A few stories from the past month and a half

Well folks, I know I haven't really written anything here, buuut, I figured not many people were following me, so this last post is more for me than anything, but here is a summary of everything. Ive spent the last month and a half in Salvador, and it has been amazing! I spent two weeks in the neighborhood Mussurunga with a girl Couchsurfer named Tiana. She was super sweet, and it was good for me because she didnt speak english so I got to practice my portuguese! Than after that I ended up in this house with 5 guys studying here to become Petroleum Engineers, one of the best jobs in Brazil. I celebrated Carnaval with them and it was CRAZY! Ive never seen so many people. It was also a little frightening at times, people getting beat up by cops, fights breaking out, people passed out on the ground. It was utter chaos but not always so scary, it was definitely mostly fun. It was hard work to party this hard for 6 days straight, and took its toll on my feet. One day the pain was so bad I decided to go to one of the hospital booths and I was hoping to get some aspirin or something, next thing I know they are telling me to roll over and they pull down my shorts and give me a shot in my butt, good news is it really helped my feet hurt less, bad news I have no idea what the heck it was they gave me and it hurt! I was also really lucky, I was able to sneak into a bunch of really expensive stuff for free, so of course thats a good thing. Since Carnaval, Ive been taking it easy for sure, Im still staying with the engineers, and they have been a godsend, I couldnt have asked for nicer people to get to spend my last month with, I am VERY lucky. However, since it is so comfortable here and they have a pool, I spend most of my days at the house, but hey Ive been travelling around for over five months, Im ready to just relax and live, so thats what Im doing, Im done playing tourist. Its hard to believe Im coming home so soon though, trying to get all the stuff ready, lists of everything I will need to buy and do when I get home, seeing as I only have 4 days before I have to head up to school, its going to be a hard transition for sure! There will be one last post after this, on my thoughts and feelings on this whole trip, so look forward to that!

Lençois and the Chapada Diamantina

So my latest stop, solo, is Lençois, and it is where I currently am! And it is absolutely gorgeous and megical! The town itself is very neat, and actually reminds me of Vashon, there are lots of hippies, a population of about 12,000, no chains, just local stores and restaurants, it is all very peaceful and nice. As it turns out I arrived one day after the beginning of a two week long festival here, so there is a street that is filled with stands and games and toys for the children, a little reminescent of Strawberry Festival, and there is also a concert every night, which I have yet to attend, due to the very hiking intensive days Ive been having that just tire me out way too much! But I arrived on Monday night, almost didnt get my luggage from the bus because the man who took my luggage and put it on the bus in Salvador didnt give me the slip so that I could pick it up when I arrived, so I was screwed, but luckily the cousin of my host family from Salvador was there to pick me up so he could help me, and after a lot of hastling I got my bags! The next day we went on a hike to two different waterfalls, and then do this river, it was all very beautiful, and its interesting because the water is really orange because of the sediments, mostly iron, so it makes the water look kinda dirty, but it isnt. Then I had a realzing night in preparation for the many hikes I was gonna do the next day. So yesterday I got up nice and early and set out on guided tour of the Chapada Diamantina. The first stop was a hike to this beautiful waterfall and a place to swim, which was very nice, seeing as it was hot and the hike was a bit trecherous! There were also people ziplining into the water, which was entertaining to watch. Then we went to this cave, which was my favorite part. We hiked really far into this huge cave, guided by a man holding a gaslit lantern, and halfway through the cave we all sat down, and he turned out the light, and we were plunged into absolute darkness, I don't think there is anywhere in the world where you could find a place so dark, your eyes never adjusted, it was just pure blackness, it was quite an experience, very interesting and a nice two minutes to think in silence. The next stop was another river for swimming in, the water was super blue and clear though and it was very beautiful, although there were a lot of little fish that followed me around and I definitely felt a few try and take nibbles outta me! So we got to relax there and eat lunch, very enjoyable. Then we headed to this cave where the water is supposed to be very clear and blue, which it was, but compared to what I had seen in Bonito it wasnt that impressive, but it was still nice. The last stop was a hike up the mountains and a view of the whole Chapada, which used to be an ocean millions of years ago, so it was very nice, but I was very exhausted by the end of the day and took a little snooze in the car. And today Im going to this big natural waterslide, so that should be cool, than I am heading back to Salvador!! I cant wait for that, and in a few weeks its Carnaval!!! Then the madness really begins!

