Brazil: First Impressions

I arrived in Brazil on Friday, and since then, I’ve been having a lot of cultural adjustment and shock.  From the beginning of December until the middle of February, I have been and will continue to be traveling and seeing new places (I promise I’ll return to the blog posts about my trip to Peru, Bolivia, and Chile soon!).  In the span of about 10 weeks, I will have been in six countries, spoken three languages, and lugged around way too many things.  While I love to travel and experience all the world has to offer, I do like a little bit of structure and predictability. 

I left Argentina Friday morning and flew to Rio de Janeiro for a month-long Portuguese language intensive.  The same people who run my Buenos Aires program, CIEE, run the program I am on, so I know what to expect on the management end.  Our program started Saturday morning, so Friday I had the afternoon to myself.  Like every time I go to a new place for an extended time, I am very upset and disoriented.  This is the first time I have travelled internationally on my own, meaning there was no one to get me from the airport and I didn’t know other people who were traveling.  While I am fully capable of getting a cab and finding my way by myself, it’s still a nerve-wracking experience to know that you are completely on your own if something goes wrong.  After a healthy dinner of passion fruit juice, a cheese croissant, and a churro filled with dulce de leche (I was missing Argentina), I was feeling slightly better. 

In my walk to eat, I went down to the beach and took note of what people were wearing.  I recently bought my first two-piece swimsuit in years in preparation for Brazil, but it appears it will not do—my bikini is still about 50% larger than all the other swimsuits I saw on both women and men.  It appears that one rouge wave could leave the entire beach naked. 

Group photo of almost everyone on my month-long study abroad program in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.   

Saturday morning I ventured over to the hotel that was hosting our orientation; this hotel was air-conditioned, a necessity in over 100-degree temperatures.  I started meeting the other students on the program, and started to feel a lot better.  We had sort of a general orientation to things in Brazil, and then we went out to a pizza place for dinner.  It appears Brazilians are into hardboiled eggs of all sizes on their pizza (Mom, you’ll have to come try some!), as well as delicious dessert pizzas with chocolate and strawberries.  Afterwards, I went with some other students to a bar—it wasn’t that I desperately wanted to go out on the first night, but I understand from my first few weeks in Argentina that the first days are key friendship-making time, so it’s important to put yourself out there in all of the activities. 

On Sunday we learned how to take public transportation and saw where we will be attending classes and the CIEE Study Center.  This study center is a definite improvement over the one in Buenos Aires for the mere fact that it has both a usable kitchen and hammocks.  In the evening, we were taken to our host families’ homes.  I am staying with another student, Hannah, in Copacabana with our host, Maria Amelia.  She is in her early or mid-sixties and used to teach gym classes. 

Maybe I have been spoiled with living with Delfi and having a really great homestay experience in Buenos Aires, but when we arrived at our apartment, it was clear that Lia (her nickname) wasn’t ready for our arrival.  I am staying in her room since I am only here for a month (she has moved to another small bedroom), and she hadn’t finished removing her items so there was a place for me to unpack.  She had wifi but didn’t know the password (she also suggested we go to the restaurant next door and ask if they knew how to make a new wifi- this does not make sense).  We had to ask for towels and where to put our stuff in the bathroom, she did not have keys for each of us, nor did she have any breakfast food for us to eat the next morning. 

None of these things in itself is a big problem, but all together, it was a little challenging personally.  I think knowing what a good and prepared homestay should be made me more aware of the problems.  Lia said that her mother has been ill so she was on the phone all day taking care of things for her, which I can appreciate, but it just seemed like she had done nothing to prepare.  All of these things got resolved within twenty-four hours, so in the grand scheme of things this was not a big deal.  In addition, my stress was compounded by the fact that Lia does not speak any English—thankfully I had Hannah here, and as a team we were able to figure most things out.

We have already had class orientation, and I’ll write more about that in a few days once I start class.  For now, I am struggling to get all my Portuguese back—at the moment, I am stumbling through life here using portunol (portugues + espanol) which is getting me by.  People have been helpful when I ask what stuff is called, and I can feel my abilities coming back each day.  It still doesn’t take away the weird feeling of being in Brazil.  I am used to Buenos Aires, which I can now say is neat, tidy, and organized compared to what I have experienced so far in Brazil.  For example, yesterday I went to buy a cell phone, which involved no fewer than five steps: First I told the woman at the cell phone counter which phone I wanted, then she left and returned with a piece of paper with a number on it, then I went and paid for the phone, next I took the receipt from the cashier back to the phone counter, and finally she went and brought me the phone.  After getting the phone, I refused to leave the store until someone explained to me how to put the SIM card in, which involved begging the other phone representative to stay after his shift ended to help me. 

