Brazil page 2 of 2
Hey!
The Brazilian guy in the picture was a tourist. He calls himself a �jungle boy� from a big city (Brasilia) and travels by himself a few months a year. He grew up in South Africa even though he was born in Brazil, so he spoke perfect English. He ended up being our translator the whole day because our guide only spoke broken English.
I wanted to tell you about the Israelis we met. They are 22, and spending eight months backpacking South America. They said it is very common for Israelis to spend a year traveling after they get out of the military (everyone, including girls, are required to serve for two years), before going to University. So common, in fact, that a number of people who work in the tourist industry learn Hebrew. It was so interesting discussing politics with them. They are both very liberal, saying that the dispute over land with the Palestinians is stupid and Israel should just give them the land. They aren�t prejudiced at all; we bantered about common experiences in Egypt for awhile. It was more dangerous for them to travel there though. But they are very knowledgeable on current events and we discussed USA/Israel relations. The guy wants to study international politics, so we had some in depth conversations. It was funny too because apparently Israelis are know for being hard-ass bargainers. Whenever someone would give us a price for something one of them would be like, okay, now what is the Israeli price? People in Brazil tend to try to rip you off, giving you one initial price then upping it when it is time to pay. These two had none of that, they would argue forever. They said everything works like that in Israel, and tourists have no idea how badly they are getting ripped there. The three of us tended to do okay in the bargaining department though. For everything we did we had the lowest price of anyone we talked to on the ship. Some people got very ripped off. It makes me chuckle to think I got such a better price, but then I realize that I most likely got terribly ripped off anyway. It is really just a game. I went back and forth with a lady in the market for a belt over one Real. She started at ten Reals, I countered with five. She finally went down to six, and I kept trying to be stubborn, but finally I gave in. I�m sure if a local wanted to buy it they would pay one or two Reals.
Its like the crime everyone talks about in Salvador. Our interport lecturer said yeah, everyone is trying to grab some cash from anyone being sloppy with it. That is part of the fun, he said. If you really want to fit in, join in the game. He made us all laugh when he commented on all the crap Americans tend to carry. Brazilians have their little game and therefore carry absolutely nothing. Americans are easy to spot with their water bottles, cameras, and purses or bags. He said Brazilians think that Americans secretly fear a flood so we always have water bottles. I am very excited for South Africa now. I am doing Project Hunger into the Township. Most people couldn�t get on that trip as there is such a high demand, but I lucked out because it is an FDP for my Political Science class. Other than that, I am traveling independently with my friend Pete.
Anyway, I have rambled too much. I miss you and I�ll talk to you soon.
Love Kirsten
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Chris G [item 20]
Our son Chris went to Lencois as well. He called Sunday before heading to the soccer game to say that the trip was wonderful.
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Christina [item 21]
Well, here I am, in the middle of the ocean, one more country under my belt, and on to Africa. I know all of you have been eagerly anticipating this email, so I figured I better get it out to you!
I was just up on the deck photographing the sunset� it is a beautiful night! The seas have been calm since we left Brazil, and the temperature today was a splendid 85 degrees. Sorry to all of you back in the cold!
Anyway, before I talk about my experiences in Brazil, I wanted to give you a little background information. The first bit of information isn't about Brazil, it is just some nifty statistics that I found interesting, and thought that you might, too. It makes you realize how ethno-centric many Americans are. We really are a minority in the world, but seem to feel that we are the most important.
So, imagine that the population of the world has been shrunk down to 100 people, yet the statistical representation remains the same as it actually is in the world today.
Of those 100 people, 57 would be Asiatic, 21 would be European, 14 American (North, Central, and South America), and 8 would be African. Thirty would be white, and seventy would be non-white. Thirty would be Christian while seventy would be non-Christian. Six people would hold fifty percent of all the wealth (and all six would be in the U.S.) Seventy people would be unable to read and write. Fifty would suffer from malnutrition, eighty would live in unsatisfactory housing, and only ONE would have ACCESS to a university education. That really makes you see things differently, and realize what we take for granted�
Anyway, back to Brazil. Brazil is known as the land of extremes (I heard this from a number of people, including our taxi driver, who spoke Portuguese). Brazil has the highest poverty rate in the world, yet it also has extreme wealth. Brazil used to be referred to as "Belinda," meaning it had Belgium's wealth but also India's poverty.