Belo Horizonte ''Nao tem mar, mas tem bars''

So after my sister and I got too fed up with each other, we decided to part ways for the time being (without knowing it would be the last time we were together in Brazil) And I headed for Belo Horizonte and she headed to Floripa to see her boyfriend. It was a much called for escape from each other and turned out to be one of my favorite times in Brazil. My first host was a guy named Cidão, and he was awesome, and he had two ADORABLE dogs! My first night there he took me out to a bar with his friends and showed me what Belo Horizonte was all about: drinking. One of their friends, Jordan, is an actor there so I got to go to two plays he was in, and while I didnt understand most of the words that were said, they were comedies, so I could pick up on a few of the funny parts. And like I said, I am willing to try everything once, so on my second day, we went to the big Market and started drinking, again, only this time there was a twist! There was a shop next to the bar that sold fish, so Cidão went and bought a fish for everyone and we all had to grab it outta the bad, alive, and drop it into our beer glasses and swallow the fish whole and alive! I thought for sure I would gag or something, but it actually went down pretty easy! The rest of my time there in Belo had its ups and downs, but thankfully I was surounded by the nicest people ever! Highlights include getting to see different cover bands at Rock n Roll Bars, including The Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2, and Queen, and they were actually pretty decent cover bands, i was impressed! But the best part of the city was definitely the people I met and the friends I made! I definitely spent the first half of my time there drinking way too much, but hey, its the place in Brazil that has the most bars per amount of people, and thats what they do, so I was just trying to adapt to local customs!! Anyways, I was supposed to only spend one week there, but due to some complications one week turned into one and a half and one and a half turned into two and a half, the poor people I was staying with just couldnt get rid of me! So instead they just moved me to a different house! Both places I stayed were amazing and both the families were super nice, and one day I slaved away in the kitchen for three hours cooking up a big delicious meal for the family and my friends, and it was a great success, everybody loved it and wanted the recipes! But alas, all good things have to come to an end, and I had to leave, but I miss this place everyday, and Im thinking of the ways I can make it back there soon!!

Side note on Soccer: I went to a soccer match, it wasnt a very big one so there were only a couple thousand people at the stadium but it was still a blast, I love the passion they have for soccer here, its incredible! I also love the fact they have cheers that everyone know and does and that it ususally involved swearing, they really how to make the games fun and exciting. But the security measures there are INSANE, there are police everywhere!! They sell food but you have to eat it with a plastic spoon, no forks and knives allowed (mind you its big peices of meat you are trying to eat) there is a HUGE ditch between the field and the stands so people dont rush the field, although people do still try to jump the pit. Also, the refs have to be escorted on and off the field by six cops(fully armed with beaters and shields), sports down here are a totally different story than in America but I much prefer the utter madness of it all down here!

Rio de Janeiro

Haha so it has been forever, doubt anybody bothers to check this anymore, but for my sake Im going to write some more because I have time to kill! Rio was VERY fun, we had crazy times there. Highlights include seeing Christ the Redeemer statue (besides the fact it took over 3 hours just to reach the statue and it was a BIG pain in the ass) Getting to party in Lapa, a really neat district in Rio that is most known for the ancient aqueducts that are lit up at night and really make for a picturesque neighborhood, also, thanks to the four days of HEAVY rain, that caused the street we were staying on to flood, and therefore we had to trek through half a foot of rain water mixed with trash anytime we wanted to leave. But it was all for a reason, the four days before New Years were terrible and wet but I woke up on New years eve to sun, and it stayed that way all through the celebrations (despite the man on the street selling umbrellas shouting VAI CHUVER, its going to rain). New Years was spectacular, the fireworks were amazing, and I cant imagine a better way to ring in the new year than swimming in the warm ocean and playing like children well into the night! It was an experience to say the least. But alas, we ate out too much, drank too much, and partied too much, and now we have no money, but was it worth it, I think so!