I’m sure in a few days once I’m at class and more in the swing of things I will feel a lot more comfortable.  Today’s plans are to enjoy Copacabana beach (just three blocks away!), drink out of a coconut, and not get sunburned before class starts tomorrow.  Até logo! Until next time!

Peru Part 1: If It Can Go Wrong, It Will Go Wrong (and Will Be Resolved)

The plan to go on a great South America Extravaganza began in October, when my friends Katie and Haley and I realized we had some extra time after our final exams to travel.  We knew our time in South America would not be complete without a trip to Machu Picchu, and figured while we were at it we would explore Bolivia and parts of Chile as well.  Our friend Steph decided to join in too, so we were a group of four off on an adventure.  The morning of December 4, we all arrived at Haley’s apartment before dawn to take a car to the airport.  It was then we realized we had a very tight layover in Lima (for more on the story of buying these plane tickets, see my earlier blog post, “Historias Extraordinarias”).  We were able to get our seats moved to the front of the plane, in hopes that this would help with our connection to Cusco. 

After realizing that with the time change of two hours between Argentina and Peru we would be able to make our two flights, we were happy campers.  We arrived in Cusco, Peru, around 2 p.m.; we had asked for the hostel to arrange a cab to pick us up, and we would pay the hostel when we got there.  However, after dealing with a barrage of aggressive taxi drivers, we discovered that no one had appeared to get us.  After paying quite possibly three or four times more than what we would have to get to the hostel (though still only costing each of us $4), we arrived at Loki Hostel.

I think the best way to describe Loki is as a fortress.  Guarded from any intruder by a 45 degree-angle hill, the hostel has a restaurant, bar, game area, tv room, and really anything else you could need inside.  This fact became very important the next day. 

We had booked a tour through the hostel that would take us to Machu Picchu in four days.  The plan was the bike, hike, and zipline from Cusco to Aguas Calientes (the tourist town adjacent to Machu Picchu), with some help from vans and cars along the way.  We would spend the last day at Machu Picchu and then take the tourist train back to Cusco.  This was a cheaper and less physically strenuous alternative to the Inca Trail, a five-day hike from a starting location to Machu Picchu.  We would leave Cusco on Thursday morning and not return until Sunday evening, carrying all the things we would need in backpacks and leaving our other items locked at the hostel. 

The plan was to leave the next morning at 6:30 a.m. for the tour; however, beginning around 6 p.m., I started to not feel so well.  I was very tired and nauseated.  After attempting—and failing to keep down—plain spaghetti, I knew something was wrong.  As I curled up in a ball in my bed, my friends researched and discovered the problem: altitude sickness.  There’s no reason why some people experience altitude sickness and others don’t, but everyone is impacted when there are fewer oxygen particles in the air at higher altitudes.  We all had a higher likelihood of getting altitude sickness because we did not ascend slowly (we flew in and just dropped our bodies at 3,399 meters above sea level).  Essentially, having altitude sickness is like having a hangover that you can’t do anything about—I had a headache, felt weak, was vomiting, among other less than pleasant symptoms.  Most people recover within a few days, but for some, the symptoms do not go away until you go to a lower altitude. 

The tour was leaving with or without me, so the next morning at 6:15 a.m., I made the decision to stay in Cusco another day to see if I felt better.  My friends left on the tour at 6:30, and I was assured I would be able to meet them by 5 p.m. the following day if I felt well enough.  At this point, I was too weak to leave the hostel, so thankfully where we were staying was well equipped to help me.  I made friends with the tour operator, Ivan, who had me come do a health check every two hours.  The reception staff offered to call me a doctor should I need one and everyone had suggestions of what to eat and drink to speed my recovery along.  At this point, I was very alone in a strange land, very ill, and without a way to know when I would feel better.  The biggest help in all of this was that I could speak Spanish—this helped tremendously when explaining the problems to the various people at the hostel.  These employees all speak English, but they appreciate it and (I believe) understand your problems better when you talk in Spanish. 

By the end of the day, I was feeling about 80%--well enough to move on from Cusco and start the tour.  The following morning, Friday, I boarded a bus at 6:30 a.m. to go meet my friends.  I opted out of every physical activity I could (this has been a useful strategy my whole life), so I ended up just sitting in different cars, vans, and cabs for the entire day.  This was a good thing, as I was trying to conserve my strength for Machu Picchu on Sunday.  The last part of the day involved taking a cab (or, rather, a car that I was told was a cab) from one small town to another town where my friends and their tour would meet me.  This was hands-down the scariest car ride of my life, as I sat in the front seat while the driver essentially drove on a 1.25 lane road on the side of a mountain.  No guardrails, speed limit signs, or safety precautions were anywhere in sight. 

