Brazil Trip-Travel Buddies: Not my husband, not my boyfriend, not my brother

On this 10-day adventure a fellow Peace Corps volunteer, Brendan Hughes, was my primary travel partner. I met him very briefly at the US Embassy 4th of July party during Training, and saw him again at Thanksgiving, where I mentioned the trip I was going on to Rio with some other volunteers. He was also interested, and we started planning the trip from there.



Initially I had planned on staying with a group that rented a condo in Rio for 10 days. However Brendan and I discovered that neither of us wanted to spend the entire time actually in Rio, so we planned our side trips to Sao Paulo, Guaruja City, and Ilha Grande.

During the trip I began describing Brendan as my ‘Not my husband, not my boyfriend, not my brother’ since people always assumed that we were ‘together.’ Sorry folks, we’re just friends who happen to have the same travel interests and style.

In Rio Brendan and I met up with two other volunteer groups. One was the original condo group through whom I initially learned about the trip, which consisted of about 5 other volunteers and 2 US friends, who were staying in Copacabana. We did end up staying with them, though Brendan and I did our own sightseeing most days. The condo was packed at night: 3 people in a full size bed, 2 in a 1.5twin, 1 in a trundle bed, and 3 on sleeping pads on the floor. Fortunately there was a really nice terrace with a pool table and pool on the roof, so we spent most of our group time up there. Also Brendan and I usually got a much earlier start than the rest of the group, so we stayed out of the morning preparation chaos.

The second group consisted of 4 volunteers who were staying in a hostel in Ipanema. We weren’t able to meet up with them until the night of Carnival since, without cell phones or constant internet access, we kept missing each other.

Brazil Trip- Just In Time

The theme of this trip was “Just in Time’. Brendan and I seemed to arrive ‘just in time’ for everything, just before the bus left, just before the park closed, just before the last ferry left... I would say that we almost never arrived more that 30minutes before the scheduled departure of any of our buses. The Ilha Grange leg of the trip in particular was especially fortuitous scheduling wise since if any part of the trip had been late or left early, we would have been stuck in Sao Paulo for an extra night. Thanks to Fernando’s family however, we stayed on track.

G = Guarani (5000G=1USD)
R = Real (2R= ~1USD):)
USD = US Dollar

Here is a quick rundown of how the trip worked out:

Saturday, February 6th:
5pm-Brendan and I arrive in Campo 9 after spending Friday night in Asuncion to attend the 10am NVAC meeting on Saturday

Sunday, February 7, Leave for Sao Paulo

6:30am-Wake up, drop Lila off at Carly’s house, go to seamstress’s house to see if she has finished my skirts… she isn’t open yet, go to the grocery store to pick up a few last minute items, finish packing, go back to seamstress’s house and pick up skirts

10:30am-Get on a bus to Ciudad del Este (20G,~$4USD),
Noon-Arrive in Ciudad del Este, get off at the wrong stop, go to a cyber and book a hostel for the next night because the friend we were going to stay with seemed to be having second thoughts
2:00pm-Arrive at bus terminal in Ciudad del Este for our 2:30 bus (270,000G, ~$57USD)
3:30pm-Bus actually arrives and we are on our way to Sao Paulo Brazil!

Monday, February 8th, Sao Paulo Day 1

11am-Arrive in Sao Paulo and Check into the LimeTime Hostel (24USD/night), wander around looking for food and a place to exchange money. I realize there is something wrong with my credit card because none of the cash machines will accept my card, but they will accept Brendan’s

Visited:
Mercado Municipal
Sao Bento Basilica and Monastery
Metropolitan Cathedral of Se
Italia Building with a Terrace and Restaurant at the top and panoramic views of the entire city- 15R
Ibirapuera Park
Asian Market and food district near metro stop Liberdade

11pm-go to bed

Tuesday, February 9th, Sao Paulo Day 2/ Guarujá City
9:30am-Wake up and go to Butantan Institute/ Venom Farm-6R
2:30pm-Catch a bus(16R) to Guarujá City‘ The Beach’ to Stay with Fernando’s family
5:00pm-Arrive in Guarujá and wait for Fernando’s family to come and pick us up
Fernando’s parents and aunt take us around the city in their car and show us some of the sites
Midnight/1am-Go to bed

Wednesday, February 10th, Leave Guarujá City, Ilha Grande Day 1

3:45am-Wake up
4:20am-Leave house to catch the ferry(2R) and 5am bus(16R) to go back to Sao Paulo
7:30am-Arrive at bus terminal in Sao Paulo
8:00am-Get on bus (16R) for Angra dos Reis
3:30pm-Arrive at bus Terminal in Angra dos Reis , taxi (12R) to the ferry dock
4:00pm-Take last ferry of the day(12R) to Ilha Grande
5:30pm-Arrive on Ilha Grange aka paradise and check into Holandes Hostel (17USD/night), wander around the city, go to the beach, get dinner, play cards with some Swedish girls at the hostel

