Brazil! =)

Brazil is incredible. The first day we arrived at port I was a little bit nervous. Walking around town was very unnerving and I felt like I was constantly looking over my shoulder. That feeling did not stay long, though. Every day I am feeling more and more comfortable here! We went on a tour through Semester at Sea called Amazon Explorer the first day. We all boarded a riverboat and traveled about 30 minutes upstream to the “meeting of the waters”, which is where the Amazon river meets with the Rio Negro. What is incredible about this place is that the two waters do not mix. It looks like there was a massive oil spill and the black water of the Rio Negro was completely separated from the brown waters of the Amazon. But the water is not black (and trust me it is VERY black) because of pollution, it’s simply a matter of the composition of the water.  It is truly a fascinating phenomenon! After seeing the meeting of the waters we traveled through a small inlet and went to see some floating villages. The guide told us that people love to live in floating villages because if they ever get into a fight with their neighbors, they just move their house upstream. We ate at a floating restaurant and tried some delicious fish, including Piranha and Pirarucu. Of course I really had no idea what exactly we were eating until we actually saw a Pirarucu. It is the world’s largest freshwater fish (if any of you have seen “River Monsters” you have probably seen it), and I’m just glad they waited until after we finished eating to show us one! We they walked a little ways into the jungle to see the giant lily pads. There were alligators and monkeys and quite a few rustles through the leaves that we weren’t sure about (stories of anacondas in the area had us all on edge). We then got into small canoes and went to see a family in one of the river villages. They had a display of some really big fish right there next to their living room. They also have a very, very big tree near their house. Apparently the water level is often high enough that the only way to see the tree in by canoe, but we got to walk. One of the daughters had a pet sloth that we all got to hold (so cute…can I have one mom and dad?????). We returned to the big riverboats and fished for some piranhas. I wasn't very lucky, but quite a few people caught some! It was really an amazing experience and I loved every single second of it!
Then there was Samba. What can I say about samba except that it was the most fun I think I have ever had in my life. It was a giant block party with lots of samba music. The best part about it, though, was that the music was not only being played live and broadcast on speakers, but the musicians were also throughout the crowd. It was quite literally a whirlwind of music surrounding you. We met a local girl named Anisi, who was amazingly nice and we all did our very best to communicate to each other even through the language barrier. She taught us some words and introduced us to her whole family. We even got to bang the drums for a while!
The next day we explored Manaus. We found ourselves at a shopping center and we met another very nice local who spoke some English. He learned everything he knows from watching ‘Friends’! His name was Marcos, but he said we could call him Chewbaka, because he could understand English but when he speaks he feels like Chewy. He was very funny and we learned a lot about Brazilian culture just from spending the day with him. I also successfully ordered a pizza for the whole group in Portuguese (along with a lot of hand gestures). That night we went to Brazilian Barbeque, which was delicious! You have a little card on each table, one red side and one green side. When its flipped to green they come around and give you different kinds of meat (everything from fish to chicken heart). I tried almost everything and it was all very delicious! The chocolate here is unreal, we all had to force ourselves to stop eating it!
We spent another day exploring Manaus, but this time we went to the outdoor market. We started at the fish market, which was great fun. Everyone wanted to be in our pictures and apparently they don't normally see a group of American girls walking through there cause we got some funny reactions. I could walk around those markets for hours! It was so much fun! We got some incredible espressos and some great souvenirs! We also met another local who was studying English and was very excited to be able to practice with us. He even took us shopping and helped us pick out some clothes! We ended the day with a very intense sunset over the Rio Negro.
The next day Erica and I had our service visit. We went to a home called “Abrigo Moacyr Alves”. It is a place for kids (ages 0-38) with special needs. It is technically an orphanage, but they kids are not adopted. The director said “there is no need, this is their home and we are their family and we are all very happy”. Our guide explained to us that 15 years ago no one saw these kids and other people in similar situations as their problem. They figured it was God’s will and they should not mess with God’s will. However, since the last president, Lula (sp?) was elected, the mindset throughout Brazil has changed. The home, which used to be moldy and missing walls in some places, is now a beautiful, clean, and warm home with plans to expand. We took a tour of the home and met some of the kids and staff. We met one very special little boy named Gabriel. He is about one year old and he is being cared for in the nursery. His mother could not afford an abortion, so she tried several times to abort the pregnancy using drugs and alcohol. But he really, really wanted to live and he survived all of that. They call him their little soldier, and there’s really no better name for him, you can tell by the way he was smiling. We were told to do our best not to cry in front of the kids, but you can imagine at that point it was nearly impossible. None of the kids had ever been to the zoo before so we all got on a bus and went to see it. They were all so happy! There was a clown to greet us and hot dogs and popcorn, they were very excited to try American food! At the end of the visit, two other girls along with Erica and I were fortunate enough to present the “One World Futbol” to them. Our guide translated for us that we were giving the home an indestructible futbol as a symbol of our friendship with them. The reaction was better than I ever imagined. They immediately started playing with it and giving us all kisses and hugs. One of the girls’ names was Juju, and she was beautifully inspirational. She gave every single one of us a big kiss, and brought us over to meet the staff, who she called her mother. Her mother translated what she wanted to say for us, which was “if I could talk to you I would tell you that you are all my friends and I am so happy to have met you, I will never forget today”. It was wonderfully fulfilling, and I know in my heart that someday I will be back there to see those kids. Overall Brazil has been fantastic! There is so much life and color and I definitely plan on coming back soon! Obrigada (hehe thank you in Portuguese)!


