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Brazil Pictures

Cowabunga Dude! Couch Surfing in Rio!

We finally made it back to Rio after our trip to Buzios.  We arrived back to the bus station around 7:30 and caught a cab to the Flamingo district of Rio to embark upon both mine and Deanna's first experience with couch surfing.

This is an excerpt from www.couchsurfing.com; Couch surfing is a worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit.  Couch Surfing is not about the furniture, not just about finding free accommodations around the world; it's about making connections worldwide.  

So, basically it is a website that connects travelers with people in the communities they are traveling to that are willing to let them stay on their couches or extra beds for free.  Deanna and I had both heard of this before and we thought that Rio would be the perfect opportunity for both of us to try it out!  We looked on the website and ended up finding a guy from Ohio that is studying in Rio for 6 months.  We sent him an e-mail and he replied that he had two openings so we were off to the Flamingo district to find Chris from Ohio.  

We arrived at his apartment around 8:00 and got settled in.  Chris is studying graphic design and is a year younger than us.  He has two roommates that are also studying in Rio.  One is from France and one is from Belgium.  There were also two girl travelers from Belgium staying with them while we were there.  Deanna and I set up shop on the two couches in the living room and the girls from Belgium took the extra bedroom.  It was a very interesting experience.  It was so hard for me to believe that these guys would just let complete strangers stay with them for free, but they were so nice and made us feel right at home.  

After we got settled, Deanna and I headed out for our good-bye dinner.  Chris suggested that we try an authentic Brazilian churrascaria.  We had not really eaten too much Brazilian food during our stay so we thought that would be a perfect last meal.  It was about what you would expect, lots of meat!  It was really good though and was a good conclusion to our stay in Brazil.  

This morning, my last morning, we got up to do one last touristy thing.  We headed over to Sugar Loaf Mountains.  It is a series of three mountains and you travel from peak to peak in a trolly car that is suspended between the mountains.  It was a very beautiful and clear day and we both got some really good pictures of the city.  After that we just headed back to Chris' apartment to pack and rest before my departure.  

I got to the airport around 6:30 to give myself plenty of time to get lost before my 9:45 flight! The Rio airport is much smaller and has many more English speakers than the Sao Paulo airport so I was able to make my way around pretty well.  I caught my plane and now I am sitting in the Miami airport waiting on my flight to DFW that will conclude my abbreviated tour of South America! 

I had so much fun and it was great to get to spend time with my old friend Deanna.  She is going to continue traveling through South America and then return to the states around December-ish.  Keep checking her blog for more of her crazy adventures!  

Ciao Buzios!

We are on the bus back to Rio which concludes our stay in Buzios.  Buzios was great.  It had fantastic shopping, beautiful beaches and friendly people.  

When we arrived at the Buzios bus stop three days ago, we met a friendly Peruvian import named Valdemeir...or Uncle Valdie as we liked to call him.  He was trying to rent out an apartment at his house.  It was only a 2 minute walk to the city center and we talked him down to 140 Reals for three nights which translates to about $11/night for both of us.  We were pleased with the deal and headed to his apartment.  It was a nice upstairs apartment with a kitchen area, dining area, private bathroom, set of bunk beds and a queen size bed.  Deanna was nice enough to let me have the queen bed, a nice departure from the twin bunk beds that we had been in.  After settling into the apartment we walked into the city center to check it out.  There were a ton of boutique shops and quaint restaurants along cobblestone paths, a nice change from the hustle and bustle of Rio.  After exploring there for a bit we decided to go to the grocery store to get things to cook since we had our own kitchen.  Deanna made a lovely spaghetti dinner for our first meal.  After eating we cleaned up and headed into the city center to see what the night life in Buzios was like.  We were surprised to find that most of the shops stay open well after midnight.  They say that things in Brazil don't start until midnight and this was defiantly true in Buzios.  We had a few cocktails and then headed back to the apartment to go to sleep.

The next day we got up and walked into the city center for breakfast and to check e-mail.  Most Brazilian breakfasts consist of coffee and some kind of meat and cheese pastry.  Their coffee is amazing!  I would defiantly trade Starbucks for any of the Brazilian street vendors coffee.  The weather in Buzios was always touch and go...Uncle Vladie says that is the norm in Spring.  After breakfast is was looking a little cloudy so we headed back to the apartment for a rest.  A little later the sun came out so we headed to one of Buzios many beaches.  We emerged from the apartment and decided to catch a cab because we weren't sure how to get the the beaches.  We got into the first cab we saw and told him where we wanted to go.  Come to find out, this particular cabbie had no knowledge of how to get around in Buzios....not too sure why he picked this particular career path since he had no knowledge of the city.  After stopping to ask directions 3 or 4 times, we finally made it to the beach.  The beach was quite and secluded...a HUGE change from Rio!  We laid out for a few hours and then headed back in because it was looking rainy.  There were no cabs around so we decided to hitchhike back to our apartment.  Luckily, the first car to come had someone who at least knew a little English...very helpful!  We told him where we wanted to go and he was more than happy to give us a lift.  Apparently, he imports bikinis to the US.  We think he was trying to get us to buy some or go to his website or something, but his english wasn't that good.  After a quick nap, we showered, changed and headed back to the city center for more shopping and dinner.  We had dinner at a nice Thai restaurant on the beach...I know, who goes to Brazil to eat Thai food?  It was surprisingly really good plus the Brazilian cuisine hasn't been my favorite.  They eat A LOT of meat accompanied with rice and bread.  A nice recipe for a little constipation and tummy ache if you ask me, so I have tried not to each too much of their food. :)  