They are developed, yet underdeveloped, they are the champions of the world in soccer, and yet have a social problem with abandoned children. Sixty-three percent of first-graders cannot graduate first grade, and drop out after repeating it multiple times. Only six percent of those who pass make it through eighth grade. High school grads tend to be 24 or 25, and the average university students are 26 and up.
We were warned about the crime in Brazil, and not to carry anything valuable with us. I think they exaggerated. I actually felt safe the whole time I was there. Most of the crime is petty theft, and as long as you use common sense, you are fine. I felt no less safe than I would in any big city in the U.S.
Brazil has the world's largest river drainage system, rainforest (the Amazon, which is slowly being destroyed), soccer stadium, and hydroelectric dam. A new leftist, socialist president, "Lula" was just elected by popular vote (in fact, only Reagan ever got more votes in a presidential election). No one is quite sure what will happen from here on, but everyone has very high expectations of Lula. Okay, I think that is enough "background" information� on with the show!
We actually got to Brazil slightly later than expected because there was something wrong with one of the boilers and we were going pretty slow.
So right after we arrived in port, I took off on a trip for my religion class. First we went to the Afro-Brazilian museum� interesting, but our guide talked FOREVER� the museum was only 3 rooms! After the museum we went to a Condomble house (an Afro-Brazilian religion). We got to see where different ceremonies take place and learned a lot about the traditions and the religion. It was really interesting.
I actually didn't go out my first night in Brazil (I know, what a loser!) because by the time I got back from my trip most of my friends were already gone. But it was okay, because I was tired anyway.
The second day in Brazil I went to Cachoeira. It is a small town about two hours from Salvador. The trip was nice because we got to see a lot of the countryside. I LOVE the trees here� they were so cool looking, and some trees had these beautiful red flowers on them. I am sad I did not get more pictures� I was worried about crime, so I only carried disposable cameras� I hope my pics all turn out!
We went to a small market and learned about all the different fish and fruits that were being sold, and got to try some of the fruits. Then we went to a cacao farm, and got to see all the work that goes into growing the beans for the chocolate and all the manual labor before it even begins to resemble chocolate. Then we went to Cachoeira for lunch. It was just a small rural town, very cute, but not a whole lot going on.
Our last stop before heading back to Salvador was a cigar factory, where we watched the cigars being made. A few people on our trip even got to roll their own cigars.
I spent the trip with a girl named Yumika who lives down the hall from me. She is from Japan, but is going to school in the States in Virginia. She is such a sweet girl, and we have become really good friends. Anyway, after the trip Yumika and I headed up to the upper city for dinner and to walk around a little Salvador is divided into upper and lower parts of the city, newer and older. There is a big elevator that you take to get up or down that costs 5 centavos, or about 2 cents.
We explored a little while before sitting down at an outdoor caf� called Mama Bahia for dinner. (Bahia is the name of the state that Salvador is in). Dinner was delicious, and as we were talking and finishing our drinks and watching people, we started talking with the guy sitting at the table next to us. It turned out that he was from Cape Town (our next port).
His job is to deliver boats� he gets a boat, takes it somewhere, gets another boat, and takes it somewhere else. Sometimes he takes his own boat and makes other sorts of deliveries. It actually took him 2 months to get from South Africa to Brazil, so I am not going to complain about 9 days anymore! He spends most of his time in the Caribbean going between islands. He actually just left today to go back to Cape Town� it will be his first time home in 3 years.
Anyway, this guy (Mark) had been in Salvador for about six weeks, and he knew his way around pretty well, so he showed Yumika and me around. Then we went back to the catamaran just to see it� I can't believe they travel across the ocean in things like that! Actually, though, Yumika and I decided the catamaran was much more comfortable and homey than our ship is!! His shipmates, Garth and John, are also from Africa (South Africa and Zambia, respectively). They were all really nice, and we talked about the different cultures (Africa, Japan, Brazil, America) and they showed us pictures of all the places they have been. I'm really glad that we got to meet them.
