on tuesday morning, i woke up and went to the living room where my father asked me:
"ariana, do you want to go to brasília tomorrow?"
and just like that we went. typical brasil.
little info on brasília, the capital city of Brasil:
the city is only 50years old, fairly new, and was completely designed, from every building to every street corner there was an architect planning the location.
much like the US, Brasil had other capital cities as well. the first was Salvador, then Rio de Janerio then they finally moved it in the middle and center of the country to spread out the population, therefore creating Brasília.
much like the US, Brasília is inside it's own "state," District Federal but also inside another state, Goiás.
Dia 19 de Janerio
my father, my brother, my sister, and i left early wednesday morning for the 12hour drive to Brasília. yepp, 12hours in one day. my body is still hurting from sittting all that time. now when i ask the distance between ipatinga and another city, and then answer is less then 12, i just sigh a relief becasue anything is closer and better than 12hours.
we stopped for lunch at a resturant that was almost in Rio de São Franscico and ate fish that tasted like it was just caught that day
then back into the car where we jammed to sumba, forro, axé music ooh and Black Eyed Peas (everyone here LOVES them) my brother had a litttle dance party in the front seat, me &my sister tried to sleeep (tried) and my dad averaged aroun 120kph (im tooo scared to translate that into mph)
we arrived later that night to meet my father's ENTIRE family. this was the first time meeting his family, they alllllll live in Brasília, and again, it was really confusing to meet so many people, remember names and faces and relationships. and worse off, they just kept calling each other, Primo, Tio, Tia, Prima (aunt, uncle, cousin) ..that wasnt helping me any.
Dia 20 de Janerio:
we didnt explore the city until after lunch, nothing happened until after lunch, make that, wayyy after lunch here in Brasília. it would go a litttle liek this: okay are you going? (10minutes later) so who all is going? (20mintues later) okay go get ready (45mintues later) let's go to the car (15minutes later) finally, FINALLY, we would actually leave.
this was due to all the talking and talking and talking. it was a huge italian family. all they did was talk and eat. God Bless their souls...
when we actually got into the city part Brasília, it was so different from other cities in brasil.
its allll flat so you can seee miles (kilometers?) and everything is so organized and CLEAN. to be honest and i think all brasileiros know this, brasil is not clean. people say that everyone is uneducated therefore they throw their garbage anywhere they want. countless times ive seen on the bus, kids just throw their candy wrappers out the window. why couldnt you wait until you got home? right now, there is a hugeeee mound of garbage sittting in front of my house, waiting for the garbage man to pick it up. which makes me throw up sometimes because the garbage is in a bag but because there are street animals, they rip the bags open, therefore throwing garbage everywhere. eww. enough about garbage
but Brasília didnt have that.
we first went to the TV Tower where you take an elevador up and are able to seee alllll of Brasília. I took some realllllly nice pictures !
Next we went to this riducously beauitful catholic church. it was formed into a dome with "crowns" at the top. the whole ceiling was stained glasses with angels floating. so amazing.
after, we made it over just in time for the changing of the flag in front of the president's house.
this was no White House where Obama and the First Lady stay
it was blue and kinda old looking and if i had binoculars, i would be able to see the president having lunch. it was guarded in that there were snipper men hiding in the buses, protecting their leader but that was alll. there were the flags, a litttle river, a hugeeeeeee lawn with absolulety no treees, then the house. meaning if i jumped the litttle river, dudged the snipper men, and ran like cheetah, i would be able to ring his doorbell.
i asked my brother if the president was home because i wanted to meet her, and i'm sure she would really enjoy meeting me but unfortunalty she wasnt there. Oooh, Dilma
finally, we went to another church which is a church for all religions, a place for meditations and to feel closer to God. everything was translated into different langauges and i liked the fact that no matter where you were from or what religion you were, they was a place for you to take time and give praise to God.
