“Oi de novo!” Hi again!

Here it is only about a week since I wrote my last blog entry, but what an eventful week! It seems like more time has passed! We recently spent five days in the Amazon. And what a trip! It was fun and very educational!

We flew about 2,100 miles to Manaus, the largest city in Brazil, in the Amazon. It is about 1,050 miles from the mouth of the Amazon River. We spent our first night in the Hotel Tropical in the city of Manaus. The hotel had a wave pool which was lots of fun! They also had a mini zoo of animals from the Amazon. For supper, the hotel restaurant served barbeque, Brazilian style with the big skewers of many kinds of meat, plus a wonderful salad and dessert bar! After the dinner there was music and dancing. Courtney and Annie befriended one of the workers that afternoon in the pool and danced with her that night!

The next morning, in the typical tropical rain forest rain, we boarded a boat and rode 35 miles up the Rio Negro, one of the large tributaries of the Amazon River to our hotel, Ariau Towers. That hotel was amazing! It was wooden, built along the edge of the river, up high in the treetop canopy, on stilts which kept it out of the river when the water rose. It had four miles of catwalks around the various towers that were either restaurant, bar, gift store, exercise, or sleeping accommodations. There were even swimming pools held up by the wood in the decks. And there was air-conditioning in our rooms!

We were greeted by dressed up Indian women adorning us with necklaces made from bamboo and seeds. We were also greeted by monkeys. Although the monkeys were wild, they were used to being fed by the guests which was a highlight for Annie and especially Courtney. Courtney had more than a few of them jump on her head, shoulders and back! Upon our arrival, we also met up with the dad of one of Courtney’s best friends from school in Brasilia, Alexia-the French, Greek, American. What fun for both her and Annie! After lunch we joined them on the Piranha Fishing Tour. Bill and I both caught piranhas, but the girls had their bait stolen many times! The cook made piranha soup for us to accompany our supper meal. The fish guts were cleaned out, but into the soup went heads, tails, and all! Once the girls got past the sight and actually tasted and liked the soup, they began collecting the Piranha teeth!

Courtney’s friend had to leave the next morning, but we went on to the Jungle Trek. We were all excited until Francisco, our guide, gave us all the warnings of what we had to be on the serious look-out for! Yes, the fatal snakes, fatal spiders and fatal ants! Our excitement turned a little more to apprehension! Francisco carried a machete, partly for protection and partly to cut and show us all the many wonders of the plants found in the Amazon! Francisco himself was a native Amazonian. He was the oldest of 15 children and grew up on an island with about 60 other people. His grandfather took him in at the age of 12 where he went to live with him in the city of Manaus. There he was first exposed to school and was encouraged by missionaries, I believe, to learn Italian and English. At age 18, he became a guide for visitors of the Amazon. Anyway, we relaxed a little and did not see many dangers on our trek, but many wonders!

After the trek, we visited an island with about 60 native Amazonians. There is a project to get electricity to all of Brazil, and what a challenge to all the islands in the Amazon! Anyway, this island had electricity, and they also stressed the importance of trying to educate everyone. The island had a small school where about 14 children went-ages 5-?. Several of the students came via boat from other close islands. They took local people from the islands and educated them more to become the teachers, as teachers from the mainland would not stay on the islands. They could not adapt to the primitive life-style. The people on the island cultivated things from the forest or fished and sold them in Manaus to survive. On this particular island, there was a man who showed us how to gather latex from the rubber tree. He said he did it the same way it was done 300 years ago! Also a young boy had caught a sloth in the wild and kept it as a pet at his house. Sloth or “beicha pregisa” in Portuguese, translates literally as lazy beast and this one was very slow and lazy! The boy said he fed it fruits and leaves and as lazy as the sloth appeared, I’m sure he was quite content not to have to search for his own food!

Every time we went on a tour we went by a large canoe as they called it. It was a wooden boat that held about 20 people and had a motor on it. Our group was the English speaking group and usually had eight to ten people plus us. We grew very close to the group we toured with which consisted of a couple from Maryland, a couple from Hawaii, an Australian family and later an Australian and Brazilian couple. Anyway, after lunch, we visited a family that was pretty much self sufficient on an island, but they also had electricity. They had many plants on which they survived, as well as chickens. They also had a small manioc plantation which they cultivated and sold to the people in Manaus. Manioc is a root is that tapioca is made out of, but Brazilians eat it like a potato also, boiled and fried. The flour is also a staple part of their diet, especially in the Amazon. They sprinkle the coarse flour over their rice and beans and it helps fill them up. The manioc in the Amazon has a poisonous liquid in it that must be squeezed and boiled out. It is quite a process with their home-made resources.

