Peace Corps Problems: I’ve developed a Portuguese stutter!

        So with a little over a week of language lessons, I have learned a lot but there still is a large language barrier.  There is a lot of talking in circles and basically using my small, but growing vocabulary, to say everything, but I am using complete (maybe sometime incorrect) phrases to talk with people now.  This has resulted in what I like to call my new Portuguese stutter. 

Basically when I am talking and I am not sure of a word, the pronunciation, or the conjugation… I began just spouting out different ways to say it.  I don’t even give anyone any time to correct me or help me until I have exhausted all options.  I blame this stutter on my friend Dione, because she started this trend of just saying word after word after word in our small language class.  For example, I was trying to figure out how to say, “Where were you running yesterday?”  and I said… “ Ontem, Onde corremos, corria, corriamos, corriava, corrias, correr?”  Then I finally took a breath.  This is usually followed by some laughter and then sometimes, but not always a correction.  In the case of my family, often they just answer the question and ignore my new stutter.  I guess I can take it as a win, that I know all those different forms of to run… even if they aren’t all real conjugations or the correct one. 

       I also have another Peace Corps Problem… I don’t have a mirror!  There is only one that I have access to in my house and it is the back of a china cabinet, which is very full and the mirror is warped (at least I hope so, otherwise I have all sorts of new problems) and the room is very dark.  For a while I was getting ready with nothing and then when I got somewhere with a mirror, the first thing I’d do was check what I looked like, usually it was ok.  What I realized a week into this was, my computer has a camera and I can use that like a mirror.  It still isn’t great, but I can at least see myself.
         Now I know I’m in the Peace Corps, because I got really resourceful today.  I felt like putting on a little eye makeup, just some eyeliner and mascara… but my room is not very well lit so it was even hard to see what I was doing on my screen.  So I thought of what I’ve used in the states, and one of those light up mirrors came to mind.  So I took my headlamp and made the strap as big as possible, put it around my screen and WA-LAH… I had a light-up makeup mirror!  If that isn’t a win for the day, I don’t know what is!

The result... and I figured you'd all want to actually see me :)