HI EVERYONE!
I just got back from Mauritius. It was pretty fun…We only stayed three days, but I was able get a lot done. I participated in two different service visits which were really fun.
On the first day I went to a residence center for children who come from poor and broken homes. Many of the children’s parents are involved with drugs or prostitution. It was sad, but the children were so cute, most of them were between the ages of 2-10, but there were a few older ones too, and they all seemed to be pretty happy. I took along some little prizes….stickers, whistles, cars, dolls, and bubbles to share with them. The kids lived in apartment type buildings in groups of about 8. Each apartment had a home mother and a home auntie. The mothers stay at the home for 2 weeks at a time 24 hours/day and then get to go home to their own families for 2 weeks. While they’re gone, the home aunties are responsible for the kids. It seemed like a pretty good set up, it was clean and like I said, the kids seemed happy. We played with the children for a few hours and had a really good time.
I was also able to eat some really good Chinese food in Mauritius…everything there was really cheap…..We ate at a really nice restaurant for the equivalent of $7 US dollars each. The currency in Mauritius is the Rupee…the exchange rate is about 33 rupees per each US dollar…. So this port was kind of confusing!
On the second day I went to a school in Mauritius. This students who attended this school were kids that were placed in foster care throughout the neighborhood….most of them came from pretty rough backgrounds and so many of them have had severe behavioral problems in the “regular” school system…this is why they now attend the special school that I visited. The students were older…probably aged 11+, except for their pre school kids- these babies are between 2 and 4…they were so cute! While I was there all of the students were incredibly well behaved and polite….All of them were really smart and talented also! I was able to sit in on a music class and I learned how to play a huge drum called La Havan. It is made of goat skin…kind of gross, but also kind of cool! There was a boy who was probably about 15, and he was honestly one of the most talented people I have ever met…He could play the drums piano and guitar. He was really nice and he tried his best to help me play that drum, but I sounded like a female rain man….haha! We also got to play some good London bridge type of game and this other game where everyone holds hands in a circle and then someone is selected to dance in the middle…We had a lot of fun, and I bought a CD that has the songs we danced to so that I can play them later….possibly when I am a teacher. All of the words are in French! French is the language that is spoken most widely throughout Mauritius…some Creole is spoken, but overall it is mostly French - English is also known by many. There are also many Indian’s in Mauritius, so there are temples of worship all throughout the island.
On our last day we made our way over to the beach at Grand Bay. It was really pretty and even though we didn’t have a very sunny day, we still had a good time. The water was kind of cold…but really, really salty! I mean even saltier than usual! This was also my first time swimming in the Indian Ocean….so that was cool!
Mauritius is the home of the Dodo bird…you know like in Alice in Wonderland, but the Portuguese hunted too many of them while they were in Mauritius colonizing and now they are extinct! Mauritius seems to be pretty proud of this factor…as almost every t shirt, magnet and post card had a dodo bird on it!
I did a little bit of shopping at a local market, and bought a few prizes……..I only spent $100 bucks in Mauritius! YES!
Mauritius also has a lot of western influence….there was this restaurant/bar called Shots, and they had different types of sports memorabilia….they even had a Denver Nuggets Jersey hanging on the wall! This place was really modern and cool……they had “Sean”- type of furniture….I thought about him a lot while I was there! We had some drinks and dancing there one night, which was really fun, but for the most part, we didn’t go out very much……we were only there for 2 nights!
Mauritius was a fun port, and I am glad that I got to visit-even if it was just for a few days!
India is next, so if anyone wants anything, let me know ASAP!
I miss everyone and hope you are all doing well. I love you, Valerie!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
South Africa
Hello again,
This was another busy week for me on the ship, and I haven’t had a chance to really sit down to write this e mail until now…..South Africa was GREAT!!
We spent about 6 days there, 4 of which I spent on a safari. I had such a great time and got to see several aspects of S. Africa, from the busy city, to the poor townships and even the savanna and wilderness during the safari.
On my first day, I went to the infamous Robben Island, a jail where political prisoners including Nelson Mandela were held during the years of the apartheid. The former S. African President spent 27 years of his life in the prison. I was able to see his prison cell and hear about life on Robben Island from a former inmate who now gives tours of the prison. The day of Nelson Mandela’s release, Feb. 11, 1990, is considered to be the day that the apartheid officially ended. Before arriving in South Africa, we discussed some of the history behind apartheid and of South Africa in general. Since the Arch Bishop is a passenger on our ship, he was able to give us very accurate information and share personal stories of his struggles with racial inequality in S. Africa. The island seemed to hold a very important piece of S. African history, and I was glad that I was able to visit.
