Rio de Janeiro

Here in Rio, I visited Melina, my sister's friend from when they were living in the same town in France. She is currently studying extremely hard for the Brazilian diplomacy exams. I have also been using a lot of time to work on my online course. The weather has been simply amazing these past few days!
Day 1 - Sunday: I went with Melina and her boyfriend, Guto to his aunt's house for Sunday lunch with the whole family. There we played the band version of Wii :)
Day 2 - Monday: Guto dropped me off at the Botanical Garden on his way to work (the car over heated on the way there and he had to take it into the mechanic later). The Botanical Garden is huge and literally centuries old! 202 years to be exact! I spent nearly 3 hours wandering through the huge trees, theme gardens, orchid greenhouses, monkey park and natural Atlantic forest.
Day 3 - Tuesday: I went with Melina to here university and from there walked to the Sugar Loaf gondola station. It was pretty expensive to go up, but well worth it for the view from the incredibly high, cone-shaped hill overlooking the whole bay. Back at the university we had lunch together and then went to the mall for Petit Gateau! This is the most amazing Brazilian chocolate dessert that I have been craving for the past few weeks!
Day 4 - Wednesday: Was a national holiday so Guto took Melina and I (with his dad's car) to his aunt's beach house. After enjoying the sun at the beach, we drove to his aunt's house for lunch and to relax by the pool. While at the beach someone had pried open the back window in the car and it wouldn't shut again. Then on the way home, the car over-heated! The second car within two days! We had to wait a really long time for the tow truck to come.
Day 5 - Thursday: I spent the whole morning studying, sorting out photos, and packing. This afternoon I went for a walk to the nearby fire station. Soon I'll be catching the bus to the airport and show up in Seattle 24 hours later... good thing I love flying and need to catch up on some sleep :)

Fortaleza

I've decided that no matter how good I get at Portuguese, I will never understand Brazilian directions. I arrived in Fortaleza at 7:00am, caught the right bus only minutes after stepping out of the station and even got off at the stop explained on the hostel website. However, from there, I went in on a 10-block detour just to end up one block from the bus stop. Along the way I got misdirected a few times and the final directions were "it's over there... by that tree" - the street was lined with trees!!
Raul, who studied at Selkirk last year, met me at the hostel a little later. We walked to the Dragão do Mar Cultural Centre then drove to Beira Mar, the ocean-side boardwalk where we drank coconut juice. It seems the weather system followed me up north as it was once again raining only this time it was also extremely hot! We escaped into the shelter of the Central Market when it started to pour and had self-serve regional food for lunch.
In the afternoon, I found free internet at the local library and spent a few hours studying. Back at the hostel, I met some people from various countries and got thoroughly confused as to which language I should be speaking when. That night Fanie, from Québec, joined Raul and me to go to the Dragão do Mar for dinner.
Saturday was sunny so I went for an early morning walk to the beach for a swim; however, not without get lost along the way! In between studying in the afternoon, I walked to the cathedral, a park, the train station and went to another art exhibition at the cultural centre.
Raul's parents were in town (they live 6 hours away), so they took us out for dinner at a really cool country-style restaurant, complete with miniature houses and shops around the walls to show what life used to be like in the region. The buffet there was full of local dishes including rice and beans, dried beef, fish, chicken, duck, mutton and of course a dessert section too! We drove in circles a bit before finding the restaurant and we got similar "directions" to the club we were trying to find. I couldn’t help chuckling upon hearing another explanation like "straight, to the left, then right, up three blocks and down two, yeah, right there at the next light." The club was a large open-air dance hall with a band playing a variety of old and modern dance songs, including the local rhythm, forró and some rock too. Raul taught me how to dance forró which is a lot like salsa! Then it was time to head to the restaurant and wait around a few hours until my 5:25am flight to Rio de Janeiro.