Day three sucked pretty bad.  It was cold and rainy most of the day.  We spent most of the day in the city center playing cards and eating Brazilian stew...a pretty good combo for a cold rainy day.  Then watched a couple of movies in the apartment.  Not too much to report from day three.

Today, our final day, started with brunch at Cafe David, a little cafe that we found that has wi fi.  We did some e-mail checking and ate and tried to decided what time we wanted to go back to Rio.  We debated back and forth on wether or not we wanted to go back to the beach one more time and finally decided to just go get on the bus.  We got to the ticket counter and it was too late to get on the 1:00 bus so our decision was made for us!  We couldn't get on another bus until 3:00 so we went back to the apartment and changed into our suits and headed to the beach.  Uncle Valdie drove by just as we were coming out so we flagged him down to give us a ride which he was more than happy to do.  Anything for "his girls" as he liked to call us!  We made it to the beach in time to get a few hours of sun and then headed back to pack up and catch our bus.  When we got to the stop we saw our two Israeli friends from Rio.  They told us they were getting ready to leave on the 4:00 bus.  We were a little confused at why they were at the bus stop so early since it was only 2:30....they informed us that it was in fact 3:30....there was some kind of daylight savings time change that took place that we had no clue of!  So we had missed our 3:00 bus...ooops!  We went back over to the ticket counter and tried to connivence them to just print us another ticket, but they didn't speak a lick of English and our sad pouty faces weren't working so we just bought new tickets and chalked it up to a loss.  So, now we are on the 4:00 bus back to Rio!  We are planning on going out to a nice "good-bye" dinner tonight and then I leave tomorrow night, sad!  

Next Blog:  Cowabunga Dude!  Couch Surfing in Rio!

Copacabana, Ipanema and Jesus

We just boarded our bus to Buzios, Brazil.  Lonely Planet says that it is a 3 hour bus ride so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to write about our short time in Copacabana.  

After finding Deanna in the Rio airport, which was surprisingly easy, we changed some money and hopped a bus to Copacabana.  An hour later we arrived at the beach.  The beaches were really packed so we consulted our Lonely Planet book for a good hostel to stay at.  We picked one that seemed to be close to where we were and set off to find it.  

About an hour later we were still walking around in circles looking for the hostel!  My back, legs and feet were killing me!  A 9 kilo backpack gets extremely heavy after walking around for an hour!  We finally decided to go into an electronics store and and ask if they knew where it was...they didn't, but after all the employees looked at our map and couldn't figure it out they went on to Google and printed us directions on how to get there!  About 15 minutes later we found the hostel!  I was so relieved to finally be able to put my bags down!  

According to Deanna, the hostel we found was pretty nice.  It was about $12 US/night for a dorm style room.  Our room had 8 beds, a private bathroom and a private kitchen.  Thankfully, we only had to share the room with two other girls from Israel.  They were a little younger than us and had just finished serving their time in the Israeli army.  All in all my first experience at a hostel wasn't too bad.  It was pretty much like living at the Kappa house minus Mary Ann cooking every meal for me!  

The first night in Copacabana was spent walking down the beach.  We stopped at one of the street vendors and had Agua de Coca, a favorite local drink which consisted of them cutting a hole in a cocoanut and sticking a straw in it. After that we walked through the street market and then decided to walk further down the beach to Ipanema for dinner.  After dinner we started our LONG journey back to our hostel and crashed!  

The next day we went to see Christo Redentor.  It was pretty much what you would have expected...a really big statue of Jesus with lots of tourists taking pictures with him.  You did get a really good view of the city from up there which was nice.  

After seeing the Man, we decided to just go sit on the beach for the rest of the day which was a nice break from all of our walking around.  We went to Ipanema because their beaches seemed to be less crowded, rented a chair and set on the beach.  It was very relaxing aside from vendors stopping by about every 2 minutes to try and sell you something.  

