Day 49: Last Day

 Day 49: Last Day

By this point, I was so dizzy from the swaying boats and the swaying apartment that I just wanted to sit down on land and not move for days, but there were still things that needed to be done.

We got on a boat and went to were the rivers meet. That does not sound that exiting, but one of the drivers is dark water and the other river had white water, and they don’t mix. They just stand there, next to each other not mixing. The guide said it was because a lot of different reasons: different temperatures, different densities, different materials that contaminate the water. Either way, it was really cool to see the water just standing next to each other.

Later that day we went and we went to a floating restaurant on the river. But before we ate we saw some giant lily pads. It is said that one strong one can hold the weight of a man. The ones we saw were pretty weak because there had been a huge flood that destroyed most of them, but it was still cool to see how huge they were, like 3 feet across.

We also saw monkeys and fed them, it was awesome. I was too nervous to feed them so I just took peoples pictures.

Later that night the group went on a night walk into the jungle by the hotel, I decided to stay home. I was so dizzy from the boat drives and things that I just needed to stay in one place.

Later that night we had our good bye party. I gave out awards to the people in our group, some of the funniest were, most gangster, best at choosing between good and bad choices, nicest person ever, and the one I got was most likely to be scared of everything.

After the awards and after Cindy’s amazing video presentation, we had a dance party. It was fun to each the boys how to dance, and it was fun to see how some of them actually enjoyed it.

It was a fantastic trip, and I am going to miss this group, a lot.  

Day 48: Miami Dolphins v. River Dolphins

Day 48: Miami Dolphins v. River Dolphins

Well I have always seen dolphins, I am from Miami, and they are everywhere. If you are in the water for like 5 minutes dolphins start popping up. But, these dolphins were different; they were pink, and river dolphins.

The legend goes like this: there are many women who live along the river who had a ton of children but no husband. The reason is because the pink dolphins turn into handsome young men and seduce the women and impregnate them and then go back into the water.

Anyway, we swam with dolphins in the river. It’s a little scary when they start hitting you with their fins, they don’t do it on purpose, but it does creep you out. I thought it was a really neat experience to have.

Later that day we went to an Indian village to see the natives. My friend who served her mission in Manaus told me that when she was serving the members would say “I look Indian enough to go get money from tourists.” I believe her because the women had tan lines, and if they really walked around topless they wouldn’t. It was hilarious when the women picked up our guys to dance.

Some of the boys were really scared, and some of the boys were REALLY scared. It is funny to see the cultural difference in this aspect, especially because we are LDS and a lot more reserved when it comes to nudity. Either way, it was fantastically funny to watch the boys squirm as they danced with the half-naked Indian girls.

Later that day we went to rubber tapping museum. Our guide told us that the owner of the rubber tapping plantation would keep his men prisoner for their whole lives on that island, and would just give them liquor to keep them from thinking reasonably. It was a really sad story, but things like that happened all the time in Brazil, and throughout Brazilian history.

At this time I decided it would be cool to have a conversation with our guide, Washington. Well, Washington was not from Brazil but from British Guiana. He said he moved to Brazil for a new life, and got a Brazilian name, Washington, which I thought was funny because it is not a Brazilian name. Anyway he has had 5 wives, the first one when he was 15 and she was 14, she passed away. All his other wives are still alive, 2 are in Guiana, and 2 are in Manaus.

That would never fly with us, but to him it seemed rather normal, which I thought was hilarious.   

Day 47: Welcome to the Jungle

Day 47: Welcome to the Jungle

On the second day in Manaus, we left the city and headed off to the jungle.

On our way there we passed by the Manaus temple, which was just opened about a month ago. 

We took a small boat and crossed the Rio Negro, black river, and landed in the hotel Ti’Wa. It was a really cute hotel. The rooms were cabins that were on stilts on the water, when the water moved, the rooms swayed. The water would move because there were caimans swimming around. It felt a little rustic, but really it just felt like being a nice really resort.

After relaxing for a little bit, we got on a boat again, this time to go piranha hunting. Well piranha hunting is not as easy as it seems, especially if you have a boat drivers that is lazy. He wouldn’t get close to the bushes, most of the piranha just hangout by the shrubbery. I did not catch anything, but my boat caught 4 in total. Some of the other boats had like 30 piranhas, I was a bit jealous.

I want to comment on the way the guides spoke. It was really difficult to understand them. You can tell their education level is low, but a lot of them mumble and slur their words. I had a hard time understanding a lot of the people from Manaus, maybe it’s just their accent, but it was difficult.

Then we went caiman hunting, which was also unsuccessful. Then we caught up with another group, who had a caiman, and we all touched it and took pictures. It was really scary. People underestimate how strong those things are. No matter how small, they are very powerful. 

Day 46: Heat Wave

Day 46: Heat Wave

We made it to Manaus. We were all pretty exhausted since we left the hotel at 3 am.

