times. 2 times due to causes unknown and 1 time due to the transformer outside our house exploding (again!) This is our second transformer in 3 months. Needless to say the power distribution system here is iffy at best. My Uncle here gave me a book that goes through the whole process of how they built the Itaipu hydroelectric plant (in english thankfully). Although its a bit heavy on the data it´s still an interesting read.

So our Christmas tree is up. I have to say it´s a little less of a big deal here as it is in the US. Putting up the tree isn´t a family activity here and the tree is shorter than I am. I can´t believe that there are only 13 days until Christmas. Just doesn´t seem like the right season for Christmas.

For those of you who haven´t heard I got accepted into the Electrical Engineering program at University of Cincinnati. I also found out that I´m lacking a required credit in pre-calculus for the engineering program. Right now I´m looking at options for online classes I can take here in order to get that credit.

That´s all for now.