Thursday, February 11th, Ilha Grande Day 2

6:30amish-Get up for a quick 30-45minute hike before breakfast
Noonish-Finally get back from the ‘quick morning hike’ after getting thoroughly distracted by trying to find a waterfall on a trail that branched off of our original one
3:00pm-Go on a 3 hour hike to Lopes Mendes Beach
5:15pm-Arrive at Lopes Mendes Beach, aka most beautiful beach in paradise, for a 20min swim before catching the last return ferry
6:00pm-Take water taxi (10R) back to the main port area

Monday, February 12th, Ilha Grande Day 3, Rio De Janiero Day 1

6:30am-Brendan goes hiking to the tallest peak on the island around 6:30am, gets back around 1pm
9:30am-I wake up, read, bum around
5:30pm-Take last boat off the island in a package deal with a company called Speed Connection that promises to take us on their boat and then shuttle us directly to our condo. 65R
7pmish-leave for Rio de Janiero
10/11pm-Arrive at condo ($200USD) in Copacobana in Rio de Janiero, meet up with the rest of our group, 7 other people including other volunteers and their state-side friends, Go for a walk along the beach
Midnight/1am-Finally go to bed

Tuesday, February 13th, Rio de Janiero Day 2

7:30am-Wake up and run errands: Pick up Carnival Tickets, find a place to exchange my travelers checks, drop off laundry (15R)
3:30pm-Botanical Gardens (5R)
7:00pm-Go to Pao de Azucar ‘Sugar Loaf’ lookout (44R)
9:30pm-Meet up with the group at the condo and go out to Lapa for some Carnival block party fun

Saturday, February 13th, Rio de Janiero Day 3
4:30/5am-Get back from Lapa and go to bed
6:30am-Wake up around and go to Tijuka National Park
4:30ishpm-Go to late lunch with a Brazilian couple we met at the National Park
7:30pm-Arrive at the train station to visit Christ the Redeemer statue, but find out they closed around 6:30pm

Monday, February 15th, Rio de Janiero Day 4
9:30am-I go with Brad to try and see the famous stairs of the Santa Teresa Convent, unfortunately Monday is the beginning of the official Carnival Holiday, so everything is closed
1pm-Meet up with the group to see the Christ the Redeemer statue, find out that tickets for the train are sold out until 3pm and decide to take a tour minivan to the top (50R)
4pm-Get back to condo and get ready for Carnival Samba Parade($141USD)
6:30pm-Meet up with Jesus, Pooja, and Joan to give them their tickets
8:30pm-Arrive at Samba Dome

Tuesday, February 16th, Leaving Rio de Janiero
5am-End of Samba Parade
6:30am-Go to bed
Noon-Wake up and run errands
2:30pm-Leave for bus terminal
5pm-Bus leaves Rio de Janiero for Puerto Iguazu Argentina (450,000G, ~$95USD)

Wednesday, February 17th, Home!
3pm-Check out of Brazil, arrive in Puerto Iguazu, Argentina
4pm-Catch a bus from Puerto Iguazu, Argentina to Ciudad del Este, Paraguay (8,000G, ~$2USD)
Check out of Argentina, drive into and out of Brazil again,
5pm-Arrive in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, do some shopping
6pm-Leave Ciudad del Este for Campo 9 (20,000G, ~$4USD)
8pm-Arrive back in Campo 9! *Finally catch my breath

Its a Small World

Yesterday I visited the Amish colony in my community and did a tour of the health post. One of the maintenance guys is from Texas, Austin no less! Okay, Bastrop technically but w/e. It was completely bizarre to hear that soft Texas accent and talk about places that only a local would know or care about.

The Holidays

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Day of the Three Kings.

I didn’t realize that Christmas was coming up until around early December when one of the houses I walk past frequently put up Christmas lights. Eventually some of the stores put in small fake Christmas trees, a few of the store mannequins had scarves and winter hats on (even though it has been in the 90’s here, with a heat index of over 100 lately), but other than that, they holiday season was hardly noticeable. And I loved it. I’ve never been much of a holiday person. The 1-2month long stressfest in the US far outweighs a few days of fun in my opinion. The only good part is spending time with relatives I otherwise don’t see very often. Apart from that, I’d love to give all of the winter holidays a big adios.