Recife

I have been wanting to visit Recife ever since my family hosted an exchange student from there... 5 years ago when we were both in grade 12. Diniz is now finishing his degree in law. He picked me up at the airport with his girlfriend, Flávia who also studies law. I feel we haven't really changed that much, just that it's different being in Brazil and speaking Portuguese. That evening (Tuesday), they drove me to Boa Viagem, the beach area and around the historical part of town. At Diniz's apartment, I met his mom and younger twin sister and brother.
On Wednesday afternoon, I walked around the historical centre with Duda and her two friends, admiring many colourful historical buildings. Recife was established some 470 years ago and most of the buildings were constructed by Dutch architect.
In the evening, I went to a soccer game with Diniz's mom and other family members. As we approached the stadium I realized what a big deal the game was - the streets were packed with enthousiastic fans dressed in red, white and black, already cheering and signing load. Diniz's mom explained that her brother only let her go to the game because the opposing team was from a far away state so there wouldn't be any of their fans there to start fights. So the stadium was packed with 40000 home team fans!!! They gave loud cheers and whistles all through the game and the stadium seemed to explode when the home team got a goal. Unfortunately, though, the home team lost in the end :(
On Thursday, Diniz's brother drove me, his sister and his girlfriend to Olinda, a nearby city that is recognized as a World Heritage Site. It is especially famous for its 16th century churches, several of which are on a hill overlooking the ocean. In between them the streets are lined with craft stalls and food stands. As we were admiring the ocean, we were serenaded by two men with guitars. They sang about each of us in turn, and even used my name! During Carnaval, the huge party in February, Olinda celebrates using huge "puppets" carried on people heads. We went to a museum of these "puppets" and got an entertaining demonstration by the attendant including the little jig that is done with a colourful umbrella.
Thursday evening, I caught a 12+hour bus here to Fortaleza and managed to sleep quite a bit considering the rough roads and touchy brakes. Here in the north, people drive crazy. You really have to be confident and quick to react. I find that it reflects the culture a bit as well. The people here seem quick to get in disagreements/ discussions and quick to forget about them too.

Salvador, Bahía

It is amazing how the culture changes drastically from the South to the North of Brazil. I feel like I went for Europe to Central America in that the buses here are not scheduled, the tap water is not drinkable, there are more vendors on the street and it is once again obvious that I´m not from here.
I hadn't planned on visiting Salvador because I didn't know anyone here, but while talking to a fellow Nelsonite who travelled around Brazil, he gave me the name of a friend here. We got chatting on Facebook and found that we were born only two days apart and have a lot in common! Joanna met me at the airport on Sunday and after not much time, it was like we had been friends for years. On Sunday evening, we went out for dinner with her friend, Gil, who is a super nice guy. We shared a few Mojitos and plenty laughter.
On Monday, I went with Joanna to watch her Jiu Jitsu class. Jiu Jitsu is a martial art created in Brazil, based on the floor techniques of Judo and wrestling. The training gym is near the beach, so I went for a run in the rain along the boardwalk to the old forts. On the way home, we stopped by a café to try Tapioca... no, not pudding like in Canada, this is a type of grilled sandwich in a gooey manioc flour tortilla. In the afternoon Joanna went to work (in a law firm) and I started the writing course I am doing online.
In the evening, Gil took me to Pelorinho, the historical centre. It was originally the place where slaves were punished, but now it is a touristy place with many hostels, shops and restaurants lining the steep cobblestone streets. There I tried Cravinho, a drink made by infusing the local hard liquor with various spices. It was amazingly delicious! I also got to watch a live samba band and experience part of a Condomblé ceremony. Candomblé is a type of local religion that worships various African deities. They perform animal sacrifies, give offerings and dance to very lively rythms until the spirits descend and are manifested in the worshippers. When Joanna finished her evening classes, we picked her up and all went out to a very nice restaurant. There we had Moqueca, a fish stew made with a thick, flavourful peanut sauce.
Today I'm studying some more and getting everything ready to fly to Recife this evening. Again, I wish I had so much more time here!

Florianópolis

Right now I'm staying with Miriam's friend, Michelle in Florianópolis, an island of the Southern coast of Brazil. It's a super beautiful place, definitely somewhere I will return to when I have more time to spend here. Yesterday, I got lost on the bus and ended up discovering the sand dunes! Then I wandered around the community of Lagoa that is on a lake! In the evening, Michelle and I went back there and had Mexican food... I have had a month-long craving for it! And we went to a bar to dance samba-rock. Unfortunately, all the photos from yesterday and this were wiped off my memory card and now it won't work in my camera...
Today, I went out for a run in the morning by a marshland park. It had been raining earlier on and starting pouring right when I got back. We sat out the rain in Michelle's appartment, watching a movie then went for a drive to Lagoa. There we went to another area of the sand dunes where people sand board! The beach, with the stormy sky and sunset was simply stunning. This evening, I got a call from my family that my best friend who was missing on a sail boat off the coast of Chile for more than a month, is back on land!!!!!!!!!! I am simply extactic!!! I don't know if I can sleep tonight! But I'll try before getting up early for my morning flight.

Germany??