Dia 21 de Janerio:
more site seeeing after lunch. we went to another church; on the outside, it looked like a normal catholic church but on the inside.. Meus Deus..
the walls were broken into sections and each section was alllll in stained glasss, all stained glass blue. and in the corners, purple. it felt like the church was glowing, it was mesmorizing. man, with all these beauitful churches, i will be redoing my vows with my husband every other year just so i can be married in all these gorgeous Houses of God.
after we went to one of the lakes of Brasília, taking pictures with the bridge, Ponte JK, which was designed with the help of my father, how cool is that! we ate açai by the lake and had a donut which is a rare. and first time i saw this fattening food here in brasil, and frankly, havent really missed seeeing them
later that night, my family bought 40 pizzza crusts (for 25people) to have a litttle "pizza party"
i ate so much pizza, it was so goood though.
Dia 22 de Janerio:
we didnt do much on this day.
only i got DRILLED with questions about my homeland country.
we sat around the table for hours and i got EVERY question there is about US.
Health Care Plan, College applications, Drugs, George Bush, War in Iraq, Obama, Racism, Prostitues, Football, Snow, Dealth Penatly. You know it, it was asked
mind you this conversation (all conversations from now on) was in português and i am trying to explain to them what Obama is trying to do with the Health Care Plan, my plans for college and how people feeel about illegal immigrants from Mexico. This is when i wish i had an opinon on the government becasue here, everyone HATED Bush (believe it or not, ive heard someone say that they think that Bush was behind 9/11 ..like our president would do that) and they adore Obama.
so i start throwing questions at them.
i asked them, when you hear of the US, what do you think of?
the one positive answer i got (ofcourse they think of mcdonalds and that we are better than ervyone else) they said we are alll patriots of our country. we have american flags waving in our front yeards, wear red, white and blue and have stickers of our country everywhere.
they said the only time they are patriots is when it is the World Cup and Independence Day.
i found this surprising.
for me, i was neverrrrr a patriot for the US
..until i left the US.
the US always comes up on the news here, people know our current affairs and history and everyone talks about our country &culture.
i get defensive, especially when i dont understand everything they are saying about US.
Dont you dare talk about MY country, MY home, MY culture, like you know it when you only know whats happening because of the news or because you spent a week in Disney World when you were 15.
i find this kinda of funny, after i cool off (i never freak out on anyone but in my head..ooh man) because i would trash talk the US when i was there, but now, because i have seen another land, another world, another culture, i am a proud american. Estados Unidos !
Dia 23 de Janerio:
On our last day in Brasília, we had a BBQ (churrasco) and spent the majority of the day in the poool.
i got burntttt even though i put sunscreeen on! the sun is sooo strong here. verão no Brasil..
later that night, "os primos" went to get mexican which only jenna eppinger knows what happened laterr.. it was really good mexican!
the following morning we packed up the car and i tried to survive 12more hours in a car. (i figured out that in ONE week, because of traveling to Brasilia and to BH, i spent a total of 30hours in the car, sittting. wowoow)
so now i know the capital city of Brasil, Brasília and what a beauitful city it is.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Miss. Clare F Harris
On August 28, I met Clare F Harris for the first time and on January 16, I had to say goodbye..
Being an Australian exchange student, her journey began and ended in January. So in April when I knew that Ipatinga would be by new home, she was already there, living the dream. Clare told me the Do's and Don´t's, things I absolutly had to do, and places that i needed to explore. Even before I met her, she seemed like an older sister, a mother even, although I am almost 2years older than she.
At my first Brazilian party, she nearly jumped on me, exclaiming how happy she was to have me here, and for the first time, I heard her "Aussie-English." Over time, I learned a whole vocabulary: the bush, (the Outback) keen, (eager) I cant be "bothered" (no desire) heaps (a lot) and Vegamite (a spread that i still havent decided if I like it or not)
When i barely understood the language of português, or when my head hurt from hearing it all day, she always would be the first to speak for me, teaching me more português than anyone else. I would go to her for all the riduclously stupid questions, to embarrassed to ask anyone else. ("I know there are a lot of different ways to ask, "What's your name?" but I can't understand any of them.") She gave me confidence, saying that i was learning quickly and in a few months time, i would understand it all, just like her.
