This is a little clip that I took while we were trying to get a good picture of him. Since he kept moving though none of the pictures were really that great. But really! We saw a penguin! And this is our proof :)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Aventura Lagoa
Picking up at the end of my last blog; we had just finished getting ready and were about to head out for the night. Before picking up a couple of Vanessa's friends she took Tracy and I to see the bridge lit up at night - it's a really common picture that they use on their post cards so it was nice to see in real life! After the bridge we went to see an old fortress that they have made into a small historical site. It was right on the shoreline with cannons at every angle to watch for boats coming in to dock. A weird fact about the building is that the whole thing was made from whale products - there's a beach named after the part that they would harvest from the whales there. Very cool!Next we picked up a few car loads of Vanessa's friends and headed to the bar to celebrate! Her friend Leila (sp?) had just defended her masters and so it was definitely a night to go out. We just sat at the bar and talked but it was a lot of fun to get to know them. Tracy and I have already made plans with Anastacia to teach her english and in exchange she's going to teach us portuguese! And then Leila and Anastacia have made plans to take us for a weekend during Oktoberfest! I really hope that comes together because it sounds like a blast and these girls are so much fun!
This morning Tracy and I went on a solo adventure to a lake nearby. We hopped on the bus with a general idea of where to go. Once getting to the bus station we realized that there were about 3 different buses that had very similar names with where we wanted to go. Crossing our fingers and jumping onto one that sounded good we knew we would have an adventure no matter what! Even if we didn't make it to the lake we would find something to discover. Sure enough we get to the next station and didn't really know where we were. So we started walking! We found a lake and took some pictures. Walked around a portion of it and enjoyed the day thinking we had found a whole new area that we hadn't been told about yet. On our way back home however we looked at the name on the bus station and it was the right place all along! We accidentaly stumbled to exactly where we wanted to be :) OH and we also stumbled onto a brand new friend... a PENGUIN! I never thought that when I was in Brazil I would be watching a penguin swim around their lakes. Cutest thing ever.After our adventure it was back home to make some dinner and watch a movie with the family (with subtitles for Tracy and I). Tomorrow I think we're going to get one of our cell phones all set up - Nevaldo has a cell that one of us can use we just need to get a sim card and set up a plan for it. The other cell phone that we have is also waiting for a sim card but Vanessa's friend is using it right now and he will be back in town in a couple weeks. Then we will both have a way of communicating with our newfound Brazilian Friends!
Well family/friends, it is getting late so it will be bedtime for me!
Boa noite!
Karen
Monday, August 30, 2010
ITCHY
At the farm there were tiny black flies, similar to our midge or noseeum, and they LOVED me! I now have these ugly red spots all over my legs and arms from where they bit me and they itch like nothing I've ever had before! Oh well, two more days and I should be back to normal :P
We went to a party at the university the other night which turns out was the biggest party that they have all year! There were live bands, fireworks, drinks, you name it. One of the weirdest things is being able to openly have alcohol of all kinds out in the open... people were standing around their 26ers and it was completely legal! Weird... haha It was a lot of fun. We got to meet some of Joao and Vanessa's friends who luckily all speak english so we weren't just standing there in silence. After being at the university we went to a little bar and hung out there for a while before all heading home.
Next morning was a slow one followed by a bbq at Joao's house! All you can eat meat! hahaha it was awesome. We finally met his roomate Rua and we watched a lot of soccer. A truly Brazilian night! Today we took the bus back home from Joao's - all by ourselves! And now that we're all showered and freshened up there's going to be a bit of a celebration for one of Vanessa's friends who just defended her Masters today. Not much to update but wanted to let you all know everything is good!
We went to a party at the university the other night which turns out was the biggest party that they have all year! There were live bands, fireworks, drinks, you name it. One of the weirdest things is being able to openly have alcohol of all kinds out in the open... people were standing around their 26ers and it was completely legal! Weird... haha It was a lot of fun. We got to meet some of Joao and Vanessa's friends who luckily all speak english so we weren't just standing there in silence. After being at the university we went to a little bar and hung out there for a while before all heading home.
Next morning was a slow one followed by a bbq at Joao's house! All you can eat meat! hahaha it was awesome. We finally met his roomate Rua and we watched a lot of soccer. A truly Brazilian night! Today we took the bus back home from Joao's - all by ourselves! And now that we're all showered and freshened up there's going to be a bit of a celebration for one of Vanessa's friends who just defended her Masters today. Not much to update but wanted to let you all know everything is good!