The third day, I went on another SAS trip, this time to a favela. Favelas are pretty much the slums� they are built on the hills around cities. They start out as squatter camps and eventually become permanent "neighborhoods." The poorest people live in the favelas, often with no running water or electricity, open sewage, and crowded living conditions. The favela we visited was one of the nicer ones, where community action is being taken to improve the conditions. We walked around before going to a school in the favela. The kids there were great, and entertained us with capoeira (a form of martial arts in Brazil� it's really cool and really hard, but people do it all over, even in the streets). The kids were a lot of fun to play with, and try to communicate with (Portuguese is hard!).
After the trip I went to an outdoor "mall" with Yumika, and two other girls, Helen and Haley. We walked around, had ice cream (yum! gelato!) and Helen and Haley went on go-karts. It was fun just watching all the locals.
On Saturday, I began the day with a trip with two girls (Amy and Whitney) to a gem shop. It was a wholesale shop and they had all kinds of gems� rubies, emeralds, peridot, etc� for cheap. You choose the gem you want, the quality, and the setting. The gems ranged anywhere from 30 USD a carat to a few thousand. I ended up getting two rings made� a citrine one (yellow-orange) that was 1.62 carats, and a tourmaline one (very expensive in the states� comes naturally in lots of different colors. Mine is dark pink) that is 3.58 carats. They are both set in simple silver settings, and they turned out really nice.
After the gem shop and lunch, the three of us set off with four more kids to one of the most famous churches in Salvador: Bonfim. Apparently people even make pilgrimages there.
We took the city bus, which was an experience in itself. We were standing, and there was room in the back, but no one would move back� the standing people started about halfway up the aisle. Therefore, the seven of us were crunched in near the front and the turnstile. It was a challenge not only to stay standing as we turned the corners, but since I was the last one on, I had to concentrate on not flying back out through the turnstile. The driver kept yelling at me in Portuguese to move back, but there was nowhere to go. I finally ended up half on the railing, struggling to hold on. We all made it to the church okay (on the way back, we all piled into a taxi� as crunched as that was, I actually felt much safer!)
The church was beautiful, and well worth the experience to get there. After the church we went to the market and did a little shopping, then headed back to the ship to meet other friends. We went out for dinner and to walk around� we saw some drumming processions and things in the streets that were pretty cool. Everyone is preparing for Carnaval at the end of this month.
On Sunday I finished up some errands with Yumika and then I went to a soccer game. Yes, that's right, folks: a Brazilian soccer game! It was a lot of fun, even though it was the minor league and wasn't that full. Our team (Bahia) won (We were playing Victoria) but it was cool because everybody cheered and applauded Victoria anyway. Soccer is such a huge things in Brazil, and these kids were young (17-21) and so everyone wants to support them and keep there morale up.
After the game Yumika and I quickly ran back to the other docks to say good-bye to our new South African friends (well worth it� we got some advice about where to visit, and Mark's sister's phone number to show us around while we are there). Then we went back to the ship. A few hours later, we were sailing away from Salvador� and I must admit, it made me a bit sad.
But now I am on my way to South Africa, with many more things to look forward to (like the paper and the tests that I have before we get there!). I managed to keep this email a little shorter than the last one, so I should end it now before I think of other things I want to add.
The last thing I want to say is this: if any of you want to travel to Brazil in the future, count me in! It is a beautiful place, and there are so many more things that I would love to see.
I hope you are all well, and Happy Valentine's Day!