While our Brazilian friends were studying for the Vestibular, we spent our afternoons at the mall, at various BBQs, becoming even more obsessed with Harry Potter, and sometimes making typical dishes from our country that usually ended up a disater. Clare saw my face after my first Brazilian bikini wax, taught me how to take the bus, and almost constantly argued on boys. We talked consistently about this strange country called Brasil, always asking the question: "Do you do this back home?" The answer was always No. Somethings only happen here..
I've met her family through skype, she shyly said Hi to mine. I feeel as though I know her bestfriend in "Aussieland" although i have only seen pictures and heard countless stories. Clare is trying to figure out my life back in the States, remembering all my stories and embarrassing details.
We are planning to visit the paradise island of Bali together someday. We are already saving money for our return in 2014 when Brasil once again takes championship at the World Cup. Somehow she is making her way over to Pennsylvania and i know that her home in Melbourne is always welcome for me.
And on the day I had to leave her side at the airport, through the tears and panicking cries, we promised that no matter what, no matter where life takes us, no matter how cliche it sounds, we will always be best friends.
We were an odd match, an American girl and an Austrailian mate, but through it all, we became "melhor amigas para sempre."
Being an Australian exchange student, her journey began and ended in January. So in April when I knew that Ipatinga would be by new home, she was already there, living the dream. Clare told me the Do's and Don´t's, things I absolutly had to do, and places that i needed to explore. Even before I met her, she seemed like an older sister, a mother even, although I am almost 2years older than she.
At my first Brazilian party, she nearly jumped on me, exclaiming how happy she was to have me here, and for the first time, I heard her "Aussie-English." Over time, I learned a whole vocabulary: the bush, (the Outback) keen, (eager) I cant be "bothered" (no desire) heaps (a lot) and Vegamite (a spread that i still havent decided if I like it or not)
When i barely understood the language of português, or when my head hurt from hearing it all day, she always would be the first to speak for me, teaching me more português than anyone else. I would go to her for all the riduclously stupid questions, to embarrassed to ask anyone else. ("I know there are a lot of different ways to ask, "What's your name?" but I can't understand any of them.") She gave me confidence, saying that i was learning quickly and in a few months time, i would understand it all, just like her.
While our Brazilian friends were studying for the Vestibular, we spent our afternoons at the mall, at various BBQs, becoming even more obsessed with Harry Potter, and sometimes making typical dishes from our country that usually ended up a disater. Clare saw my face after my first Brazilian bikini wax, taught me how to take the bus, and almost constantly argued on boys. We talked consistently about this strange country called Brasil, always asking the question: "Do you do this back home?" The answer was always No. Somethings only happen here..
I've met her family through skype, she shyly said Hi to mine. I feeel as though I know her bestfriend in "Aussieland" although i have only seen pictures and heard countless stories. Clare is trying to figure out my life back in the States, remembering all my stories and embarrassing details.
We are planning to visit the paradise island of Bali together someday. We are already saving money for our return in 2014 when Brasil once again takes championship at the World Cup. Somehow she is making her way over to Pennsylvania and i know that her home in Melbourne is always welcome for me.
And on the day I had to leave her side at the airport, through the tears and panicking cries, we promised that no matter what, no matter where life takes us, no matter how cliche it sounds, we will always be best friends.
We were an odd match, an American girl and an Austrailian mate, but through it all, we became "melhor amigas para sempre."
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
guarapari, segunda semana
after my family left, my sister's friends slowly started coming into the apartment. there would be 4girls, counting me and my sister and then 9boys, counting my brother. yeah 13people, mainly alll boys, in one apartment. yeah, talk about a messssss. (but our apartment is hugee. you could easily fit 3families and then some strangers too comfortably)
almost all the boys arrived on bus at 5am one morning, charging into our room, yelling, screaming, saying, "We're at the beach! Let's go to the beach! Right now!"
it's 5am. i am not a morning person. back offff.
i didnt like them.