The second we left the airport there was this incredible heat wave that just blasted us. It felt like a punch in the face. It really goes to show that Brazil is not just a wet hot country; it’s also a really really hot really really wet country.

After we got into our hotel we went sightseeing. We visited the Theater of the Amazons. It is an amazing building; almost everything inside of it was imported from Europe. The building is said to be valued at about one billion dollars, I believe it. Everything was completely ornate and gorgeous. However, what is a building like this doing in the middle of the amazon?

Later that night we walked the around the city and went and saw crafts. The crafts in the amazon are very different from the ones in Recife. They really represent the Indian culture that is still present in the amazon. I bought a wooden owl, owls are awesome.

Later that night we went to the opera, in that same amazing theater. The performers were Koreans from New York, which I thought was really weird. And interestingly enough most of the audience were Brazilians with Asian background. I had heard that Brazil had a lot of Asian population but I hadn’t seen it until just then. It was a really beautiful performance.

Before the concert even started I met a couple from France, while waiting in line. The woman is an art professor, and she was just travelling all around Brazil visiting museums and looking at art. She was amazing, I am so glad I met her, someday I want her job. 

Day 45: Weekend Update

Day 45: Weekend Update

On Sunday, I didn’t do much. Went to church, which is basically the same where ever you go.

Then I went to my room and slept, because I was so tired. I watched the Olympics. Wherever you are in Brazil, if there is a TV, they are playing the Olympics. I was excited because the Men’s Basketball team was playing and I am obsessed with basketball.

After a while we decided to take a walk along the beach. We happen to see one of our classmates who had rented a longboard, some of us tried to longboard, and some of us decided to rent inline skates.

After a while we just went home and got ready to go to Manaus, because our wakeup call was like 2:30 am. 

Day 44: Exploring Fortaleza

Day 44: Exploring Fortaleza

Saturday morning, we split into smaller groups and went to historical points in the city of Fortaleza.

My group started off by going to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Fortaleza. It was a Neogothic styled church, meaning that the style was gothic, but because it was not in the same time period as original gothic styled churches, historians refer to the style as neo-gothic, as in new gothic. It had all the original gothic elements, two twin spires, rose windows, stained glass, ribbed vaults, and buttresses. The inside was incredibly gorgeous, and very worked, because it took about 40 years to make! It was truly stunning.

 We went to the Mercado central afterwards. I thought it was going to be just another building where people sell their arts and crafts, but it was much bigger than that. In fact I think it was about 4 stories high, with a crazy intertwining passage ways to get around the building quicker. Most of the stores sold the same style or type of product, and that’s why it’s good to try to talk the prices down. However, I am not good at that, and did not buy anything anyway. It was interesting to see how large the structure was though.

We then went to the Dragao Center of Art. When we got there it was closed until 2, and it was only 11, so we decided to keep exploring. We found another part of that same museum where they had an exhibition on Luis Gonzaga, our dear from Luis Gonzaga, exploring the history of forro music and such.

Then we went to the Theater of Jose de Alancar but that was closed for renovation.

Later that day I got my eyebrows waxed. That doesn’t seem like it’s that important. But in Brazil, all the women had their eyebrows done. There is a salon in every corner. The women are obsessed with presenting themselves well. Even our maid would go to the salon once a week. It made me feel like I was partaking of the culture.

Overall it was a fun time looking at the different things the city had to offer.

Day 43: The Dark Knight

Day 43: The Dark Knight

On Friday we got on an air plane and headed out to Fortaleza. Something I like about travelling in Brazil is that security is not as annoying. It was forever to get through security in the United States, but not as long in Brazil.

Getting enough taxis to take us to our hotel took a while; I don’t think the girl at the front desk understood what we wanted.  When we finally got to our hotel, it was really interesting. It had a small kitchen and living room; we hadn’t had that in any of the other hotels we have stayed in.

Later that night we went to watch The Dark Knight Rises. The theater is inside the mall. In brazil, the women dress up really nicely to go to the mall, so my friends and I did our make up and put on nicer clothes so that we would blend in better with the Brazilians.

It was interesting because as we were standing in line, a guy was like “I like your hat” to my friend Mitch; he was wearing a BYU hat. I automatically thought that was weird, and then he started talking to us in English and he said he graduated from BYU and that he was doing some work for his masters in Fortaleza. We talked to him for a bit and it was cool, the small world syndrome.

The Dark Knight Rises is definitely not my favorite movie, but Brazilians seem to love it. They really love anything that is very American it seems. 

Day 42: Everybody look at me, I’m on a Boat

Day 42: Everybody look at me, I’m on a Boat

I went on a boat. It took us to two islands in the bay of Salvador.

First we wrote a giant elevator that takes you from the upper level of the city to the lower level. Salvador is a very hilly city and there are huge winding roads everywhere.