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Emma [item22]
Emma and a small group did do their own trip to Lencois in Brazil. She said they felt comfortable knowing that other SASers had prearranged trips there. Getting the tickets and the bus ride were harrowing and once they got to Lencois she writes, "The bus stops six hours later and we are seriously in the middle of nowhere - there are just a bunch of cars (call them personal taxis) surrounding the bus with 100 different Bob Marley's ready to take us somewhere - we were very confused. We end up not getting in a car - but following a little boy through the town down some alleys to his house. We find a room - double bed on the floor with mosquito net above us - we are thinking - what the hell have we gotten into???? Little do we know we are about to experience the time of our lives the next two days." The picture of these kids following this child through the streets! The boy became their quide for the next two days and they loved him. The prearranged trip cost $350 and they spent about $80. I heard she was planning this from a friend at home that she had spoken to and needless to say I was very glad when she arrived safely back to the ship. I think they get a great sense of accomplishment arranging these forays themselves.
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Tracy M [item 23]
My daughter Tracey called last nite from Salvador -- we got cut off after about 3 minutes -- it was SO abrupt, I cried...but she is doing well and having a blast and then this morning wrote
hello there everyone....
thank you so much for all the emails. im (sorry i cant find the apostraphe key on this board) doing the best i can to get to all of them, but im trying not to spend all my money on internet as well.
anyway, the first day in salvador i wandered the city and did some shopping (4 shirts for about $30). it is SO hot here. you get drained really easily.
then i left for boipeba island. the description that they listed for it didnt do it justice at all. the place was literally paradise. the island has no cars and only about 4000 people. we stayed in a little posada (hotel) about 10 steps off the beach. the man who owned the posada served as our guide and he is actually from new york. his brother was the chef and prepared all of our food. he used to own a resteraunt in vermont, and the food was outstanding. ive been eating so well in this port. its an awesome change from the food on the ship. our second day on the island we took a 12k hike across the mountain, and there really just arent words for the view. it was spectacular. i cant wait to develop my pictures and show them to yall. after the hike we took a boat ride out to a sandbar for some swimming. there were sand dollars so frequently in the sand that you had to make sure you were very careful where you were walking. there were only about 23 students on the trip which was awesome because then i got to really spend time with people that i hadnt yet met. everyone was awesome and we just had a blast. i almost cried when we had to leave.
oh, i forgot to mention that on our travel to the island the first day we stopped in this little village (and village makes it sound much larger than it really was) to shop for pottery. no lie, i got 3 handmade pieces of good size for the equivelant of $5. when our bus pulled in to the village the children started coming out of their homes and they all ran after our bus and stood outside the door waiting for us when we stopped. they followed us everywhere we went and begged to carry our bags for us. we gave away all of our 1 real bills (about $.30 each) to the kids.
this port has been great. im wandering around today and just shopping with some girls.
i hope everything is going well at home. im getting along wonderfully, so please no one worry. i miss all of yall very much and i cant wait to hear from you. talk to you soon.
love,
tracey
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Tracy M [item 24]
Hello there again...
After I wrote that last email I realized that I had left some good stuff out. So Boipeba Island was awesome!!! I really do want to go back. The villas at the posadas we stayed at were incredible. I was really tempted to buy a hammock because they were all so comfortable. I don�t know if I mentioned this before but the food was outstanding. It was all like gourmet, which was weird since we were in the middle of nowhere. Even at littlest things were awesome. The granola at breakfast was so good. It was full of all kinds of dried tropical fruits.
I don�t think I told you about this, but the first night we were there, a bunch of locals came to the posada to speak with us. They told us about how there is very little income on the island, but for the most part they didn�t seem bothered by it. They don�t want the development that money would bring along with it. The island just got electricity ten years ago, and there was one man who still lived beyond its reaches. Somehow all but that one man had televisions. I guess that�s true across most of Brazil. Even the poorest of the poor have tvs. The only things that they would feel they are lacking are healthcare and education. They haven�t been able to keep a doctor on the island for any significant amount of time, and its at least two hours by boat to help in an emergency. They have schools on the island, but most people only have about an eighth grade education, if that. The ones that make it the farthest in school then in turn become the teachers. Anyway, just thought you might want to hear more about the conditions on Boipeba. I found it to be really interesting.