..then we spent a weeek together and we became one big family together. :D
the boys are a hurricane of energy, going to the poool, going to the beach, wanting to do everything all at once.
it made me miss my friends back at home which, to be honest, i never misssed. that sounds horrible and i know that many people are offended back home but i have friends here, good friends. people that i love hanging out with and call my bffffffffs.
but being around people who have been friends since grade school, that knew each other so welll, that have each others back, i wanted to have that. go to taylors house for secret santa, wanted to have a heart-to-heart in history with matt, megan, chelsea &brian. wanted to hang out with kristi at church and make fun of schdurp. wanted to go shopping with rissssy. wanted MY friends back..
but coming to brasil is about making NEW friends ariana. duhhh.
on dia 6 de janerio, i callled laura, my friend from ipatinga, and we went out to the beach at night, sat around while people were playing the guitar, singing music and just having a good time. we were in the center of guarapari so there were alot of streeet vendors, selling anything imaginable. laura asked, "hey, have you ever ate a crepe?" "no, i havent, i would like to try one."
mistake.
ate a chocoatle crepe for the first and last time.
woke up at 5am, would not stop throwing up. threw up until 2 in the afternoon, where my father drove 6hours to take me to the hostipal, put some IVs in me, still wouldnt stop throwing up, shot in my buttt, stayed the night in the hospital, most miserable experience everrrrrrr.
i am HEALTHY now. no worrries. learned my lesson. everything is just fine.
plus, i needed to get bettter for the nightclub we were going to on saturday night ;D
the day of the nightclub we went to the different beach which actually had WAVES! and i regrettably wore a strapless top.. mistakes.
we alll took a nap, preparing to stay up until the sun came up the next morning.
going to a nightclub here in brasil, the girls wear clothes tyical to a homecoming/prom.
do i have that kindof clothes, ofcourse not. but one of the girls let borrow one of her fashionable dresses and i felt hotttttttt ..until i started sweating which was instant. then i just felt slopppy.
the nightclub was kinda of divided into two parts:
part 1: similar to a homecoming dance, but bettter. just american music that i knew so i was screaming out the music, teaching people how we dance back in US, sweating like it was mandatory, and my feeet burned
part2: the main part of going to the nightclub was to seee the brasileiro rock band, joita quest. wasnt really my type of music so i sat down for a litttle, cooled offf, gave my feeet a litttle breather, and just swayyed to the music.
part3: after the band, we ran into the danceclub which is excatly! how i pictured a danceclub: a huge, dark building with many levels, flashing lights, &techno music
and i was right in the midddle of this crazy-nesss !
it was the nicest thing everrr.
we came home 5am, gathered around the table to eat chocoatle cake and laugh about everything that happened that night and then eventually passed out and slept basicallly allll day.
on the last full day everyone was here, we alll crammed into bus and took a road trip to Vitória to a water park called Yahoo! i hadnt beeen in a water park in a long time and i was excited to seee what it would be like in brasil.
since it was a monday, basically no one was there, no lines, no waiting, just our crazy bunch of kids :)
some of the rides, i thought i was gonna die on, its brasil, safety is the least of their concern. some of the rides didnt have lifeguards! making us come home with bruises and cuts.
there was a litttle section of amusement park rides and we took adventage of that after lunch.
the funnnniest ride i have ever beeen one, the pirate ship where it was just us, 14obnxious kids. screaming, yelling, laughing, people look like they were gonna throw up cause, i could NOT stop laughing. it was soooo nice.
everyone left the following night, taking a bus back home, and i left wednesday morning, another long car ride to spend the last few days with Clare F Harris.. :(
almost all the boys arrived on bus at 5am one morning, charging into our room, yelling, screaming, saying, "We're at the beach! Let's go to the beach! Right now!"
it's 5am. i am not a morning person. back offff.
i didnt like them.
..then we spent a weeek together and we became one big family together. :D
the boys are a hurricane of energy, going to the poool, going to the beach, wanting to do everything all at once.
it made me miss my friends back at home which, to be honest, i never misssed. that sounds horrible and i know that many people are offended back home but i have friends here, good friends. people that i love hanging out with and call my bffffffffs.
but being around people who have been friends since grade school, that knew each other so welll, that have each others back, i wanted to have that. go to taylors house for secret santa, wanted to have a heart-to-heart in history with matt, megan, chelsea &brian. wanted to hang out with kristi at church and make fun of schdurp. wanted to go shopping with rissssy. wanted MY friends back..
but coming to brasil is about making NEW friends ariana. duhhh.