Here, the only day that is really a big deal is Christmas eve. Some communities have big community parties, dances, plays, etc, but Campo 9 is very dowdy on the party front. People just get together with their families. Everyone had a big dinner, stays up until midnight, sets off a million and one fire crackers, and then goes to bed. Christmas day is probably also more family time and a big lunch/dinner. New Year’s Eve is like a smaller less popular version of Christmas Eve, aka get together with friends and family, stay up until midnight, set off firecrackers, etc. A few days after Christmas is the day of the three kings, which I think is when gifts are exchanged at least with the small children. I didn’t spend this day with my host family, so I don’t really know if they did or not. At the very least, when I did go back to my host family’s house, Nati didn’t bombard me with all of her new knick-knacks, so she couldn’t have received anything too large.

For me, the only day I did anything special was on Christmas Eve, when I invited a few volunteers over to Carly’s house for an early dinner. Carly was on vacation at the time, so I was living at her house taking care of Luna. I made chili, corn bread, and apple pie. The other volunteers brought lemon meringue pie, curry carrots, and a salad. We were all stuffed to the gills. I have to laugh every time a Paraguayan tells me I’m too fat to be a vegetarian…If only they knew.

Wedding

Just before Thanksgiving, the niece, Katary was living my host family got married and I was invited to the ceremony.

• There was a ring-bearer boy and a flower girl, but they didn’t walk down the aisle or actually participate in the ceremony in any way, they just stood for pictures.
• There was a group of young girls, dressed in a similar shade hot pink that appeared to be the brides maids, but they didn’t stand at the front of the church in a line like we are used to. Except for the maid of honor, who served as a witness when the bride and groom signed their marriage license, the bride’s maids didn’t participate in the ceremony
• I didn’t notice any groomsmen
• When the bride walked down the aisle, there was no music or wedding march. She was also not preceded by anyone, whereas our brides follow after the bridesmaids and groomsmen and usually their parents, maybe the flower girl etc. Actually, as the bride walked to the front of the church in silence, Marcia and Anibal followed her. I came with them, so I also ended up following the bride into the church. Knowing Marcia, following the bride was probably a significant gesture, but I don’t understand why she would have that privilege above Katary’s parents.
• The ceremony was pretty quick, unless you consider that it started about 2.5 hours after I was told it would. I was told the ceremony would start at 7pm. It actually began around 9:30 ish. We went to the reception around 10:30pm.


(Reception Hall)

• Overall the wedding ceremony made me feel like someone had taken a picture of a wedding in the US, but hadn’t bothered to explain any of the elements. I was disappointed with the lack of unique Paraguay traditions in the wedding ceremony.

• Few people attended the in church portion of the festivities, however there were a large number of people at the reception.
• The new couple welcomed their guests into the reception hall, as opposed to the bride and groom being that last ones to arrive, which seems to be more common in the US. Also they went around to each table and took a picture with every group of guests once they were seated.
• After getting to the reception hall around 10:30 or 11pm we had to wait for another hour or so for all of the guests to arrive to get appetizers, which was sliced sausages with mandioca served to each table.



• Once people were seated at their table they stayed there; they didn’t mingle with any of the other guests.
• The bride and groom had their first dance and then a few other people joined in until appetizers were served and everyone took their seat again.
• Dinner was buffet style and very tasty. They served the hard-boiled eggs of a very small breed of chicken, best eggs I’ve ever had.
• Instead of forming a line so that everyone could pass by the buffet table easily, everyone just mobbed it. I really felt uncomfortable pushing people at a wedding, it didn’t seem polite, but clearly they didn’t mind at all.
• Oh oh, people wore white! Oooo, big US no no.


(Anibal, Marcia, and Nati)

• Marcia, Anibal, and Nati left right after dinner and didn’t wait for cake. Katary seemed unhappy that they were going to leave early, so I stayed for the throwing of the bouquet, and the cake string pulling ceremony. This is similar to the tradition of baking a trinket into a cake and the person whose slice contains the trinket is going to be the next one to get married, have a baby, good luck, w/e. Here however, they are little ribbons sticking out of the bottom of the cake. Attached to the ribbons was a ring. All of the single ladies take a ribbon and pull to see who had the ribbon with the ring attached. I left after this part, not staying for cake, and got home around 2:30am.



• As with the wedding ceremony, I was surprised the reception also felt so USy. I was hoping there would be some Paraguay specific ceremonies or customs, but what I saw was a rehashing of US style traditions. Perhaps after the cake cutting there was something more Paraguayan, but I just could not stick it out that long.

6 Months Already!?

As of November 24thish, I have been out of the country for 6 months. This surpasses my previous out of country expirence of 5 months while I was in Santiago, Chile studying abroad. So far, it has been a breeze. No offense to those of you state side of course.