Love you all!


Slideshow is below!
Brazil Slideshow!

Dominica!

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover.
~Mark Twain

We just departed Roseau, Dominica last night. It was absolutely amazing! Right when we got off the boat we were convinced by a cab driver to go to Mero beach, one of Dominica’s black sand beaches. It was much more exhilarating than we were expecting. The roads are very narrow and very windy, and drivers swerve to avoid all the potholes…basically it was terrifying. But the driver was very nice, and gave us a lot of information about all of the towns we passed on the way. He told us the first rule you have to know is “drive on the left side, the right side is suicide”, which I heard a lot while I was there. Turns out when you get a cab in Dominica you are basically hiring a chauffeur for the day. Our driver, Martin, waited for us until we were done at the beach. We tried telling him he didn’t have to do that, but his response was “no, no, no, you are my responsibility now”. That really portrays the attitude of a lot of the people in Dominica: very friendly, very helpful, and very eager to teach us about their island. The beach was incredible and felt untouched! Dominica’s main import used to be bananas, but that industry is slowly declining, so Dominica is turning towards tourism. It is still fresh on the island, so there are no big resorts and the culture is still very much preserved. Therefore the beach was even more incredible than I could have hoped for. I ate some fresh bananas, which tasted like they were rolled in sugar (best banana I have ever had), and talked to some locals who were playing music and making jewelry out of coconuts. One of the guys has been growing his dreds out for 16 years! After playing with some local children in the water and watching pelicans swoop for fish, I jumped back into the cab with Martin and he took me to the boat where I met my snorkeling group. Champagne Reef is truly well named. Parts of it are like swimming in a glass of champagne. It’s beautiful and the feeling of so many bubbles tickling you is absolutely euphoric. The marine life was thriving, it was really nice to see a reef that hasn't bleached and been stepped all over.
    After snorkeling we were given some complementary rum punch. The rum was locally made, but the punch was not at all what I was expecting. It was very gingery, and very strong. Definitely tropical, but not fruity at all. Speaking of rum, a lot of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 was filmed in Dominica, and the locals are very proud of that. Our taxi driver was even an extra in one of the scenes! I learned a lot about their culture just from talking to people around the beach and in town. For example, English is the official language, but they also speak a creole and patois (a result of the tug-of-war between France and England before independence). I learned “Ça qu’a fête”, which means “how are you”, “Muella”, which means “good”, and “Ou belle!” which means “you are beautiful”. Independence was gained from England in 1978, but a hurricane devastated the island shortly after, which set them back as a nation quite a bit. Still, one woman told me “ We are all very happy. Dominica is the wettest island of the Caribbean, so we have fresh water and fresh fruit. We make go broke from time to time, but we never starve. We are lucky”. She also told me about the oldest woman of the island. She died when she was 128 years old. When I asked how she giggled and said… “Because she drank a lot of rum punch! She was never stressed and she was always smiling, that is the secret”. So there you have it: If you want to live to be 128, just drink a lot of rum punch!