The next day was when we went on that 12k hike I told you about before. I�m pretty sure I forgot to tell you about what I did that night. After dinner, we walked over to the center of town (about 5 minutes down the beach) where the locals put on a capoeira presentation. Capoeira is this mix of dancing, martial arts and aerobatics. It began as a way for slaves to teach each other how to fight, and they disguised it as dance so their masters wouldn�t know. The tradition is vital to their culture even today. There are capoeira schools all over Brazil, especially in the state of Bahia (where I was the whole time) because of its large African population. They began with the children. It seemed as though most of the boys in the town were involved. Then the older guys would join in as if even in the performance they were to learn more about technique. Eventually the children were phased out, and just the adults were performing. There were even some females in the presentation, which I�m pretty sure is a new thing. They went on for over an hour. When they were finished, the beat from the drums changed and a more social dance began. One of the guys who had been at the talk the night before began pulling some of the American girls out into the circle to dance. I think I was probably about the third girl to go out. It was definitely one of those �dance like no one is watching� moments. It was so much fun. I have a picture of it from one girls digital picture so I�ll see what I can do about getting that to you.
Anyway, so that�s the rest about Boipeba. I can�t do that island justice. Even when you see the pictures I�m not sure that you�ll be able to get the full effect of it all. Its my new favorite place on earth.
When we got back that night a bunch of us decided to try out this restaurant that we had heard about. From what we heard it was the best place to eat in Salvador. It was this huge buffet with all kinds of crazy food. (I really don�t remember if this was in the last email I wrote, if so just skip over it) There was sushi and all kinds of fruit and veggies and seafood. Then they came around with big skewers of all different kinds of meat. If you wanted some they just carved it for you right there. There was also an enormous dessert cart. For all that and a bottle of wine it cost about $20. It was so much food and the service was awesome. There was always some one there to push in your chair under you when you returned from the buffet.
Then our last day in Brazil, Krista, Kristin (not my roommate) and I walked around Salvador. We found this awesome little jewelry store. They sold all kinds of stones and then you could design the jewelry you wanted. Krista had two necklaces made, Kristin and I each had rings made. Mine is of a stone called Amazonite, its kinda like turquoise but a bit more green. I love it and that only cost about $30. We just had a blast sitting in a jewelry store having people wait on us and designing our own stuff.
So now you�ve gotten the best description I can give about my experiences in Brazil. I loved it!
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Erin F [item 25]
Hey everyone!
I survived the wilderness of the Amazon! I was only in Brazil for five days, but crammed so much in and had such an awesome time.
Right after the ship got cleared by customs in Brazil, I went on a service visit to a favela, or the slum area where the poor live. We walked through the favela and visited the school there, where we got to play with the children. The school was not a public school, but was funded by private donations and were for the poor who could not afford shoes, books, etc. All kids were welcome, even if they couldn't afford proper attire. Here is an excerpt from my "journal story" that I had to hand in for my Management class:
"My time in Brazil was short and hectic, yet I saw many different aspects of the country and the culture. Although the scenery of Salvador, Brasilia, and Manaus was gorgeous, it is the people that I met who will remain embedded in my memory.
I attended my first FDP to the Calabar Favela in Salvador. It was shocking to the senses to see the mass of tiny shacks lining the streets, all with a double wrought iron door at the entrance. The scrawny children, clad in too small shorts and bare feet, lined the streets as their eyes curiously followed the American outsiders. There was a foul stench in the air as I walked down the first street, and I watched as a stray dog sorted through garbage lying beside the dumpster.
The rundown school was surrounded by a cement wall that children had painted in vibrant colors. As we walked through the gate, children on the upper level of the school waved and cheered as they peered over the ledge. Even though it was their vacation week, at least thirty students between the ages of 7 and 14 had come to see the Americans. At first they were a little shy, but they soon warmed up to us and showed off their skills in Capoiera, the Angolan foot fighting dance. They were intrigued by our cameras - they begged us to let them take a picture with our camera and also loved to be in pictures with us. Their favorite cameras were the camcorders or digital cameras where they could actually see themselves in the picture after it was taken.