I spent pretty much all of my first three months in site, which is what PC recommends, but is something I do not intend to repeat. By the end of the 3rd month I was itching for some time away. I’ve decided to try to get out of site and go spend some time with other volunteers, either at their sites or in Asuncion at least once a month…starting next month. This month I have to stay in site because I’ll be babysitting Luna and Carly’s house for three weeks while she is on vacation. Consequently January is when I will begin making leaving site for a weekend a part of my routine. Unfortunately this means that I’ll be in site during Christmas and New Year’s, which is no fun. A friend from my group is going to visit me for a few days before Christmas and we are going to do Hanukkah stuff. I don’t like Christmas, she is Jewish, perfect fit. We’re going to make potatoes pancakes and Jalla. Holla Tee hee, I couldn’t resist.

I will say that Christmas is a lot more low key here. I’ve seen a few lights in the city, but nothing else. In Asuncion there were a few advertisements with a Christmas feel, including some with penguins in snow hats and scarves. Its summer here btw.

I could do Christmas with my host family, but Marcia is subtly moving me from the house guest to renter. Her son, who occupies the room next to mine, is moving out, I’m assuming to the city where his wife and child live. She told me that I could rent the casita, referring to his room, my current room, and the outdoor bathroom, for 250,000/month. I’m not sure if this includes utilities or not. If it doesn’t include utilities it is a complete ripoff. The wooden house Carly almost rented cost that much, not including utilities, and had 2 rooms, a large living area, a large yard, a partially enclosed half-room. We’ll see. Right now I pay her 150,000 a month ‘for gas.’

I think the progression is very interesting
We started at ‘You can stay here for as long as you want rent free’
To her asking for 125,000 to ‘help with gas’ (she made it sound like a onetime thing)
To me giving her 150,000/month voluntarily, which I had to practically force her to take the first time.
To her basically telling me that I need to rent the other room and my current room for 250,000/month

What was most interesting was the way she framed the proposition. She said it was an opportunity for me to be more ‘independent’. The funny thing is the only real way that I could be more independent is if I moved out. I do all of my own cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. I’m in a room that they probably couldn’t rent out by itself without at least providing meals to the renter.

The only thing I use of theirs is the shower inside the main house, it has electricity, and the kitchen. I have a shelf I’ve taken over in the refrigerator, but I don’t feel bad about using it because they don’t keep leftovers. I also use the gas stove, though I’ve been cooking much less lately. Occasionally I may eat some of their bread, mandioca, or rice which I’ve perceived to be a negligible amount. She did tell me to act like the house was my own. She has repeated this mantra on several occasions including when I asked her if it was all right if a female volunteers spent the night.

However in her rental proposition she mentioned me setting up my own kitchen. Perhaps that is her indirect way of telling me that those ‘negligible’ amounts of food I’ve eaten or the shelf I’ve commandeered are not such trivial matters.

I’m bothered by her suggestion that I become more independent, because it sounds like she wants me to leave. But I don’t think that was her intention. She is a smart woman, a business woman. She knows that Nortes value independence and she knows I like to cook, so she used those items as her buzz words in her sales pitch… Also my three required months of living with a family are complete and evidently so is my semi-free ride. Her generosity has run its course, she has gotten me through the rule book. Now she wants rent money.

Perhaps I’ve not wowed her with my three months of community observation, as recommended by the PC, while I’ve stayed with them. The course of her life was changed by a PC volunteer and maybe she is disappointed I haven’t brought that same personal revolution with me for her daughter.

My plan is to accept her proposal beginning in January, assuming the David is out of the room by then. This also assumes utilities are included and I still get to use their refrigerator. Carly is leaving me hers when she leaves, so it would be absurd for me to get one of my own to use only for three months. If something about my refrigerator habits is annoying her…well it’s only for three more months.

Being moved into the renter position makes me feel less like family, so I don’t know if I want to spend Christmas or New Years with them. It also makes me even more eager to get out of the house before Carly leaves in April. If all goes according to my new plan, I’ll move in with Carly after her boyfriend Stephen leaves with Luna for the US in mid March.



Anyway, that’s me after 6 months. I’ve been trying to keep up with the news as best I can. I get CNN updates headline updates sent to one of my email accounts. Though since I read the most recent emails first my reactions to

CNN: ‘Fort Hood shooter apprehended’
Me: Wait! There was a shooting a Fort Hood?!

So I’m curious, what do you all think are the most important events I may have missed out on, things that in about 2 years will still be good to know?

And no, not that Kanye West stole Taylor Swift’s spotlight and Beyonce came to the rescue and then Obama broke the cardinal rule of being famous in the technology age thinking anything he says if off of the record or the overly aggressive female soccer player who is lucky she didn’t get charged with assault. Though I am curious about what songs are being most overplayed on the radio there.

Thank you for your assistance in reducing my culture shock upon reentry :)

Please post below.

Randoms

A butterfly that has decided to live in my bathroom. Scared the daylights out of me the first time. I thought it was a bat.


Lila´s current cage, as opposed to the lego inspired set up before made from my luggage.