A little bit of catching up!

I meant to post a lot more....but time has been limited! I'm truly trying to appreciate each moment and not spend a lot time with my technology, of which I have plenty! Whether that means not always taking photos non-stop or sitting with minha familia brasileira in the evenings, I want to remember that this time is an investment and a gift, a precious experience. That being said, I'm still going to share some photos :)

This weekend was a blur, but a good blur. On Saturday, Paula took me on the bus, to show me the route I would need to take to get to my language classes, which began today. Thank goodness she did! It wasn't too wildly different from the buses of London, which I used daily for three years, but the language component intimidated me at first.

Not to torment those of you in the Frozen North, but this is the view from the bus route I'll be taking every day for the next month. I KNOW! How does anyone ever go to work here? It's gorgeous.

We found my school, and then Paula took me to the Farol da Barra, the Lighthouse of Barra.

Yep, that's me, the still very white girl in front of the lighthouse. Afterwards, we did some posing, got some of the mandatory pictures of the gorgeous water, and then....cold, green coconuts. I first had fresh coconut water in Belize, and I can never go back to the bottled...stuff....we have in the USA. The flavor doesn't compare.

I also got to try o carne de coco, or the meat of the coconut. A little part of the coconut is sliced off by the skillful man who sells the coconuts, and you use that to scoop out the soft inside of the young coconut. We also had calda de cana, which is sugar cane juice. Add a little lime, and although sweet, it is delicious over ice!

In the evening, we went to the Elevator Lacerda, which connects the lower city of Salvador to the upper city. There is a beautiful vista. We also walked through Pelourinho, which is one of the oldest districts in the city. I'd add a picture, but it is dinner time for both people and mosquitoes. I must go get repellent and then eat :)

Paradise Found

Beautiful place, isn't it?

I'm assuming this is a seaslug? In Portuguese, this is called a lesma. I did not want to hold it, but I did get a closer look!

When the tide goes out, there are natural pools formed in the sea. It makes for a delightful place to swim without any waves.

One beautiful feature (of many) of the beach at Itacimirim....we could see the sunset and the moon rise at the same time. The two pictures below were taken the same evening, from almost the same place on the beach. Incredible.

The Start of the Next Step

Well, for the first time, I'm starting on a new journey purely for the purposes of language acquisition. Just after Christmas, I left the States and begin a very long journey to Brazil, where I hope to learn Portuguese. The journey didn't need to be this long, but it was! I booked my ticket with frequent flyer miles, and due to peak travel times, there was one flight to choose from to reach my destination during my preferred time. O.N.E. So, I booked it.

My dear sister and her clan drove me to the airport, with a few stops along the way. From DC, I flew to São Paulo. Once arriving, I needed to change airports, and travel to another city, about 75 kilometers away. My plan was to use Uber and relax with the ease of being transported door to door with my two suitcases. However, I am meant to have adventures in life. The wifi at the airport wasn't working, and without wifi, I couldn't request an Uber. So, I thanked God that I had researched my options, I found a bus that went to the next city, and I bought my bus ticket. Thankfully, I had a long layover, because I needed to wait about an hour for my bus. Also thankfully, I'm in the southern hemisphere in summertime, and my bags and I could wait outside in the warmth.

Long story short, the bus took me to the city of Campinas, which is where the second airport is. From the bus station (rodoviária), I dragged my two suitcases to the elevator and then to the taxi rank. From there, it was about a 15 minute drive to the airport. Once I arrived at the airport, I used my very basic Portuguese to figure out checking in with the help of the Azul staff. Apparently, people seldom book this route. (Hmmm...I wonder why???) Still, my tired brain was much appreciative of the fact that even though most of the airport staff didn't speak English, they were so very patient with me.

On my next flight, leaving at 11 p.m. local time, I'm pretty sure I was the only non-Brazilian. Although everyone was very curious about me, they were delightful and pleasant. I arrived in Salvador at 12:30 a.m. By this point, I wasn't sure how long I had been traveling, but it was more than 24 hours. I needed to contact my taxi driver, which had been prearranged by the family I'm staying with to transport me from the airport to their beach house in a small town further up the coast. Slight problem. The wifi might have been working, but for the life of me, I couldn't get my phone to connect to it, which meant I had no way to call my Brazilian family or to contact the taxi driver. So, I waited. Smiled. Tried to look like a person someone would want to talk to if they were indeed a taxi driver sent to pick up a gringa. After a little while, I saw a smartly dressed man in a turquoise button down (bless his heart, it was about 85 degrees F at 1 a.m.) holding a sign saying "MISS HOPE". Graças a Deus! After a brief introduction, we went to the parking garage, paid our parking, and put my heavy, heavy bags in the boot and off we went. I think I was awake for about 10 minutes. 

An hour later, we arrived in what I assumed was Itacimirim, but really, he could have driven anywhere and I wouldn't have known the difference. Thankfully, the taxi driver is a friend of the family, so I knew I could trust him. With the help of a few family members, we got my bags inside, and without further ado, I turned on my air conditioner, drank a glass of water, and fell into bed.

