2/8/12

Jungle walk! So after lunch we went for a walk in the jungle behind the hotel. The guide Marcio made all the girls headbands made from a giant blade of grass.

It was really eerie how dark and quiet the jungle became the further we went in. Our guide, Washington, I believe, showed us the kinds of traps that the Amerindians use to capture small prey. They were really ingenious, with a loop that would wrap around the prey once the trigger was sprung. The prey would be get smacked against the tree and killed, and then hang high above the reach of other predators until a native could return to retrieve food. Washington also showed us ants that the natives smash and spread on their skin to act as mosquito repellent as well as a kind of fungus the local Catholic Church would burn as incense. It was really fascinating to see how the Amerindians adapted to life in the rain forest.

1/8/12

We swam with the pink dolphins today!

It was the coolest thing ever! As you can see, the dolphins are actually more grey than pink, but the river is a dark red so when the dolphins pass by underwater they look bright pink. Their skin feels exactly like that of dolphins found in the ocean, kind of like a smooth, rubbery feel. The Amazon dolphins have very tiny eyes to the point that I wonder if they are blind since the river water is so dark, it's probably very difficult for them to see underwater anyway. I thought it was so cool that we were allowed to swim with them since they are technically an endangered species. I feel like people in this region of Brazil are more trusting and know that the intention of the people who come here is not to harm them. I couldn't imagine the U.S. allowing anything like this to happen, but this experience was truly incredible!

31/7/12

We crossed the Rio Negro today to get to our hotel located on the edge of the Amazon jungle. The hotel is called Tiwa and it was barely recuperating from a huge flood that occurred during the rainy season. Now that the dry season's begun, the water is slowly starting to recede. In December the water falls to such a low level that there are beaches people visit as if they were at the ocean.
Anyway, as part of our adventure today, we went piranha hunting. Our guide kept parking the boat in the middle of the river which was frustrating since piranhas like to stay close to the banks. I ended up climbing to the back of the boat which was a little closer to the trees and I managed to catch two piranhas!

Later that night, we had piranha stew for dinner. With a little rice and farinha d'água, the stew was delicious!

30/7/12

Manaus! It's so good to be back in my old city! It's really hot, too. So we spent the day visiting the Amazon Theater as well as the port of Manaus and the city center. I'd forgotten what a busy city this is! The theater is valued to be worth over R$1 billion. It was built during the rubber boom of the late 1800's. The opulence of the theater is amazing when you consider that it is in a city in the middle of the Amazon rain forest and is only accessible by boat or plane.

After the rubber plant was smuggled off to Indonesia, the rubber boom in Manaus ended, but the city continues to thrive because of the many manufacturing plants that are located here. There is also the zona franca, where people can buy goods tax free. By wandering around the city center, you can see how important commerce is to the city. There are stores everywhere! And on the sidewalks in from of the stores there are covered tables selling more items.

Not everything was able to recover after the rubber bust, and downtown Manaus is full of old abandoned buildings where you can see the jungle starting to grow back right in the middle of them. To me, Manaus is the most fascinating city in Brazil, where you have a crazy mixture of the cultured and uncouth.

29/7/12

Today was the last day in Fortaleza so we took advantage of the time we had left to walk along Fortaleza's famous calçadão (big sidewalk). In the early evening/nighttime most people avoided the beach which was poorly lit in favor for the calçadão. There was so much to do there! People were rollerblading, skateboarding, long boarding, and diving off of piers into the ocean. There were beach volleyball and soccer games going on, and tons of vendors selling coconut water. The calçadão was also taken up by tables where people were selling tablecloths, toys, clothes, and many other crafts. On one pier, there was a free concert where a band performed American music for a small crowd. It was fun to see so many people together enjoying the weather. I also tried my hand at long boarding which was awesome, but dangerous as the sidewalks were super crowded. While the beaches in Fortaleza were okay, the calçadão was a great place to spend the evening seeing how Brazilians like to relax and have fun.

28/7/12

Today our assignment was to visit four sites in Fortaleza: the city cathedral, the Central Market, São José Theater, and the Dragão Center of Culture. The Central Market was huge! It was story after story full of stores selling anything from hammocks to t-shirts to canned peppers. The architecture was pretty cool with a winding platform that went up among several floors of stores.

I loved the stained glass in the cathedral we visited. It is the most modern church we've seen so far on this trip. One cool fact I learned is that the most expensive color for a stained glass window is blue.

The Dragão Center of Culture is comprised of several buildings where cultural events such as plays, movies, and concerts take place. There is even a planetarium on the grounds.

According to the people we talked to, the São José Theater is undergoing renovations right now. Out of these four places we visited my favorite was the cathedral. It was really peaceful inside, and I liked just sitting in the pews admiring the complexity and beauty of the stained glass windows.

27/7/12

Fortaleza today! It was a free day, so a group of us went to go see the new Batman movie at the shopping mall. It's amazing how similar malls here are to ones in the United States. I guess it goes along with the idea of globalization and the emergence of a worldwide culture. What is a little different is that in Brazil, people dress up to go to the mall. They have their hair done and wear nice outfits and you will never, ever see anyone in Crocs. I wish that things in the United States weren't so casual all the time, that people would get dressed up more to go out. Well, the girls in our group tried to fit in with the Brazilians for our visit to the mall and dress up accordingly.