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.