Pomerode claims to be the most German town in Brazil and it definitely lives up to it, other than the palm trees, heh heh. It's nestled in a valley reminiscent of Europe, the streets are cobble stone and many buildings are very German. The majority of the 26000 inhabitants are of German decendancy. Many families speak German at home and students study it in school.
I'm visiting a friend who I met in Ecuador when we were both on the exchange there. She works from 8:00am-5:00pm every day then catches the bus at 5:20pm to another city where she has classes from 6:00pm-10:00pm. When she arrives home near 11:00pm she does her homework... unbelievable.
After lunch with the whole family, I hung out with Jenni, the exchange student from Finland whose been here for just over a month. We went to the zoo, then for ice cream and walked around downtown. Her host mom picked us up and on our way home we stopped by the fire department. There are 68 members, 61 of whom are volunteers! They also have a cadet-type program, for 10-year olds to learn first aid and other useful skills.
Overall I found the town really nice. If I ever get the chance to live in Brazil again, I think I would like to live in the South :)

Curitiba

When I tried to buy a bus ticket for the overnight bus to Curitiba, the man at the counter refused to understand the number 19, no matter how I pronounced it or spelled it out, so I ended up with seat number 9. I knew there had to be a reason, and sure enough, I became good friends with Fernanda, the girl in seat 10. She is a 23-year-old biomedics student who recently moved to Curitiba to do her specialization in heart surgery equipment. I ended up wandering around downtown Curitiba and visiting the fire department with her and her two friends in the afternoon.
In the morning, I left my back pack in a locker at the station and walked from there to the botanical garden. It's a nice little park, with a beautiful glass dome building (notice that I was carrying my winter jacket... it was about 15 degrees all day!). From there I took the bus to the other side of town. The bus system is one of the main reasons I wanted to visit Curitiba. It has it's own set of lanes in the middle of the road and neat boarding tubes that make for efficient payment/ embarkation.
For lunch, I went to my host family's uncle's house. His wife prepared real feijoada (not the ice cream kind, lol) and his daughter and her two daughters joined us. I went from not knowing any one in Curitiba to having 10 friends by the time I left! On the bus to Pomerode that evening, I also met a lady from a nearby town whose 2 daughters live in other towns, so I have more people to visit whenever I come back here!

Leaving Olímpia

Monday was my last full day in Olímpia and it sure was a full one. I rode to the water park to relax in the hot springs and sauna. I ate lunch at the buffet restaurant where I go nearly every day with my host mom. Then I walked in the pouring rain to my hair appointment with Miriam’s sister. Manicures here only cost $6 and hair cuts are about $10!!! In the afternoon, I went to my last Portuguese class and Carmen’s French class. Then I helped with the evening English conversation class.
On Tuesday I finished reading the text for the course that starts next week and packed up all my stuff in time to take the bus to São Jose do Rio Preto. There I hung out with Anieli in between buses. We rode on her motorbike (backpack and all!) to an ice cream shop where I had ice cream feijoada!!! It came complete with chocolate beans, fudge/ nut sausage and even a caipirinha! It was soooo delicious! They also serve ice cream spaghetti, ice cream pizza, ice cream soup, ice cream waffles, etc. That night I caught a 12-hour bus to Curitiba. I will be visiting friends in various cities over the next two weeks, spending a day or two in each place before heading home to Canada. It’s going to go really fast!!

Easter Weekend

This week, I finally went to Capoeira with Gregorio (the Mexican exchange student). Capoeira is a Brazilian martial dance that originated when the slaves from Africa were prohibited from practicing their martial art and therefore disguised it as a dance. It was so cool to practice it again and wasn't so hard to follow along as the Portuguese words for the moves were used when I learned it in Canada.
On Good Friday, other than going to the Grandfather's house to eat cod for lunch, I spent the entire day attacking nearly 100 pages of the 300-page book I must read in a week. I have to read it before starting an online course that is an entry requirement to the program at Royal Roads that I will hopefully be starting in July. It's going to be a challenge studying while still travelling, but the course I was planning to take that started at the end of April got cancelled!
Saturday I did much of the same except I went for a nice long walk in the morning and went out running in the rain in the afternoon. I just couldn't resist going out in the torrential downpour!! It was so much fun!! The whole town might think I'm crazy now, but that's ok, I leave here on Tuesday :) The roads had turned into rivers and as I was just about home, I lost a flip flop and then the other trying to chase the first one down. I ran ahead of them and waited for them to come down the road, but only one came. So I figured I had missed the other and ran a few blocks downhill, barefoot, clutching the one flip flop to see if I could catch up to it, but it seemed a lost case. Not long after, the sun came out, I went back out and there it was, sitting behind a car in the first block where I had lost it! That evening, Miriam invited me to a cousin’s birthday party. I met lots of her family and we went to the bowling alley after with a group of her cousins. It was a long wait to get a lane and since Miriam and I weren't going to play, we went out for a drink at a different restaurant with her niece.
Easter Sunday, we all went to the family farm for lunch. We had another churrasco (BBQ) and in the afternoon, I went for a walk with the cousins, rode a horse and swam in the pool. We also searched for Easter eggs, which are huge hollow chocolate eggs, filled with different kinds of truffles and wrapped in colourful foil! Back at the house, I gave my host family a fondue pot as a thank you gift and used one of my chocolate eggs to make fondue :)

