Cleveland, Ohio - 5th day - 01/16/2011 (English)

I woke up and got ready to go to mass. My host family was Catholic and I decided to go with them to church. I desired to get to know their routine and was extremely curious to see how a priest does mass in the United States. The whole family got ready and we headed to the church.

Church

Church

Inside of the church

Stained Glass

The mass was really similar to the masses I have seen in Brazil. My host mother told me that one day she commented to Mr. Bailey that masses are the same in all languages. The only thing that changes is the language in which it is preached by the priest. She was right.

After the mass, we went to have breakfast in a convenience store. Mr. Bailey drove us to the middle of Westlake, where there were a variety of stores with a huge parking lot surrounding them. I had the impression that each store occupied a whole block.

View of parking lot

I bought a few things and we went to a shopping mall in the city. Before this, we went to a bookstore nearby  and drank coffee. The time passed in a blur with them and it was time to go to the movies. We watched "The King's Speech". I was so happy because it was the first time that I watched a movie without subtitles in English, and I understood everything even without them.

Campbell on my left and my host father, Mr. Bailey, on my right, when we left the movies

When the movie ended, we went to a restaurant to get take-out.  When we got home I watched television as usual. I thanked them for the tour and the sightseeing and went to bed extremely happy to be with the best host family.