The dreaded last day of vacation

Saturday finally came, marking the end of our week in Belize. We were leaving Sunday morning, and Valerie and I were both a little mournful on Saturday, wanting to cherish our last swims, fruity drinks, bike rides, and conversations with new friends. That morning was the most gorgeous sunrise yet.

Midmorning, we cycled into town, in desperate search of some sort of anti-itch remedy for the sandfly bites that were driving me insane. The cream we found was moderately successful, but the smoothies and coffee we enjoyed while out was a delight. 

Our last dinner at the hotel restaurant was delightfully windy. We allowed ourselves to be a little bit selfish and take the best table in the house, a table for two that allowed both to face the sea with an uninterrupted view. A trifle romantic than we needed, but a welcome boon on our last evening in Belize! 

The next morning, we savored the sunrise, the last breakfast before we returned to a world of eating peanut butter toast and coffee while putting on makeup before work, and some short but sweet farewells with new friends. 

All too soon, we were back on our international flights. But we can't complain (too much!)! It was a delightful trip. Valerie is a wonderful traveling companion. We have the same travel ethos and the same sense of humor. Belize, like France, Switzerland, and Spain, might never be the same! 

Jungle Ride

Our last planned adventure in Belize was a jungle horseback ride. Valerie had never ridden a horse before but she was willing to humor my burning desire to be horseback once again! After another gorgeous morning, with coffee and sunrise swim, we headed to a nearby stable.

This will remain one of my favorite places to drink a morning cuppa!

Val enjoying her first coffee of the day

We were each assigned a horse and then in the company of three guides, off we went. We rode through several orange groves and then into the jungle. Several of the guides have seen jaguars, but we were not so lucky (although perhaps we were lucky not to see them!) Partway through the ride, we dismounted and had the option of a cooling dip in the Sittee River. I was the only one crazy enough to go in the river completely, and it was worth the slightly damp clothes on the return ride. 

Sittee River

Silver and I

Upon our return, Michelle, the owner of the stable, gave Valerie and I some fresh starfruit! I have never seen this fruit on the tree before.

Following Michelle's advice, we decided the best way to combat saddlesore-ness was to spend the remainder of our day in the water :) 

The only challenge was deciding on which way we wanted to enjoy the water. The day, as you can see, was gorgeous.

Zip Line

On Thursday, the sunrise was gorgeous and the water stilled, giving us a break from the windy days we had been having.

We celebrated with a morning swim off the dock, partly to avoid a really thick black muck that had unfortunately washed up on the beach. The rain the night before had apparently washed it into the sea from the river system. Still, swimming off the dock allowed us to avoid it. And what a way to wake up! After breakfast, we hopped into the truck and drove to Bocawina National Park.

Here we had our long awaited zip line adventure! We had nine separate zip lines that traversed the jungle. It was a delightful experience!

Our guide, Victor

Step off the platform! 

I loved this adventure. There is something amazing about flying through the air. Each zip line ended too quickly for my tastes, and I would have gladly done it a second time!

Belize is taking care to try to promote tourism but simultaneously preserving the environment. Each excursion we took had an element of education, thanks to our knowledgable guides. We learned that almost half of Belize is national park land, and every organization we encountered is taking care to preserve the natural beauty of their land. It is wonderful!

Life on Vacation

Life caught up to me on vacation, and either because of the stress, insufficient water, or just my body's quirks, I started to get a migraine the day after cave tubing. We woke up as usual before the sunrise and then had a delightful subdued breakfast. Val and I quickly earned a reputation as "The Girls Who Laugh" but we did have our moments of quiet. 

Even though I wasn't feeling great, I appreciated the great care I received. Valerie went to the manager to ask about rehydration salts of some kind, and instead, the groundsman Omar brought me a fresh coconut with a straw. I spent most of the day in the shade, but by afternoon, I felt I could venture out to join Valerie on the dock with some fresh pineapple juice. She was a gem and was very gracious about rearranging our planned activities for the day and taking good care of me!

Maya Ruins and Cave tubing!

Our first day of adventures began with a gorgeous sunrise.

After an early breakfast and two cups of coffee, we (and several other guests) piled into a van and drove two hours to Xunantunich, a Mayan archeological site with stunning views of Belize and Guatemala.

We also got our exercise! Howler monkeys called in the jungle, but unfortunately, they wanted to be heard and not seen. Valerie and I had been exercising each day, including a fitness challenge to build up to doing 100 squats in a day. After all of these steps, we decided that we had earned a day without squats!

After a delightful lunch at a local cafe, we began the second part of our day. We arrived at St. Herman's and suited up for a short jungle walk, and then descended into a cave system for some river tubing. Although we had headlamps, we all turned them off and tubed in the dark for a little while! 

It was an amazing experience. The water was cold and in some places, very deep. The pitch black can be a little scary, but we survived :)