Belém

Belém is a wonderful city. It is the most urban place that I have visited thus far in brazil. The culture is very different here than in the south; there's a lot more seafood! Thus far I have wandered around the markets, danced samba until five in the morning, amd visited the bontanical gardens.

The botanical gardens were more like a zoo as there were monkeys, birds, turles and a manatee! While these animals are fun to look at I feel quite bad for them, do they deserve to be kept in such a small place with no freedom. I don't think so.

There was an afternoon downpour at the gardens and the vendors made off like bandits! Everyone was huddled from the rain as were the vendors. They saw their chance. Many small children with their parents with nothing to do.. Look buy this toy, cotton candy, bubbles. hilarious to observe.

I still have't purchased my plane ticket to Altamira and have had some trouble calling the family on the phone. I'm going to give it another go tomorrow and see what happens.

Tchau

I ate a PIRANAH

Back from the Pantanal with the mosquito bites to prove it. Seriously, it was intense.

I´ve been on the move quite a bit. Toured the Argentinean side of Iguaço (it is WAY better than the brazilian side). This was an all day, very sweaty excursion. Totally worth it. I stood above the precipe of the falls and could barely take pictures because of all the mist. It was very humbling to be surrounded by the power of such a simple element, water. It was a paridise really; rainbows, palm trees, birds, and butterflys abound in the unique ecological niche that it Iguaço.

Immediately after touring the falls I'm on a bus headed to Campo Grande, where the Pantanla tour departrs from. Oh man, I was stinky. Walking all day in the sun combined with 12 hours on a bus- stench. I putter around Campo Grande waiting for the tour to leave, oh and took a shower.

I thought I was outdoorsy, I thought I had everything I needed to rough it, I thought mosquitos didn't bother me that much. I think I thought wrong. I didn't bring insect repellent- bad move. as soon as we step off the bus we are attacked by a swarm of mosquitos. Oh shit, welcome to the Pantanal gringos! That's what we get for willingly visiting a SWAMP.

Besides the mosquitos the Pantanal was lovely (sorry, I've been meeting a lot of brits). The accomodations were very cool- hammoks! The food was fantastic, although I pretty sure I'm still farting from all the rice and beans...

The first day was horseback riding! I was practically peeing I was so excited. My horse was awesome, I named it howard even though it was a girl. We went for a 2.5 hour ride, glorious. I got to steer a horse and make it trot. I decided that I need a horsey, pweeeese? The scenery was beautiful, flat swamp, tall grasses, dense palm jungles, and isolated lakes filled with crocodiles.

Another favorite was the hiking. A little different to my idea of hiking. Hiking with long sleves, jeans, boots, hat, and bandana on the neck in a humid 90 degrees. I was very sweaty, but I was trying in vain to avoid massive attack by mosquito. Our guide, Sondro showed us native uses for the plants and animals in the area. It was facinating. There are lots of fruits growing in the jungle and I ate guava from a tree, a relative to the avacado that was sweet and a tiny tiny coconut. I also slathered my face in repelent about every half hour.

Boat riding on the river had to be my favorite. We saw so many animals! Toucans, monkeys, herons, cranes, capivarai- the largest rodent in the world, caimen crocodiles, macaws, oh the list could go on and on. It was glorious, the sun was setting and reflecting off the water and herons were taking flight. A serene and tranquil setting; that is until we realized that our boat was flooding. Sondro assured us that we would not die, but it was iffy. Fortunately we made it back to the landing unscathed, except for wet legs.

I also swam in the piranah and caimen infested river. It is the color of lager and very warm. refreshing none the less and mosquitos can't bite you under water.

I have claimed lately that if I were to every eat meat it would have to be a fish that I caught and killed myself. So, we went fishing for piranahs. Its was disgusting; gross meat on a hook dangling from a bamboo rod. apparently I really suck at fishing which was fine I didn't particularly want to kill one anyway. I caught one fish and promptly threw it back in the water, I'm a wimp. Lunch rolls around and I say no piranah for me, but then I was thinking about it. I participated in the killing and would I ever eat a piranah again? So, I did it. The group was suprised and so was I. It was salty and bony.

I also talked a lot with the locals. Having a command of portugese is a great thing, I have learned so much about brasileiros and Brasil. But, on the down side brazilians LOVE to tease. Damn. That part I am not enjoying too much. No Diego, I don't want to marry you, have brazilian citizenship, two children and a white picket fence. This was very annoying going on the fifth hour plus all other portuguese speakers joined in on the fun. I found a great way out, "não entedei" or "i didn't understand". Hahaha! Succas. Oh I have no idea what you are talking about let's changed the subject. It worked rather well.

