Brazil

Ok…here’s the rest of Brazil…I am going to try and get all caught up here so…bear with all the reading:

Day Two in Lencois:
The group of 24 was split in two, so that things would go by faster and easier on each of the trips we were doing. My group was Dave, Bennett, Tiffany, Tina, Brenna, Team Bauer, Matt, Alex, Kim, Roberto, and Liz. Our agenda for the day: hike from the hotel to the Chapada Diamantia caves and go bungee jumping. WOOHOO! Ok. So I was stoked. The 6 AM wake up call wasn’t my favorite thing but hey…it was totally worth it. We were greeted in the lobby by a fantastic little breakfast which included the best mango I have ever put in my mouth, fresh made cakes, meat, breakfast potatoes etc. it was delicious. After breakfast we headed out on our trek…the rain clouds were looming and decided to open up on us from the get go. It started off as a sprinkle and then as the day went on, eventually ended up in an all out down pour. I loved it…walking through the vegetation of lencois in the pouring down rain…it doesn’t get much better. The hike took about an hour. We stopped along the way to check out this cute little water fall thing, and then proceeded on up to the cave. Before we got to the opening we checked out the awesome view ( I promise I will show you all pictures later), and headed down to the mouth. On the way, Tina took a bad fall and ended up bleeding everywhere. But she took it like a champ and continued on…I was proud. Now she has this ridiculously awesome scar. Anyway, we got to the opening of the cave and I got really excited…I don’t know if you know this but spelunking just happens to be one of my favorite past times…I am ONE HELL OF A SPELUNKER! Haha…so we had to go down into the cave and then waited for a bit for people to catch their breath and get flashlights if they wanted them (not for me…no way…I was going in Jack style). We hiked down into the earth for about an hour maybe…one part included dangerously scaling a cliff while hanging one by my fingernails…ok im lying. We did have to go down one by one at a certain area though…that was pretty risky…yah…it was steep. When we were done with the dangerous scaling of the walls, we took a break at the bottom and began to hear the sound of rushing water. Dan, our amazing tour guide got really exited and told us that we would be able to swim…whhaaaat?!? Swim? In a CAVE?? Sign me up baby! Deep deep down further into the cave we went until we came across the rushing water. It was awesome. We all stripped down to our bathing suits and hopped in. The water felt amazing, as we had been hiking for a very long time (ps Brazil is HOT). We goofed around for a bit, and then Daniel called us over to all sit in a circle. If you forgot from the last blog, he is the awesome hippy, we are one with the earth, guy. We all sat down and he had us scoot so that we were all touching and then he told us to all hold hands. He then told us that he was going to turn off the lights, and we should all sit and trying and think of something that we didn’t want anymore…something that we wanted the water to just wash away. He also told us to keep our eyes open…so they turned the lights off and its amazing how dark it is in caves….yah…no light. It was truly a moving experience…sitting there, eyes open in complete darkness, bonding with my peers and feeling like one with nature. Then Daniel told us that we were going to make the sound of the universe, to realize that we are all nature…we are one and the same. So we made the ommmmmm sound a few times…I was deeply touched by that moment. Then we had a splash war in the dark and that was fun. We swam around for a bit longer and then proceeded to get out clothes back on and climb on out of the cave. Now…climbing in this cave was no easy task. First of all….my tennis shoes were sopping due to the downpour and then the walking in the cave water. Second, rocks are loose and jagged…yah...i have many a cave battle wound…I would appreciate it if you would call me the cave warrior from now on. The end of the cave ended up being this gigantic opening, the top of which we were informed, we would be bungee jumping off of…excuse me? No bridge? Just the top of a cave/cliff? Sweet…I might die today. We sat down in the opening and had our lunches…my final lunch in my end as I was going to die. It was some chicken thing, but it was orange and had corn and raisins and such…I thought it was delicious…and it was my last meal ever so I had to savor it. After lunch we climbed up to the top of the cliff…quite a hard climb actually. Some people decided to go rapelling…I thought screw that. I have done that before and we are bungee jumping here people! So we went to the edge of the cliff and discovered that the bungee cord was actually held up by bolts put in the rocks…uhhhhh? Ok…so now this is called the cliff of impending doom. Our buddy Matt was up first because he was the biggest guy (Bennett…the 6’4 huge, amazingly attractive, german guy was peeing). Matt was adorable and scared. I was trying to be the positive counselor only I don’t know how I managed because I was pretty scared myself. The routine was, you