Later on in the evening, I was able to attend a play at the Cape Town theatre called “Everybody else is F***ing Perfect”. The play itself wasn’t great, but I was glad that I was able to attend. Prior to the actual show, we were introduced to the play’s director and creator, who shared with us her inspiration behind the play. We also got some free snacks! They were pretty good-mostly finger foods and free wine!
The night consisted of going out to a local night club on Long Street. I didn’t enjoy myself very much on this night simply because I was again forced to realize my new phobia of being trapped with too many people. In the club, we couldn’t even move….it was hot and people were even climbing on top of other people to try and get out. Needless to say, I didn’t stay there for very long.
On the second day, we met up with a friend of Jazmin and Mando’s who they met during their voyage a few years ago. His name was Gerald, and he was a pretty nice guy. He took us riding through various townships giving us information about them along the way. He introduced us to some of his friends and we spent the day meeting some of the locals and drinking beer together. I don’t even like beer, but we drank a lot of it that day! There is an apple cider beer in S. Africa called Savanna Dry….it isn’t great, but it is way better than any other beer I’ve ever had! We got to taste some of the local food from this trailer in one of the townships- I think it was Cailisha (?)- the town, not the food. The food reminded me of posole kind of…..it was boiled corn mixed with beans….it was pretty good….but I was kind of scared to eat it.
Gerald also took us to this butchery called Maphindi’s and we ordered a huge cookie sheet of just meat…..lamb, beef, pork, it was sooo good! We ate it with a loaf of bread and some cokes! We had a lot of fun. Gerald also took us to a local music store so that we could purchase some S. African tunes…the music we got is called Kwaito….a S. African form of hip-hop.
On day 3 we left for our Safari in a town that I think was just outside of Swaziland. The actual game reserve was called Mthethomusha but we were headed for the Bongoni Lodge. Most of our day was spent traveling, we had a stopover in Johanasberg, but we weren’t allowed to get off of the plane. When we finally arrived at our reserve, a huge 10-seater Land Rover with no roof came and picked us up. Almost immediately I saw giraffes and Zebras. The drive to the actual lodge took about 10-15 minutes, but when we finally arrived, I was more than impressed. Each of us had our very own cabin-equipped with 2 beds, 2 bathrooms, a kitchenette, and a living room. They were very modern looking without being overdone….we still felt like we were on safari….and there were little lizards that went in and out of our cabins as they pleased-kind of scary, but kind of cool too!
On our evening game drive that day we were able to see Nala, Impala, and Kudu which are three different types of antelope…..they’re kind of like the “squirrels” of the safari- they are everywhere, but still really neat to watch. We also saw some White Rhinos. They were huge and we were able to get really, really close to them. Our guide/driver (named Nelson) and his assistant (–who we called Wonder Boy) were both really knowledgeable. They were funny and very personable and we absolutely loved them…..we had the best Land Rover group by far! Each day we took 2 game drives and the people in our car always stayed the same, so we were all able to get pretty close. On our morning drives, which began at 6am, we would take a break from our animal searching and would have some tea and biscuits before heading back for breakfast-which by the way was AMAZING. On our evening game drives, we would always end by having mixed drinks overlooking the reserve and watching the sun go down before heading back for dinner. It was always really beautiful and I was able to see the stars like I have never seen them before!
Dinner was always delicious! Each night we had a different soup and they were by far the best soups that I have ever had. Tomato Bisque, Lentil, and Corn Chowder- Soooo good!
Day 4’s morning game drive brought us to my most favorite animal of all time…(besides puppies) elephants!! I don’t think I ever really knew how much I loved them! We had to go searching for them by following their dung….Nelson and Wonder Boy lead the way. When we finally found them, we only saw one…he was huge and was grazing on different trees and grass. I got some good video footage of him….as we were getting ready to leave, someone in our car spotted some movement in the bushes. We headed over that way and all of a sudden a huge herd of elephants were right in front of us….baby elephants, and about 3 fully grown ones were literally right in front of the car! It was so neat…..I wasn’t expecting to see them and I had just put my camera away…..I tried to fumble around and get it back out but they were gone just as quickly as they appeared.
This was my most favorite experience, but I only have a mental picture to show for it….
We also saw a 2 female and 1 male lion cub, but they were older so they weren’t very small, and a huge male lion laying on a rock! We had our tea and biscuits and headed back to the lodge.
