O Pôr do Sol no Molhes da Barra

A couple of weeks ago Luan and I and our new friend Raiane went to Molhes da Barra, which is a large rock formation that extends out into the ocean. Everyone in Rio Grande talks to me about Molhes so I thought it was time I check out these rocks for myself. On the bus ride there we passed Rio Grande's port. To see the port was an interesting reminder of how fast Brazil is growing industrially. Petrobras, Brazil's largest and semi-nationalized energy company, has a huge presence in Rio Grande where their main industry is building oil rigs. I just got on Wikipedia; according to wiki Petrobras is the largest corporation in Latin America in terms of revenues as of 2011... so wow. The port brings a lot of new people to the city and is responsible for the recent rise in housing prices that everyone in Rio Grande is always telling me about.

We arrived at Molhes to people doing some strange sport that I've never seen but I think it's kitesurfing - with a snowboard looking thing and a kite/parachute. We walked along the beach for miles and miles (oops I mean for kilometers and kilometers) and saw some cool natureza. The most exciting part of our trip was when we saw this adolescent gull grounded. We couldn't figure out why but the bird was having trouble flying but I was very upset that he would drown as the tide came in. I was wary to touch him though because when humans handle baby/adolescent birds, I've heard it messes up their scent and the mama birds will chase them out of the nest. Luan saved the day by lifting the bird with his flip-flops. Then we continued on and got some great pics of the beach and sunset. Check them out.

Molhes da Barra in the background

The grounded gull :(

Luan, the gull whisperer

Candid of Raiane

Pôr do Sol

As Novas Gringas do Bairro

Rylee and I recently moved into a house in Rio Grande! We had been living in a hotel on the university’s campus, which was great because we made friends with new students at FURG that were also staying there. Most of the other hotel residents were from Colombia, Venezuela, and Nicaragua and we would all weave in and out of Portuguese and Spanish to communicate. The hotel was great because there were always people around to talk to and I caught up on all the latest novelas with the hotel employees. Like the most recent episode of one novela I watch, one of the ladies had to explain to me that the girl got hit by a car because she jumped out of the car while she was arguing with her lover (not her father as I thought) because he had had a love affair with her mother 20 years earlier!! MEU DEUS.

 Our new house summers as a restaurant called “Scooby-Du”. The Dona da casa (the lady who lives in front) is really cool, Luan assures us. We had to take his word for it because she talks a mile a minute in rapid Portuguese with a heavy accent from Caxias do Sul. She likes to party harder than us, cooks us tons of food, and gives us life advice. Her husband Achin (I have no idea how to spell his name) is a stoic Taiwanese man that she met 20-years ago at the port. We’re excited now to have our own kitchen, where Rylee cooks and I eat and wash dishes because I have absolutely nothing to offer in terms of cooking skills - except for some killer roasted broccoli - courtesy of my Aunt Jen.

The house-hunting process itself is worth mentioning. Our search began a couple of weeks ago. Rossana, our coordinator, knew a guy who was trying to rent out his summer home in Cassino Beach (A Maior Praia do Mundo). Luan came with us as our unofficial interpreter to see this first house. The ‘house’ (shack) was a total dump. When we arrived Luan and Rylee could barely cover their looks of horror upon seeing the living room. I, on the other hand, am a little too polite for my own good. I was walking around complimenting the wallpaper and ooing and aahing at a bedroom literally the size of a linen closet. I ended up communicating with the lady showing us the house in French because my Portuguese was blah. Our ‘interpreter’ and Rylee were giggling in the corner at the two of us speaking French. After an obligatory 15 minutes of discussing the price of a house we were never going to rent, we made like trees and leave-d. Rylee and Luan continued house-hunting while I went to Foz do Iguacu and kept me posted via phone and skype and we moved into our Scooby-Du house shortly after I returned from my trip.

