Brazil

Better late than never..... So the winter was too much to handle for me in Canada. Hibernation in crazy cold -6 degree weather was making me restless and the thought of warm water and sunshine was so tempting. Instead of being brave and smashing through the next 2 months, I decided to take a detour to South America and defrost in Brazil. I met up with Tam, Claire and Georgia and partied it up at my first stop.... Carnival in Salvador. Quite a culture shock at first witnessing how people in a second world country lived but in saying this loved every moment spent and every aspect of the country. Carnival involved copious amounts of drinking a Brazilian beer called Skol (only $1 real which is equivalent to AUD 45c), long sleep in’s to recuperate just in time for the following nights festivities, lots of booty shaking that tried to resemble samba, many nights feeling like popcorn in a crowd of thousands and a memorable night of being the only “gringos” in an all local Brazilian bloco. Too much fun!

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A detox was exactly what we felt like after Salvador but those caipirinhas were just too tasty. (A Caipirinha is the national drink of Brazil made toxically with only cachaca, an intensely sweet Brazilian style of rum made from sugarcane juice, ice, sugar and lime). We travelled down the coast, this involved numerous overnight bus rides (some almost 19 hours long and a 3 hour stop over at 1am at a very dodgy bus stop that resembled a homeless shelter) along to a small little hippy/surfy town call Itacare. A town that possessed a lot of character and the most beautiful coast line of beaches I have ever seen. We did our one and only tour of Brazil here just to get a closer glimpse of these beaches and wow it was worth it!! Starting off with a trek through bushland and reaching the bluest water I have ever seen. From here we walked through to several different beaches each having their own spectacular views and warm water. The tour ending with a swim at a freshwater waterfall. I took some awesome photos with my new top of the range “waterproof” camera that turned out to be not so waterproof. So unfortunately these are where my photos stop. (Check out facebook, Tam, Georgia and Claire kindly took ample photos from this point onwards).

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From Itacare we reached another small town, Porto Seguro that was just as captivating. The relaxing continued with more sunshine and beaches. We found the child within us and visited the coolest water park I have ever been too. Another picture perfect day. Of course followed by endless cans of cheap beer, homemade caipirinhas (thanks Franco) and toxic cocktails.

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Rio de Janeiro was where the relaxing ceased and the partying commenced once again. Although it rained pretty much the entire time we were there Rio was unbelievable!! We stayed at a hostel called “Girl from Ipanema” (yes just like the song) and shared a 13 bedded mixed dorm. Many laughs and memories were created in that tiny space. Lots of things were planned on being done and only half of those things were accomplished, mostly due to self inflicted alcohol induced pain. No regrets though! Tamara and I made sure we made it Christ the Redeemer. I don’t consider myself a religious person at all and know nothing about architecture or construction but once I was up close and personal with this structure it totally blew me away. The view of Ipanema and Copacabana was priceless; pictures just don’t do it justice. We also visited another part of town called Lapa and took a little joy ride in a rickety old tram to the top and visited a cool place called Santa Teresa.... picture postcard Brazilian character.
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Our most memorable night (or not so memorable for some) was the night we took on a “favela party” (it is actually advertised using this title). Bit of background info for you; Favela is Brazilian Portuguese for slum. Basically these favela’s were formed in the late 19^th century and was a place where former slaves (predominately African Brazilian’s) with no land ownership and no options for work lived. In time many freed black slaves moved in and these days the favelas are occupied by poor blacks who are pushed away from downtown into these far suburbs. I’ll paint a picture for you..... Imagine ghetto, dilapidated housing, extremely high crime rate, most dangerous place in Brazil to plant yourself. So why did we decide to party there for a night you say???? Because it was awesome! This underground party was massive, kind of like an old warehouse turned night club. There were at least 3000 people inside, 98% black 2% gringos (us), a really bad Brazilian DJ that played some okay local music, 1$ real skol beers and lots of booty. Were we out of place???? Of course. Probably the most entertaining night of my trip although there were a few close seconds.

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Made some awesome friends in Rio from all over the world. Many nights spent congregated at corner bar. (A small shop on the corner from our hostel that resembles a sandwich canteen that sells alcohol and makes potent caipirinhas). Not going to lie a few hangovers were solely induced by this sandwich canteen. Making the friends we had made here it was tough to say good bye to everyone, so tough we unintentionally missed not one but two buses we had booked to our last stop Sao Paulo. One of those “you had to be there stories” will save it for another time.

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Arriving in Sao Paulo was the wind down to my month long trip in Brazil. Sadness started to kick it when Tam woke me that morning with a sombre look on her face and I realised I had only three days to go and I would not only be leaving the sun and beach behind but Tam and the girls too. Living together with these girls for a month I found myself quite attached and in ore of their continuous company, stomach hurting laughter and unforgettable experiences. Brazil was a “warm-up” if you like, for Europe and it introduced me to the simple life which I fell in love with. I’m not going to lie..... Sometimes not showering for a few days or not changing clothes for a few days was not uncommon practise. I became a master at the inside-out undie technique. My last night in Sao Paulo I actually decided to shower, change my underwear and even put some make-up on.... and it went off with a bang. Unhealthiest and one of the messiest nights of my life. It involved an awesome club, insanely expensive drinks, a not too bad DJ, lots of D&M’s and farewell heart- to hearts. As I recall the night ended for all of us at 9am the next morning with a Claire and Alison conversation that debated the question “if you could be any animal right now what would you be?”.

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After a restless 2 ½ hour sleep we struggled to pack our bags and depart our separate ways. A few tears were shed but after a long 24 hours of travelling I was back home in Toronto with Nick (which was a surprise) waiting for me at the airport. (I missed a connecting flight so instead of waiting 15 minutes he was waiting for three hours.. God love him).

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I started out writing this with the thought that I’d keep it short and sweet but this triggered memories of experiences that I had to document more for my sake than anyone else’s. Our blog is starting to become like a personal diary for Nick and I. We have no idea whether or not anyone is reading this so it’s just as much for our benefit as it is to update you guys.

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The next week was spent pretty much as a desperate housewife (without the hot gardener)catching up on some much needed sleep and emails while Nick worked so hard supporting us both with his $12 per hour (before tax) job . Our next journey commences the following Monday morning.... Nick will fill you in xo