Day 12 - Monday March 14

Homeward bound! This would include sleeping, sleeping and more sleeping. By the time we arrived home (after a 15 hour bus ride) I was never so happy to take a shower and sleep in my own bed. 


Overall, successful trip! Next time I will at least attempt to learn the language. For now, I will just dream of my starry nights in Brazil.

Day 11 - Sunday March 13

Another early morning... We departed for Rio around 5:30am.


Rio: An amazing yet slightly overwhelming city. We mostly toured the city by bus as celebrations from Carnival were still going on. Apparently in Rio, after Carnival ends, the city celebrates the winner of Samba for 7 days. There were parades and people dressed up! It was much fun to witness from the inside of the bus. Most of my pictures come from inside the bus.

One of the most amazing parts of Rio was going up to the Christ statue. We took a train ride up there. Even though I am not a spiritual person, the huge statue of Christ in the middle of the fog was quite... effective. 

The view of the city, despite the fog, was quite amazing as well.

It was after this that my body started telling me it was tired. Although missing some of the sites, I was satisfied with sleeping in my seat. 


Finally... we started our journey home.

Day 10 - Saturday March 12

Wind, wind and more wind. The wind park was our morning adventure and it certainly was amazing! The blue skies only added to the massive energy sources we were able to witness. 


Following the wind farm, we were able to have lunch and free time at the beach! The beach is one of my favorite places. It is was so much fun to be able to put my feet in the sand and jump in the water! One of the most amazing aspects to it was that from the beach you could see the wind park and Brazilians did not mind it at all.

Day 9 - Friday March 11

Parliament was only the beginning of our morning. Dressed as nice as we could, (for Americans) we were off to Parliament. We took a tour and were allowed to actual see a session in progress. What I found interesting was that there was a man sitting in front of me on twitter, on his ipad. I'm not sure why it seemed odd, but it just seemed so.... American to me. Perhaps unexpected is a better word. 

We then went through their history museum in the Parliament building. It was amazing to hear about everything Brazil has been through to get where they are today! Certainly, Brazilians must be proud. There were priceless pieces of art and original documents that were a treasure to see. There was even a book by Oscar Wilde in Portuguese. 

Again, I wish I had taken more pictures!

After Parliament we went on to visit several companies including a company that made transformers and an organization that was working toward bridging the gap in companies with low income areas. The bottom line of society seems to play a larger role with Brazilian companies than with American companies. It is hard to compare, but it seems as though there is a larger push with Brazilian companies to support communities. 

If my memory is correct, that was the night I truly made some friends with several of the girls on the trip. The best part of the trip was the friendships I brought home!

Day 8 - Thursday March 10

Off the the university we go! We started the morning by visiting the university. We were able to interact with some of the local students (some who might come to study at ASU!) and were able to hear lectures from professors and students. Our own Dr. Meznar gave a presentation on ASU! Some highlights from that visit included:


1. The art exhibit: There was an exhibit called Paris at Night. There were beautiful black and white pictures of the gritty yet beautiful side of Paris. 


2. Green: The whole campus seemed to blossom! There were trees and plants all around! Please pardon the picture of me. The longer we stayed in Brazil the larger my hair became.

3. There were two German students who were at the college. Their advice included wearing sunscreen at all times and eat the food. They said there would be "two interesting weeks" but after that, you would be fine. Perhaps I could study in Brazil! 


4. Attitude: The attitude of students in Brazil seemed much more relaxed than in the States. Perhaps this was due to coming back after a break for Carnival but they did not seem stressed at all!

Day 7 - Wednesday March 9

Landfill bound! We woke the next morning and enjoyed the hotel breakfast which included my favorite, coffee. Soon we were on our way to the landfill. Once we reached here we were briefed on how the Brazilian waste management system worked. Basically, trash is taken to the landfill and from there, workers separate out recyclables. These recyclables, plastics, metals, etc., are then taken to different facilities. I wish I had taken pictures! We were able to have lunch with a couple of the workers and it was a great pleasure to learn from their valuable experiences. 


Another event of the day, that I wish I had taken pictures, was the bank. Probably one of the biggest insights to the culture of low income families in Fortaleza. This bank had established its own currency for the area and could only be spent in the area. In doing this, it helped support local businesses and push the economy up. From what the manager told us, it was really helping the local community. 

Day 6 - Tuesday March 8

Good morning sleepy head... This was not a bright eyed morning for me. Most of it seems like a blur after coming off the plane with little sleep. We packed ourselves on a bus, luggage and all. From what I remember, we drove around the city for a bit. I think I stayed on the bus sleeping until we reached the ocean. 

Once we got to the hotel, I crashed into a bed and slept until we went to eat our steak dinner. It was quite a feast and I probably could have slept another two days after I had so much food! Steak, steak and more steak! 