During the afternoon we were able to go on an excursion to see a nearby village. We stopped at a small shop with different arts and crafts. I bought a beautiful wooden bracelet. We also stopped by an elementary school. The children were so cute and they were really excited to see us. I took several pictures of them….they all wanted to see themselves in our cameras, so I wore out my battery showing them pictures of themselves. On the way back to the lodge we stopped at a home in the village and got to see some of the people perform traditional African dances for us.
The afternoon game hunt lead us to see zebras, giraffes, impala, kudu, and nala. We stopped to look at a traditional fruit that Elephants frequently eat, the Amarulla fruit- We picked some up right off of the ground and ate them…they were good! Nelson told us that the fruit was used to make a South African liquor called Amarulla. We also began the search for a leopard. After our evening drink stop, we were able to see a huge owl. He was really neat.
In the morning on day 5 we went to see the hippos. We had to go on a 20 minute drive until we reached a river that was known for having hippos. Also in the river we were able to see a crocodile…although it was really really far away! This river was located near a park with a playground. The equipment was all in good condition, but was the kind that we don’t see in the states anymore….sea-saw, merry go round, etc. Celina and I hopped on the sea-saw for old times sake….it was fun! In the evening Nelson drove us around really fast, just like for wheeling only we were going through trees, shrubs, and thorns really quickly with an open top. It was like a jungle roller coaster! Along the way we saw buffalo, monkeys (they liked to hang out near the lodge), a warthog, nala, impala, and kudu, a buffalo carcass and more lions who had just been feeding. This was really neat to see also!
Our last day on safari was bitter sweet. We’d had such a great time, and had grown very close to Nelson and Wonder boy. We set out for the last time-really in search of the leopard, but had no such luck…..we did see more rhinos, this time they were even bigger than before….HUGE!! as well as the “3 safari squirrels”, another lion and a huge heard of buffalo……go buffs!
Overall our safari was great! We got Nelson’s e mail address and he promised to show us around if we ever returned to S. Africa.
The plane ride home was kind of scary….lots of turbulence.
We had dinner at a restaurant called the Ocean’s Basket and made friends with the waiter. He recommended great snacks and the food was good and affordable!
On our last day in Cape Town, we just did some shopping, I visited a little market and bought a few odds and ends. I ended up buying a bottle of that Amarulla and I tried to ship it home (because we aren’t allowed to bring liquor onto the ship) but when I got to the post office they told me that they were out of both boxes and bubble wrap! So I was stuck with this huge bottle of alcohol!
We decided to have dinner at Ocean’s Basket again and got to meet up with our waiter friend Clive who is originally from Zimbabwe. I told him about my predicament and he offered to send the bottle home for me when the post office got more boxes and bubble wrap (The post office is in the mall, as is the restaurant). I agreed and gave him $ for postage and left my home address and the bottle in his care……we’ll see if it ever gets there…..I hope it will, but you never know.
Now I am waiting for our ship to arrive in Mauritius. We should be there tomorrow afternoon….well at 12:00pm exactly. I am ten hours ahead of you all in Denver so if I call, it might be at a really random time!
I miss you all very much and am thinking and praying for you every day!
See you soon! ~Valerie
This was another busy week for me on the ship, and I haven’t had a chance to really sit down to write this e mail until now…..South Africa was GREAT!!
We spent about 6 days there, 4 of which I spent on a safari. I had such a great time and got to see several aspects of S. Africa, from the busy city, to the poor townships and even the savanna and wilderness during the safari.
On my first day, I went to the infamous Robben Island, a jail where political prisoners including Nelson Mandela were held during the years of the apartheid. The former S. African President spent 27 years of his life in the prison. I was able to see his prison cell and hear about life on Robben Island from a former inmate who now gives tours of the prison. The day of Nelson Mandela’s release, Feb. 11, 1990, is considered to be the day that the apartheid officially ended. Before arriving in South Africa, we discussed some of the history behind apartheid and of South Africa in general. Since the Arch Bishop is a passenger on our ship, he was able to give us very accurate information and share personal stories of his struggles with racial inequality in S. Africa. The island seemed to hold a very important piece of S. African history, and I was glad that I was able to visit.
Later on in the evening, I was able to attend a play at the Cape Town theatre called “Everybody else is F***ing Perfect”. The play itself wasn’t great, but I was glad that I was able to attend. Prior to the actual show, we were introduced to the play’s director and creator, who shared with us her inspiration behind the play. We also got some free snacks! They were pretty good-mostly finger foods and free wine!