on dia 6 de janerio, i callled laura, my friend from ipatinga, and we went out to the beach at night, sat around while people were playing the guitar, singing music and just having a good time. we were in the center of guarapari so there were alot of streeet vendors, selling anything imaginable. laura asked, "hey, have you ever ate a crepe?" "no, i havent, i would like to try one."
mistake.
ate a chocoatle crepe for the first and last time.
woke up at 5am, would not stop throwing up. threw up until 2 in the afternoon, where my father drove 6hours to take me to the hostipal, put some IVs in me, still wouldnt stop throwing up, shot in my buttt, stayed the night in the hospital, most miserable experience everrrrrrr.
i am HEALTHY now. no worrries. learned my lesson. everything is just fine.
plus, i needed to get bettter for the nightclub we were going to on saturday night ;D
the day of the nightclub we went to the different beach which actually had WAVES! and i regrettably wore a strapless top.. mistakes.
we alll took a nap, preparing to stay up until the sun came up the next morning.
going to a nightclub here in brasil, the girls wear clothes tyical to a homecoming/prom.
do i have that kindof clothes, ofcourse not. but one of the girls let borrow one of her fashionable dresses and i felt hotttttttt ..until i started sweating which was instant. then i just felt slopppy.
the nightclub was kinda of divided into two parts:
part 1: similar to a homecoming dance, but bettter. just american music that i knew so i was screaming out the music, teaching people how we dance back in US, sweating like it was mandatory, and my feeet burned
part2: the main part of going to the nightclub was to seee the brasileiro rock band, joita quest. wasnt really my type of music so i sat down for a litttle, cooled offf, gave my feeet a litttle breather, and just swayyed to the music.
part3: after the band, we ran into the danceclub which is excatly! how i pictured a danceclub: a huge, dark building with many levels, flashing lights, &techno music
and i was right in the midddle of this crazy-nesss !
it was the nicest thing everrr.
we came home 5am, gathered around the table to eat chocoatle cake and laugh about everything that happened that night and then eventually passed out and slept basicallly allll day.
on the last full day everyone was here, we alll crammed into bus and took a road trip to Vitória to a water park called Yahoo! i hadnt beeen in a water park in a long time and i was excited to seee what it would be like in brasil.
since it was a monday, basically no one was there, no lines, no waiting, just our crazy bunch of kids :)
some of the rides, i thought i was gonna die on, its brasil, safety is the least of their concern. some of the rides didnt have lifeguards! making us come home with bruises and cuts.
there was a litttle section of amusement park rides and we took adventage of that after lunch.
the funnnniest ride i have ever beeen one, the pirate ship where it was just us, 14obnxious kids. screaming, yelling, laughing, people look like they were gonna throw up cause, i could NOT stop laughing. it was soooo nice.
everyone left the following night, taking a bus back home, and i left wednesday morning, another long car ride to spend the last few days with Clare F Harris.. :(
guarapari, primera semana
** just to let everyone know, i am SAFE. the floods are in the state of Rio de Janerio & a little in the state of Sao Paulo. its beeen raining alot but its the rainy season, everyone can breathe a side of relief.
hellllo everyone, its beeen awhile :)
i am going to try and search back to remember my 2week vacation in Guarapari, Espírto Santo.
on dia 28 de dezembro my family and i squeezed everything imaingary into our litttle car and drove the 6hours to their beach apartment in Guarapari. i was squeezed into the midddle, meaning i was hating life. it was pouring down rain at the end of the journey and i was gettting realllllly scared but we made it safely to our apartment at 10pm that night, starved cause we didnt reallly have a lunch (it's brasil and we didnt have a big lunch? que?!) ofcourse we brought our maid to be with us for those 2wks so she had pasta waiting for us. it was definitely not pasta from italy but i was starved.
the next morning, i got my first realll look at guarapari, though through the rain.
our apartment was settled nicely RIGHT against the ocean, had the most beauitful view of alll the city but it didnt reallly remind of a beach because there was absolutely NO waves. it reminded me more of a lake than a ocean, having boats, kayaks, jet skis, alll floating around close to the sun bathers. it was realllly calm and relaxing.
since it was raining, we couldnt splash around in the "waves" but that didnt stop half of the city to put their bikinnis on and show offf what they got.
we went bikinni shopping, i really needed one considering i basically live in my one brasileiro bikkini. the bikkini shopping was just like the first one back in Cabo Frio, felt like a beach-ed whale, did not want to come out of the dressing rooom, but in the end i got this reallly cute, reallly brasileiro bikkini :)
we went to a different beach which actually had waves, not big ones at that, and we took lots of pictures of the beauitful landscape.
