Study Abroad: The End

It seems crazy to think that Cindy and I have been here for almost two months. It has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I can’t imagine having not come. Cindy is to thank for everything. She found out about it, set a plan for saving for it, and made sure we stuck to it! She is an amazing woman and having spent so much time with her here, it just reminds me all over again why I married her. We have loved every minute here in Brazil and encourage anyone who has ever had a little interest in going on a Study Abroad to DO IT. You’ll never regret it, and one day you may regret not having gone. You’ll learn more in two months in the field than you ever could in a year of class work. You come to love and understand the people more, you experience the culture first hand and try things you never imagined, you see life from a different perspective, and you grow so much personally that I find it crazy that they aren’t requirements. I have loved it here. I have loved the time in Recife, with the CCJ, with the Jones’, on the crappy buses, seeing the beautiful and old churches, seeing many different historical sites, eating all different types of food (both very good and very bad), visiting ancient cave paintings, seeing the reef in Porto de Galinhas, visiting two separate islands in Salvador, Riding buggies, seeing the awesome forts, swimming with dolphins, catching caiman, feeding monkeys, holding anacondas, and so so so so so much more. Not only did we have these experiences but we learned so much because of our Professor Vanessa who knows everything (seriously), and makes every experience more fulfilling by teaching us what it means. This has been an amazing experience and I am sad that it is over. I wish I could continue on as if time didn’t move but I guess the real world awaits me yet again. In a week I’ll be home working away but one thing will never change; I will never forget my time here in Brasil learning about the Brasilian people, culture, and way of life. It has been simply amazing.

Amazons: Part III Feeding Monkeys, 9 ft. Anaconda, a Sloth, and a walk through the Amazon Forest!

Today was just another awesome day here in the Amazons! I swear I could stay here forever and do something crazy every day for the rest of my life! Today we started off with a boat ride to a specific point of the Amazon River where two different types of water meet. One is the Rio Negro (Black River), and the other is the Rio Branco (White River). The Rio Negro is denser and moves slower, whereas the Rio Branco is faster but less dense. Because of this, you can see a specific divide between the two waters. It’s actually pretty cool.

Shortly after, we headed off to lunch on a floating restaurant. It seemed a weird concept, but on our way there we saw a lot of homes that actually floated. The water rises and falls so much that a lot of people just put their homes on huge logs and let them float. We got to the restaurant and we found monkeys! Monkeys, if you didn’t know, are my favorite animal, and I was preeeeeety excited. We were able to get some bananas and feed them. It was AWESOME. We then ate lunch and I, knowing the monkeys were waiting, stuck a lot of fruit in a napkin and pulled Cindy with me to go feed them some more! It was way fun and I swear one day I will own one. Seriously.

On our way back from the restaurant we stopped at this random floating house. A boy was sitting outside, and as soon as we got close he went inside and brought out a 9 ft. anaconda and a sloth. Apparently they catch them and let them stay in their homes to take care of rats and other little animals. Yeah, the kid was the only one home and he probably weighed about 100 pounds. I can’t imagine him babysitting that giant snake. But, I guess that’s just the norm in the amazons! The sloth was way cool too and he seemed really cute until he started trying to claw my head. I tossed the snake right on my shoulder after and held him for a pic. Yeah, it was way fun!

When we got back, we ate more awesome food then headed out shortly after for a walk through the Amazon forest. It is crazy how thick the forest is and if a jaguar came to attack, I would never know what hit me. Thankfully, they hunt mostly at night. Anyways, we saw some cool things such as leaves that the natives chew to cure malaria (they taste nasty btw), ants that you let crawl all over your hands and when you smash them they smell like perfume that also acts as insect repellant, and different traps that natives use to catch animals. It was pretty cool and out guide was a way funny guy.

Today was awesome and I am glad we had the chance to see more of the Amazons. These are things that few people will ever get the chance to do. I know for sure I will be bringing my kids here. This has been such a great day!

Amazons: Part II SWIMMING WITH PINK DOLPHINS!

Yeah, you read the title correctly; we swam with PINK DOLPHINS in the Amazon River today! It had to be one of the coolest experiences of my life! We began the day early taking an hour boat ride down the river to a location where a family has been feeding the dolphins for years and trying to help them thrive since they are quickly going extinct. They are fresh water dolphins, and they are a light grey on the top and very pink on the bottom. They are awesome animals.

When we got to the houses on the side of the river, we split into two groups and the first group went into about 4 feet of water onto a dock. As we did, a couple guys brought fish and started feeding the dolphins. We were able to touch them as they fed them, it was so awesome! After each group swam, we got some floaties and swam out into the river, probably 20 feet out, and swam with the dolphins. You could feel them going under your feet and sneaking up between us. They are wild so they weren’t jumping all over us, but they were really friendly and liked to play with us. It was amazing feeling them and being so near them. What I loved about being out there was how safe we felt. The Amazon River has piranha, alligators, and lots of other unkind creatures, yet with the dolphins around we were perfectly safe. They scare off other creatures so we are able to swim without dying. After yesterday’s experience with the piranha, I’m glad for that!

Next (yep, our day wasn’t over!) we went to meet an actual Indian tribe that shows their traditional dances and music. It was pretty interesting and they had all of us dance with them during one of the ritual dances. I had never seen anything like it so it was a cool experience.