That's all folks. I need to wash my very smelly clothing, figure out how to navigate to Belém and harass the hostel staff I hung out with last night...TCHAU!

a change...

Hello again and greetings from Foz do Iguaço. WOW. What an amazing spot. Not only is the waterfall absolutely stunning but the hostel I am at is fantastic. Arrived yesterday on the ônibus, ugh it was a 15 hour bus ride from Floripa. Managed to navigate to the hostel on public transport, checked in and almost immediately made friends with an australian girl and two irish girls. We went to the brazilian side of the waterfall together, stunning.

There is a weird difference between national parks here and those in the US. This park remineded me very much of marine world. Everything was very new and there were many `atractions´ likes rock climbing, hiking, bike riding, and boating on the river. All of this you had to pay for, even the hiking. Weird. I suppose it all helps pay for the conservation of the park lands, but it is not very accecible to all people. All in all it was very commercial.

Last night I went out with an english girl, a chech couple, an older mexican dude, and two canadian guys. What a blast! We went to a local pub and there was a live band playing brazilian rock/reggae/classic brazilian pop songs. Cut.A.Rug. Oh man, the mexican man was shaking his tail feather so much, at one point he was on stage dancing infront of the band... We pretended that we didn´t know him... But a seriously good time.

Today was a lazy day spent lounging around the hostel and making plans for travel next. The trip to bonito is off, based upon recomendations from employees at the hostel a safari tour of the pantanal is now booked and awaiting me. Apparently bonito is very commercial and all activities are very pricy, making a package much cheaper. WOOOOO! I am so stoked. It is going to be amazingly beautiful. Anteaters, crocodiles, birds, fish, horse back riding, hiking. I can´t wait.

Tomorrow it is off to a tour of the argentinean side of the foz. I have heard it is more primitive, less comercial and you can get closer to the waterfalls. Also, there are hiking trails on the argentiean side, and you don´t have to pay for them...

I´ll leave you with an embarassing story...
I arrived at the hostel after walking for about 1/2 hour in the hot sun with a heavy pack. Franco, an employee, checks me in and begins showing me around the hostel; where the kitchen is, the pool, the computers etc. He´s telling me all these things in portuguese/spanish because I tell him that I speak it alright. I´m understanding about half of what he is saying... He´s finished showing me around and turns his cheek towards me. I guess it was the fact that I had become comfotable with the custom of cheek kissing, or that I was flustered, or that he was cute, but out of nowhere I plant one right on his cheek. There is an akward silence. The franco says, "um, the bathroom is right over there". uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. whoops. I turn red, giggle and muter somthing in portuguese about the custom of cheek kissing. Fast foreward 10 minutes, Franco is helping me with my bags and points out a bathroom then procedes to look at me expectantly. "What? No kiss?". Oh jesus, I've created a monster. Later, one more joke about my misstep and all is well. Franco is incredibly helpful and friendly guy. Reason number 752 that I will grow up to become a brazilian.

Next up, the pantanal!

Tchau!

florianoplois!

Hello friends and greetings from a new location. Florianopolis is fantastic! I absolutely love it here; college town with beaches- sound familiar?

I have done so many things it´s hard to remember them all, but I´ll give it a try...

From the begining. Ricardo and Loiva dropped us off at the bus station in Novo Hamburgo, after we had hamburgers at McDondals- I found it hilariously ironic. I won´t lie, I came very close to crying when I hugged Loiva goodbye. We developed a good friendship and I hope that I can remain in contact with the family. Anyway, I gave the Ricardo and Loiva this painting:

This is the stairs leading to the front yard and the house. They told me they were going to frame it and hang it in the house, similar to this fine piece of art:

Anyway, the bus took about ten hours complete with a stop at the a slightly scary roadside resturant made only for buses. I counted and there were 13 buses at the resturant. I bet you´re thinking city bus, 10 hours on a city bus, that sounds like hell on earth. No, it´s not a city bus. It´s a super cushy, air conditioned, reclining seat bus- well it was a cold hell for me as I wore shorts and a tee-shirt only, not making that mistake again!