Then we saw the Mercado modelo, which is the building where they would keep the slaves before they would sell them. That’s where they would weigh them and show them off to slave owners. If one of the slaves was aggressive they would put him in the basement. The Mercado is literally 15 feet from the beach, when the tide would come in, it would drown whoever was down there.

The boat ride took us to two islands. The first one had the clearest most beautiful water I have ever seen. I wanted to swim out forever, but there were jelly fish, so I stayed very close to the shore.

On the boat there was a samba band. They played everyone’s favorite song, Ai se eu te pego. They were really funny. I tipped them well because I felt bad that when their hat got to me there wasn’t much in there. There are people who work hard in brazil, and make very little money, it makes me feel appreciative for what I have.

The boat ride to the next island was really rough on the water. We ended up on a small island which had a few locals. Some of the group took a tour of the city. I decided to sleep on a hammock, when in Bahia, do as the Bahians do, right? There is a joke that the people of Bahia, the state we are in, are really lazy, I just wanted to experience the culture on a hammock.

When we got home, I again watched community and just slept. It was a fantastic day. 

Day 41: Finally, out into the city

Day 41: Finally, out into the city

I still was not feeling very well, but I did not want to miss out on any more activities.

Vanessa got us a bus with a tour guide. He first took us to this lake. The story went something like it was made from the tears of something, I think. Either way, it was really pretty with really white sands.

We later went to a turtle zoo. It was really interesting. The rehabilitate turtles and keep them in captivity in order to keep the zoo running. Although this seems like a weird concept, they use the proceeds from the zoo to protect sea turtles. For example, protecting areas where there are turtle eggs in order for them to hatch safely. We were also able to touch some sting rays, it was really slimy and cool.

Later we went to a beach. It was a nice beach, with good water. Most of us were really tired and just stayed under an umbrella. There was a man selling things on the beach, there always are people trying to sell us things especially because some of the boys we are with are really really white. Anyway, the guy would make BEAUTIFUL landscapes using nothing just paint and his finger tips, and it was extremely amazing. It was disappointing to hear that he didn’t  sell his work much and that it was a very hard job. Some of the boys we were with bought so many paintings that they paid him 100 reais.

We later went home, and after feeling sick for most of the day, I went into the sauna. In the sauna we met a dentist who was on vacation from Rio de Janeiro. Its really fun and interesting to talk to random people in random places. Brazilians are really open people and always willing to talk.

For the rest of the night I just wanted some more community and slept, still sick.

Days 39 and 40: I needed a Salvador, from my sickness

Days 39 and 40: I needed a Salvador, from my sickness

On Monday the 23, we all packed our bags and headed to Salvador. We said good by to our AMAZING family and the funniest maid ever. It was sad, I will miss them so much! 

It was a pretty short flight, but I get really stressed out if I am not in the airport at least 4 hours before my flight. Thus, trying to fly with 20 something people was really hectic and crazy for me. Overall the flight was pretty fine.

When we finally got to our hotel room, it was really nice. It was probably the nicest hotel we have stayed in so far. We mostly just hung out at the hotel that night and didn’t do much.

The next day I was extremely sick. I did not want to go out and get sicker. I was coughing really hard, like whooping awful cough. Luckily, or ironically?, my roommate was also sick so we stayed home and watched Pushing Daisies, the tv show together.

Later that night some of the boys came over and we watched Community, because Sara and I were too tired from being sick to do anything. Good thing it was a nice hotel room. 

Day 36, 37, 38: Weekend Update

Day 36, 37, 38: Weekend Update

I did not do much this past weekend. On Friday I went shopping with some of the girls and I bought shoes. They are adorable. They are purple suede flats with a bow. I wore them to the youth dance we went to later that night.

We had learned some line dances in order to teach the kids, but if anyone knows me they know that I am the worst choreographed dancer ever. It was super hard for me to try to keep beat, but I did the best I could.

Brazilian teenagers are very interesting. They look to be tagged in pictures and are obsessed with Facebook. Even if they only met you for 4 minutes, they still want to add you on Facebook, its crazy.

On Saturday we went to the Museum of the Northeastern Man. It was a museum kind of summarizing all the stuff we have been seeing and learning about on our trip, like the sertanejo. It was neat to see everything summed up. But later that night I got really sick and didn’t go to the soccer game and just stayed home and rested.

On Sunday we went to mass to see the Gregorian chants in Olinda. It was really fantastic, even though I am not a fan of mass, it was the Gregorian chants that I found really relaxing. I also really enjoyed being a church that was over 400 years old, and that was built just a few years after Brazil was discovered.

After that our house mom decided to take us on a little tour of Recife, and we went to the Bernnand statues that no one in our group wanted to go to except for Cristina and I. it was fantastic. I liked it a lot. However, I was still sick so I felt bad for most of the day.

That night was our goodbye party with Carbonel, his wife is literally gorgeous. He is a sweet guy and I hope everything he is working on turns up well.