    The government seems to be very helpful. If there is a single mother who is struggling, the government will appoint someone to help with the kids, and they will help with school expenses. Health care is free to everyone, and those who live to an old age do not have to pay for gas and other amenities. Women politicians are said to be the strong ones. Men are known to be pushover but the women have an “iron fist”. They are also paid better than the men, and play the biggest role in expanding Dominica as a nation. The first women Prime Minister (the “Iron Lady”) insisted on bringing cable to the island (even though most people didn't want it) because she said it was important for Dominicans to see how lucky they are. A lot of people live or run their businesses out of old shipping containers. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a very developed or wealthy nation, but they are the happiest people I have ever met. 
    The second day we took a trip around the rainforest to see the Emerald Pool and Trafalgar Falls. They were all absolutely breathtaking. It was pouring during the hike (imagine that, raining in a rainforest!), but it just made the falls twice as powerful. Right next to the falls are hot springs, so you can sit in the warm waters and still feel the mist from the falls. When we returned, Erica and I walked around Roseau for a few hours. Its fantastic, everyone is playing music, and there were a couple people even dancing in the streets. We had an amazing lunch at a small restaurant. I had chicken with “West Indies” sauce, spicy rice, and something that tasted very similar to taro. There was even dolphin on the menu, which surprised me quite a bit. It seemed to me that restaurants around there only had whatever the fishermen caught that morning, so I guess there are days where dolphin is available.
I loved every second of my time in Dominica, and I can’t wait to go back and really explore!
    The Atlantic is very, very rough. You get the feeling of free-falling every now and then, so a lot of people are getting sea sick. So far I am still doing OK, but the rough seas are going to take some getting used to! This morning’s global studies class was definitely worth mentioning. We had a guest lecturer talk about the foundation he created, called “Empowering Nepali Girls”. I was absolutely in tears the whole time, along with the rest of the class (even one of our resident “guidos” was sobbing into his shirt). He is a very passionate man who, about ten years ago, kind of stumbled upon this passion for saving young girls in Nepal from sex slavery, and he has been expanding his foundation ever since. He is very proud of the fact that him and his colleagues pay their own expenses when they travel to Nepal, and there is absolutely no overhead cost. They don't even have an office! I would encourage you all to at least look at the website (empowernepaligirls.org) and read up a little bit on the problem. It was probably one of the most influential 75 minutes of my life! Thank you all for all your support! =)


P.S. Sorry about the delayed blog posting. Slow and limited internet time is kind of forcing me to wait until we get to port to post anything!

 

The slide show is below! =)

Dominica Slideshow!

I'm Ready for What I'm About to See!

