Visit from my sister and our trip to The River of January a.k.a Rio de Janeiro

My sister Kristin flew into Salvador on the 17th of June to visit me for one whole week ! You can imagine my excitement since my home sickness was starting to kick in. Immediately I took her our this cheap little restaurant in Campo Grande we all love that serves the most delicious typical Brazilian food, rice, beans and chicken. She LOVED the food so it was off to a good start. I took her touring and to a Brazilian night club her first weekend here but unfortunately she refused to learn to Forro haha. Monday came quickly (the 20th) and it was time for us to pack our things because at 4a.m. we were off to Rio thanks to a friend (Yuri) and his Tia (aunt) who booked us our flight to Rio last minute !! After a short 2 hour plane ride we had finally arrived in the city I have only heard storied about since I was little, RIOOOOOOO!!! We were so excited the first thing we did was go to Copacabana beach to watch the enormous waves and soak up some sun. Around 3p.m. it was finally check in time at our Hostel so we FINALLY left the beach for some dryer land. This was our first time at a Hostel, and let me tell you, I have never felt so high maintenance in my life. This hostel was rated the best in Rio (Copa Hostel if anyone is interested) but it is still far from a Hotel. Thankfully, we only had two nights here where literally all we did was sleep there and then one night in a gorgeous hotel called the Golden Tulip with an ocean view !! So on our second day in Rio we did some typical tourist stuff, learnt the history of Rio and saw Santa Maria. We went to see Cristo Redentor then it was off to the Stairs of Lapa (where Snoop Dogg made a video, oh yes he did) and we also got to see a huge Cathedral built in the late 80's that holds 20,000 people. Finally we went to Sugar Loaf where we watched the sunset as clouds began to roll in and smother us on the top of the mountain haha.

A few facts of Rio:

 Although Rio de Janeiro translates to River of January for the month it was discovered, there is not a river insight, in fact the original settlers thought the bay called Guanabara at the edge of Sugar Loaf mountain known as Pão de Açúcar in Portuguese, was in fact a river ! Flying into Rio is spectacular, you can clearly see the mountainous terrain that stretches for miles and a light misty fog that hangs at the tips of the mountains in the early morning. I never knew how many mountains there were until then, its a spectacular view.  While flying in me and my sister could also see the statue of Christ the Redeemer or Cristo Redentor in Portuguese, its absolutely breath taking. I think the most amazing part of the trip was by far seeing Cristo Redentor and laying on Copacabana beach. The waves and the size of the beach are unexplainable, I think Rio was the most beautiful City I have ever seen because of its natural beauty along with its infrastructure and history. I highly recommend Rio to any traveller who loves history and natural wonders. The one thing I do regret not doing while in Rio was a tour of a Favela (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favela) especially since Rio has the highest density of Favela's in the world. However, I am able to see Favela's here in Salvador which to me seem to be in much worse condition than those in Rio. 


Overall my sister's visit was amazing and I am so glad she came, she was able to see the contrast of Salvador and Rio, the contrast of Brazil itself and Canada and now she can take that knowledge home. I know this trip was not what she expected because it was not in a sense a vacation but a realization that the world outside Canada isn't so perfect. I think she was mostly impressed that her pretty high maintenance little sister was surviving in such different conditions ... (hahaha a.k.a ants everywhere, no hot water, no antibacterial soap, no dryers and no A.C.)


So as of sexta-feira (Friday) I only have one month left here in Brazil !!!! :( I love it here so much I don't want to leave but at the same time I know I will be happy to get home. I know I am going to miss the amazing people I have met here though, I think that will be the hardest part. Here's hoping they can come visit me in Canada and I can show them the same great hospitality they showed me :) 

Trip to Rio de Janeiro !!! More pictures will come once I get to Canada and reliable internet :)

Its Alive !

Wow I can not believe how fast time is passing, as of this Friday (which is also Canada day !!!) I will only have one more month left here in Brasil !! Although I am so excited about going home I don't want to leave this beautiful country and all the amazing people I've met here. So much has happened since my last post (since it has been like 3 weeks). Work at IFBA has started to get more interesting as our Ilê Aiyê project moves forward, me and Keaton are working on the Financial sector of the institution while Jake is focusing more on the Human Resources. I am hoping that in two weeks we can have this institution implementing some of our action plans to manage their organization better. Also there is a new side project we MIGHT have the privilege of working on through ITCP (a small co-operative that makes organic granola bars with anti-depressants). I will have more information on this project as things begin to unravel and we should find out soon if we can work intimately in our remaining month on developing a market in Canada for these granola bars. I'll keep this post more work related and my next post (tomorrow) will be on my adventure to Rio de Janeiro with my sister and Pelourinho (the old part of Salvador) oh and of course Sao Joao, which I missed most of because I was in Rio. Basically I am still loving it here although each day brings a new culture shock - today I saw a dead dog decaying by some garbage at a bus stop in a run down neighbourhood, I have to say that kind of ruined my day but that's life I suppose and expect the unexpected. I guess I have come to realize that in Canada I am sheltered from the brutality of real life. This experience is definitely changing me and I'm grateful for it.

Tchau for now, e beijos !

Aventuras De-Samana: viver a vida que desejo

Olá fellow gringo's (foreigners), I have news ! On the weekend, I saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers right here in Salvador !! Or as the locals call them, Head Hotch Chili Peppers (haha). Ok so I didn't see the actual band but pretty close ! The cover band was sooo good, my fellow gringo had a rough time and hugged the porcelain throne for about 3 hours but thank god he heard the best songs before that happened. The bar we went to go see them is called Groove Bar, we saw the Beetles cover band there too, its really a great place I highly recommend it, and don't worry they sing in perfect english gringo's ! The bar is in Barra right by the beach, great location and decent price, about R$30 to get in. After the bar I watched the sunrise with my girl Pri, overall a great weekend. Sunday consisted of watching The Hangover 2 hungover, great combination I think. However, I was NOT impressed with The Hangover 2, it was essentially The Hangover with a different location and animal and missing person but everything else was identical, and yes the movie was in english, my portuguese is not that advanced yet. I really wish I could just wake up one morning and be fluent in Portuguese, life would be so much easier, but for now I suppose I'll just keep studying. Today we have a meeting with the Afro Brazilian institution we are working with called Ilê Aiyê, I am pretty excited to be working with this group as they have deep african roots and a large impact on afro brazilian culture here in Salvador, they are greatly respected by the community and I think they have amazing potential. We are just trying to re-organize them so they can use their full potential and hopefully get some more funding so they can continue their social work in the community. That's all for now ! Até amanha !

Bom Dia, beijossss