Brotas

We took the bus on Friday morning and arrived around 4. Diane booked this package deal of hotel, rafting, canyoning, and zip lining, so we thought we wouldn't need to worry about any transportation once we got there. Brotas seemed pretty touristy on the websites. But when we got to the bus stop, there was nothing. No information at all, let alone in English. And it turns out our hotel was actually in a different city, 15 miles away. So we spent a few minutes wandering around looking lost--lost enough that finally this girl waved us over and asked where we were from. Her English was so good that I asked where she was from, too, and she said she was Brazilian but had just returned from a 2 year nannying stint in Atlanta (what are the odds?). She offered to direct us to our hotel, and when we showed her the map she told us how far it was, and then she offered to drive us. For once Diane was more hesitant than I, but we didn't have much choice. So Maria drove us all the way to the other city, gave us her number, and told us we could sleep at her house on Sunday night (the hotel was only for 2 nights, but no buses sleave on Sundays).

On Saturday we went rafting, which was really fun, although not very challenging. They put 7 people in each raft, plus a tour guide, and I'm pretty sure he did all the work from the back corner. But it was fun to learn commands for steering: "frente" (frenchay)=forward, "re"(hey)=back, "piso"(peeso)=get down in the boat and hold on. And our war cry, which I never said right, was "Nos capotas mais nao brakas!" or something like that, which means, we may roll, but we don't break!

After that we went canyoning, which again wasnt very challenging but was beautiful. You might know this, but it's essentially rapelling but with water. So we rapelled down sthree waterfalls, and hiked a little ways through the water. It was great except when the guide showed me a spider the size of my palm lurking on the rocks we were climbing over.

On Sunday we went on the "Voo de Tarzan" zipline. It's apparently the longest, or highest, or both, zipline in Brazil. I thought it'd be a rush of adrenaline, but again it was just beautiful, kind of slow-paced soaring over the jungle. After that we went on a short hike to another waterfall, which was in this secluded hollow and literally had rainbows and butterflies flitting around it. We went and stood under the waterfall and said, we have done everything we could do in a waterfall, short of actually jumping down one: we've been in the top of a waterfall, in the bottom of a waterfall, in the middle of a waterfall, rapelled down next to a waterfall, seen famous waterfalls, seen secret waterfalls, stood in waterfalls with our clothes on, stood in waterfalls with just our swimsuits on, seen another country from a waterfall, seen waterfalls legally, and seen waterfalls illegally. So we were pretty proud of ourselves.

After that we checked out of the hotel and went back to Brotas. We didn't want to impose on Maria longer than we had to, so we had a few hours to kill. We bought some souvenirs and then wandered around, looking for all the people in Brotas, since it was practically empty. And then, when we wandered along the river in the middle of town, we found them. They were all swimming in the river and fullfilling our Waterfall Destiny: jumping down a waterfall. There were all these guys doing crazy dives and flips from the top of a waterfall, and Diane and I thought, we have to try. So we changed into our swimmies and went down to the water. The current was relatively strong, but we made it to the rocks in the middle and climbed up. We stood at the top and contemplated for a long, long time, while the guys chattered at us and told us it was fun and safe. It was probably 10-12 feet high, so not too bad, but we were afraid of slipping and hitting some unknown rock. But we finally went, and I got the adrenaline rush I'd been missing for the whole trip. It was so, so fun and we went 2 more times before we changed and called Maria again.

That sums it up, except for Maria's absurdly kind hospitality.

Pantanal in Pictures

Pantanal, Friday

So, I need to catch up on last weeks marvelous trip to Pantanal. It was one of those trips that's hard to write about, because it was just so great. It made me so happy and sad at the same time, being with friends in a beautiful place and knowing how hard it would be to return. But for now, I'll just dwell on the happy. Also, I'm going to cheat and do bullet points.

Friday

• arrived in Miranda, Mato Grosso do Sul (yes, the region that's in Newsweek this week), and met Iruã's parents.
• dropped off our stuff at their house, went to a barbecue. It was fun to meet people and watch them cook mutton in a cauldron, but it was so hot I couldn't enjoy the food.

• learned about the Paraguayan war
• walked around town

• met Iruã's grandma
• went to Refugio dos Bugios, a protected area in Miranda with wild monkeys (!) and mini Capybaras

Aside from the heat, it was a great first day in Miranda!

Matthew Tribute

Because I miss the little buggy guy. I emailed him and complained about the dog eating my computer cord (did I write about that on here?) and here was his suggestion:

"sorry about the dog, but maybe you shouldnt kick him. if you were closer to the jungle, you might be able to feed him to something, like an eagle or an anaconda, but i guess that is too far away."

Yes, unfortunately the jungle is too far away to feed Suzie to an anaconda. But it's a good and matthewesque suggestion.