It got dark around 6:00 there, and as we left the island it was dusk. We went caiman (alligator) hunting before returning to the hotel for supper. Francisco had a big light run by a generator that he shined around in the water. The caiman’s eyes would glow a red in the dark. All of a sudden, he laid down on the bow of the boat, reached in the water, stood back on the bow holding a little caiman! He said some got four meters long!

Meals were buffet style. Breakfasts had all types of bread, cereal, eggs, cheeses, and various tropical fruits and juices-some only typical of the Amazon. Banana porridge and a fish soup was served one morning. Lunches and suppers consisted of salads, breads, rice, beans, cooked bananas, pasta and sauces, manioc flour, soup, a beef dish, a chicken dish, local fish, and a choice of several desserts. All the fish was fabulous as well as everything else!

The next day, we went to an island that had a beach area. It was clean as you could see down quite a ways, but the water was the color of Coca~Cola which made it difficult for me to swim in. Rio Negro translates as Black River. I’m not sure why we didn’t have to worry about the piranhas there! I guess it wasn’t the right area! We also went to another area in the river that was not a piranha area and fed and swam with pink dolphins. Pink dolphins are one of the few species of fresh water dolphins and live in the Amazon. They were huge, about seven to eight feet long. We got right in the river, on a plank, beside a boat dock and fed them. They would bump into you fighting over the fish so the girls had to wear life jackets in case they got bumped! Their mouths were a little frightening, but to me was the weirdest sensation when they brushed against you! After we fed them, we swam in the river a bit with them.

We went piranha fishing again that day as the girls really wanted to say they had caught a piranha! Annie was successful! It was a little one, but she was ecstatic! She could hardly wait to call and tell Grandpa Neher (who taught her to fish) that she caught a piranha!

We returned to Manaus early the next morning to be able to see a little of the city before we flew out the next day. In the city we took a taxi tour around and saw the Manaus Opera House that was built entirely from materials imported from Europe in 1894. We saw the Judicial Palace as Manaus is the capital of the state of Amozonas. We also visited the port and the “Feira de Banana” (banana market.) The market had lots of the different types of bananas harvested in the Amazon that came in via boats and were to be exported. It also had many other fruits and the largest fish market I have ever seen. Lastly we saw the Zoo at the Brazilian Army's Education Center for Jungle Warfare where militaries from all over the world, including the US, study jungle warfare and survival skills. They had a large jungle area in addition to many of the animals found in the Amazon including several of the large cats and numerous snakes.

We returned to the Hotel Tropical in time to swim a little more in the wave pool before supper. The same taxi tour guide took us to a “churasscaria,” a Brazilian type barbeque again! The restaurant was all under the awning of a huge roof as it is warm there all the time. It was an incredible meal!

We flew home the next day after shopping for some Amazonian handicrafts and another quick swim. On our three hour flight from Manaus to Brasilia, you could see river and forest for one hour. That gave me a small perspective of the immenseness of the Amazon Rainforest! What an educational trip as I stated at the beginning of this! The girls ended on yet another high as the stewards of the plane let the kids go to the cockpit and visit with the pilot.

Now it is back to reality and the reason we came here! School starts on Monday for me and Wednesday for the girls and Bill. It will be interesting to hear the stories and ventures of all my students. I know one Brazilian girl was going to Europe for a month. Her nanny/maid was going with the family. I told that mom I would watch her kids on such a trip! Another student I know was going on a cruise around the southern most point of South America, Cape Horn.

“Ate proxima!” Until next time!
Connie

Oi!

It was nice to be in a fully furnished and decorated home on Christmas Eve. We lit a Hanukkah candle and played the dreidel game next to a Christmas tree. We also ate pork and latkes as well as many other great foods. Bill tried raw oysters for the first time. I had tried them once before!! At 7:00 on Christmas morning, Ms. Bauer, a 4th grade teacher came over, in her pajamas, to share the excitement of Christmas with us! The girls were glad that Santa Clause even came to Brazil! We then had turkey again that afternoon along with more good foods! We played games and visited too! It was a nice Christmas!

