The Beginning of my Adventure!!

 

 

The following blog post was written on Saturday June 8, 2013, just 10 days from when we arrived in Brazil. Okay so I get an A+ in procrastination!! I really regret not posting as I went but I’m glad I wrote them at least. :) This post is kind of long and I considered cutting some things out but then decided against it because I want to look back and be able to read everything I wrote and all of you can decide if you want to read the whole thing or not (though, I hope you will;)). I thought this blog post was kind of boring because it is kind of an introduction post and not many events had taken place yet but it’s still interesting enough I think. :p

 

Saturday, June 8, 2013.

Gah!! I waited way too long to write since I’ve been here. Now we are 10 days in and so much has happened. I will have to limit everything just a little so this post doesn’t turn in to a novel or I may have to split my 10 days into 2 or 3 posts. :p

OUR FLIGHT:

We flew from Salt Lake City to Houston Texas which was only a 3 hour flight. We then had a 6 hour layover which was very boring and kind of frustrating because it was near impossible to find an outlet. We finally did in a terminal going to San Salvador so we chilled there for about an hour or so. :p We had Chinese food to eat then found an airport day spa and spent $30 on a 15 minute back massage followed by unlimited time in the massage chairs where we both sat and fell asleep for a couple of hours. It was well worth our money. ;)

 

Connecting Flights in Houston Texas

 

Our flight to Rio was not bad at first, in fact we were both quite comfortable. We had leg room, our seats were roomy and comfortable, we each had our own TV screens in front of us complete with Music, Movies, TV Shows, Games and a Flight Map and we were served dinner; a choice between Pasta or BBQ Chicken. We both chose Pasta. There were so many movie and TV choices that we wished our flight would be longer so we’d have more time to watch them all. Little did we know our flight was going to be too long. I watched Last House on the Left and Wreck It Ralph and Brooke watched Mama and Rise of the Guardians. We each fell asleep a couple of times for no longer than maybe 20 minutes and we both got up multiple times to stretch. One cool thing that happened that I want to share is my first time seeing another country. :p It’s kind of silly but it was an exciting moment for me. We had been flying mostly over the ocean up until this point and it was night so there was nothing to see outside. But at one point, I saw something out of the corner of my eye so I looked out and there were thousands of twinkling lights off in the distance, though we were still over the ocean. I quickly pulled up our map on the screen and it showed we were flying over Panama. I couldn’t help but think that those lights were not in the United States and that was a different world down there that I had no knowledge of. I think that’s the first time it hit me for real, we are really leaving the country!! So that’s it… Panama was the first country besides the USA that I have ever seen. :p

Anyway… Our flight slowly became uncomfortable, then painful and also very very cold. I started watching Les Miserables but I couldn’t finish it because I was so uncomfortable. Getting up and stretching wasn’t enough. We wanted to lay down and sleep. We still had 2 hours left at this point. I curled up in the blanket and tried to get comfortable and I fell asleep for close to an hour but it wasn't good sleep. The last hour was a nightmare but it was easy to get distracted as we started putting all our things away and getting ready to get off the plane.

Finally we landed. Brooke and I stood up quickly, barely giving some people a chance. We grabbed our luggage in the overhead compartment and we were pleased to step out into the South American air. Already you could tell how hot and humid it was. We went inside the airport to check in our Visa’s and get the rest of our luggage. It was a long process. It took maybe 45 minutes and we were getting impatient. The lack of sleep was starting to get to us and we really just wanted to get to a bed. We then went to find our cab driver. It was pretty cool seeing our names on a sign to be picked up. It wasn’t until we were in our cab, driving and looking out the window until it really dawned on us that we were there. We made it to BRAZIL!!! :DD



10 hour flight.



