I could have Samba-ed all night

Today is my last day in Curitiba with my host family, and I am sitting here wondering where the time has gone. Every week in Brazil seems like a lifetime- I havn´t even been here for a month.
It is incredible to see how just one week with a Brazilian family has changed the people in our group. After just one weekend suddenly everyone came back to WORDS (our portuguese instruction program) hugging and kissing each other hello and good-bye. Now it is such a habit- it feels awkward when someone doesn´t lean in for a kiss hello!... then I am left just standing there slightly leaned forward in a half hug... But anyway!
My host family has been absolutely wonderful. I have my ´parents´Juliana and Roberto, a 21 year old brother, Caio, and sister, Tatiana (who lives with her husband). I have my own bedroom and bathroom, not to mention access to cuddling with 6 dogs!! My dream come true... On the very first night Caio took me to meet his friends and we hit it off magnificently. Luckily for me, most of them spoke english. We talked about music and movies and travel- they were all so friendly, I felt right at home. One guy, Diogo, actually studied abroad in Appleton, Wisconsin! Needless to say, we became fast friends- sharing memories of cheesecurds, hotdishes, tractors, and the freezing snow. Oh, Wisconsin.












Through the week our group has been pushed through rigorous portuguese instruction. Sometimes I get confused when I am talking even, english and portuguese get flipped around and I have to actually think very carefully sometimes to remember to switch back to english with my group. Everyone is feeling the pressure- and we have all had our breaking points. Mine was when I spent all day with my Aunt Ingrid and Uncle Laury. They speak no english and I have never been so frustrated trying to communicate my ideas and basic conversation topics to someone. That evening my Dad called their home to talk to me, and I was so relieved to finally talk to someone who understood me that I started crying. It was certainly very embarassing in front of my family, but they treated me very sweetly. I also was able to meet my grandma´s cousin, Kurt, who is the sweetest man I have ever met. He was so excited to talk to me and ask about my family, and he adored telling me stories about my dad and grandparents.
Curitiba has many wonderful cultural experiences to offer- markets, parks, museums, zoos, the botanical gardins, icecream, food of all kinds, and most importantly- dancing. Oh the dancing! Last night Tiffany Lotz´s host parents took us to a samba club. It was called Alice Bar and it had a fantastic live band: singing, playing all kinds of drums and instruments. People were dancing in couples or just alone. Tiffany´s parents hit the floor with the most incredible moves I have ever seen. The mother, Luciene, used to be a dance teacher- and she could move like nothing else. The dad, Paulo, danced with each of us, showing us the easy moves. Then suddenly I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. In walked the most fabulous couger I have ever seen in my life. This woman had long maroon hair, a very very mini gold halter dress, and rinestones all over her chest. Her shoes had to have been 5 inches tall. She hit the dance floor- front and center- and danced like a carneval Queen. Meu Deus. I can´t believe I didn´t get a picture...

Now we are leaving the city to go to Puntal do Sul, a city by the ocean. Leaving the skyscrapers and statues for sand dunes and mangroves, we will be studying marine biology and fisherman bycatch. I am praying for sun and for spring to finally come so we can go swimming! One thing to look out for is the ´Bicho de pe´- a parasite that is in the beach sand and will go into your feet... EW.

Montanha Beja-Flor

Teaser.

Bom dia world...

Back to the city! Last night was a fantastic night out in the town. Our whole crew needed a day to relax and enjoy beautiful Curitiba. We went out and shared some drinks, some laughs, and made new friends- I was even told that my portuguese accent was great (Dad- you would have been so proud!)!!!
Hands down the best compliment of my life.

As wonderful as the city is- I still have so much to say about my experience in the Atlantic rain forest. A couple of days ago our group went to a research station on a reserve in Pontal do Sul, which is part of the rainforest that is right on the coast. The ground there is saturated with water all year round- so we got extremely muddy. We hiked around with some local guides and got to see restoration and regeneration areas, growing forest, and old growth forest. I realized then that I had never seen a true forest such as this... the trees were giants. 20-25 meters tall, some 3 meters wide (oh yeah- we are science students in Brazil, so now we have to use the metric system)!! It was one of those humbling moments. Those trees have stood through time for hundreds of years- watching animals burrow in their roots, natives use their bark, and invadors cut and burn their children...