Our trip to the state of Rio de Janeiro was fun! The week in Paraty was the most fun! Paraty is a well-preserved historic town in Brazil. It is where the country’s gold was exported from. We got to my family’s “sitio” (farm) a couple of days before my “Brazilian brother” and his family. We walked around the cobble-stoned streets and looked in the many tourist shops. We took a day trip to Trindade, a beach that was incredible, or should I say the trip to the beach was incredible! Both were incredible! Courtney thought the trip could qualify for the “Survivor” show! We started out playing at one beach that could be driven to. Then we went on a hike literally through the forest/jungle to get to the next beach as the coast was rocky and mountainous. Trekking on to the third beach was even more treacherous as the trail was quite a bit steeper and very slippery from all the rain. Bill and I were fortunate as our guide helped Courtney and Annie and we were not too proud to grab hold of the boulders or trees roots sticking out of the ground! I told Bill that I felt like Tarzan and Jane going through the jungle although we looked like some pigs that had wallowed in the mud! Good thing we could wash off in the water! As opposed to pressing our luck returning the same way, we opted to pay a small fee and have a local person return us to the first beach via his little fishing boat. We then ate fresh fish that was caught right there. What an experience! We all agreed that it was one we would never forget! The beaches were breathtakingly beautiful and the trek was loads of adventure!

At the “sitio,” we had fun with the workers who took kept up the place. Sandra was the one who cooked us our meals and was around the most. She walked with us up the mountain past the banana orchard to where the manioc and “milho verde” (green corn) was grown. Annie could not understand why that garden was at the top of the mountain when you had to carry it all down again. It was a good question. Anyway, Sandra also showed us the lone cocoa plant on the “sitio.” As Annie loves chocolate, she wanted to try to make chocolate! We removed the bean from the fruit, ground it, toasted it in a skillet and made a not so tasty hot chocolate! We resolved to use store bought chocolate to make a chocolate flan for dessert!

We went out one day on the family’s boat before the others arrived. Of course the driver drove for us. We went out another three days with Octavio, Lygia, and Ursula. The large bay around Paraty is full of 365 islands of all sizes, many with private vacation homes on them. Some of the islands have beaches on them, others have just rocky shores and you have to swim or kayak around them. Hooked on to the boat were two kayaks. A couple of the islands even have restaurants on them that food has to be brought in via boat. We ate at both. One ran out of fresh fish so we had to order another plate of fried calamari instead. We even saw them run into the restaurant, from the boat, carrying the fresh, uncleaned squid! And the girls still ate it!

We spent “Reveillon” (New Year’s Eve) in the town of Paraty with Octavio, Lygia, Ursula, and about 80,000 other people watching a very nice fireworks display over the ocean. We somehow managed to be on an un-crowded dock pretty much to ourselves! Since I was here last, New Year’s has become “the thing to do” on the beach. I did not know that when I planned our trip to Paraty. Octavio said the town’s population about doubled for the holiday. Of course, it is Brazil’s summer also, and many people travel at this time.

As we flew in and out of Rio de Janeiro, we spent five days in Rio. The weather was rainy and cloudy most of the time we were in Rio so it was not the best time, although we did manage to escape their “Reveillon” crowd! I heard that Rio had over two million people on the beach for “Reveillon.” We also managed to go up to the “Corcovado,” (Christ figure) on a beautiful day. The day we rode the gondola up to “Pao de Acucar” (Sugar Loaf Mountain) it was cloudy. We also toured the Maracana-the big soccer stadium where the World’s Cup will be held in 2014, walked around their beautiful Botanical Gardens, saw the Sambadrome where the famous Samba schools present their dances during Carnival, saw the Cathedral of San Sebastian, saw several “favelas” (slums), and several other sites of interest. Our hotel was in between Ipanema and Copacobana Beaches so we went to both. Topless is prohibited on Brazilian beaches, but if you’ve heard of the thong swimsuit, some people may have as well been topless and bottomless for that matter. There were also a couple of different markets that were within walking distance which were fun! I love the markets!

We are now at our home away from home here in Brasilia just barely long enough to do laundry and pay the bills that arrived while we were gone. We fly to the Amazon tomorrow! It will be a short five day trip.

“Ate a proxima!” Until next time!
Connie