"Excuse Me, Can You Hold This Flag?"

Day 1 in Brazil

The first day in Brazil was a bit surreal for me. For one thing, it was my last time getting off of the ship in a new port that wasn’t in the US. Second, we were back in a country that spoke hardly any English. We were absolutely spoiled in the past four countries we were in, and pretty much everyone in them spoke English incredibly well. Not so much in Brazil. Everything was Portuguese, which meant that I could read some of the signs because some of the words are similar to Spanish, but understanding was a completely different story. Portuguese sounds nothing like Spanish at all, the pronunciation is totally different.

Anyways, Team Awesome set out to explore on our last day together in port, since we all had different destinations for the next four days. We first wandered over to an ATM because we pretty much all needed money. After the ATM, we headed over to the big market that was near the waterfront. Sat down at a restaurant and some of us ordered a beer, even though it was only 10:30 in the morning (hey it’s 5 o’clock somewhere, right?). We got to sit and enjoy our drinks while watching Capoiera being performed on a stage right in front of us. Capoiera is a martial art that was developed and practiced in the 18th century, but it was eventually banned, so the Brazilians made it look like a dance instead, but it remained a martial art, if that makes sense. We wandered around there for a little bit, then decided to take the elevator into the upper city. The elevator cost .15 reals, which is the equivalent of about 10 cents US.

We took the elevator up to the upper city, then walked around. There was a big square, then a bunch of side streets you could wander off into. Not 10 minutes after we stepped off of the elevator, it began to sprinkle. Within another minute, that little sprinkle turned into a downpour. We ran over to the tourist information center for cover, got some info on a place to each lunch, then stepped outside and inched along under a miniscule overhang until we reached a restaurant. We all sat down and ordered our food. There are 2 unique things about Brazil: First, portions are pretty much always meant for two. Second, there is no such thing as a quick lunch. Our lunch took about 2 and a half hours to finish completely, so we were definitely ready to get out of there.

We walked out and down a little side street, and we stumbled upon a rather large square that had a stage set up in the middle of it, and a whole bunch of people wearing yellow and green outfits. After a little bit of questioning, we found out they were shooting a music video for the world cup. One of the guys came up to Victoria and said “Excuse me, but where are you from?” When she said Hong Kong, he said “I’m so sorry, but do you mind holding and waving the Japanese flag for us and dancing around with it?” She just laughed and said ok, and the rest of us got to jump in the background and dance. We stayed through about 3 shots, and the final video is now on youtube. As far as I know, you can’t see us in any shots, but some SASers make an appearance in the background of some shots, and you can see Victoria for a split second. We had a blast and danced around, then wandered through the shops a little bit. Once again, we decided it was time for an ice cream stop. After having phenomenal condensed milk and almond ice cream, which Shauna and I both went crazy over, it started to rain a little bit again. Some people decided to go back to the ship and nap before nighttime, and others wanted to stay out. I was one of the ones that wanted to stay out. Some of us wandered around, bought coffee, and got hair wraps before heading back to the ship to shower and get ready for our last dinner.

We headed out to dinner, and right as we got off the ship, it started downpouring. So much for looking cute. Anyways, there were 6 of us going to dinner, so we split up into two cabs, and they made their way to the upper city. This restaurant was supposed to be home to one of the best chefs in the world, so we were definitely looking forward to it. When we all sat down and ordered, we found out they were out of a lot of the stuff that we had originally ordered. Alli and I ordered this steak thing in a sauce. It’s really hard to describe, but it is served with rice and it is absolutely phenomenal.

Afterwards, we were looking for a place where a bunch of SAS kids were, some big outdoor party. As we were walking around, we couldn’t find all of the other SASers, but we happened to run into an American. As we were walking, he stopped us and said “Hey, are you Americans?” When we said yes, he said “Oh thank god, I haven’t spoken English in 3 weeks!” Upon talking to him a little bit more, we found out that his name was Devon, and he was living in Brazil for 5 months shooting a documentary about street children. He was hanging out with two Spaniards and a Brazilian or two that he called his friends. For not living there very long, he spoke incredibly good Portuguese. It was rather funny to watch his translations go back and forth from Spanish to English to Portuguese to English to Portuguese to Spanish.