The major event that sticks out in my mind and that gave me the greatest glimpse into the reality of their life was when we tried to distribute potato chips to the children. Our tour guide had bought packages containing individually wrapped bags of chips that we could hand out to the children. We were thrilled to be able to give something to the children, and two or three students started to hand out chips from each package. However, worried that they wouldn't all get a bag of chips, they greedily tore the package away from us and started wrestling it away from the other students who had also grasped the bag. It was as if we had just thrown a piece of steak to a pack of hungry wolves. I watched on, helpless and disturbed, and not able to communicate in Portuguese to the children. What resulted was a mass of about twenty students ripping apart the large package of chips, with several of the bags breaking as the chips fell to the floor, left only for the stray dogs to pick up. When there were no bags left to fight over, the children walked along happily eating their chips, some with more than one bag in their hands.
Although this event was probably overlooked by many SAS students, I found it to be an eye-opening experience. We come from a culture where we have access to all the necessities and many, many amenities. I have never gone to bed hungry or worried that I would not be able to get enough food. It was shocking to me that these children were so incredibly greedy and couldn't wait out their turn to receive a bag of chips, for fear that there wouldn't be enough. This experience gave me a glimpse at how lower class Brazilians lived and the deficiencies that they must deal with. "
I felt like such an outsider walking through the favela, with all the adults just sitting on the edge of the road staring at us. We were being paraded through their village with our expensive cameras, backpacks and colorful clothes to gawk at the poverty in which they lived. We all took pictures of the poorest aspects of the favela so we could show our families and friends how poor people lived in Brazil. We were totally invading their privacy. However, when we were leaving our tour guide told us that we had made the children of the favela feel so special. They felt important because we had traveled so far from the United States just to see them. I'm not sure if the children are that naive, but by the stares we received the adults definitely didn't agree with this theory.
I left at 5am the next morning for my 7 hour flight to Manaus, where we started our Amazon trip. I got soo sick on the plane going there... I guess it is not safe to eat airplane food outside of the country. It was awful. But, I was impressed with the flights... they all left on time, were much more spacious than American planes and extremely smooth takeoffs and landings.
When we first got to the Amazon, we boarded an open riverboat that we lived on for the next 3 days. There were 25 students on my boat, and I went not knowing anyone on my trip. We departed the port, and went to see the "meeting of the waters" , the point where the 3 rivers converge and create the Amazon River. It is a scientific phenomenon because the Rio Negro is blacker and much warmer than the Salomar River, which is brownish a cooler. ( i might have mixed that up) Anyways, when the rivers meet, the black and the brown colors mix and it looks really cool. You'll have to see the pictures.
Next, we stopped at a plantation and saw some of the trees that Amazon people harvest things from... the cocoa tree, rubber tree, cilantro, lemon grass. It was pretty cool, they picked lemon grass and we brought it back and they made us lemon grass tea for dinner. They also showed us how they get the latex rubber out of the tree used for tires, etc. The boy at the house had a pet spider monkey on a leash, the only one I saw all trip. There was also a parrot in a tree over the shed.
That night we went piranha fishing with bamboo poles in a small motorized canoe. I wasn't lucky enough to catch one. When it was dusk we went hunting for alligators and after about an hour, our guide caught a baby alligator and we all got to hold it. AWWW cute, huh? When we got back to the boat, they distributed hammocks for us to sleep in on the top deck of the boat.
The next morning we bathed in the Amazon River and jumped off the very top of the boat as they were cooking us breakfast. tons of fun! We hiked in the jungle for 3 hours that afternoon. It was so awesome. Our guides were the best- they told us about all the different trees that cured diseases, animals, etc. I ate so many different nuts and leaves in the jungle that they would find for us to try. One thing I passed up was the larva found in a nut shell tho. I was so suprised, almost everyone else tried it... said it tasted like coconut. Eww gross!
That afternoon we went to an Indian village where we played soccer versus the Brazilians. While the guys were playing soccer, we went over and played with the children. One of my friends commented on how cute it was that some of them had lighter streaks in their hair and how cool it was that they had "natural highlights." One of our guides overheard this and replied that they weren't highlights from the sun, but rather caused by malnutrition. I had never heard of that before and it amazed me to see how many of the children had discolored hair.
