I have to say that though I have been abroad before for an extended period of time. I am really missing being at home and in the U.S. during the holiday season. I didn´t celebrate Thanksgiving here. I was going to make it for my family but since I live in the middle of nowhere, the packages that my family sent of goodies and ingredients have yet to arrive..hahaha. It´s very strange to think that it is Christmas time here when it is 90+ degrees and humid. Also, the decorations are very sparse, since Christmas trees do not even exist in Brazil we have a small fake tree that we have decorated, but no one has lights up on their house (Kim, get your but down here, there are 192M people who could use our Christmas light stylings). Though on the main street in São Paulo the banks are putting up a lot of decorations, Santa and his reigndeer and the North Pole look out of completely out of place in such a tropical environment.
RIO DE JANEIRO
The cruise was really fun and relaxing. It was GREAT to see Barbara and be with the family. We went on the cruise for a 30 year college reunion of my host father. We travelled to Rio the city and then two beach towns in the State of Rio. Our first stop was Rio and since we were on a cruise, there wasnt enough time to tour the city properly. Rio is famous for its harbor which is amazing. It was spectacular to pull into the harbor with a 15 kilometer bridge in ahead and the city to the left. The weather was really overcast and cloudy so we couldn´t see the Christ statue. But then as we were docking the clouds parted and the Christ came through. Its so interesting in Rio to see this statue above the city of skyscrapers and shanty favella neighborhoods. (If you look closely at the picture below you can see the tiny Christ on the top of the hill)
We took a bus up to the Christ but the traffic was AWEFUL. There is a single road that leads up the 5 miles to a middle point where one has to catch a government bus another 3 miles to the top. This road is complete chaos because cars are parked on side of the road, shrinking the little space that there is, turning the street into a one way road. Due to the traffic we decided that it was faster to just walk. So now you have cars trying to inch their way up and down, and pedestrians weaving amidst the cars, needless to say that was a mess. Finally we got to the Christ. Unfortunately, the weather and cloud cover was really bad during the day, making it a difficult and cold visit to the Christ. The following is a picture of all the women in my family waiting for the bus to the Christ. I, being the foreigner who read the travel warnings about it being the ´´rainy season´´, was the only person who brought an umbrella.
The cloud cover was so thick that we were unable to see the best part about being at the Christ...the view of Rio´s harbor.The only part that I could see was the lake which is very close the famous beach copacabana and is the most posh part of the city.
This is view that one should see of Rio´s harbor from the top of the Christ:
And this is what it looked like when I was there...almost exact, no??It was great to add another world wonder to my list, but overall the Christ was much smaller up close than I had expected and not as spectacular as the Great Wall. Anyway, I have to go back and see all of Rio. But from what I saw, the favellas are sooo poor. And the city was not as beautiful as I had imagined(though we were only in the outskirts) and covered in graffiti. But then again I did not have time to go to the main downtown or to the beaches/harbor and only saw this city, that is famous for its beaches in the pouring rain. But no matter what, they have a TON of work to do before 2016.
BUZIOS
The next stop we went to Buzios, a very pretty quaint town. Barbara and I took a tour boat around the area, where you get to see the beaches and jump in the water at different points.
The town is really pretty and full of stores with vacations clothes...I wanted to buy everything! I have to say that Brazilians are incredibly fashionable, and the vacation wear that was on display in these stores are AMAZING!!GAURUJÁ
The entire city of São Paulo had a long weekend so Barbara, her boyfriend Mario, her roommate Célia
(a French girl studying abroad) and I, went
to Mario´s beach house in Gaurujá to relax and get some sun.The beach was soooo different from those in CA. No one brings a towel, everyone has a beach chair and
a beach umbrella. There are many kiosks along the
beach with drinks and food and everyone packs in together. The best thing is that you can get anything that you want while sitting down, I mean anything.
Vendors walk up and down the beach selling items from ice cream, caipirinhas, pastels (flaky pastry stuffed with either cheese, meat, or other combinations), dresses, bracelets... I mean EVERYTHING. The nice thing is that the vendors will advertise, but are not like Mexico where they dont leave you alone if you aren´t interested.
So I tried for the first time agua de coco from a real coconut that a man cut open with a machete and after you are done drinking the water, you can go back to the stand and the guy will cut the meat of the coconut out for you to eat.
SANTA CRUZ RIO DO PARDO
This is another picture of my house here in Santa Cruz, where I spend most of my days. Though I have traveled a lot, I have spent a lot of time here where I lead a rather simple life. I typically get up at 8am and have café de manhá, which typically consists of fresh bread from the bakery my mom owns and milk with Toddy (pronounced Toddi) a kind of olvatine time chocolate mix. I am home alone during the day as my parents are at work and my sisters have school early in the morning until almoço, or lunch time. The entire family comes home to eat lunch, which is the biggest meal of the day. I have rice and beans(different than Mexican) daily with some type of meat, they only eat a little bit of vegetables here.I typically have Portuguese class three times a week. I walk one way either to or from portuguese class to get some exercise and because my host parents work so I cant get a ride. The dad owns a large construction store and business and the mom manages a bakery and butcher shop.
It cute, every time I pass by the bakery on my way from class and I stop in and say hello. My mom´s mom also works at the bakery and if I have class in the afternoon I sit with her for a half hour and talk while drinking my espresso or fresh squeezed orange juice.But overall, here in Santa Cruz, I live a very simple and slow life, but its so strange that I dont waste time and get up rather early but never seem to have enough time in the day to accomplish everything that I want to.
SUMMER VACATION PLANS
This week is my last week of Portuguese classes and then summer vacation starts until FEBRUARY. I just found out about this and am seriously wondering what I am now going to do with all of my time. But everyone is on vacation, even my little sisters and some of the friends that I have met here too, so hopefully that will help me find things to do.
I am headed back to São Paulo this coming week for three days(Dec 14-16). A professor from USC is coming to arrange the MBA PRIME week in Brazil. I will be accompanying him and the USC Alumni coordinator on meetings with about 10 Brazilian companies/contacts that the MBA students will be working with in May.
For the New Year, I will be traveling to Célia´s beach house in Itauna´s, in the state of Spirito Santo, in the North East from Dec 28 to January 5th.
Miss you all!!! Enjoy the holiday season and cold weather for me :)