...and the next day

After writing Saturday's blog post, I fell asleep for an hour and a half and then got up for church. They made me the pianist for sacrament meeting, so not only did I have to go, I had to go early. I was terrified of falling asleep on the keyboard or something, but actually I didn't sleep even once in the three hours! How righteous am I? And the playing went OK, although someone chose "Let Us All Press On" for the last hymn, which is hard, even though I told them in my best Portuguese that I'm not very good.

After church we went to Iruã's vó's (grandma's) house. She made us feijoada, a traditional Brazilian dish with beans and pork:

They eat it with some sort of crushed cracker flower stuff (in the white dishes on the left). I'm glad I finally ate some--everyone's been talking about it since I got here. Plus, I met some of Iruã's family. His grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin were there. His 9 year old cousin, João, takes English classes at CCBEU. His English was really good, and I was impressed that he stuck around and talked to us. Over the course of the day, João and I discussed comic books, favorite animals, favorite foods, soccer, and dogs.

I also, thank goodness, fell asleep after lunch and probably drooled all over the couch.

After my nap, we drove to Iruã's family's farm. It's a sugar cane farm, and his aunt and uncle have an "orchid house" there. It's really cool: they have a sort of open-sided tent with hanging baskets of orchids underneath.

The rest of the farm was beautiful, too. It's mango season, and there are mangoes littering the ground--so many that we were slipping on rotting mango corpses and feeding them to the pigs:

and the cow:

To get fresh mangoes for ourselves, we threw rotten mangoes at the tree.

Now, I love mangoes, but they're always kind of a pain to eat. Who knew you could peel them with your teeth?

We wandered around and enjoyed the view:

A Long Night (and day)

I think the best way to tell this story is backwards.

Not least because that's how I'm thinking right now. It's 5:30 am, and Diane and I just got back from a good 45 minutes of being completely and totally lost while trying to walk home. Luckily, the churches in Lins decorate with crazy neon crosses, so eventually we found our way back, just as the dawn was breaking.

Walk home from where? From our friend and co-worker's house. Remember when I made a big deal about riding in a Slug Bug for the first time? Well, big fat deal, August-Rachel: today I drove my first VW Bug. Diane and I went clubbing with two of our friends from work, both of whom drank. A lot. There was no way we could let them drive. Especially the one who drove to the club, whose Beetle needed to get home. Diane never learned stick shift, and so I--and this is one of the bravest things I have ever done, Follower--I, whose stick shift knowledge comes from a 30 minute lesson 6 years ago with Uncle Erik and an hour of driving Aurora's car 1 1/2 years ago--I drove us all home. Being re-coached by a wasted guy is not easy (although it's admittedly hilarious), and I stalled the poor love bug several times, ran countless "Pare" signs, and insisted on remaining in first gear for the majority of the journey. Sorry about that, passengers. When I finally got up the nerve to try for second, I stalled in the middle of the freeway. But I got it eventually. I also improved my starts and stops when I let people out to pee.

So, before we realized we were in a fix with the car situation, the club was really fun. It's almost as scary to dance with a drunk Brazilian as it is to drive his car, but I have to say, even the Brazilians who insist that they can't dance are actually good. It's just ingrained in the culture, I think. Sertanejo plays at every party and club, and everyone actually grabs a partner and dances. I love it. I also love when they play Maroon 5 and Diane and I know all the words and what they mean.

Before that, we had a really great time at Choppão, a bar, with a tableful of other English teachers. We discussed, among other things, various kinds of alcohol, jackets, and pick-up lines. I really like hanging out with the other teachers, and I hope we do it more often.

Wait! That's still not the beginning. Before Choppão, Diane and I went with Iruã from and to the Linense soccer game, which was so fun to see. I asked lots of dumb questions but enjoyed myself immensely, and Linense won 5x0. It poured on the way there, but luckily it stopped, and instead there was a beautiful double rainbow. The perfect, promising beginning.

Quero-Quero Bird

So, today I went running at this little park close to my house. While sweating profusely, I like looking at the flowers, birds, and giant Ford dealership. Today, when I rounded the corner, I saw these long-legged birds that I've noticed before. They're really graceful and pretty:

So I saw two of these birds, and then three little birds with them, and I thought, maybe those are babies! How cute! And I kept running, and pretty soon I heard this, "Wwwaaaaaack! Wwwaaaack!" And I looked again, and one of the birds was crouched down over, presumably, her chicks, and the other adult was spreading his wings out, and all at once he was flying at my head!

Quero-Quero in attack mode:

He flew right over me and brushed me with his wings, and then continued screeching and turned around, and smashed himself into my back! I was so scared, running with my head under my arms, but also sort of laughing nervously. I peeked out from under my elbows to see if anyone else saw, but I was alone. Of course I thought of Hitchcock's The Birds. I was a little jumpy for the rest of my run.

And then, I told two of my classes about it (by "told," I mean "acted out with flailing arms and screeching noises"), and they nodded sagely and said, "Yes, Teacher. That's the Want-Want bird. It doesn't like when you are close to the babies."