The next day was the best hike because it was in the Primary Rainforest - the kind you see in the movies. It was soo incredibly cool. Green everywhere, leaves that were taller than me, such cool shaped trees. Saw a few cool bugs and caterpillars, a really big walking stick. And appropriately, it poured for awhile on our hike. At one point, our jungle guide was blazing a trail for us with his machete, and we got so lost. So, he left us by the river side and followed the river back to the village where he got the boats to come and rescue us. It was pretty funny.
Living on the riverboat was interesting... no privacy at all, you slept 6 inches from the next hammock and when the hammocks got swaying I was being hit by both my neighbors, Audra and Richie. The food they made was ok, but you never really knew what you were eating. They had this weird flavored rice and beans at every meal. don't think I will every eat that again in my life. I lived on the fruit- the pineapples and watermelon were soo good. It was really roughing it too, we are lucky we had a toilet, but you couldn't throw ANYTHING in the toilet, we used a trash can to put toilet paper in and so it always smelled so gross.
I made a really good friend in this girl Tara, she is a soccer fanatic, lives in PA and goes to Widener. We hung out a lot and had a good time.
Our plane flight back was at 1 am, and we landed at the capital Brasilia at 4 am, but with the time difference it was really 6 am. We had a huge layover, so they took us on a 3 hour city tour.....yes, it was still dark out and our bodies felt like it was 4 am. I slept thru the entire thing, which was really rude since I was in the first seat, right in front of the tour guide. oh well.
That's basically my trip to Brazil in a nut shell! It was tons of fun and I met so many cool people. Did ruin some clothes tho... it was sooo muddy, and they have this reddish clay that cakes onto your shoes. My pants (yes my nice aber khakis!!!!) and shorts are ruined, and it was such a good thing that I bought those boots before I left...definitely key.
I'm sorry this is a novel... so much happened in such a short amount of time!!
Miss you all tons!! 83 more days... Keep writing!
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Kelly [item 26]
Hello everyone!
Right now it is the butt crack of dawn and I am writing you because the pounding outside of my room is soooo loud that I can't sleep. So I figured what better way to use these few extra hours than to write to everyone at home and let you all know how things have been going and how Brazil was.
Now for Brazil. It started with a late arrival after having some trouble with one of the boilers, but all in all it ended up being an awesome country. The first day I had a few hours to explore the city with some friends. It's an awesome city built on a hill, with a huge elevator that takes you from the lower city to the upper city. We took some time out of our touring of the city to do some shopping. Everything is amazingly inexpensive in Brazil, as a result, I ended buying a lot, including three Brazilian bikinis. Later that night we had a welcome reception, where we had the opportunity to learn Capoeira dancing and experience traditional Brazil food and music. The Brazilian people, as a whole, are amazingly kind, hospitable, and accommodating. They opened their hearts to us, showing us their lifestyle and teaching us about their culture.
The next morning I was up early to catch my flight to Iguassu Falls. The 6-hour flight with two stops in between was a bit draining, but when we arrived at our destination, it was well worth it. From the plane we could see the falls and the mist that they created. It was breath taking, even from that altitude. After getting off of the plane, we went straight to our hotel, which was within the national park and only a few hundred yards from the falls. It was amazing. The falls were so expansive, the seemed to stretch on forever, releasing such enormous power. We spent most of that afternoon hiking through the Brazilian side of the national park, viewing the falls from so many different aspects. The next day we had the opportunity to do the same from the Argentinean side, and that afternoon from down on the water itself. I don't think I have ever experienced such an awesome or beautiful display of nature's power before, in my life. I suppose I could tell you all more, but I imagine you are getting rather bored by now, so I'll move on.
Upon returning to Salvador, we went to visit Itaparica Island. A former stopping point for slaves before entering the country, it was a beautiful island, very similar to what I would imagine seeing in the tropics. Later that evening, we went to a soccer game between Victoria and Bahia (two of the states in Brazil) once again, it was a great experience where I had the opportunity to meet the people and enjoy their national past time.
Well that is about the end of my trip to Brazil (at least the short version). I hope everyone is doing well at home, email me and let me know what you are up to.
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