BRAZIL:

We were taking in everything we could and already it was so different from home. I hadn’t expected it to be so different so soon. I noticed three big differences first. One: Graffiti EVERYWHERE!!!! There is very little space that hasn’t been touched with it. Two: Trash. They clearly don’t have a good garbage system like we do. I don’t mean to say Brazil is trashed and ugly but there are piles of trash nearly everywhere you go. The streets, parks, water, etc. all have trash thrown about. I never knew to be grateful for a good garbage system. Third: Neighborhoods. This was the most fascinating to me because it was the most different. We passed a few different Favelas on our way to the house and it was the first time I’d ever seen true poverty ...and we’d only been in the city for an hour! ...though, it was kind of hard to see as most of the Favelas were blocked by a wall. And I know there is worse poverty out there than what I was looking at but it was still new to me. There were just houses and houses stacked on top of each other for miles. I wish I could explain it better. I will definitely have to get some pictures soon. Most of them looked run down and poor BUT there was definitely beauty to it. They were so pretty stacked the way they were, and there was so much color!! It also seemed each of them have rooms on the roof as well as rain catchers and clothing lines. There was beauty in the fact that this is what these people know and how they live. It’s a completely different culture and that’s what I came to experience. :)





Here are two examples of how much graffiti there is all over. The first picture was taken on May 31 just down the street from our volunteer house. The second was taken on June 9 across the street from Tijuca National Park.
 
Unfortunately I never went into the Favelas and never got any photos of them.

 

About an hour later we arrived at the volunteer house.

THE VOLUNTEER HOUSE:

Our house is in a neighborhood called Santa Teresa. Everything looks historic and the architecture of the buildings is exotic. It is a very pretty neighborhood. I remember thinking I am going to like it here a lot. Our house mom was waiting at the door to greet us when we arrived. I will have to get a picture with her while we’re here. Her name is Marie. She was very friendly and welcoming. She first showed us to our room so we could put our luggage down and pick our beds. All the bedrooms were different, the one Brooke and I are in contained 3 bunk beds, 2 closets, some extra storage space, lockers, a desk and a large bathroom. Only two of the top bunks were available. Brooke chose the one away from the window and I chose the one next to it. Thank heavens we didn’t want the same one. :p The window is always open because the house has no air conditioning. Just ceiling fans which help a little to block the noise outside. So far though, the noisy streets of Rio have not bothered me in the slightest. We also wear lots of mosquito spray to bed. :p Next, Marie gave us a tour of the house and explained how things work. Breakfast is served every morning until 10am and we are in charge of our own lunch and dinner (we knew that before we came). She showed us the kitchen on the roof and gave us each our own storage bin to store food, a plate, a cup and silverware that is ours to use and take care of while we are here. She told us to always keep our bins shut and to clean up all messes otherwise monkeys like to raid. She showed us the laundry which costs us for the maids to do or we could go to a laundromat and explained that there is no hot water or dryers, only clothes lines. She explained that we have maids that come every day to clean and she showed us how to use the wifi and gave us a quick rundown of rules. As soon as Brooke and I were free we went straight to bed. Our beds had only a small pillow and a bottom and top sheet. I am beyond grateful I brought a pillow and blanket from home. We slept for 6 hours and we both slept amazingly. For teeny little bunk beds, they are very comfortable.

The Volunteer House Living Room and Dining Area in the Background.

Me in the Outdoor Kitchen on the Roof

 

Our Bedroom. Mine is the first top bunk on the left and Brooke's is the top bunk on the right.

 



This is the view from our window. As you can see, we were very protected. :p



That night for dinner we went out with our housemates to a restaurant in Lapa which is a well known neighborhood just down the street from us. It is supposedly the place to be on weekends. Brooke and I played it safe with the food and shared a pizza which was delicious. I learned right away the language was going to be difficult to get used to. I was excited when I could read the sign on the wall that said “cerveja.” My Portuguese app had taught me all the names for drinks and I knew that meant "beer." But knowing the names of drinks in Brazil was really not going to get me far so when we got home I studied a little more but found that despite sleeping through the day I was very tired. We both fell asleep early and slept well through the night.

