Ipanema and Lapa

Here's a pic of Roberta's street in Rio.

I stayed on the 3rd floor. There is a locked door at the bottom of the stairwell,

but the doors and windows of the house are always open, it's hot!

Today was one of my favorite days because it was packed full of adventure! By day, Naiana and I had plans to go to Ipanema Praia (beach) and tan my white butt. Ha! By night, we planned to meet up with Roberta and 3 more friends for a night of dancing in the fast paced nightlife of Lapa. What a day!

(p.s. you'll have to excuse some of these photos the program seems to be misfunctioning and making them look a bit weird or on their side... oh well!)

We met at a shopping center and took a gorgeous bus ride from the West side of the city along the coast to Ipanema. This is what the inside of the bus looks like. The yellow box thing with the black top is a card reader for bus passes. They have incredible public transportation in Brasil, it's awesome!

Check out my new friend. He was just chillin on the beach.

Why do lizards follow me everywhere I go?

Beach food, hamburger with tiny french fries inside!

Apparently a hamburger here has egg, cheese, and a slice of deli meat inside. 

Naiana and I ate lunch together before going to the beach

This is a crepe with mushroom sauce and caprisi salad! Yum.

After our beautiful bus ride, we arrived at Ipanema beach.

It was hot and there were tons of people here, so much fun!

The boardwalk and the direction we came from.

We drove along those mountains to get here, gorgeous!

Stylin my new bikini, with the classic tomato face I manage to get

everytime the temperature rises above 90... nice.

It must have been around 100 that day.

 Globo!

This is a delicious airy crispy snack that disappears faster than you'd like.
(here begin the weird photos...)

Vendedores de Biscoitos Globo :)

Hardly 5 minutes pass by on the beach without someone walking by with snacks for sale.

Naiana and I, bronziando (tanning)

I am so thankful for Naiana. She is the first person I met here in Brazil. She sought to help me without me even asking and kindly used her phone to help me get in touch with Roberta and speak with her when I first arrived. I really like this girl. She is very helpful, compassionate, and always fun to spend time with. I had a great day with her going to the beach and checking out the local scenery. Can't wait to see you again during Carnaval in Rio, Naiana! Beijão!

Walking on the pretty head by Ipanema Beach

Beautiful View!

The view toward Copacabana Beach

Why? Why not.

On our way to Lapa.

Lapa has a bustling night life, with food and drinks all available all night.

Dancing all night at the Bar da Boa!

p.s. it was pretty awesome when one minute the DJ was blasing pop music from the US and everyone was singing along with really cute brazillian accents, and the next minute when I would be introduced to Brazillian pop music! That was a first. 

Hey, Roberta... "Joga, joga joga no meu party BAAABE!!!!!"

Where my girls at?!

Thaynara, Jomar, Me, Roberta, and Renata!

Beautiful People. Thanks for the fun night guys :)

First days in Rio

Brasil!

I arrived in Brazil after a long sleepless night of traveling. Arriving here was like stepping into another world. I felt nervous and uncertain, like maybe I shouldn´t be here. It´s easy to be overwhelmed at first when the simplest things require overcoming the barriers of language and cultural expectations. Studying portuguese was the best idea that I had before this trip. That, and the amazing kindness of the Brazilian people have saved me! I find myself surviving each moment with intuition and a handful of portuguese verbs and phrases. Truly, I am like a child.

I was fortunate enough to meet a very nice girl named Naiana who spoke some english. She helped me contact my host Roberta with her cellphone and overcome the language gap so I could find her house! Driving through the neighborhoods was a cultural shock. Many things are different here. I didn´t take many pictures yet because I didn´t want to look unawaredly touristy or like a target. But as I am here longer I am more comfortable with how and when to do this. 

Roberta and I :)

We have been speaking in Portuguese the entire time, to the acompaniment of much laughter and patience. Roberta is so welcoming and friendly, I couldn´t have asked for a nicer first host. She made me dinner the first night I arrived, helped me navigate the extensive bus system, lent me her aunts phone for the time of my stay, and offered many more small kindnesses from a big heart.

My little internet station, where I´m currently sitting with Roberta while I write this post,

and watching a novela that translates to "The Color of Sin".  

 A casa da Roberta!

That couch folds out to be my bed.

I´ll be here 5 nights, thanks Roberta!

When I look around I realize how rich we are in the United States. The living conditions of many here are very humble. I have been hearing from people how dangerous it is here. My impresison is that yes, of course there are dangerous areas here, but most people are just people living their lives, loving, hurting, laughing, and striving just like anywhere else. I refuse to be afraid here, of course I stay aware always, and intelligent about my choices.(don´t worry, family) We in the US are raised with a culture of fear of many things, especially ones we dont understand. There is much to learn in Brazil. I´m thankful!

 I stopped into one of the many food shops at the market and bought esfiha,

which is basically like a filo pastry full of cheese and other things, yum!

 The market in Saara.

There are many walking streets full of vendors and shoppers in the center of downtown Rio.

 Barra da Tijuca

 Eu amo a praia! 

Brazil, thank you for loving and celebrating the beauty of the human body!

There is an abundance of beauty here, in both the people and the places.

 Aaaah, my 4th summer in 2 years. Life is good.

 What was my first purchase in Brasil

(besides a bus pass...)

a thong bikini of course.

 On the bus ride home from the beach we drove straight through the Sambodromo,

where Andelaine, Rachel, and I will be sitting in the blue section on the ground

to watch the biggest show in the world: Rio´s Carnaval!

Roberta and her friends Sergio and Natasha.

Between us we had four currencies on hand!

We went to a Japanese restaurant where you could get all you can eat for 30 reias ($15) 

but that deal applied only to women... sorry Sergio! This is a perfect example of the complex magic of a simple meeting in another country. Arriving here was a strange mixture of intuition, explanation with limited understanding, and countless half asked half understood questions to strangers. After waiting in the wrong place to meet them for 45 minutes as the sun was setting, I reconstructed a past conversation with a small hint from a text to go to a mall where I was told I could find a Japanese restaurant. I went, found out there was one on the 3rd floor. I had no idea if they were there and if they weren´t how the hell I would get home. Seeing Robertas face was like finding water in a desert!

Until next time... tchao!

Hawaii

Post coming after Brazil... :)

New Zealand coming to a close

Post coming after Brazil... :)

Fox Glacier

Fox Glacier

Halfway or so down the coast is an amazing set of glaciers. We chose to do a day trip on the Fox Glacier and I'm so glad we did! Just looking through these pictures to select some made me catch my breath.

This place is monumental, beyond capture in any way.

So here goes...

 First view of the glacier.

 This is a blurry picture of a possum trap! 

The possum are from Australia and are treated like an infestation. 

They rip apart the delicate balance of flora and fauna of the NZ ecosystem.

 Glacier water filtered through moss. I drank right from this!

Every day the ice would melt and refreeze in the night.

Our guides re-cut steps in the steep areas every day. 

 The glacier is littered with many of these holes.

These are melting points that connect to much larger streams

and rivers below the ice. Most people who fall down don't come out.

I did hear a story of one lucky glacier walker who fell down one, 

and was carried 2 miles under the glacier in the dark to come out

 at the foot of the glacier... LUCKKKYYYY. 

 Check out this awesome serac (column of ice)

 Great action shot of Dan, our fearless leader.

He let us crash at his place that night with all his mountain guide friends.

Super fun!