Arrived in Florianopolis in the morning and felt too overwhelmed to navigate the buses to where we were staying, so opted for a taxi- another first. We´re staying with the most awesome people! There is a wonderful website called couchsurfing.com and we found a great gal, Fran, who was willing to have us in her home for the entirety of our stay in Floripa. I know what you´re thinking... Megan you´re crazy, stay with a stranger... but we talked quite a bit through email (I´m honing my portuguese grammar) and she had many good refrences from people she had hosted previously. I also spoke with her on the phone, that was difficult.

Turns our it was a great decision! I have a bed and instant brazilian friends! Fran studies art and is finishing her masters and lives with seven other students near a university here in Floripa. We talk a lot about politics, art, movies and music. All the housemates are really friendly and have been helping with things to do and navigation of the city. Last night we watched an incredible movie "Trope de Elite", it is a brazilian film about Rio de Janiero's special police force in the favelas, BOPE. It was told from the perspective of a sargent and highlights police corruption, ineffective policies, violence from the police and drug lords, and how innocent people can become wrapped up in favela politics very easily. It was a shocking account but is based off of true stories and is a history that must be shared. Afterward, to lift our spirits, we played UNO with some wine.

Thus far I have gotten lost; I got off at the wrong bus terminal and wandered around for a few hours. Then, thinking I failed tried to go back to the house and found what I was looking for, the city center. When I arrived they was a huge street party going on. Live music, vendors, transvestites in sparkly wigs- it was a precarnival festa! I wandered around, took pictures, bought a brazilian bikini and postcards (coming to a mail box near you), and generally soaked up and observed the happenings. I have been to two beaches, Molae and Jouaquin, they were both gorgeous with turquoise water, white sand, and good waves for the surfers. There were vendors wandering around selling jewlery, roased cheese on a stick, sarongs, and coconuts for drinking.

I have mostly done a lot of wanderng and observing, it is very entertaining.

All of Floripa has incredible colonial architecture, pink and yellow buildings with ornate white trim. Beautiful. There is very much a european influence in this city, it was originally settled by portuguese fishermen. Tomorrow it is off to the foz, I'm excited to see this natural wonder, not so excited about the 12 hour bus ride.
Beijos!

tchau!

The time has come. It seemed like it never would, but it is here.

Departure from ricardo and loiva's.


I feel as if I am leaving a warm, pão and dulce de leite lined womb and/or jumping out the nest. Fly my little brasileira, fly! Go off into Brazil and prosper.

I got pretty sad about it, thinking "yeah, I could wash bottles/shuck grapes for another month". But the answer is a big resounding NO! There is so much out there to see, and as comfortable and accepting this place is to otras lugars I venture.

Today I said my final goodbye to my only brasilian friend under the age of 40 and above the age of 4- Caío. We worked, we laughed, we talked. To be honest it was mostly work, side by side in a comfortable silence (or with my awful choice of music blaring in the background). I think for the first three weeks he wasn't actully sure I spoke very much portuguese. But, he's a good kid. Works harder than you or I, that's for sure. He labors for Ricardo five to six days a weeks for three to five hours, sometimes ten or eleven on the weekends. AND, after that he goes to the leather factory where he works a nine hour night shift five days a week.

WHEW.


As much as I look up to someone who can do that without going insane, my ideal work life would be this:
eight hours for work
eight hours for sleep
eight hours for myself
Credit to a Mrz Hilary D. G. for that one actually...


In light of this great transition, I thought that I would make a list of the things I will miss about Ricardo, Loiva and João Pedro's.

1. Conversing with interesting, like minded people in portuguese.
2. Watching João attempt to eat his food directly out of the packaging, and then Loiva freaking out. Actually, watching Loiva freak out at any number of João's antics then watching her crack a smile within two minutes.
3. Throwing grapes at Caío and Juvilino
4. American cartoons dubbed over in portuguese. Actually any chill non-whiny time with JP such as: painting, reading, and making shadow puppets.
5. The view from my balcony.
6. The 3 ft iguana under the house. And my cow friends, I'll miss them too.
7.'Vamos a come' complete with hand gestures from Ricardo- this means lets go eat... Or any other Ricardo 'ism' such as: pronto (now), ta bom (it's good), chega a le (stop it!), or pão liquido (actually he has me to thank for that one, beer= liquid bread)
8. On a similar note, I'll sure miss homemade dulce de leite. But I'll expecially miss having all my meals for free.
9. Drinking çhimáro out of a wooden cup with a silver straw with Loiva while we watch the news (and ignore João's whines for 'cartoon'- all I have to say is that I now understand, I'm sorry mom).
10. Radio station 94.9 'Ipanema'. Any radio station that plays (in this order) bob marley, richard cheese, vampire weekend, and radiohead is a.o.k. in my book. Live 105, please take note. This radio station is responsible for my sanity; washing bottles for 9 hours a day in silence?