Life in the Countryside

This week I helped out with more classes at ACG, hung out at the water park with Miriam and went to an all-you-can-eat pizza dinner with the coordinator of the language school and some of her students. My goodness, there are so many delicious types of pizza here… including sweet pizza! My favourite was white chocolate and peach :) I definitely over-ate… again… and it only cost $8.00! Well, I’m cultivating my curves Brazilian style, heh heh. On Thursday I also visited the fire department. I found it very well equipped and the fire fighters seemed knowledgeable and passionate.
Friday I took the bus to São Jose do Rio Preto to visit Anieli and her family. At church in the evening I learned that they cover all the statues and images with purple and pink drapes during Easter to hide the images of Christ suffering. Later we went to an old theatre to watch Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Even though it was in Portuguese, I understood nearly everything! I’ve really been noticing this week how much my Portuguese has improved in just one month.
Saturday I took the bus back to Olimpia where I got a ride from Weberson, one of the English teachers, to the nearby town of Severinha to help out with some classes there. It was interesting to talk to him about the difficulties of living abroad since he has lived in the United States. In the evening, I went with Carmen and her husband to their farm near Severinha. It is simply picturesque, like a Swiss chalet with a view over Tuscany! Carmen and I went horse riding as the sun set over the sugar cane fields and rolling hills. I will never forget as it got dark we climbed the hill towards the chalet, with fireflies dancing around us and lighting flashing in the distance. Antonio Carlos and his wife joined us for a glass of wine by the pond, under the stormy sky and nearly full moon – simply poetic!
Today (Sunday) I went with Antonio and his wife to a Rotary benefit lunch in Barretos. It took place at the rodeo grounds where there is one of the world’s biggest rodeo parties in August. The picture is of me with a 27-metre-high cowboy!! Tonight, I made pancakes for my host family to continue my family tradition of waffle Sunday. I also feel like I traveled home today as I was able to participate in a ceremony with my family through Skype. We are all sending our love and positive thoughts to my best friend, Lisa and the 4 other crew members of the yacht that is missing off the coast of Chile.

São Paulo - Round 2

In a random turn of events, I ended back in São Paulo for the weekend! I caught a ride on Thursday with a lady I tutor and her family. She is a lawyer here in town, as are her husband and 30-year-old daughter. Their son is also a lawyer and lives in São Paulo.
The Rahmilevitz family welcomed me into their home again and on Friday, I visited the bilingual school they own. It has classes for kids ages 2-15. The half the classes are in English and half in Portuguese. The school is very beautiful with lots of green space, playgrounds and even a pool! I also visited two outreach schools that they support through a foundation they’ve created. Between the two schools, there are 165 kids ages 1-6 who are taken care of and schooled during the day so that their mother’s can get jobs to support their families. They also fund a centre for the women of the area, providing training and job support. Later that day, I met up with Carol, a past student there whom I met 9 years ago in Nelson when she was on an exchange. It was awesome to see her after so much time! We had a lot to catch up on! In the evening, Larissa and I went to her friend’s birthday party.
On Saturday, Larissa and I went with her parents and grandma to the beach! I took off my watch and relaxed the whole day long with no idea what time it was! The beach was beautiful, the sun warm, water refreshing and the company lovely! Larissa’s boyfriend and his friend joined us for a while and we played a type of beach tennis. For dinner, we went to a very nice restaurant and had delicious muscles and white fish with a rich butter and caper sauce, accompanied with Brazilian white wine. Later that evening, Larissa and I prepared banana splits for everyone and we all watched a movie.
On Sunday, we enjoyed the beach some more, before driving back to São Paulo. I met briefly with Ilan, a friend of the family who also lived in Nelson 5 years ago, while we were both in grade 12. Again, we had lots to catch up on! After another 6-hour drive, I arrived back in Olimpia Sunday night, well-tanned and pleasantly tired :)