jump, the guy rappels down to get you, then rappels you down to the ground and then runs back up the cliff of impending doom to get the next person ready. Matt jumped and his fall was totally silent…loved it. Then Bennett went…its funny. He was the biggest most masculine looking guy there (in terms of muscles) and he was TERRIFIED. He almost didn’t do it…disappointing. After they went, the guide turned around and said ok…who wants to go next? Ok so there goes the whole they pick for you thing…I immediately raised my hand. I was READY. Bring it on cliff of impending doom! I’ll take you! (this is what we call pumping ourselves up before death). So they started putting on all the harnesses and stuff…then team bauer came up. I was thankful for that…at least I got to say my last goodbye right? Haha ok I’m being ridiculous now…I wasn’t that scared…a little bit but not TOO bad. Anyway…they strapped me up and then it was time to slide down my butt to the edge of the cliff. Oh geez. I slid down and I had to stand on this little rock jutting out from the side of the cliff, and the bungee guy was holding me. No more time to think now kids. Arms out, get ready to swan dive. The guy let go of my harness, I got the 3-2-1 countdown (I actually almost jumped on 2…I WAS READY MAN!) and I dove…the thing about this doom cliff is that you cant really see the ground where you are going to be falling until you JUMP OFF OF IT. I jumped…saw how far I was actually going to be falling…and screamed like a 5 year old girl. Most of you who know me know, that I AM NOT A SCREAMER…apparently I am deep down. I fell, I snapped back up…I feel again…ahhhh! It was AMAZING! I loved it…so much. For anyone who hasn’t bungee jumped…you must. And I DIDN’T DIE! Yesssss. Swaying back and forth I felt like I was on top of the world…only upside down. The bungee guy rappelled down and got me upright then got be down to the ground. He told me it was a BEAUTIFUL jump over and over…yah that’s right. I am the bungee champ! I walked over to my friends at the bottom, still on a ridiculous high and I just laid down and pondered life for awhile. Then team bauer came hurling over the cliff…atta babe. We all sat and waited for everyone to go…unfortunately it began to pour again so 4 of the people didn’t get to go (they ended up going on the last day). We hung out under the overhang of the cliff, hoping the rain would stop but it didn’t. I decided to go rappelling…why not. It was better than sitting around so I went…I was soaked to the bone, but it was fun. Eventually we all figured the rain wasn’t going to stop so we started to head out. The walk back was fun. I had a nice conversation with Daniel about Brazil and his family and such. I seriously love that guy. We got back to the hotel and Daniel informed us that we were going to Palmieras, a small town about an hour away, for their carnival celebration. We were soaked, filthy and smelled like goats and we had an hour before dinner. Ready go. I hung my wet clothes out the window, took a quick shower and was ready in no time. We walked down to dinner along the side of this little creek and went to this place for a big slab of steak. Mmmmm. Team Bauer and I split an order, and so did Kim and Brenna, then we all kinda shared. It was very good. I tried the local drink…Capeiras (I totally just butchered that)…it was lime and sugar and alcohol….soooo strong! I think there were mint leaves in there too. It wasn’t my favorite, but what can you do. After dinner we all piled into vans and headed to Palmieras. Kikio attempted to teach me and Brenna portugese…yah I don’t remember any of it. Oops. Then I told him I was in love with his laugh. The end. We got to Palmieras and immediately heard music. We made our way over to the square and saw a huge stage with a chick and two very non-masculine guys dancing around in cut off jean shorts and we found beer and started dancing right away. PS I like Brazilian beer…and I don’t like beer. But everything I tried in Brazil was actually very tasty. We danced around for a bit and then the big bus with the band started to move, so we followed it to the next block and found another big ol’ stage. While we were following the bus, I got tapped on the shoulder and some random guy handed me a beer…thank you boobs. I took it and his friend tried to started dancing on me, but the guy was a little bit of a creeper so Kevin came and saved me and told the guy to dance with Monica…thanks team bauer…you rock. So there we were in the middle of this big square thing dancing the night away…it was awesome. Brenna and I took a break from dancing for a minute and we paused to talk and some random brazilian in an orange shirt grabbed me and shoved his tongue down my throat…WHOA! Uncalled for! It’s carnival…to be expected I guess, but WHOA! Yah I shoved him off in a heartbeat…anyway… we danced all night…it was fun…really fun actually. You all know how much I love me some dancing. As the night came to a close we gathered the group together and headed back into the vans (not before team bauer and kikio performed a lovely copiera reenactment) and passed out for the drive…we were exhausted.