It was about 10:30, and Devon and his friends said they had a club we could go to. So we headed to the club they were talking about, since it seemed as though we had nothing else to do at this point. Upon arriving to the club, we were let in by one of the scariest men I have ever come across in my life. He had the biggest muscles I have ever seen, and it was apparent that he was on steroids. He had a bunch of tattoos, and a tiny tank top and jeans and he was slightly terrifying. We walked in and up a set of stairs, and there were two ways we could go: to the left was a bar, and to the right was the dance floor. The dance floor was a small room whose walls were covered with sequins, and there was a dj playing in the corner. We were the only people in the entire place, but we danced it up anyways. We were informed that the parties don’t really start until midnight, so we were an hour and a half early. We danced for a little bit, then decided to head out to another little bar that Devon knew about.

When we got to the bar, there were 2 tables set up outside, so we split up. Vic, Alli, Kara, and I sat at one, and Brit, Graham, and Shauna sat at the other. We sat and talked with Devon for a while, and he translated his friends’ Portuguese into English, and in this way, we were able to have a pseudo-conversation. I was able to understand a little of the Portuguese. At least, I was able to understand enough that I got when the Brazilian said that we were all very beautiful and I understood when he asked where we were sleeping. We were also taught a dance by the men that we liked to call Revelation (it really mean revolution, but the way it is sung makes it sound like revelation). After we sat there for a little while, it starting pouring rain. It was definitely one of those surreal moments on the trip where you think life can’t get any better than it is at that moment in time. After sitting there for a while, we all hurried back to the square to get cabs back to the ship. We all had a great last night together, and we were all ready for our trips the next day.

Day 2 in Brazil

This trip was a USD girl trip. There were 4 other girls and myself that were going to a little island off the coast of Salvador called Morro de Sao Paulo. Emily, Amy, Laney, Clara, and I (all from USD) set off on our 2.5 hour catamaran ride that would take us over to the island. Upon arriving at the island, my mouth dropped open. There was a giant hill with a lighthouse sitting on top of it, and there were palm trees everywhere. The water was beautiful, and the island itself looked like a little slice of heaven. The second we got off the boat, a guy came up to us and was asking if we knew where we wanted to stay. I gave him the name of a little pousada (or inn in Portuguese) and he took us there. As we were walking down the streets, I absolutely fell in love with the place. There are no cars allowed on the island, the main mode of transportation is usually your feet. There were small stores and restaurants everywhere, and kids were running around completely unsupervised by their parents. We arrived to our little pousada, got two rooms, checked in, and decided to wander around a little bit. We walked up and down the beaches, went in some stores, then went back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner.

We went to dinner at this beachside restaurant around 7:30 or 8 pm, and we were the onl ones there. I forgot to mention that Brazilian tend to eat dinner ridiculously late at night, like around 9. So we all sat and ordered food. Two of us shared crab moqueca, which they bring to you in a pan and you pour over rice. It was absolutely phenomenal and so yummy. When we first got there, we got a coupon for one free drink each, so we all ordered caipirinhas, the traditional Brazilian drink of their rum and lime juice. We got them and they were absolutely phenomenal. Eventually we learned how to say free drink in Portuguese, so we would turn up the charm and keep asking the owner for free drinks, and he kept giving them to us. We each got about 4, then we each ordered a pina colada as well. We sat at this restaurant for about 4 hours, laughing talking, drinking, and enjoying each other’s company.

We got word that there was a party going on on Second Beach that started around midnight. All of the beaches on the island are in numerical order, from first through fifth. You could easily walk between each one. Our pousada was on first beach and the restaurant and parties took place on second beach. The other three beaches were a little quieter and places you would go during the day to relax. Anyways, after we headed over to second beach, we all had our desserts. Acai bowls. Acai is a wonderful berry that is so good frozen and blended up with bananas and granola on top. After savoring those for a little bit, we noticed more and more people wandering around the beach. Many of the booths were beginning to set up their stands on the beach for the parties. Majority of the booths consisted of every tropical fruit you can imagine, and a few different types of alcohol. You would walk up and tell the people which alcohol you wanted with which fruits, and they would make the drinks right there in front of you. We stayed until the part got started at midnight, danced around for a while with some Brazilians, and then two of us started not feeling well. Clara and I headed back to the hotel to get some sleep, as we both felt nauseous and not too hot (no it wasn’t from drinking too much). The others got back around 3 or 4 in the morning.