During our first weekend, our housemates took us to Ipanema (Ip-uh-nee-muh). They were all going to the beach but Brooke and I wanted to get to know our surroundings a little bit by exploring and buying groceries. We wished we’d brought our swimming suits when we got there though, it was beautiful. Oh how I LOVE the ocean!!! But instead we went through with our grocery shopping plans and let me just say… it was quite the experience!!! It was near impossible to tell what anything was because there is no English anywhere and the products are not the same as at home… not most of them anyway. Even the fruit and vegetables look different. And we couldn’t ask because no one speaks English. It feels very strange being the foreigner. It was entertaining at the time but I knew it would get old quick. (I will have to write more about the culture and being the foreigner in a separate blog post). We stuck to what we knew. We bought fruit, pasta, ramen noodle, rice, TV dinners, etc. Brazilian money is called Reais, pronounced hey-eyes. One American dollar is equivalent to R$1.16 but that changes a lot I guess. They also don’t use pennies here, they still use $2 bills and their dollar is a coin. Brooke pulled out some U.S. dollars the other day and they already look unfamiliar. We are getting used to being here fast! 



Brazilian Pineapples. Tall and Skinny. :p



No English Anywhere!!! We were happy to find some familiar foods though. :)

 

 SICK AND ORIENTATION:

When we got back from Ipanema that night, Brooke and I couldn’t sleep on the count of one of our roommates was sick and was snoring loud so we were hanging out in the living room. I started noticing pain in my throat but didn’t think much of it. Little did I know I was coming down with some sort of travelers cold/flu. It's apparently normal when traveling world wide but I hadn’t heard of or expected it. The next few days were absolutely miserable. My nose was completely stuffed up, I had all kinds of headaches, my throat was very sore and I had really bad chest congestion which led to a nasty cough that I suspect will last a couple more weeks. I was pretty much bedridden. It made it hard to get to know my housemates. So many new people were coming in while all the people I had already met were leaving. I also ran out of the allergy pills I brought. One of our administrators went with me to the pharmacy to get some meds. My mom told me what I should get but they only had things similar to ours. I really didn’t like taking all these foreign meds so my parents kindly sent me a package of my regular stuff but it hasnt come yet. ...(I didn’t get them on time at all. That will have to wait for another blog post as it is a pretty funny story).

Orientation for volunteering was on my second sick day. Our administrators are named Zack and Vivi. They are both awesome and I will definitely have to get a picture with them. They explained how our projects would work and Brooke and I were scheduled to go to ours that day but on a count of heavy rain, they rescheduled. I was obviously grateful as I wasn’t feeling well. It gave me a whole extra day to get better. But first they took us to center Rio which is called Centro and showed us around, how to exchange money, where the bus stops are, etc. I can’t believe how many people there are in this city. I will NEVER complain about Salt Lake City again! I can’t imagine them having the World Cup next year and the Olympics in 2016 because I don’t know how many more people can fit. It’s near impossible to move around as it is. Centro is awesome though. It has beautiful cathedrals, good places to eat, lots of businesses like post offices and banks and TONS of shopping. I definitely want to go shopping there before we leave.

They took us to their main office which had an amazing view and they took us out to eat after where Brooke fell in LOVE with Carne Assada (beef with rice and beans in a delicious sauce). Apparently it’s a very common dish here in Brazil. Everywhere we’ve gone so far serves it and Brooke gets it every time. :) We were also both introduced to our new husband (yes, we're sharing :p) Neymar da Silva Santos. He is a pro soccer player for Brazil. We saw him on TV and it was love at first sight!! We really want to go to a soccer game while we are here and I would LOVE to be able to go watch him play but I think there is only one Brazil game left in the confederation cup and tickets are really expensive. I doubt we will have the money. Its okay though, his picture is posted all over the city so we can still look. ;) haha but anyway… when we got back to the house I stayed in bed for the next 36 hours. I felt MUCH better by the time it was our turn to start project. I’m not going to go into details about project yet though because I have only been twice. Brooke wasn’t even able to go the first day because unfortunately she got sick after me. When I have more details, I will post about it then. I think this post is long enough. ;)

A Beautiful Cathedral in Centro.
 



 

Amazing View from the Volunteer Office.



Brooke and I at the Volunteer Office.



Some friends we made in the Volunteer House. From Left to Right: Marco from Italy, Rosa from China, Me, Brooke and Nelson from New York.

 

Neymar<3


Unfortunately I never got any photos with our house mom or our administrators. Oops :p