Day Three Lencois:

After an extremely long night of partying at carnival, our 5 30 wake up call….what’s the word…SUCKED! We were sore from dancing and hiking, but our adventures were calling so we painfully and slowly dragged ourselves out of bed. Agenda for the day: hike 4.5 miles up a mountain to see one of the tallest waterfalls in the world, Smoke Falls. WOOHOO! No room for a hangover here kids…we’re goin’ on a hike! Breakfast was delicious again (3 cups of coffee and yummy mango later)…we headed to the vans to drive to the mountain. I had a good talk with Liz…that was fun. I like getting to know new people. Anyway…as we approached the mountain people kept saying things like “oh my gosh , we’re climbing THAT! Uggghhh” …so I refused to look out the window. I was stoked for the hike and didn’t want anything to get in the way of that…when I say mountain…I mean mountain here people. We signed our lives away to the park, lathered up on the sunscreen, and started up the mountain. The first hour was very strenuous…yes I was sweating, breathing hard and I definitely felt the burn. I rocked it out to the first checkpoint though, and got to wait for about 20 minutes for the rest of the group to catch up. From there, Kevin and I rocked it out Team Bauer style and kicked that mountains behind (only to be said like Bill Cosby in “Himself”)…we actually lost the group and got to sit and wait for everyone to catch up again. be in awe of our mountain climbing skills, because, basically…we are studs. (Yes I just said studs). I ate my lunch while we waited…banana, mozzarella, and raisins…it sounds gross but it might be my new favorite thing. I strongly recommend that you all try it. When everyone else caught up, we continued and had to wade thigh deep in this pool thing. IT ROCKED! I am a woman of the wilderness…then it started raining and we were soaked…again. The rest of the hike was pretty mild…we were walking through puddles and such…that was fun. It took about forever, but eventually Me, Dave, Kevin, Tina, Bennett, and Alex could hear the sound of the rushing water. We still couldn’t see the actual falls, but we had to cross through the river using a rope as leverage. We posed for a nice photo op, and then continued on up to top. The funny thing is, when we got to the top, we still couldn’t see the waterfall. All I could see were people crowded around the cliff edge…hmmm ok. So we get up there and (enter random side story here: The first night we were in lencois we decided to go check out the town. There was a culture fair going on and that was cool but I wasn’t in the mood to buy things so me, brenna, and team bauer wondered around and found a place for a cold beer where we could sit outside. So we sat down and were obsessing over this huge frog that was hopping around, when one of the locals came over and joined us. His name was Valdimar. Well…it turns out that Valdimar fell in love with me and wanted me to meet up with him so he could teach me the Lambada…I totally would have done it, but we were at Carnival so…oh well. Anyway…He was head over heels and then we had to go…sad day for Valdimar)…ok…back to waterfall: We got to the top and there was Valdimar…what the heck?!? Random! We were like an hour outside of Lencois and up a mountain…anyway…it was a cool small world experience, so we chatted for a bit, but then I wanted to see the waterfall. Apparently, the only way to do that was to belly crawl to the edge of the cliff, and stick your head over. Cliff of impending doom number two. I crawled out and stuck my head over (some random brazilian was holding my feet….right…that’s gonna help if I go hurling over the edge of the tallest waterfall in the world). I lean over and I was looking down on the waterfall…it was beautiful. I have awesome pictures for you all. I was officially on top of the tallest waterfall in the world. YES! It was so worth the 4.5 mile hike up the mountain. After we were all done drooling over the waterfall (and the 40 year old guy in nothing but a speedo) we started to head down due to impending rain. On the way down the mountain I had a really great talk with Daniel about globalization and super powers taking things away from native peoples. It was really interesting…that guy is so smart. We also talked about his family a bit more and I found out that his 10 month old was in school. A little early if you ask me, but he was all about it. I could sit and talk to Daniel all day. The way down the mountain wasn’t too great on the ol’ ACL, but oh well…I rocked it out anyway. At one point we passed this girl who had hurt her ankle and one of the locals but her on his shoulders and hiked down the mountain like that the whole rest of the way. I was definitely impressed. Once