Day 3, 4, and 5 in Brazil

I combined these because they pretty much consisted of doing the same things every day we were there….
I woke up the next day to a light knock from Clara on my door wondering if I wanted to get breakfast with her. We ate right at our hotel, since it was included in the price, and it was pretty good. Eventually, the others slowly woke up, and we all still weren’t feeling too hot. We couldn’t figure out if it was the food we had eaten, or too much of the really sugary alcohol, or the fact that the ice in the drinks may have been contaminated. We have no idea. Anyways, for the next three days, we spent a ton of time sunbathing at the beach, ate a lot of acai and crepes, partied from midnight to varying times in the morning, and just relaxed in our last port.

Some of my favorite moments on the island consisted of our early morning swims in the beautiful clear waters of the Atlantic Ocean, watching the local sunset soccer games right on the beach outside of our hotel, laughing with the girls, eating phenomenal food, and just enjoying life. I mean, what else would y be doing if you were on a gorgeous island for 4 days? I know I’m doing a terrible job of explaining everything we did, but we didn’t really do much except explore, relax, and catch some last minute sun. Our basic schedule for the last 3 days was: Breakfast, swim, wander, tan, lunch, wander, stop for a drink, tan, shower, watch soccer, dinner, beach party, bed. I’m not trying to make this short, but there really isn’t much else to say.

On April 25th, we caught a catamaran back to Salvador, and while majority of the people slept, my mind was racing. This was it. My last journey back to the ship from a port. I started having a slideshow moment in my head, where memories kept flooding back from the countries I visited and the experiences I had in the last 3.5 months. It was a long ride, and when we got back, I headed to the market to spend a few last minute reals. In the midst of wandering, I lost the other girls, so I got to head back to the ship alone, which was perfect. I walked back with my backpack on my back, my moneybelt securely around my waist, my souvenir bags in my hand, and a smile on my face. As I got closer to the ship, however, the smile started mingling with tears, and it was with a heavy heart that I swiped my card onto the ship for the last time.

Brazil was an absolute blast for me. My day in Salvador was great, and I had a great time relaxing on Morro. Brazil is definitely right on the top of my list for places to go back to, because I want to go to Rio, the Amazon, and Carnaval. One thing I must do before I go back to Brazil is learn a little Portuguese! It was a little more difficult to get around here with English than it was in the past 4 countries I had been in. Most of the people that I had met were incredibly nice and accommodating, although some people did get robbed. The entire country is so vibrant and colorful, even more-so than countries like South Africa and India. There is music always playing from windows, people are always out and about, and the whole environment is just one of fun and good times.

So, this blog details the end of my travels. I, at the time of writing this, have been home for almost 4 weeks (I’m a slacker I know), and I am getting ready to leave for Guadalajara, Mexico for summer school. I will be writing one last final days on the ship/reflection blog, but I honestly don’t know when it will be posted. I’m still trying to make sense and integrate everything that happened on my trip, so that reflection might be a little while from now. Everything is still sinking in, and not a day goes by that I don’t think about the ship, the countries, the people, and my lifelong friends that I have made. I cried almost the entire plane ride home with the girl sitting next to me, and I am pretty sure other passengers on the ship thought we were crazy. Thank you to everyone who has followed me as I circumnavigated the globe, I hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures and that now maybe some of you will either go on Semester at Sea as lifelong learners (look it up….great thing for when you retire!) or that some of you will consider sending your kids on Semester at Sea, or you can apply to be a teacher or nurse on board. I also want to say a huge thank you to my mom and dad for sending me on this trip, and a big thank you to everyone else who helped out. Love you all!