I love our new neighborhood. There are lots of trees and birds and I’ve already been running a few times. None of the roads are paved and it’s about 2 kilometers to the beach. There’s a padaria down the street where Rylee and I go to get bread and eggs regularly. Our house has all the fixins of a summer restaurant: an industrial kitchen, covered patio, sound system, large stone grill for churrascos, and an outdoor bar. We also have 7 spare beds which have already been put to good use when our friends stop by and crash overnight. Here are some pics:

Covered Patio

Our friend Tiago making some caipirinhas at the bar

The living room

Kitchen

Our housewarming party

Pics of the neighborhood - taken during my run

Our street

Our house - Scooby Du painted on the side

pathway to the beach

Foz do Iguaçu

Rochelle came to Brazil last week. We made tentative plans to meet in Iguaçu on Tuesday. Iguaçu is 19 hours from Rio Grande and as of Sunday I hadn't made my travel plans... because I'm disorganized and never manage to plan things well, if at all!! I took an overnight bus to Iguaçu Monday night that totaled 14 hours. Those 14 hours were made less than optimal by the guy behind me who went to the bathroom every hour to smoke a cigarette. Casual… like no one is going to notice that you’re smoking in the bathroom and that the entire bus smells like an ashtray.

When I got off the night bus in Iguaçu (to a cloud of cigarette smoke) I checked my email and read an alert from Fulbright that a couple of ETAs had been held up at gunpoint on a night bus. AH! 

I met up with Rochelle, Arielle, and her med school friends later that day and we explored the Brazilian side of the waterfalls (cataratas). Everyone was a lot of fun and goofy and we had such a nice time together. Roche is always fun to hike with because we share a love for all of Earth’s little creatures. The following day we spent on the Argentine side of Iguaçu. We began at the top of the falls where it looks like the water is falling into the center of the Earth (see picture below). And the last day we spent at the Parque das Aves (Bird Park). Here are some pics! 

Tucan out in the wild

rainbow

The gang

Top of the waterfall, where it looks like the water is being sucked into the Earth!

capybara - the world's largest rodent

Brazil side

Roche & I soaked from just standing near the waterfalls

As Coisas Essenciais

The essentials: Guaraná, coffee, and caipirinhas. I don't know how to describe Guaraná. It's a soda made from a seed that grows in the Amazon and it's great! My friends tell me that the gringos always love Guaraná. ;) And cappuccinos come standard with chocolate powder (chocolate em pó). The coffee in general here is so good. It's much more concentrated.

drool

Grumpy until I feed the addiction

The traditional caipirinha is made with cachaça, lime, and sugar but you can get a caipirinha with vodka or rum and with different fruits like maracuja (passionfruit) or abacaxi (pineapple). Cachaça is a hard liquor made from sugar cane. Everyone insists it's just a regular alcohol but I think it's part horse tranquilizer because every time I drink it it KNOCKS ME OUT. 

Carnaval

I didn’t know what to expect from carnaval in Floripa. The only carnaval I've ever attended is Mardi Gras in NOLA.

Sunday night we took the bus from Lagoa de Conceição on the other side of the island to the Centro. We were packed in like sardines on the bus ride. About thirty minutes in, some of us started singing some Aventura and some old 90s hits. Next thing I know the entire bus has started a “I’m a Barbie Girl” sing along; the Brazilians not only joined in but knew every word and carried the performance! We pulled up to the Centro and the bus was rocking as we drummed a beat into the side of the bus and chanted “life is plastic.. it’s fantastic.”
We arrived to a performance midway through. I was just soaking everything in, hanging out, when I started to take in my surroundings a bit. Most of the ladies around me… were actually dudes! We rolled up to one of Brazil’s largest drag shows: “Gay Pop.”

Other Catherine, Rylee, Jake, and I went to the Tuesday night carnaval stuff too. So carnaval it seems is more of an observer sport here in Brazil than Mardi Gras is in New Orleans – where I feel like you get to participate with the people in the parade. I think it also depends on where you celebrate carnaval in Brazil. We were in stands in Floripa. It had been raining all day and not that many people showed up to the event. I got some pictures though!

Favorite outfit of the night

Samba couple killin it

Floripa

I spent the last week in Florianópolis for carnaval. Rylee and I wanted to find a place that put on a decent carnaval not too far from home. We went to the beaches and met up with some other ETAs from Curitiba, Pato Branco, and Porto Alegre. Here are some photos of the scenery - carnaval pics to come.