at the bottom, brenna and I found a hose and washed all the mud and gunk off of us. Valdimar found me again (he had previously been talking to his friends about kissing a certain American girl...) RIGHT! Not gonna happen buddy! Anyway he found me and I managed to get out with his email address only…props to me for working that situation. We climbed into the vans, exhausted after hiking 9 miles and headed back to Lencois. The next event was the Peace group that we hung out with the first night was coming to the hotel to teach us some dances, and the hotel people were making us home made pizza. Hanging out with the Brazilians was so awesome. We had a couple of improv singing things, and they showed us some dancing. To trade off we decided to teach them the hokey pokey…I made friends with one of the little boys (he was probably about 7) and he became my dancing buddy. It was so fantastic. We had another sit down conversation, on why we wanted to go to Brazil, and why we chose to do Semester at Sea. A lot of people ended up in tears…it was so awesome hearing what they thought about us. They said that we gave them hope for Americans, as we wanted to learn about the world and spread the idea that we are all one global community. It was really just fantastic. We got a great group photo, and then went down for pizza…it was delicious. The locals hung out with us and we tried to communicate, but the language barrier was a bit rough. We just laughed it off and had a good time anyway. Some of the people decided to go out and party that night, but I decided to just go to bed. I was wiped and the next morning was going to be another early one. Goodnight to another great day in Lencois.

Day Four:

The original plan was to go to the Enchanted Pool, was is this really awesome deep blue pool thing, but because of the rain, the water was going to be black and it was really far away, so there really wasn’t a point in going. The guides made some adjustments and took us to a smaller waterfall/river. We saw monkeys. That was awesome. To cross the river we walked on this bridge that consisted of rope and two tree trunks. It was awesome. We hiked for a bit and then came to the waterfall. It wasn’t huge like the other one, but it was beautiful none-the-less. There were talks of jumping off, but the guides said it was too dangerous. Dang. I really wanted to do it. We went back to the lodge place (where we got out of the vans) and some of the people decided to swim and jump off rocks. I wasn’t feeling it…I didn’t want to deal with a wet suit in the car and I have jumped off plenty of rocks…so I was the picture chick. I decided that this is the one and only time I wont be adventurous…something came over me. Be disappointed if you will. Anyway, I got some cool pictures, it started pouring again, and we got back in the vans. We had one more thing to do before meeting up with the bus and the rest of the group: Climb to the best view point of Chapada Diamantia. The road up to this trail was so bumpy and out of control, but I loved it. We got up to the trail and only 5 of us wanted to go…lame-o’s…why would you stay in the van??!? We are in BRAZIL! I don’t care how tired you are!!!! Ok…that’s my mini-vent. Anyway, the 5 of us that wanted to do it got out and started up. The hike up way only about 20 minutes. We got to the top, my camera battery died, and we saw an amazing view of the park. We hung out there for a bit, our guides told us the traditional stories, and then we had to climb down so we could meet the bus. It was a good ending to Lencois. When we loaded the bus back up, I ended up sitting with Dave and we slept for a bit. Then…we decided, that since we were going to the biggest party in the world very shortly, that we had to pre-funk for it. So, Bennett told the bus driver to stop and he ran in and got whiskey and coke. OOOOHHH man that was a fun bus ride. We were taking shots and then we started singing songs and rocking out…it was so much fun. Definitely a bonding experience. When we got back to Salvador we were informed that we had approximately 5 minutes to get on the boat, change for carnival and get back on the bus. SWEET! Ok…ready goà get off bus; wait in line and take picture of Kevin and Bennett being ridiculous; get searched; run to room; put on 150 dollar tee-shirt for bloco; put on jeans; put money in shoes; throw hair in ponytail; shave armpits; put on makeup; spray perfume to cancel out smell of goat; and sprint back to bus. Yah I was one of the first ones out there…props to chicks who know how to get ready baby! Haha…anyway…we found a beer vendor and bought a couple for the bus, then hopped on and left for downtown Salvador. We got there and found our bloco, which is a trio electrico (a giant bus with a band playing on it) and a bunch of people in the same shirts. All the blocos are roped off, and you dance the streets of Salvador for six miles. Oh man…I was excited. We had a while before the parade was going to start so we all hung out and got drinks. Then we got a bottle of pee thrown on us…then I got burned by a cigarette. That was AWESOME. So it didn’t start off too great, but once the music started we didn’t even care. We started dancing and having fun…I loved it. We were all hanging out and having the best time…everyone was dancing with each other. We were jammed into our bloco…there were so many people. SAS had told the girls to be careful about the boys, so at first we were watchful…then we found out that we were in the gay bloco! SWEET! Hahaha Kevin got groped and kissed more than I did…it was so funny. I got my fair share of blue and white beads but that was by CHOICE…Carnival is like Mardi Gras on crack…you do what you gotta do for beads man. MOM, DAD: DON’T WORRY MY CLOTHES DID NOT COME OFF! Haha…anyway we danced the night away. Tiffany was a genius and brought a wrap on her head so when we had to pee, we left the bloco, squatted on the sidewalk behind the sarong and went right there…it was so liberating. The dancing and festivities lasted for 8 hours…it was euphoric. The bonding between the group was awesome…some people decided to leave early, but Me, Team Bauer, Tina, Dave, and Shelly made it the whole six miles. For the total time in Brazil we hiked/danced over 20 miles. GREAT EXERCISE! It rocked. At the end of the parade, we found a taxi back to the ship and went and passed out after attending the biggest, craziest party in the world.

Last Day in Brazil:

The last day of Brazil, we slept in until lunch. We were out so late the night before that I don’t feel bad. Team Bauer and I met up with Dani and Jordi and decided to check out the little market close to the port. We walked, found a bank for an ATM and found the market. It was cool…there were a ton of little vendors shoved into this huge building and it was overcrowded, but I got some fun things anyway. It was good to see Captain and baby jesus again….i had missed them. After shopping we went back to the ship and got ready for the ultimate goal of going to brazil: the brazilian steakhouse. For those of you who have never experienced this…I am truly sorry. Fully preparing myself, I put on my stretchy goucho pants and we left the boat around 5 30. Baby Dan and Piano Man joined the group as well. We shoved ourselves into a cab and went to the restaurant. Team Bauer was salivating the minute we walked in the door. We had to wait for a bit for a table, but it was all fine because they brought us delicious cheeseball things…if you know me, you know that’s my heaven, so I was excited already. When we sat down, we saw the grand buffet and were told to go there first then wait. The host handed up a metal thing with a green side that said ‘yes meat’ and a red side that said ‘no meat.’ Ok…so this is how it works: you go to the buffet and get the stuff that looks good, then people come around to your table and serve you all your meat from a sword thing. They just cut you off a piece. They brought sirloin, fillet mignoin, ribeye, flank, ribs, chicken hearts, Cornish hens, ribs of cows, lamb, salmon…pretty much just about any thing you can think of. They also brought delicious sides like fried bananas, cheeseballs, rice/shrimp dishes…oh my gosh I was in heaven. I ate myself pregnant that night. SOOOOO good…I want to go back and I am drooling just thinking about it right now. Team Bauer was the winner of the evening…he is a bottomless pit I tell you. I took a strong second…yes I out ate the rest of the boys…would you expect anything less? Then captain and I split quite possibly the best dessert in the world. It was this chocolate…thing. I don’t even know how to explain it so I am giving up. During the course of the meal, baby jesus realized she lost her phone, so when we were done we got to go on an adventure through Salvador trying to track down the cab driver that drove us to the restaurant. We found him and he didn’t have the phone. Dang. So got back on the ship, hardly able to move due to extreme fullness, and became depressed because we were leaving. Pulling away from Brazil was definitely sad, but I was also looking forward to Africa.
I learned so much about myself and the world in Brazil. I don’t know if I mentioned this already, but my friend referred to it as a spiritual orgasm, and I definitely agree with him. It was awesome…I cant wait to sit and talk about it with each of you who read this. For now… I am going to go prepare for an exam. I hope you enjoyed living vicariously through me in Brazil