Peruvian countryside

After what felt like three hair-raising hours in the car (but what was most likely 45 minutes), I arrived at the hostel.  The group hadn’t gotten there yet, and I had no way to contact my friends to tell them I was arriving.  When Joel, our guide, appeared, he told me to stay hidden so we could play a joke on Haley, Katie, and Steph.  He went out and told them that I had not actually made it, and then I popped out from behind the car.  We were all happy to be reunited and had lots of stories about our (short) time apart. 

We spent the night in this small town and had a delicious dinner (stuffed avocado, everyone should try it), we headed out the next morning to zipline.  The photos will do a better job here than me to show what exactly we did. 

Getting ready to zipline! We went from where I am standing to the other side of the river over the course of five zips.  

Zipping across!  I prefer to zip in the curled-up ball position so I can go as fast as possible.  Also, during a past zipline experience, I stopped in the middle; now when I do this activity, I like to have as little surface area as possible.

Then we hiked three hours along a railroad to Aguas Calientes—this walk was fine because it was mostly flat.  Any sort of uphill walking was still pretty difficult for me.  I was feeling better for the most part but still waking up with pretty strong headaches.  We arrived at our hostel and had our first shower in two days.  Steph and I ventured out to see the town (verdict: tourist trap), and then we went to bed early in preparation for Machu Picchu the following day.

All Will Know The Wonder

Buenos Aires has been its own challenge, and focusing on figuring out the city and how to do basic tasks has been my main task.  I am learning how to communicate in Spanish and how things are done in Argentina—for example, why I am offered a straw when I buy a bottle of Coca-Cola light or why I need to show identification when I want to use a credit card.

So with no school this past Monday (national holiday to celebrate the death of José de San Martín, liberator of many countries in South America from Spanish rule), I decided it was time to take my first excursion outside of Buenos Aires.  A group of friends and I planned to travel to Iguazú Falls, one of the world’s natural wonders.

We left Thursday night from Retiro bus station, an enormous bus terminal near the center of the city.  As has been one of the themes of my time in Argentina, I had difficulty finding the right bus—on the ticket, it says the bus will be in section 37-51, but not the actual gate number.  Many buses were leaving for Iguazú, so we searched and finally found what we needed.  We elected to take the cama (bed) bus where our seats went almost all the way back for the almost seventeen-hour each way.  There were movies playing the whole trip, and breakfast and dinner (although not particularly tasty) were served.  I am very curious about who is responsible for picking the movies on the bus, as we watched The Hangover (English with Spanish subtitles), Life of Pi (Spanish dub), Argo (Spanish dub), The Intouchables (French with Spanish subtitles), The Dark Knight Rises (English with Spanish subtitles), and more that I cannot remember. 

Upon arriving Friday afternoon, we checked into El Guembe Hostel House, our lodging for two nights.  At $8.25 a night, I wasn’t expecting much, but the hostel met our needs and was in a good location.  The next morning, we were ready at 8:10 a.m. to head to Iguazú Park.  We took a cab (this was the same cost as taking the bus?), and our driver decided we were a good opportunity to practice his English.  He told us that we had to visit Devil’s Throat Waterfall, and described it as the “strawberry on top of the dessert” of our trip. 

Once we got to the park, we took a ride through the forest to learn more about the plants and animals that live in the area.  Afterward, we got to ride on a boat near the falls.  This was hands-down one of the coolest experiences of my life.  I cannot do it justice with words. 

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View of the falls from the boat

Approaching the falls.  After this photo was taken, we were instructed to put our cameras away "unless we wanted them to take a shower." 

A little wet after the boat ride.  Because we went early in the morning, the sun was facing the right direction for us to see rainbows on our boat ride.

At Devil's Throat waterfall

We spent the whole day at the park, hiking and exploring the waterfalls, every view more beautiful than the next.  The next day, we walked to La Triple Frontera (The Triple Frontier), where in one view we could see Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina.  The view was beautiful, and it was just very cool to be at the intersection of all the countries.  After a nice picnic overlooking the Iguazú River, it was time to head home.  We left around 3 p.m. and returned to Buenos Aires the next morning around 10:30 a.m. 

At the borders of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil.  We're standing in Argentina, Paraguay is on the left and Brazil is to the right.

I could not have had a better weekend.  There was a smile on my face for the entire trip, from the beauty of the nature around us and also from the fact that my friends and I planned a successful trip in a foreign country by ourselves.  If I could go back to the falls tomorrow, I certainly would.