Reveilion:
New Years Eve !
Here in Brasil, from my experience, Reveilion was bigger than Chritmas. Everyone was looking forward and stressing about Dia 31 de Dezembro. when you go to the beach for Reveilion, everyone usually wears white or yellow, for luck. (everyone wore white..except for me. gringa!) you also are suppose to buy flowers and put them in the water at the turning of the year as offereing to the "ocean gods"
with my family, we alll had a big dinnner at our apartment, sipping on champagne and watching all of crazy brasil. there was a show on the beach, loud dance music pounding through all of the city, so we just had to take a look at what it was. my sister, my brother, my maid (hahah) and i all went to the show to watch the "ball drop" there was thousands, hundreds of thousands of people at the show, families, teenagers, grandparents, drunk obnxious people, everyone in the city of guarapari. as 2010 changed into 2011, instead of gettting a kiss, like the normal standard in US, i was dodging crazy people who were throwing booze all around, excited to start the new year offf right. along with flowers that were floating in the ocean as offering, booze cans, trash, people splashing around with or without clothes. we left.
as we are leaving the show, the power of the whole city goes out from people setting off fireworks.
we cant see anything.
im slightly scared cause its brasil and its new years... but it was finee.
i went to my friends apartment and played cards and listened to music and just hung out until 3am when me and my brother walked the long way homee.
the beginning of the year also brought sunshine in guarapari. i think i layed around on the beach until 6pm, swimming a little, hanging out with my family, ignoring the annnoying people sellling things, and people watching. relaxing day after the crazy-ness of new years.
theres a nature walk close to our apartment where it brings you to these beauitful, unbelieveable sights of guarapari. i realized that i love those kind of things: ilove the smelll of the fresh open air, i love hiking up the dirt path, i love the wind on my face when i am close to the water. i love those kinda of things.
we toook lots of photos, sat for a litttle just to take it all in and took the path back to reality.
the next day we toook a litttle drive to the capital of Espírto Santos, Vitória. it was a 45min drive where i took a little nap and when i woke up, i felt like my dad drove me back to Rio de Janerio.
the city was beauitful and looked a lot like Rio, with a few exceptions.
instead of the famous Capacabana beach, Vitória had Curva da Jurema
instead of drug dealers in the favelas, Vitória had shottings in the local mall
instead of Cristo Redentor Vitória had a little, old church that sat up on the moutain.
i liked Vitória bettter than Guarapari. more beauitful, more history, more things that i liked.
we just went to the big shopping malll where i bought much needed shorts and ate sushi !
fun facts about Espírito Santos:
the translation of Espírito Santos in english is Holy Spirit, shows how catholic this country is.
ES is the state where all the people of Minas (my state) go to vacation because MG doesnt have a beach therefore Guarapari is nicknamed Guara-tinga (Guarapari & Ipatinga) because everyone from my city goes there.
there isnt reallly any ridulously beauitful beaches in ES which is funnny cause all of the north of brasil has everything beauitful and the north is Rio & Sao Paulo and ES is stuck right in the middle. hah
my parents left the next day ..bringing my sisters friends and a whole lottta funn & crazy-nesss
hellllo everyone, its beeen awhile :)
i am going to try and search back to remember my 2week vacation in Guarapari, Espírto Santo.
on dia 28 de dezembro my family and i squeezed everything imaingary into our litttle car and drove the 6hours to their beach apartment in Guarapari. i was squeezed into the midddle, meaning i was hating life. it was pouring down rain at the end of the journey and i was gettting realllllly scared but we made it safely to our apartment at 10pm that night, starved cause we didnt reallly have a lunch (it's brasil and we didnt have a big lunch? que?!) ofcourse we brought our maid to be with us for those 2wks so she had pasta waiting for us. it was definitely not pasta from italy but i was starved.
