I finally did it.. I got a blog!!:D I have been
wanting to start one for a long time but I never got around to it. I have loved
reading my friends blogs so I am very excited to start!! What inspired me and
gave me the motivation to finally do it is my upcoming trip to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
which is in 1 week from today!! :D I wanted my family and friends and
anyone else who is interested to be able to follow what I am doing while there.
I figure this way I don’t have to blow up everyone’s news feed on Facebook and
Instagram with my every detail (tho I’m sure I still will a little ;)). I want to thank Brooke Bingham for helping me
set this up. She showed me everything I needed to know, then I played around
and customized it myself.
For
those of you who don’t know, Brooke and I are going to Rio De Janeiro for one
month. We leave May 30 and get back June 30. We are going with a humanitarian group
called International Volunteers Headquarters (IVHQ) and will be living in a volunteer house. Check them out here: http://www.volunteerhq.org/
Brooke knew someone who volunteered with IVHQ
and decided to look into it and go somewhere herself. Last year she went to
China for 2 months. I've got to admire her courage, not only for leaving for 2 months but for going out of the country for the first time ALONE... and in CHINA nonetheless. She said she had pretty big culture shock :p She also said IVHQ
was reliable and not out for your money so we know it’s a trustworthy program to
volunteer with.
A couple of weeks before she left, we were
hanging out, discussing her trip and talking about how we wish I were going,
knowing that it was impossible at that point to even try. We decided that we
would plan a trip together when she got back. We both made it very clear to the
other that we were serious about doing this. No saying we will then never doing
it and no backing out. So… we held true to our word. There were so many countries
to choose from. We were thinking maybe Cambodia, South Africa, Ghana or
somewhere in South America. South America stood out to me for some reason so
together we chose out of our options which were Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador and 2
different areas in Peru. Of course we learned later that we chose one of the
most expensive countries IVHQ offers. We would. :p However, it’s still a great
deal, IVHQ is very cheap, especially compared to other programs. We couldn’t be
more excited about our decision!!!
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| Rio De Janeiro, Brazil |
With IVHQ there are multiple programs within
each country. Brazil had options such as working with children, a sports
program, building homes in the Favelas, community development, Carnival and
teaching English. We chose working with children and are hoping to help out with the sports program, teaching English and maybe building homes as well. (Brooke
was able to do multiple projects in China). We will be working with kids at
a type of day care between 4-8 hours a day (if I remember right, you get to choose
your hours). The kids at this day care are brought there to keep them out
of the streets, away from drugs, prostitution, etc. and we
teach them things they can use in life to get them somewhere, help them
discover hobbies and interests, etc. I obviously don’t
know much about these kids situations or this day care yet but I will post more
about it when I’m there.
With IVHQ, when you are not volunteering, you have free
time to do what you want. They of course have rules for safety but they let
you travel and explore the city/country you are in. Brooke and I plan to see Cristo
Redentor which is Christ the Redeemer. If you don’t know what
that is, it is a 98 foot high statue of Jesus Christ on top of a mountain overlooking and watching over the city of Rio. It is one of the original 7
wonders of the world. We are also going hang gliding over the city (a common
hobby there), going to Jardim Botânico,
a large botanical garden, taking a cable car ride to Sugarloaf Mountain, visit ing Escadaria Selarón, the world famous steps,
relax on the famous beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana, etc. etc.
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| Cristo Redentor |
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| Escadaria Selarón, world famous steps |
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| Sugarloaf Mountain |
The Amazon Rainforest. Yeah, we are actually
going there!!! I can’t even believe it! Brooke and I booked an internal flight and a hotel
in Manaus, Brazil for 2 nights. (I really wish we would have booked more
but 3 days is better than none). Our hotel is called Ariau Amazon Towers and
it is located in the treetops of the Amazon Rainforest. Guest comments have
said it has a beautiful view, you can hear the sounds of the rainforest, wild
monkeys like to explore around the hotel and the rooms are comfortable. The hotel offers
package deals for Amazon tours. With our package we will be going trekking
through the rainforest (I can’t even imagine what we will see:D), alligator
spotting, piranha fishing, we’ll meet an actual Amazonian tribe and we will be
swimming (in clean, filtered water) with the rare pink dolphin!!! It’s so
surreal. Just WOW!! …As for traveling, we are also hoping to get to Iguazu
Falls at some point but we will see where money takes us.
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| Ariau Amazon Towers Hotel |
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| The Amazon Rainforest |
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Just a Jaguar hanging out in the Amazon. Can you imagine seeing this?!
I should be nervous but I'd be ecstatic!! :p
|
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| The Amazonian Rare Pink River Dolphin |
So you can imagine how excited we are!!! We have been waiting and preparing for this trip for 9 months. We are SO ready to go. Nothing left to do now but start the anti-Malaria pills, pack and enjoy our flight!!:D
Brooke has been one of my very best and most
cherished friends for about 2 years now. We met at a nursing home we both
worked at and instantly clicked! I am so beyond grateful that I get to have
this adventure with her. This is the experience of a lifetime and I can’t
imagine it with anyone else. We are hoping to go somewhere every year. J
I am so grateful for her and this opportunity we both have to do this.
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| Me and Brooke at Lava Hot Springs |
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| New beach towels. SOOO ready to hit the beach!!! |
I would like to end this blog with the reassurance that yes, Brooke and I will be safe and careful and won’t do anything stupid. ;)