The night consisted of going out to a local night club on Long Street. I didn’t enjoy myself very much on this night simply because I was again forced to realize my new phobia of being trapped with too many people. In the club, we couldn’t even move….it was hot and people were even climbing on top of other people to try and get out. Needless to say, I didn’t stay there for very long.
On the second day, we met up with a friend of Jazmin and Mando’s who they met during their voyage a few years ago. His name was Gerald, and he was a pretty nice guy. He took us riding through various townships giving us information about them along the way. He introduced us to some of his friends and we spent the day meeting some of the locals and drinking beer together. I don’t even like beer, but we drank a lot of it that day! There is an apple cider beer in S. Africa called Savanna Dry….it isn’t great, but it is way better than any other beer I’ve ever had! We got to taste some of the local food from this trailer in one of the townships- I think it was Cailisha (?)- the town, not the food. The food reminded me of posole kind of…..it was boiled corn mixed with beans….it was pretty good….but I was kind of scared to eat it.
Gerald also took us to this butchery called Maphindi’s and we ordered a huge cookie sheet of just meat…..lamb, beef, pork, it was sooo good! We ate it with a loaf of bread and some cokes! We had a lot of fun. Gerald also took us to a local music store so that we could purchase some S. African tunes…the music we got is called Kwaito….a S. African form of hip-hop.
On day 3 we left for our Safari in a town that I think was just outside of Swaziland. The actual game reserve was called Mthethomusha but we were headed for the Bongoni Lodge. Most of our day was spent traveling, we had a stopover in Johanasberg, but we weren’t allowed to get off of the plane. When we finally arrived at our reserve, a huge 10-seater Land Rover with no roof came and picked us up. Almost immediately I saw giraffes and Zebras. The drive to the actual lodge took about 10-15 minutes, but when we finally arrived, I was more than impressed. Each of us had our very own cabin-equipped with 2 beds, 2 bathrooms, a kitchenette, and a living room. They were very modern looking without being overdone….we still felt like we were on safari….and there were little lizards that went in and out of our cabins as they pleased-kind of scary, but kind of cool too!
On our evening game drive that day we were able to see Nala, Impala, and Kudu which are three different types of antelope…..they’re kind of like the “squirrels” of the safari- they are everywhere, but still really neat to watch. We also saw some White Rhinos. They were huge and we were able to get really, really close to them. Our guide/driver (named Nelson) and his assistant (–who we called Wonder Boy) were both really knowledgeable. They were funny and very personable and we absolutely loved them…..we had the best Land Rover group by far! Each day we took 2 game drives and the people in our car always stayed the same, so we were all able to get pretty close. On our morning drives, which began at 6am, we would take a break from our animal searching and would have some tea and biscuits before heading back for breakfast-which by the way was AMAZING. On our evening game drives, we would always end by having mixed drinks overlooking the reserve and watching the sun go down before heading back for dinner. It was always really beautiful and I was able to see the stars like I have never seen them before!
Dinner was always delicious! Each night we had a different soup and they were by far the best soups that I have ever had. Tomato Bisque, Lentil, and Corn Chowder- Soooo good!
Day 4’s morning game drive brought us to my most favorite animal of all time…(besides puppies) elephants!! I don’t think I ever really knew how much I loved them! We had to go searching for them by following their dung….Nelson and Wonder Boy lead the way. When we finally found them, we only saw one…he was huge and was grazing on different trees and grass. I got some good video footage of him….as we were getting ready to leave, someone in our car spotted some movement in the bushes. We headed over that way and all of a sudden a huge herd of elephants were right in front of us….baby elephants, and about 3 fully grown ones were literally right in front of the car! It was so neat…..I wasn’t expecting to see them and I had just put my camera away…..I tried to fumble around and get it back out but they were gone just as quickly as they appeared.
This was my most favorite experience, but I only have a mental picture to show for it….
We also saw a 2 female and 1 male lion cub, but they were older so they weren’t very small, and a huge male lion laying on a rock! We had our tea and biscuits and headed back to the lodge.
During the afternoon we were able to go on an excursion to see a nearby village. We stopped at a small shop with different arts and crafts. I bought a beautiful wooden bracelet. We also stopped by an elementary school. The children were so cute and they were really excited to see us. I took several pictures of them….they all wanted to see themselves in our cameras, so I wore out my battery showing them pictures of themselves. On the way back to the lodge we stopped at a home in the village and got to see some of the people perform traditional African dances for us.