the next morning, i got my first realll look at guarapari, though through the rain.
our apartment was settled nicely RIGHT against the ocean, had the most beauitful view of alll the city but it didnt reallly remind of a beach because there was absolutely NO waves. it reminded me more of a lake than a ocean, having boats, kayaks, jet skis, alll floating around close to the sun bathers. it was realllly calm and relaxing.
since it was raining, we couldnt splash around in the "waves" but that didnt stop half of the city to put their bikinnis on and show offf what they got.
we went bikinni shopping, i really needed one considering i basically live in my one brasileiro bikkini. the bikkini shopping was just like the first one back in Cabo Frio, felt like a beach-ed whale, did not want to come out of the dressing rooom, but in the end i got this reallly cute, reallly brasileiro bikkini :)
we went to a different beach which actually had waves, not big ones at that, and we took lots of pictures of the beauitful landscape.
Reveilion:
New Years Eve !
Here in Brasil, from my experience, Reveilion was bigger than Chritmas. Everyone was looking forward and stressing about Dia 31 de Dezembro. when you go to the beach for Reveilion, everyone usually wears white or yellow, for luck. (everyone wore white..except for me. gringa!) you also are suppose to buy flowers and put them in the water at the turning of the year as offereing to the "ocean gods"
with my family, we alll had a big dinnner at our apartment, sipping on champagne and watching all of crazy brasil. there was a show on the beach, loud dance music pounding through all of the city, so we just had to take a look at what it was. my sister, my brother, my maid (hahah) and i all went to the show to watch the "ball drop" there was thousands, hundreds of thousands of people at the show, families, teenagers, grandparents, drunk obnxious people, everyone in the city of guarapari. as 2010 changed into 2011, instead of gettting a kiss, like the normal standard in US, i was dodging crazy people who were throwing booze all around, excited to start the new year offf right. along with flowers that were floating in the ocean as offering, booze cans, trash, people splashing around with or without clothes. we left.
as we are leaving the show, the power of the whole city goes out from people setting off fireworks.
we cant see anything.
im slightly scared cause its brasil and its new years... but it was finee.
i went to my friends apartment and played cards and listened to music and just hung out until 3am when me and my brother walked the long way homee.
the beginning of the year also brought sunshine in guarapari. i think i layed around on the beach until 6pm, swimming a little, hanging out with my family, ignoring the annnoying people sellling things, and people watching. relaxing day after the crazy-ness of new years.
theres a nature walk close to our apartment where it brings you to these beauitful, unbelieveable sights of guarapari. i realized that i love those kind of things: ilove the smelll of the fresh open air, i love hiking up the dirt path, i love the wind on my face when i am close to the water. i love those kinda of things.
we toook lots of photos, sat for a litttle just to take it all in and took the path back to reality.
the next day we toook a litttle drive to the capital of Espírto Santos, Vitória. it was a 45min drive where i took a little nap and when i woke up, i felt like my dad drove me back to Rio de Janerio.
the city was beauitful and looked a lot like Rio, with a few exceptions.
instead of the famous Capacabana beach, Vitória had Curva da Jurema
instead of drug dealers in the favelas, Vitória had shottings in the local mall
instead of Cristo Redentor Vitória had a little, old church that sat up on the moutain.
i liked Vitória bettter than Guarapari. more beauitful, more history, more things that i liked.
we just went to the big shopping malll where i bought much needed shorts and ate sushi !
fun facts about Espírito Santos:
the translation of Espírito Santos in english is Holy Spirit, shows how catholic this country is.
ES is the state where all the people of Minas (my state) go to vacation because MG doesnt have a beach therefore Guarapari is nicknamed Guara-tinga (Guarapari & Ipatinga) because everyone from my city goes there.
there isnt reallly any ridulously beauitful beaches in ES which is funnny cause all of the north of brasil has everything beauitful and the north is Rio & Sao Paulo and ES is stuck right in the middle. hah
my parents left the next day ..bringing my sisters friends and a whole lottta funn & crazy-nesss
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