The trails also contained tons of wildlife. First, we saw dozens of armadillo burrows, and many anteater foragings. One tree had the scars from a honey badger trying to get into a bees´ nest in its trunk. Then it got real. We saw tracks from large otters and wild pigs, followed by puma tracks! This was a wonderful find, until we saw JAGUAR tracks. Yes. The king of the jungle. I put my hand next to its paw and found it to be the same size... Running across one of those in a dark alley would not be fun. We also found the craziest toad that looked just like a leaf and had the craziest face-adaptations I have ever seen. Its local name was called Crazy Maria (pictures will be posted soon).

The next day after this we got to go on a long boatride in a large estuary near Serra do Mar. On it we saw the mangrove and restinga habitats, filled with birds, herons, brown boobies (a crazy diving bird), and many others. There was also an old fort that had been built 300 years ago during the colinization era, and still stood. Hover, none of these things compared to the dolphins. Everywhere we looked we saw packs of dolphins playing and swimming in the water, their fins visible as they came up for air. I even saw a few babies accompanying their mothers. As we turned to go back to Montanha Beja-Flor, the sun came out and the pure blue evening sky reflected off the water. I floated in a blue world surrounded by misty mountains and the sea wind whipping through my hair...

The Essence of Beans and Rice

Wow.
I have been here for... what, just over a week?... and already it feels like a lifetime. Everyday is filled with so many activities, reading, writing, hiking, lectures, tracking, journaling, eating, cooking, hanging out... Everyday is filled with so much! Where do I even begin to tell you? Let me try to describe just a single day...

I wake up in the morning sometime between 7-7:30 am in the bunkhouse and climb out from under my cozy blankets into the crisp and chilly air. Stepping out to go to the bathroom, I can see a heavy mist, so that I can only see about 4 meters around me. Showers here tend to be of the hot/cold/hot/cold/warm/cold variety so I am wide awake when I am finished. After dressing I step out for some quiet time on our balcony and watch the scene around me unfold. First I can see the peaks around me slowly emerge, like a tall fortress. Then the lower mountains peak out and now I feel like we are living on a floating mountain, disconnected to the land and totally inside a cloud. Slowly... slowly the farthest most peaks emerge, and I can see straight into the valley, then look past to the sharpest and tallest mountain in the distance that forms the boundary of my sight. The sharp contrast it makes with the sky is so vastly different from the rolling horizon I am used to in the midwest...

The birds are singing, and I can see all different colored hummingbirds flying about. That is right- we are staying on Montanha Beja-Flor, Hummingbird Mountain! I have also seen several toucans calling abnoxiously in the canopy. The main house is run by our host, Layla, the kindest and most loving woman I have ever met. Her and her friend cook fresh, amazing meals for us; most of which is grown right on her property. We eat a variety of beans, rice, manioc, squash, pumpkin, salad, eggplant, zuccini, palmito,cuscus, and home-made bread and coffee cakes every day. Coffee and fresh juice abounds on the table.

During the day we listen to lectures on the Atlantic Coastal Rainforst (where we are) and learn about the mammals, birds, amphibians and plants that are present. The saddest thing I have learned and continue to learn here, is how quickly this ecosystem has dissapeard. This area once had more biodiversity than the rainforst (!!!!!) but has been reduced to only 7% of its original size. Looking at the beauty that is always around me here, it is hard to imagine it being gone. But someday it might. No better wake up call has ever happened to me- opening my eyes to the horrible consumerism and want that makes up society. The wonderfully simple way of life we live here is so happy and joyful.... Late at night we dance and talk together, learning portuguese and samba and reading to the baby that is visiting with Laylas neice. There is absolutely so much to say but no time- literally, I have to leave RIGHT NOW.

If you can take away anything from this right now though- let it be this. Want a little less, use a little less, and be happier with what you have. It is so much more than what you actually need.


all my love from Brasil