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”
~Ambrose Redmoon


Well it has definitely been a long time coming! After almost three years of planning we are finally pulling away from the Nassau Harbor on the MV Explorer! I have been trying to think of ways to express my gratitude towards all of my family, friends, loved ones, and professors. To be quite honest that would be impossible. I am forever grateful to every single one of you, more than I could ever express. This truly would not have been possible without all of your help and support. From my parents who were right by my side the whole time and helped me shop and get more prepared than I ever thought I could be, to my grandparents and other  family who helped me financially and gave me the best advise I could hope for. My professors who wouldn't let me give up (thanks Jeff!), and my friends and loved ones who supported me through this whole long process (Adrian, KC, Bri, Tessa, Lauren and so many others). Even going all the way back to high school, my IB teachers opened me up to a world beyond traditional textbooks and narrow curriculum, and pushed me to be adventurous and forever curious. You guys were always there to let me vent and, more often than not, brag (hehe I appreciate it Josh =p ). It definitely seemed like a long shot for quite a while, but here I am, we did it! And for that I send out the biggest thank you I could possibly muster.
    So where do I begin? Nassau was beautiful! Everyone was very nice, but you can’t help but think that it’s just the tourist façade in action. Still, everyone seemed very fun-loving and the attitude was intoxicating. I was able to spend a couple days there exploring with my mom, getting sunburned (of course), and trying to mentally prepare myself to leave solid ground for a few months. We even went to walk around the Atlantis resort, which is just as over-the-top as it looks in the commercials! Once I checked onto the boat it started to really hit me. As a work-study student, I was able to check in a day before everyone else. I know the layout of the boat relatively well…HAH! yeah right you all know me, I get lost every ten minutes. I’m not complaining, though, it is not necessarily a bad place to wander around. The boat is amazing and the faculty is unbelievable. One full day on the Explorer and I already feel very much at home, I even managed to enjoy my teeny tiny “shower cabinet”. My cabin is small, but cozy, and my roommate is great! We already have a lot in common! Every single person I have met so far is fascinating, and I can already tell that we will be close for the rest of our lives.
    Departure was more exciting than I thought it would be, and believe me, I had high expectations. Every time Captain Jeremy honked that horn I couldn't help but giggle and jump around like a 5 year old. I’ll admit it, there were quite a few tears of joy coming from me. After so much planning and stress and sacrifice, it was hard to believe that we were finally on our way. Then the part came where I had to try and walk  (alright I wasn't that coordinated to begin with, but it got worse). Every one is constantly walking in zig-zags, and I’ve felt drunk for the past 24 hours. It's a very weird sensation. So far no sea-sickness, just a lot of disorientation. Its really like a big, long roller coaster, so basically what I’m saying is….I LOVE IT! My cabin is right in the front of the boat so its like sleeping in a hammock that is constantly swinging. I can also hear every time a wave hits the boat. It’s very soothing for me, which just further proves that I belong near the ocean! I had a long day of standing outside of the harbor checking almost 600 students in, but I also got the advantage of personally meeting everyone as they came in. Obviously I don’t remember all their names, but I at least have some recollection of them! =) As I am writing this I am on day two of being on the boat. We have had a long, long day of orientation going over all the logistics of our lives for the next few months. The lifeboat drill was… well it was very boring, but good to know of course. The Captain is very nice and very funny, as are all of the other crew members. Its great to be able to see them around the ship and have conversations about places they have been. Standing on deck and watching the water and feeling the mist is unreal! I keep telling myself that this is actually happening, that this is finally real.
    Day three was when classes started. All of the teachers are very laid back, and all of my classrooms have big windows overlooking the ocean. I spent almost three hours outside on deck laying in the sun and watching seagulls dive after flying fish. Its strange (but great) coming back from class and having your bed made and fresh towels, and someone clearing your plates for you after every meal. The crew is so nice! Our steward, Julias, will come and talk with us sometimes, and the crew in the cafeteria often sing to us and give us great advice for the ports (keeping us laughing the whole time). We stopped in Puerto Rico for a few hours to refuel so of course everyone turned on their phones to call people. It was great to talk to some friends and family, but to be quite honest I am relieved that my phone is off again. It’s very liberating not constantly having technology to turn to. I signed up for a program called “One World Futbol”. Our mission is to get into groups, each with one of the special indestructible soccer balls they provide and go find a child who is playing with a toy that they had to make themselves, give them the ball, and maybe even play a game with them. If they are willing we will trade that ball with the one they made (often made out of plastic bags or banana peels), write a story, and post it to the One World Futbol page. The idea is that no matter how poor or where they live, every child has a right to play. I am very very excited about doing this and I can’t wait to get started! I am so happy to be here and I feel extremely lucky. These opportunities are out of this world (no pun intended) and I am ready for what I’m about to see! Thank you all for following my blog and supporting me so much, it means so much to me! We stop in Dominica tomorrow, so there will be another one soon!

Love always!
Hanna


Click on the slideshow below to see my pictures! Hope you enjoy!

Nassau and the first few days!

Mom's photos from our departure from Nassau

Here are Mom's photos from Nassau. Click on the link below to see a slideshow from my Picasa account.

Enjoy.
Departure from Nassau