The afternoon game hunt lead us to see zebras, giraffes, impala, kudu, and nala. We stopped to look at a traditional fruit that Elephants frequently eat, the Amarulla fruit- We picked some up right off of the ground and ate them…they were good! Nelson told us that the fruit was used to make a South African liquor called Amarulla. We also began the search for a leopard. After our evening drink stop, we were able to see a huge owl. He was really neat.
In the morning on day 5 we went to see the hippos. We had to go on a 20 minute drive until we reached a river that was known for having hippos. Also in the river we were able to see a crocodile…although it was really really far away! This river was located near a park with a playground. The equipment was all in good condition, but was the kind that we don’t see in the states anymore….sea-saw, merry go round, etc. Celina and I hopped on the sea-saw for old times sake….it was fun! In the evening Nelson drove us around really fast, just like for wheeling only we were going through trees, shrubs, and thorns really quickly with an open top. It was like a jungle roller coaster! Along the way we saw buffalo, monkeys (they liked to hang out near the lodge), a warthog, nala, impala, and kudu, a buffalo carcass and more lions who had just been feeding. This was really neat to see also!
Our last day on safari was bitter sweet. We’d had such a great time, and had grown very close to Nelson and Wonder boy. We set out for the last time-really in search of the leopard, but had no such luck…..we did see more rhinos, this time they were even bigger than before….HUGE!! as well as the “3 safari squirrels”, another lion and a huge heard of buffalo……go buffs!
Overall our safari was great! We got Nelson’s e mail address and he promised to show us around if we ever returned to S. Africa.
The plane ride home was kind of scary….lots of turbulence.
We had dinner at a restaurant called the Ocean’s Basket and made friends with the waiter. He recommended great snacks and the food was good and affordable!
On our last day in Cape Town, we just did some shopping, I visited a little market and bought a few odds and ends. I ended up buying a bottle of that Amarulla and I tried to ship it home (because we aren’t allowed to bring liquor onto the ship) but when I got to the post office they told me that they were out of both boxes and bubble wrap! So I was stuck with this huge bottle of alcohol!
We decided to have dinner at Ocean’s Basket again and got to meet up with our waiter friend Clive who is originally from Zimbabwe. I told him about my predicament and he offered to send the bottle home for me when the post office got more boxes and bubble wrap (The post office is in the mall, as is the restaurant). I agreed and gave him $ for postage and left my home address and the bottle in his care……we’ll see if it ever gets there…..I hope it will, but you never know.
Now I am waiting for our ship to arrive in Mauritius. We should be there tomorrow afternoon….well at 12:00pm exactly. I am ten hours ahead of you all in Denver so if I call, it might be at a really random time!
I miss you all very much and am thinking and praying for you every day!
See you soon! ~Valerie
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Hello everybody!
Sorry it has taken so long to update, this has been a very hectic week for me. I had had to write 4 papers, take 2 exams and do a presentation.
Brazil was, in a nutshell, “crazy”. Carnival was going on the entire time that we were there, so we didn’t get to do a lot of the “touristy” stuff because the whole city pretty much closes down.
The weather in Salvador (Brazil’s capital city) was really hot….it is very humid there and for the most part, it was pretty sunny. Additionally, the city is very dirty. The first thing that I saw when I got off of the boat was a dead black mouse, also, people urinate everywhere….I saw this throughout my entire stay in Brazil…Because it is carnival, there are porto- potties everywhere and this still did not help with the public urination problem.
Brazil (as with any other country) can also be a bit dangerous…especially for tourists who aren’t careful. On our first day there, a group of girls were robbed at knife point….their cameras and wallets were taken, but aside from being shaken up, they were ok. Not to make Brazil seem all bad…..we had a lot of fun here, I just don’t have many pics to show because I hardly ever took my camera…….a decision I really regret!
Day one:
Upon getting off the boat, we were greeted by wonderful live music and Brazilian women who were dressed in very elaborate traditional costumes. They gave each of us a “wish bracelet”….these bracelets are given as gifts all over Brazil…once they are around your wrist they are tied in 3 knots. You are supposed to make a wish for each of the knots and then let the bracelet fall off on its own. When that happens, your wishes will come true.