Last of all, we went to a rubber museum where in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s they used to get rubber from the trees and ship it to Europe. At the time rubber was worth a lot of money and it was a gold mine in Manaus. Sadly, the museum we went to tells the story of a guy that used to basically enslave his workers and kill them like animals if they tried to leave. It was interesting to see how everything worked there, and it was gratifying to know that after all the murders the man committed he was eventually burned to death.

All in all, today was amazing. It was crazy fun, educational, and great! This was probably my favorite day in Brazil!

Amazons: Part I Piranha Fishing and Caiman Hunting

So today we didn’t really do anythingggg... yeah, it’s not like we started the day with a boat ride across the Rio Negro to a resort in the Amazon Rain Forrest. It’s not like we each have our own bungalows and can see caiman swimming around all over the place. Yeah, I definitely thought out trip down the river to fish for PIRAHNA was dull… right… oh yeah, we also went caiman spotting and were able to catch one. No big deal, we do this all the time here in the Amazons…

Seriously though, today was amazing. We really did go piranha fishing with bamboo sticks with hooks on the ends of them. We just stuck meat on the hook and fished them right out. I was able to catch five, but Cindy caught the monster piranha. There were two types we were catching, white or red ones. Our guide said the red are the most aggressive and live in huge swarms so they can strip a person to the bones in 5 minutes. The white ones aren’t quite as dangerous but they get to be bigger. The guys told us they are going to make a soup out of them. That’ll be interesting... I just want the teeth to keep as a souvenir!

We then started boating around looking for a caiman that we could catch. We got close to one but it was the other group that ended up pulling it in. It was so awesome! They are basically alligators that only get to like 4 feet long. It was so fun getting to hold one without having to risk losing some fingers.

The boat ride at night, on the Rio Negro, was beautiful. It was quiet except for the sound of random birds and lots of frogs. Even as I type this I can hear a bunch of frogs right out our door! Wanna know what tops off this perfect day? I have AC in my bedroom! Haha!

Goodnight! Don’t let the piranhas bite!

Opera in the Amazons

If there is one way to start off our trip in the amazons, I never thought seeing an opera would be the way to do it. Boy, was I wrong! We started off our day by visiting an opera house called the Amazon Theatre, which began construction in 1881 and was completed in 1896. The interior is beautiful, and it is incredible the work that went in to everything. Hand painted everything, marble stairs and statues from Italy, 36,000 decorated ceramic tiles, and 198 chandeliers imported from Italy. This is only the beginning of what we saw. It was incredible to see and to be able to walk through. We found out that later that day there would be an opera by a Korean group that was free at the opera house, so we decided to attend.

I had my doubts at first. I have not seen a decent opera for a while and I didn't know how good this group would be. The way they sang blew me away from the moment they started. It was EXCELLENT. They sang in German, Italian, Spanish, and probably French. It was beautiful music and they were such lively people that it made it incredibly fun. The entire time I couldn't believe that I was sitting in an opera house, built in 1896 during the reign, and at the request of, Dom Pedro II the Emperor of Brasil, in the middle of the amazons, listening to beautiful opera. It was such an amazing experience that I cannot properly describe it. It is one that if anyone ever has the chance, they should take it.

Fortaleza: Day II

We started out the day going to the biggest and nicest LDS church I have ever seen in Brasil. It was seriously huge, even for american standards. The meeting was nice and I enjoyed the message that the bishop gave at the end of the meeting.

We then went to the center again to see the whole reason for the city being called Fortaleza (meaning fortress). When we got to the center we had to talk to the guards there to make sure it would be alright if we took a look around. It was built in the 1600s and it is still used as a garrison in the city.

It was cool seeing the reasons for putting the fortress there. It has a great vantage point and with some long-shot cannons it would have been able to take out any ship that got relatively close to shore. It had towering 15 foot walls that surrounded everything and make it seriously impossible to climb up. Of course, I had my 4th opportunity to fire a cannon! (not really, but I like to pretend). It was cool to see.

We went back to see the ocean and try and find the dolphins again. Unfortunately, they didn't care to make a second appearance. Thankfully there were tons of kids jumping off the docks and they were entertaining enough, plus the beautiful ocean and nice breeze. It was a nice day to relax and now we just have to pack to get ready for Manaus! We have to leave at 3 am this morning for our 6 am flight, but then we'll be in the Amazons before 10! Woo!

Day I: Fortaleza

Today we had the opportunity to visit the city and see a lot of sites and get to know Fortaleza a little bit.  There was a lot to see today, and we started off by going to this long dock and seeing dolphins! It was seriously the best start to the day! Then we went and saw this huge Catholic church that was gigantic. It was very old and the outside looked pretty bad, but when you go inside it it newly renovated and beautiful! It had amazing vaulted ceilings that stained glass everywhere. We then proceeded to the Central Market where they have five levels of shops where you can buy anything related to the culture of Brasil, and more. Cindy and I have seriously redone our apartment with different things from Brasil, it'll be fun to see everything put together. We then went to a museum that was massive with three levels, and walked around for a while. It was fun to see the art and different styles of expression. They had these rugs made from individual pieces of cloth that would have taken a looong time to do. It was pretty cool to see.

Today was an awesome way to start our short trip to Fortaleza. What I enjoyed most was seeing people walking down this huge sidewalk in their families. It just showed how safe of an area it is and how people actually enjoy doing stuff as families. I like that about Brasil.

The Cathedral we visited

 The Central Market

The Museum