Just to even things out, and to lessen my feelings of longing, here are ten things I will not miss:
1. Waking up at seven am every morning.
2. Putting used tp in the tiny garbage can and not in the toilet. It's a hard habit to break folks.

3. An unlimited supply of icecream/popcicles. This occured during a transaction for the creation of grape icecream; we recieved a four month supply of icecream. I do love it, my bumbum (portuguese for butt, funny huh?) on the other hand hates me.
4. American cartoons dubbed over in portuguese.
5. João's incessent whining for coca cola, chocolate, and yogurt. Also, for McDonalds, cartoons, and nutella. Pretty much any whining...
6. Those tiny mosquitos which, instead of just stabbing you with their stylet actually chew a gaping hole into your skin. Not only is it more bloody, it itches like a mo-fo and gets super swolen. I guess on the same note, I'm not going to miss being carne fresca or fresh meat.
7. The scent of steaming grapes, it's quite unpleasant actually. Oh, and being covered in grape and attacked by flys. Who knew that grape juice in the eye was painful??
8. Being woken up before seven am by a pulp grinder- damn you jellys!
9. Akward transactions at PIA, the supermarket. Oh, and chasing João around PIA while all the locals give me wierd looks because I'm not german.
10. As much as I love (almost all) the people that I've met here and the beauty of Rio Grande do Sul, I'm not going to miss feeling like I'm in Bavaria.

There you have it. The next update will be from Florianopolis, Santa Catarina.
Beijos!

eu ri muito!

Today I laughed a lot! I laughed while I sorted through a new shipment of grapes. I laughed while I tried to convince Kieo, Loiva, João Pedro and Ricardo to come stay with me in Califronia. I told Loiva that if she cooked and cleaned for me she could stay as long as she wanted. I felt a little bit akward when I met a new person. She is from Rio de Janiero and works with an organic institution. With a business degree from Harvard, she and her co-workers give advice to small and medium sized organic cooperatives. We ate lunch with her; first time we used the dining room table! With a table cloth none the less. It was also the first time I ate pickles with a fork and a knife.

Later, I laughed when the only music they played on the radio was Bob Marley; Loiva says the DJs got lazy and just suck a CD in. Then I talked seriously with Mrs. Harvard (in english!) about organic agriculture, what coopernatural was doing, how hard this community of people work and her six cats in Rio. Ricardo, and coopernatural, is a little different than the other communities with whom she works with. Ricardo is eager; a meeting of organics? He's there the next day, never mind it's a 20 hour drive. The huge diversity of products they make sets them appart as well, did I mention those pickles? Yeah, theu're from the coop. If you have never had Goiaba, go find some right now. Goiaba juice is the most amazing thing ever, the most amazing tropical flavor ever with a texture of pear juice. The only problem is that when it is bottled without preservatives (a natural foods no-no) it has a tendancy to ferment. This means the bottles explode- I laughed.

I laughed when Ricardo attempted to force feed Mrs. Harvard creme de leite; hospitality over kill. I giggled when João attempted to take over Mrs. Harvard's computer. Oh man, I cracked up so hard after João threw a shit fit about having to take a shower, then refused to get out. After being forcfully removed from the water he was pissed, and threw shampoo bottles down the hall on his way to the floor behind the dining room table. Sulking insued for about five minutes, but without being given any attention this character craved it. So, out comes JP buck naked towel as a cape- I laughed.

I laughed when JP demanded a popcicle and returned from the kitchen with a cold sausage.

Loiva and I laughed at the ridiculousness that is Caminos das India- holy mother of pearl telenovelas are hilarious. I almost died of lack of oxygen when a rat came running into the livingroom. A classic reaction from Loiva and I, yelping and perching ourselves ontop of chairs. João is standing on the sofa trying to take pictures of the thing and Ricardo is chasing it down with a hobby horse. It was never discoved, sneeky rat.