That night a bunch of us went to the beach for the final night of Carnival. We took in the sights (even though it rained) and we enjoyed the music and dancing on the sand.

Day 5 - Monday March

Good morning sunshine! We woke when the sun came up and again I did not take a shower. Perhaps it was at this point that I allowed myself to smell. We spent the day visiting communities and enjoying the sun while on the deck of the boat. Again, we had a beautiful day with no rain!! 

Below is a picture of our "bridge" to get off the boat! 

Ray of Hope dropped us off in Manaus that evening and we began our flight to Fortaleza!

Day 4 - Sunday March 6

The day started like all other days, early. I enjoyed coffee and then prepared for another long day on the water. We started by visiting a village. The village is not what I would call the most authentic but it was educational anyways. Random animals could be seen around and at one point someone said they saw a sloth. Was this true? I cannot verify. The best part was that we had a discussion with the local medicine man. I purchased some roots that will supposedly help with cramps. I have yet to try it but I post when it works! (I hope it works!) 

This was the day we transferred to the boat guided by members of Ray of Hope. The boat was two stories with the kitchen and dining space in the bottom and open seating on the top. We had the best tour guides. The guides not only provided us with authentic Brazilian food and information, but they also had access to communities that would have been unavailable to us otherwise. We were able to visit communities and have interactions with kids that were so genuine. Probably some of my favorite moments came from this. 

One of the best parts about staying on the boat was that were were able to sleep in hammocks!

Day 3 - Saturday March 5

As all mornings began, we gathered early for breakfast. Meals at the Ariau Towers were glorious buffets (yes, I ate community food) that included plenty of fruit and local recipes. Every breakfast was accompanied by coffee. Brazilian coffee is like no other coffee. The recipe is as followed: ¼ strong coffee, ½ warm milk and ¼ sugar. It is one of the most delicious ways to drink coffee! I do think this was part of my five pound weight gain while on the trip because not only do they serve coffee with breakfast, they serve it at lunch and dinner as well. 

The hammocks provided a much needed rest at any time during the day. 

We gathered after breakfast and loaded onto the smaller boats for our dolphin and piranha adventure. First, it should be mentioned that there is a parasite that lives in the water that can swim "up" you if you pee in the water. This was mentioned MANY times. How this discovery was made, I am unsure, but it put the fear of God into many of us including me. I decided not to enter the water because of this. I got a lot of great shots and enjoyed the dolphins from afar. At the end, the guides even brought the dolphins over for us by-standers to touch. Slimy yet satisfying. Piranha fishing was successful for some, not me, but the best part was that with the piranha caught the Ariau Towers made a piranha stew that night. How sustainable and the soup was actually good!  

Day 2 - Friday March 4

This is when the actual fun started. We arrived in Miami early and by early I mean 3:30am. Sleepy yet excited as we were, we filed off the bus and collected our luggage to board our first flight. Perhaps it is due to lack of sleep, but this whole time period seems like a blur. I believe I slept on most of this flight. Once we arrived in Manaus, we gathered like sheep in the middle of the airport, obviously looking like tourists. Our guides arrived shortly after and we loaded onto another bus (this will become a theme throughout our entire trip), however this lead to our first boat ride. 

We were finally in Brazil.

The boat fit all of my traveling companions but forced our luggage onto another boat. At this point, I don't think a single person cared. We were on a boat, in Brazil. And there was beer. The wind felt amazing and for the first time in a long time, I felt as though I were home. Perhaps this was because my fondest childhood memories were on a boat. 

Although I could have spent all day on that boat, we arrived at the Ariau Towers. It was beautiful and the perfect welcome to Manaus. We were received with smiles and drinks. How lovely the drinks tasted after a long morning. Assigned with a room, we settled in. The rooms were much like summer camp, only every room had a bathroom and balcony.

That night was our alligator hunt. The pictures explain it all. 

Day 1 - Thursday March 3

Oh what a beginning! After a mad dash to finish packing, I took the local bus accompanied by my rather large pack up to campus. After a proper loading of the bus, we bid farewell to campus and started our 14 hour bus ride. Oh right, there was the one passport left behind but it was recovered speedily. The ride was not as long as one would have expected, although that could not be said for the returning journey. We traveled through the night.

In 5 Days

I am a grad student at Appalachian State University and in 5 days I leave for Brazil. We are leaving on March 3 and returning March 14, 2011. This is my first trip to Brazil and my first visa! While we are there we will be doing tourist events as well as some educational events. From looking at the schedule, we will be busy! Today, I purchased waterless shampoo and Bounce dryer sheets (someone has sworn this would keep away the bugs). I prepped my body by getting the flu shot, Hep A and Hep B. All that is left is packing!