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Back on the Ranch
Last night once Vanessa got home from school we all hopped into her car to meet her aunt (Tia Maria) and her dad (Nivaldo) at the farm! It was just after rush-hour but it was still really busy; took us just under two hours to get there when normally it should take about 45 minutes! Once we got there we chatted with each other over a few glasses of wine and some chicken soup - delicious as always. Later in the evening we played Othello. It's common everywhere but I think Nivaldo was the only one who had played it before. I never could get a grip on it... Pretty sure I lost every game!In the morning we tried to wake up with everyone else but once again we rolled over and had a late start. It was probably a good thing though because we had a day full of adventures! First we had breakfast and some coffee and then Nivaldo took us for a walk to a small water fall that's on the property. This 20 minute walk turned into a huge tour of the land! We walked down the side of the road to sit on some rocks on the river at a
couple different spots and then further down we crossed the river so we could walk back to the farm by the land instead of the road. We learned a lot of different plants and trivia about Brazil and the land. I asked Nivaldo later how long the farm has been in the family and he told me that they've had it since about 1850! He is the 4th generation to grow up there. We even saw the house that he was born in! He told us the whole area used to be his fathers but he sold everything on the upper side of the road. Everything on the lower side is still theirs though. You'll get an idea of how much this actually is when you look at the pictures!Once we got back from our walk Maria and Vanessa had lunch all ready for us. We had cassava, potatoe pie, and pork - almost everything was raised or grown right there in the yard! It was all so delicious; I wish I could post a taste on this blog so everyone could try it. Once we were done eating we toured some more of the property including the cauliflower field, onion patch, the pig,
and the chickens. By this point we had already cleaned everything up from lunch and it was about time to head back to the house so Vanessa and Nivaldo could get all cleaned up and rested for a play they are going to tonight. (which they are at right now actually)While Tracy and I wait we're blogging and getting ourselves presentable as well! There is supposed to be a university party tonight that Joao wants us to go to with him. His cell phone is broken however so he left us with a phone number to call when we got home... After thinking about what to say and who should phone and trying to get the courage up to call it was determined that Tracy would do it. It didn't work out the first time though and we had to try again. This time I did... how embarrassing! I used my little portuguese to talk to one of his friends or maybe his mom? It was very loud in the background and a little hard to hear but I was pretty impressed with how much tracy and I could actually understand. The hard part was figuring out what to say... After a couple
of non-descript mumbles coming from me I decided to say "Desculpe, eu nao falo muito portugues". Translation - "sorry, i don't speak much portugues". Apparently it was close enough for her to tell me that she could not speak english for us either! But we did determine that Joao wasn't there. So here we are!
Ate logo! (until later)- Karen
Friday, August 27, 2010
On our own
After having a few glasses of wine at Joao's and saying hi to some of the people living upstairs we hit the hay. In the morning we walked to the university and met up with Vanessa. She showed us around to where the hospital and library is and we registered for our portuguese classes! I'm eager to keep learning because I feel like my most common expression lately is just a blank stare.
Vanessa had another class to go to that evening so Tracy and I walked back to the house (alone!) and then proceeded to have a laid back evening. We attempted to do some portuguese homework from our classes in vancouver; I didn't get much done however haha. I feel like there is so much that is new here that even just walking around is wiping me right out! I was overly tired the first while, more so than just jet leg, so I've been taking my iron pills and I think they're making a difference! Good thing I had them with me otherwise I would sleep through my whole time here!
The next thing I think that Tracy and I need to buy is an alarm clock. We have nothing to wake us up here so we are sleeping the way we normally would at home. Not ideal when there is so much that we want to do!
We're getting a cel phone from one of Vanessa's friends - they don't use it any more and Vanessa has a sim card so soon we will have a better way of communicating with people here.
Today we didn't do too much either. Vanessa was at school and so Tracy and I did our usual wake up routine and then ate some food and did our dishes. We're already finding our way around the house pretty well and everyone is very welcoming. After being sufficiently full we got directions from Hilda (Vanessa's mom - it's about time I introduced her properly) to walk to the mall. I was a little nervous walking around to a new place that we hadn't been before just the two of us, but just like Hilda said - as soon as we turned the corner we could see it! A fairly big mall with a sign you can't miss from any direction. IGUATEMI.
There is no doubt that Tracy and I are tourists... Walking around and taking pictures of the most random things definitely gives us away. Tracy pointed out that a lot of the pictures do a really bad job of actually capturing what everything looks like here. I think it's partially because there are fires somewhere in the North of Brazil and so everything here is covered in a fog from the smoke moving this way.