I'll say.

The Third Sunday in October

I was so confused yesterday. I set my phone alarm for 8:00, but it went off when it was still dark outside, and my watch said only 7 am. First I thought my phone was off, but the clock in the hall said 8:00, too. At heart, I'm a conspiracy theorist, because my next conjecture was, who snuck in here and changed my watch? I couldn't think of anyone who would do that, though, except maybe my Catholic hostess who maybe fiendishly wanted me to miss church or something. And of course I considered that it could be Daylight Saving Time, but I carefully recited "Spring forward, fall back" and knew we should gain an hour, not lose one. Also, nobody mentioned Daylight Saving at all last week.

Of course, Follower, if you're a little quicker than I am at 7:00/8:00 am, you've figured out that [duh] October IS spring for these crazy Brazilians. So, yeah. I'm 5 hours later than you now, California. At least until November, when it will be 6 hours. Change those clocks, and get the extra hour of sleep that I missed!

Saint What's-Her-Bucket's Day

Today was the day of Saint Someoneorother, so it was a holiday. I'm pretty sure it was St. Mary, and today celebrates her Appearance, but no one can tell me when, where, why, how, or to whom she appeared. What's important is that everyone had a day off, and Donna Catarina had a lunch with her whole family. Everyone was really nice, although they largely ignored me (no one can talk to me, so I don't blame them), and I had a chance to enjoy the food and people-watch.

For lunch we had beef and sausage, accompanied by rice cooked with meat. Trying to be somewhat healthy, I took only a little meat and rice, and filled up my plate with the weird-looking, good-smelling, minty side dish. I guessed it was some sort of salad, but I didn't know what grain or vegetable it was--and then, when I tasted it, I couldn't place it. So I asked what it was made of, and after some gestures and a few key cognates, they explained it was raw ground beef and spices.

Allow me to re-cap lunch for you: meat and meat over rice and meat, with a side of meat.

Not to complain, though; it was tasty, and there was flan for dessert. Plus, it was really fun to be part of a family get together. I miss you, Family! Here are some pictures.

Filho (son, with guitar) and filha (daughter):

Son-in-law:

Daughter-in-law and granddaughter, doing nails:

Grandkids:

Dona Catarina and...granddaughter? Great-granddaughter? Gabrielle:

Foz do Iguaçu: Sunday Afternoon

After our trek to Argentina,we were pretty tired, and still very broke. When we got back to the hostel, Luis and Miguel invited us to eat with them, so we made spaghetti and pigged out. That morning, Luis had told us he had a surprise for us, and to meet him at the hostel at 3:00. So, at 3, we were ready in the lobby. I was a little wary, because he wouldn't tell us where we were going. He did tell us not to bring bags or purses, just our passports (!) and cameras. Please don't tell me how naive it was to go along with this scheme.

Luis took us first to a bus, then to a taxi, and then to the Brazilian Border Control. We got our passports stamped there, and Luis said, "Let me hold on to your passports, because I look less like a tourist than you and I can keep them safe." I had my money belt, so I declined, but Diane had only a pocket, and I was doubly nervous when she handed over her papers.

We took a taxi across a bridge, at which point Luis said, "We are in Paraguay! You are illegal. Don't look suspicious, and hide from police."

Luis took his two Germanic charges to a crazy bus stop:

And to an even crazier bus:All the buses were like that: red and orange, green and yellow, or red and purple--any color scheme you can imagine, with swirls and stripes and people hanging out the windows. The inside was amazing:

I think the bus drivers decorate their own buses, and ours had milti-colored curtains at every window and fringe at the front. Diane swears our driver was sitting in a beach chair.

We rode the bus for a suspiciously long time and got off in a quiet neighborhood. I was completely stumped about where Luis was taking us, but after trusting him this far, we didn't have much choice but to tag along after him. Walking through the residential streets I was surprised how different Paraguay looked from Brazil. The difference between the houses was appalling, with this one one side of the street:

And this on the other:

We also witnessed this one-on-one soccer game:

Luis seemed to know lots of people in the neighborhoods we passed, which was somewhat reassuring. Neighborhoods turned into fields, pavement turned into dirt, and eventually we reached our destination: the Beautiful Secret Waterfalls of Somewhere in Paraguay.

I started to feel bad for not trusting Luis, when the whole time he planned to show us these falls. On the way home, he introduced us to some friends of his, and we drank coke and ate these delicious fruits that I hope to find again someday.

The most exciting part of Paraguay was leaving it. We had to sneak out past the police, or we would go to a Paraguayan jail and pay a huge fine. So, in our Experienced-Spies kind of way, we hunched our shoulders and put our hoods on, and ran past border control. Fool proof! Luckily, we made it back across the bridge and safely into Brazil again. And that is the story of my trip to Paraguay.