We then made our way to the Mercado Modello. We did some shopping and had lunch…a strange shrimp stew type of dish with beans and rice. We were also able to watch some capoeira dancers. Capoeira is a type of martial art from Africa that had to be disguised as a dance when the people of Africa were brought across the Atlantic and enslaved. It is really neat to watch. On the back side of the market are more venders trying to sell their wares…As we browsed around looking at the various things, we were approached by some traditionally dressed barefoot women who took our hands and wrapped them around the beads that they wore around their necks………they began saying some kind of prayers or blessings and then tried to hand us some small wooden chips from inside of their coin purses…we didn’t want to accept them, and the women became were very aggressive insisting that we take them and then pay them money. This was really scary because they were speaking in Portuguese with elevated tones and I surely didn’t want to pay these women any money….Finally my roommate gave the women a $5 bill but they still wanted more…I refused to pay and finally the women walked away angry- then I was scared that they had put a curse on me and so I had to say my prayers!
I didn’t end up going out on day 1 so I returned to the ship and got some much needed rest.
Day two
On day two, we went to a different market in the upper part of town…you can either take the elevator (a huge elevator that takes people from the lower city to the upper city…it costs one “real” which is the currency in Brazil. One real is equivalent to about .50 US. ) or taking a taxi, which is what we did. We got to do some more shopping and seeing the city. Brazil has beautiful architecture the buildings are all really beautiful, but also extremely run down….everywhere you looked you saw broken windows, chipped paint, and crumbling walls. The upper city is where a lot of the Carnival action happens. The clean up crew does a pretty good job of cleaning up the garbage from the previous night’s festivities-which is good because it gets really dirty! While we were shopping we got stuck in a massive rain storm and had to take shelter underneath a woman’s dress…….actually it was a huge umbrella that looked like a woman’s dress. It was really funny! In the evening, we went to Baha, another city in Brazil where carnival is celebrated. Baha reminded me of the Taste of Colorado a little bit. There were vendors everywhere selling food, crafts, and beer…..SKULL is the official beer in Brazil….I don’t like beer, but this one wasn’t that bad! I also bought some good .25 earrings….they are really pretty for only a quarter!
Later we made our way back to the upper city and went to a reggae club where we met a local named Zek. He was really nice and he danced with us all night long….he seemed to get along really well with Greg and Sam (two guy friends of mine). Outside the club we were waiting for some of the group to use the bathrooms and this little boy dressed in a huge baggy t shirt and sunglasses came up to us….we thought he wanted money, but instead he just started dancing with us and showing us all his moves. He was really funny. He couldn’t have been more than 9 years old. He had no shoes on and was clearly very poor. We danced with him for a while and then when it was time to go we gave him some of our extra cash. He looked surprised, but accepted it and gave us the “thumbs up” sign, in Brazil the “ok” sign is equivalent to the “F” word!
Day three:
We kind of wasted the day today. We woke up late and then went to lay out on the pool deck. We were able to catch a few rays before coming in for lunch…later on in the evening we met in the union of the ship to get ready for our carnival experience. We were participating in the Afros Blocos Carnival. The Afros Blocos are traditionally an African group which represents each year in the Carnival parade. We were given traditional costumes, which were blue and white and very authentic…….they were kind of funny, we had to wear little bennie caps with red feathers sticking out. We danced all night long in the parade to some great African drums and music. All over carnival, boys walk around with beads and give them to girls who give them kisses in return….A cute boy tried to kiss me, but I wouldn’t let him…I covered my mouth and ran…..it was funny! On this night we stopped to eat from one of the street vendors….we had a huge burger called a CALABREZA….it had sausage, egg, ham, corn, potatoes, cucumber, lettuce, cheese and hamburger….and a whole lot of grease……they were sooooooo good!
Day four:
We woke up and headed to Flamingo Beach…it wasn’t very sunny, but it was nice enough….we laid out our towels and stuff and settled down. After a while, I began taking a small nap…the space between the ocean and the beach wasn’t very large, and the tide had already started coming up by the time we got there. A few minutes into my nap, I was awakened by shreeks and a rush of cold water….the tide came and washed us away…..I jumped up and saw my shoes being carried back to the ocean, so I started running to grab them and ended up falling into the ocean and getting even more wet. It was really funny! These Brazilian people next to us laughed and laughed because we acted so crazy!
Now that we were nice and wet……everything, our shoes, clothes, towels, purses, everything…we decided it was time to go home. We packed up and headed back to the ship. Later on that evening, we attended another carnival celebration this one was called the trio electrico. It was crazier than the Bloco carnival. We got to dance to more pop sounding music, and again we were in the parade. There were so many people in this particular group, and every little while people would start pushing and we would get pushed around for a little while…it was kind of fun, but also kind of scary. We ended up meeting this nice Brazilian named Andre who helped watch over us and keep our group together. Later, Adrienne exchanged e mail addresses with him….it’s funny because he speaks only Portuguese and she speaks only English….even more funny is the fact that they actually had an internet conversation a few days after we left.