We left the beach and headed back to the hostel for a long rest and shower.  We finally got ready and went out with a group from the hostel to a cafe on the beach for Brazilian cocktails...which were rather strong.  Our group consisted of 2 Americans (me and Dee), 2 Brazilians, 2 Peruvians and 1 Belgian.  It was really entertaining for all of us to try and have a conversation, especially after the strong cocktails!  It started pouring down rain so we said goodbye to our new friends and headed back to the hostel to go to bed.  

This morning we got up, packed and headed out to catch our bus to Buzios.  We have heard that the beaches there are amazing so we thought that we would go check it out.  Right now we are planning on staying a few days in Buzios depending on if we like it or not and then heading back to the Copacabana/Ipanema area to conclude my trip to South America.  I'll keep you updated on what is going on here!  Ciao!  

Sao Paulo Airport-Not so fond of you!

My time spent at the Sao Paulo airport was not my favorite.  The first port of call on my maiden journey abroad should have been to an English speaking country!  

After clearing customs (which consisted of standing in line for an hour just to hand them a piece of paper), I spent about 30 minutes running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to figure out what the heck to do.  I checked the board to see what gate I needed to get to and tried to find that with no luck, then I found my airline check-in counter and stood in line there for a while, finally asked a lady if I was in the correct line, I wasn't.  Apparently I was suppose to be downstairs...the reason I was upstairs is because someone downstairs told me I needed to be upstairs!  So I ran around a little more asked a couple of more people where to go...none of them gave me very convincing answers so my next mission was to find someone from America.  I ran around a little more and then saw my beacon of hope...a large white man with jeans and cowboy boots on!  I just knew he was American!  I ran him down and asked if he was from America and I could have cried when he said in a twangy West Texas accent, "yes ma'am."  I found out that he had also had a similar journey upstairs and downstairs so we were off to find this allusive downstairs check-in counter.  

Finally, I got checked in and confirmed with my airline agent (8 or 9 times) where gate 2 was.  I only thought I was out of the woods!  I went exactly were I was directed and found the security line...doing good so far...cleared security, and headed to gate 2.  I'm a quick learner so instead of just sitting and waiting at gate 2 like I would have normally done, I went up to the counter to make sure I was in the correct spot, I wasn't.  She told me that I was suppose to be at gate 4A.  Gate 2 was clearly printed on my ticket so I asked three or four more times and she assured me that it was 4A...ok...I'll try 4A.  4A is also downstairs....lovely, back to running upstairs and downstairs again!  

Went downstairs and gates 4A,B,C are all in one big room which is packed shoulder to shoulder with people.  I started to freak out a little because it was 8:30 and my flight was suppose to leave at 9:00.  I went to 4A counter and they said I was in the right place and that we would board next.  Sat there for 10 minutes...it's 8:40 now....starting to freak a little more....went back to the counter....still in the right place, you will board next....10 more minutes....it's 8:50....really freaking now, think I have for sure missed my flight.....go back to the counter...."you are going to Rio?"...."Yes"..."gate 4C"..."What?  I've been sitting at 4A for twenty minutes!"...."it's been moved to 4C, thank you."...at this point it is 8:55 and I'm thinking, "holy shit, I'm going to have to stay at this airport and wait for another flight to Rio."  I was not happy.  Ran to 4C, they were just boarding so after all of that, I made the flight.  

Not the most fun experience in the world.  

Observations from the Sao Paulo Airport:

1.  they do not teach the "no breaking in line" rule in Brazilian elementary schools.

2.  everyone works at their own pace-no sense of ergency whatsoever 

3.  never trust the flight board

4.  expect to stand in a minimum of 5 lines for a minimum of 2 1/2 hours

5.  no one speaks English and if they do, it isn't enough to give you proper directions

6.  air-conditioning is very little to none

This is exactly how I felt about my experience at the Sao Paulo Airport:

Things not apparent from this picture; I have just gotten off of an overnight flight, I have just completed running around the Sao Paulo airport for 2.5 hours with little to no air-conditioning, face is not washed, teeth are not brushed, hair is not brushed (ok, that one is apparent)

Next Blog:

Copacabana, Ipanema and Jesus

T minus 32 hours...

...until I am laying right here!  So excited!  I am going to try to update my blog periodically during the week so check back often!  Adeus!  Translation: Bye!

DONE!

Well, I took the final part of the NCIDQ on Friday!  It was an all day affair.  The first part was from 8:00-12:00.  I thought that went pretty good.  It was mostly programming and space planning which is what I do everyday so I felt pretty comfortable with that part.  The second part was from 2:00-5:00.  I wasn't too sure how I did after that section.  It was lighting, electrical and millwork details which I haven't really done since school so I felt a little rusty during that part.  Who knows...I thought I failed miserably after the first two parts and I passed those so hopefully I will get another surprise!  The results take 13 weeks so it will be after the first of the year before I know if I passed or not.  Keep your fingers crossed!