It doesn't feel extremely hot here yet, or particularily humid, until we start walking around. It's about 23 degress today but it doesn't feel like our 23 at home. The sun doesn't feel like it's as bright but again I feel like that's because of the smoke hanging around.
Vanessa should be home soon and so I should be getting my stuff together. Tonight we're going to the farm! I am pretty excited - I feel like a little kid all the time!
I'll update again in a couple days and show some more pictures :)
Tem um fin de semana feliz!
xoxo Karen
Vanessa had another class to go to that evening so Tracy and I walked back to the house (alone!) and then proceeded to have a laid back evening. We attempted to do some portuguese homework from our classes in vancouver; I didn't get much done however haha. I feel like there is so much that is new here that even just walking around is wiping me right out! I was overly tired the first while, more so than just jet leg, so I've been taking my iron pills and I think they're making a difference! Good thing I had them with me otherwise I would sleep through my whole time here!
The next thing I think that Tracy and I need to buy is an alarm clock. We have nothing to wake us up here so we are sleeping the way we normally would at home. Not ideal when there is so much that we want to do!
We're getting a cel phone from one of Vanessa's friends - they don't use it any more and Vanessa has a sim card so soon we will have a better way of communicating with people here.
Today we didn't do too much either. Vanessa was at school and so Tracy and I did our usual wake up routine and then ate some food and did our dishes. We're already finding our way around the house pretty well and everyone is very welcoming. After being sufficiently full we got directions from Hilda (Vanessa's mom - it's about time I introduced her properly) to walk to the mall. I was a little nervous walking around to a new place that we hadn't been before just the two of us, but just like Hilda said - as soon as we turned the corner we could see it! A fairly big mall with a sign you can't miss from any direction. IGUATEMI.
There is no doubt that Tracy and I are tourists... Walking around and taking pictures of the most random things definitely gives us away. Tracy pointed out that a lot of the pictures do a really bad job of actually capturing what everything looks like here. I think it's partially because there are fires somewhere in the North of Brazil and so everything here is covered in a fog from the smoke moving this way.
It doesn't feel extremely hot here yet, or particularily humid, until we start walking around. It's about 23 degress today but it doesn't feel like our 23 at home. The sun doesn't feel like it's as bright but again I feel like that's because of the smoke hanging around.
Vanessa should be home soon and so I should be getting my stuff together. Tonight we're going to the farm! I am pretty excited - I feel like a little kid all the time!
I'll update again in a couple days and show some more pictures :)
Tem um fin de semana feliz!
xoxo Karen
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Sneak Peak!
Over Sao Paulo
absolutely NO trees around that river at all... so brown and sad looking :( not sure if it was because of logging or if it's just the dry season but it was definitely not what I expected to see.
some pretty cool looking clouds haha
OUR BEDROOM! haha I have the loft bed and Tracy is in the flowered one. You can't see the whole room because I'm standing in the doorway and couldn't get everything in.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
2 car rides, 3 planes, 1 bus and 30 hours later...
We made it!
It took us a while but we are here and safe in Brazil!
We were greeted at the airport by the very enthusiastic Joao and Vanessa; waving flags, blowing horns and screaming making Tracy and I embarassed and feeling very loved. Our first night we just got settled in the house and then went for a few drinks at a local pub (what else would we do?)
As for today, we had an awesome sleep in; I almost didn't wake up at all! Then we showered ate and went on our way for a trip downtown. We took the bus and then walked all through the shops and venders that were there. We did some errands that needed to be done for Vanessa and her mom as well as some banking. May not sound very exciting but everything is new and different here and makes for never a dull moment! Best new thing today was a drink made from sugar cane; soooo delicious and refreshing!
Now back at the house I've made a skype account and this new blog! Next we're going over to Joao's for the night and in the morning a new adventure!!
Love and kisses!
Karen
It took us a while but we are here and safe in Brazil!
We were greeted at the airport by the very enthusiastic Joao and Vanessa; waving flags, blowing horns and screaming making Tracy and I embarassed and feeling very loved. Our first night we just got settled in the house and then went for a few drinks at a local pub (what else would we do?)
As for today, we had an awesome sleep in; I almost didn't wake up at all! Then we showered ate and went on our way for a trip downtown. We took the bus and then walked all through the shops and venders that were there. We did some errands that needed to be done for Vanessa and her mom as well as some banking. May not sound very exciting but everything is new and different here and makes for never a dull moment! Best new thing today was a drink made from sugar cane; soooo delicious and refreshing!
Now back at the house I've made a skype account and this new blog! Next we're going over to Joao's for the night and in the morning a new adventure!!
Love and kisses!
Karen
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