This carnival reminded me of NYC on New Years (well at least from what I’ve seen) we got to dance though all this silver confetti and people were in buildings and along the streets cheering us on! It was lots of fun.
Day five:
Today we left Brazil, Today we were supposed to have beach day but it was raining! So instead, we made one last trip to the market, and I made some last minute phone calls home and sent post cards…nothing too exciting. Over all Brazil was a lot of fun…I would have liked to see Rio….I have heard really great things about Rio and how beautiful it is there. I also wish I could have seen more of the sights and had a better beach day…..there are supposedly some really pretty beaches and we missed out on them…things to remember if I ever come back!!!
This week The Archbishop spoke to us in class, he is so cute and funny! He reminds me of a little old grandpa....everyone knows how much I love little old men! Everything he says is so profound and wise. He is a really good person, and I feel very lucky that I have been able to hear him speak. I thought I would be more intimidated by him, but his personality is so fun and laid back....I really like him!
I will arrive in Cape Town S. Africa in less than 8 hours, and I am so excited, I will be going on a 4 day safari and will also visit Robben Island to see the jail cell of Nelson Mandela, so that should be neat.
I can’t wait to see what the other countries have in store! I miss everybody and love you all very much!
Next stop- Cape Town S. Africa…..
~Valerie
Sorry it has taken so long to update, this has been a very hectic week for me. I had had to write 4 papers, take 2 exams and do a presentation.
Brazil was, in a nutshell, “crazy”. Carnival was going on the entire time that we were there, so we didn’t get to do a lot of the “touristy” stuff because the whole city pretty much closes down.
The weather in Salvador (Brazil’s capital city) was really hot….it is very humid there and for the most part, it was pretty sunny. Additionally, the city is very dirty. The first thing that I saw when I got off of the boat was a dead black mouse, also, people urinate everywhere….I saw this throughout my entire stay in Brazil…Because it is carnival, there are porto- potties everywhere and this still did not help with the public urination problem.
Brazil (as with any other country) can also be a bit dangerous…especially for tourists who aren’t careful. On our first day there, a group of girls were robbed at knife point….their cameras and wallets were taken, but aside from being shaken up, they were ok. Not to make Brazil seem all bad…..we had a lot of fun here, I just don’t have many pics to show because I hardly ever took my camera…….a decision I really regret!
Day one:
Upon getting off the boat, we were greeted by wonderful live music and Brazilian women who were dressed in very elaborate traditional costumes. They gave each of us a “wish bracelet”….these bracelets are given as gifts all over Brazil…once they are around your wrist they are tied in 3 knots. You are supposed to make a wish for each of the knots and then let the bracelet fall off on its own. When that happens, your wishes will come true.
We then made our way to the Mercado Modello. We did some shopping and had lunch…a strange shrimp stew type of dish with beans and rice. We were also able to watch some capoeira dancers. Capoeira is a type of martial art from Africa that had to be disguised as a dance when the people of Africa were brought across the Atlantic and enslaved. It is really neat to watch. On the back side of the market are more venders trying to sell their wares…As we browsed around looking at the various things, we were approached by some traditionally dressed barefoot women who took our hands and wrapped them around the beads that they wore around their necks………they began saying some kind of prayers or blessings and then tried to hand us some small wooden chips from inside of their coin purses…we didn’t want to accept them, and the women became were very aggressive insisting that we take them and then pay them money. This was really scary because they were speaking in Portuguese with elevated tones and I surely didn’t want to pay these women any money….Finally my roommate gave the women a $5 bill but they still wanted more…I refused to pay and finally the women walked away angry- then I was scared that they had put a curse on me and so I had to say my prayers!
I didn’t end up going out on day 1 so I returned to the ship and got some much needed rest.
Day two
On day two, we went to a different market in the upper part of town…you can either take the elevator (a huge elevator that takes people from the lower city to the upper city…it costs one “real” which is the currency in Brazil. One real is equivalent to about .50 US. ) or taking a taxi, which is what we did. We got to do some more shopping and seeing the city. Brazil has beautiful architecture the buildings are all really beautiful, but also extremely run down….everywhere you looked you saw broken windows, chipped paint, and crumbling walls. The upper city is where a lot of the Carnival action happens. The clean up crew does a pretty good job of cleaning up the garbage from the previous night’s festivities-which is good because it gets really dirty! While we were shopping we got stuck in a massive rain storm and had to take shelter underneath a woman’s dress…….actually it was a huge umbrella that looked like a woman’s dress. It was really funny! In the evening, we went to Baha, another city in Brazil where carnival is celebrated. Baha reminded me of the Taste of Colorado a little bit. There were vendors everywhere selling food, crafts, and beer…..SKULL is the official beer in Brazil….I don’t like beer, but this one wasn’t that bad! I also bought some good .25 earrings….they are really pretty for only a quarter!
