Brazil!

Well, we are headed home. We left Salvador last night and are heading straight north to Fort Lauderdale. We have 2 days of classes, 2 study days, 3 exam days, a packing day, a re-entry day, and then we wake up on the coast of Florida. I don’t fully understand that we are coming home, that we don’t have any more ports to stop at, no more cultures to experience, no more people to meet.

Brazil was amazing; I went to Chapada National Park and spent the night on the rocks downstream from a waterfall. All in all we hiked between 25 and 30 kilometers in two days and swam in 2 waterfalls and went down one natural water slide. You know how people want to be ski bums out in Colorado after they graduate? Well, I want to be a Chapada bum. The town we met our guides in, Lincois (the c has the squiggly over it) was about 8,000 people and such a vibrant place. Everyone was so nice and even though none of us spoke Portuguese our Spanish actually got us around pretty well. When we got back from hiking we had about 5 hours before our bus left for Salvador and so we hung out with our two guides, Yuri and Anderson, and got some dinner and drinks. We also went to a capoera session that was going on in the main square. The masters where facing off with each other and their students, some of which could not have been older than 3 or 4. Then we just sat in the square and listened to people playing music and just soaked in the atmosphere. It was amazing! And our guides were great. During the trek Yuri would stay with the back of the group and Anderson would lead the way. Also, both of them were barefoot. And here we Americans were with our sturdy running shoes and we were still complaining about our feet. And this was some serious hiking! Up one mountain, down through the valley, up another, and then down to the river that we slept by. Also, “lunch” didn’t happen until around 5:00, and then we had dinner at 7:00. If we had done this in the US we would have had to sign so many release forms and safety waivers. We were walking along the edges of cliffs, scrambling up and down rocks, and jumping streams. Don’t worry MaPa, I was a safe little girl. I was usually up by Anderson and when he would stop to wait for the rest of the group he and I would have broken conversations in his Portuguese and my Spanish. He taught me some words and I taught him English words. It was pretty fun to try and communicate when words were so different. That is one of the many things I have really learned on this trip: you don’t always need words to make friends, just smiles, gestures, and happiness.
Now we are back on the ship and finishing up all the papers and projects that are due way too soon. But hey, we just went around the world….I think I can handle a little school work. J