The thing that caused the most humor this evening? Some photos. Old fashioned photos in round frames over the fireplace. I always assumed that these were family photos, the people looked pretty Greman after all. I finally asked. Turns out they are recent. These photos are actually of Ricardo and Loiva. Ricardo is wearing fake wire rimmed glasses and holding a bizzare looking horn, a very serious look on his face. Loiva is wearing a fancy old school dress and a hat with a fake braid attached to the back, carrying a purse and a parisol. What? That was worth about a good 10 minutes of chuckling. I'm pretty sure I will laugh a little everytime I look at those pictures now. Meaning I will go out of my way to look at them everyday while I am here.

chuva de uva

chuva de uva literally translates to rain of grapes, but reign of grapes would be more appropriate. there have been lots, ands lots of grapes this week. mostly bordo grapes, which are sweet at first then make your mouth pucker with sour. these grapes stain hands, clothes, anything really. fingers, nails, caluses are the color of burnt umber. that is until loiva and i venture for manicures after this insanity is over.

work is different here. work is longer and more monotounous. it is not nicely divided up into different, entertaining sections throughout the day. it is the same thing 8-5(or 6, 7, or 8 depending on how much work needs to be done). yet, these brazilians remain happy, if not about the work, then about talking with each other. my mood began to fail me going on the 11th hour of sorting grapes. "megan, va a descansar" loiva told me, but i refused feeling too stubborn to give up and not wanting to rest while everyone else worked.

apparently it is also not uncommon to recieve deliveries of produce to your house very, very late at night. all cargos of fruit we have recieved here have been between 6 and 8 pm, when things are starting to cool down. when the cargo didn't arrive by 9 on saturday i figured that it would arrive the next day and took my long awaited shower. fast foreward five hours, i am blissfully sleeping, dreaming of, apparently, carrying crates of grapes from a truck into the vinicula. i can even here a rumbling motor, men talking, and the sound of heavy plastic crates hitting tile floors.

the next morning loiva asks if i heard the delivery last night. "delivery?" i ask. "yes, it came at two in the morning. oiii, i never sleep..."

there were shocking similarities between the grandparents of joão perdo and mine. i accompanied loiva to her parent's house in a nearby town. here we sat around the television in brightly colored lawn chairs (as opposed to recliners or couches), sipping çhimáro (erva maté) out of a wooden cup with a silver straw. instead of the livingroom where we would always gather with my grandparents, in brazil we sat in the sun room. both the sunroom and the livingroom are in close proximity to a window for spying on the comings and goings of the neighbors. much television was watched and the newpaper was read by every member of the group.

the beauty of not totally understanding everything that is being said is that sometimes you have no idea what you are getting yourself into. i realized this when loiva turned to me and said "i hope you brought a book, we're going to be here a while"- damn it, all i brought was my english portuguese dictonary. ricardo was on a business trip set to return late that night, to the house i thought; turns out he was meeting us at a casa dos pães.

the family was very nice, but i was feeling too shy to strike up a conversation. loiva never introduced us, and i believe for the majority of the evening they thought i didn't speak any portugese. so mostly i shared shy smiles and bashful looks with sr. and sra. parents of loiva.

the telenovela 'caminos do india' is over and im thinking it's time to go home. no movement. next up, another round of the news, okay. my mood started to sour and i became seriously unhappy when i realized that i would be there for the enirety of big brother brasil 2. and then some program about people and their pet dogs. and then, after loiva's mother almost shoved cookies and coca-cola down my troat, i fell asleep, head in my own lap. exausted, i had worked all day and it was way past my newly aquired 10pm bedtime. i am awoken at 1 am by ricardo arriving, a crying joão, i grunt in greeting to ricardo and zombie my way to the car. the entire ride back i curse my very grumpy existance.

the compound on which loiva's parents live is shared with two of the sons. they have a large piece of property with three houses on it and a large shared backyard. families are very close here in brasil, ricardo lives down the street from his parents and his 30 year old brother still lives at home. ricardo's mom comes over and watches joão every weekend and his dad helps out with all this grapey madness, i eat eggs from their chickens almost everyday. mom, don't get your hopes up, were not sharing a backyard...

leaving here soon! heading by bus to florianopolis, a beach infested island in the state of santa catarina. lots of european architecture, secluded beaches and surfers- i can't wait! next up, a trip to foz do iguaço, 3rd largest waterfall in the world. then, bussing it to brasilia, capital of brasil. catching a flight to belém capital of pará, a state in the amazon. from there meeting up with a friend of ricardo's and going to live and work on her farm. amazon, chocolate, brazil nut and guarana farm here i come. here's to eating açai everyday, hopefully.

i love you all, unless of course you don't love me, then the deal is off. until next time...

tchau!