Later we made our way back to the upper city and went to a reggae club where we met a local named Zek. He was really nice and he danced with us all night long….he seemed to get along really well with Greg and Sam (two guy friends of mine). Outside the club we were waiting for some of the group to use the bathrooms and this little boy dressed in a huge baggy t shirt and sunglasses came up to us….we thought he wanted money, but instead he just started dancing with us and showing us all his moves. He was really funny. He couldn’t have been more than 9 years old. He had no shoes on and was clearly very poor. We danced with him for a while and then when it was time to go we gave him some of our extra cash. He looked surprised, but accepted it and gave us the “thumbs up” sign, in Brazil the “ok” sign is equivalent to the “F” word!
Day three:
We kind of wasted the day today. We woke up late and then went to lay out on the pool deck. We were able to catch a few rays before coming in for lunch…later on in the evening we met in the union of the ship to get ready for our carnival experience. We were participating in the Afros Blocos Carnival. The Afros Blocos are traditionally an African group which represents each year in the Carnival parade. We were given traditional costumes, which were blue and white and very authentic…….they were kind of funny, we had to wear little bennie caps with red feathers sticking out. We danced all night long in the parade to some great African drums and music. All over carnival, boys walk around with beads and give them to girls who give them kisses in return….A cute boy tried to kiss me, but I wouldn’t let him…I covered my mouth and ran…..it was funny! On this night we stopped to eat from one of the street vendors….we had a huge burger called a CALABREZA….it had sausage, egg, ham, corn, potatoes, cucumber, lettuce, cheese and hamburger….and a whole lot of grease……they were sooooooo good!
Day four:
We woke up and headed to Flamingo Beach…it wasn’t very sunny, but it was nice enough….we laid out our towels and stuff and settled down. After a while, I began taking a small nap…the space between the ocean and the beach wasn’t very large, and the tide had already started coming up by the time we got there. A few minutes into my nap, I was awakened by shreeks and a rush of cold water….the tide came and washed us away…..I jumped up and saw my shoes being carried back to the ocean, so I started running to grab them and ended up falling into the ocean and getting even more wet. It was really funny! These Brazilian people next to us laughed and laughed because we acted so crazy!
Now that we were nice and wet……everything, our shoes, clothes, towels, purses, everything…we decided it was time to go home. We packed up and headed back to the ship. Later on that evening, we attended another carnival celebration this one was called the trio electrico. It was crazier than the Bloco carnival. We got to dance to more pop sounding music, and again we were in the parade. There were so many people in this particular group, and every little while people would start pushing and we would get pushed around for a little while…it was kind of fun, but also kind of scary. We ended up meeting this nice Brazilian named Andre who helped watch over us and keep our group together. Later, Adrienne exchanged e mail addresses with him….it’s funny because he speaks only Portuguese and she speaks only English….even more funny is the fact that they actually had an internet conversation a few days after we left.
This carnival reminded me of NYC on New Years (well at least from what I’ve seen) we got to dance though all this silver confetti and people were in buildings and along the streets cheering us on! It was lots of fun.
Day five:
Today we left Brazil, Today we were supposed to have beach day but it was raining! So instead, we made one last trip to the market, and I made some last minute phone calls home and sent post cards…nothing too exciting. Over all Brazil was a lot of fun…I would have liked to see Rio….I have heard really great things about Rio and how beautiful it is there. I also wish I could have seen more of the sights and had a better beach day…..there are supposedly some really pretty beaches and we missed out on them…things to remember if I ever come back!!!
This week The Archbishop spoke to us in class, he is so cute and funny! He reminds me of a little old grandpa....everyone knows how much I love little old men! Everything he says is so profound and wise. He is a really good person, and I feel very lucky that I have been able to hear him speak. I thought I would be more intimidated by him, but his personality is so fun and laid back....I really like him!
I will arrive in Cape Town S. Africa in less than 8 hours, and I am so excited, I will be going on a 4 day safari and will also visit Robben Island to see the jail cell of Nelson Mandela, so that should be neat.
I can’t wait to see what the other countries have in store! I miss everybody and love you all very much!
Next stop- Cape Town S. Africa…..
~Valerie
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