Brazil...

Thursday, September 18, 2008

So, since the last time I posted, much has happened… For one, we crossed the equator and celebrated Neptune day, and of course, we have already explored one port: Salvador, Brazil.
(Sorry for not posting sooner, but I wanted to wait until I was able to get pix to go along with the postings, and since my camera battery died half way through my Amazon trip, I had to track down the rest of my group and beg them to give me their pictures.)

Neptune Day

Neptune day, a tradition on Semester At Sea, is celebrated when we cross the equator. Basically a bunch of students and a few faculty shaved their heads as part of the seafaring tradition in honor of King Neptune. Neptune day took place on September 5, since we crossed the equator around 8:30pm on September 4th.

Brazil
To describe my first impression of Salvador, Brazil in one word: dirty. I don’t think I ever want to go back there, but I don’t regret going either.


Salvador is split into an upper city and a lower city. In order to get from the lower city to the upper city, by foot, you have to take the elevator, and it cost about 5 cents.

The Amazon
As far as my trip to the Amazon, it was a lot of fun! What I enjoyed even more then seeing one of the 7 wonders of the world, was the group that I went with; Nora, Cat, Jill, Daniel, Kristen, Graham and Matt, I can’t forget Cliff and Jill too! (Cliff and Jill are two other lifelong learners from Semester At Sea, who ended up on the same boat as us. They actually met on this program 40 years ago, and have been on several trips since!).

I am very happy how our trip worked out and went. There were no delays of any sort and our drivers were soo helpful and friendly! (If you ever decide to take a trip to the Amazon, speak with Karolina at Kontiki Tours, she was great!) Our itinerary had us leaving Salvador the afternoon of our arrival and making it to Manaus around 1:30am. Upon arrival in Manaus, we had a guide and driver waiting for us at the airport, who took us to the hotel (We thought it was going to be a hole in the wall kind of place, but nope – we stayed at probably the only 5-star hotel in Manaus! It was amazing!) The guide was great and even assisted with check-in at the hotel. The next morning there was an amazing breakfast which was included in our hotel stay and it was soo good! We had some time to wander around the hotel, check out the pool and the mini-zoo which is on the hotel’s property. While we had a great time at the hotel, we were ready to get into the Amazon.

In the afternoon, after check out, we gathered in the lobby and followed our new guides to the Amazon Clipper (our home for the next few days)! J We were ferried to the Amazon Clipper via canoes and once everyone was on board (a total of about 30 people, including Germans, Australians and us), we had a little orientation and then were able to settle into our cabins. The cabins were so nice and even had showers and flushing toilets (while it was a nice notion, I chose not to use the shower, since the water comes from where the toilet goes – the Amazon River.)

Anyway, in total, it was a 3 day – 2 night trip. I thought it was the perfect amount of time to do and enjoy everything; we had fun fishing for piranhas, going on a jungle trek, learning about rubber trees, bird watching, visiting the meeting of the rivers, observing how Amazonians live and searching for wildlife that was trying to hide from us (including sloths and anacondas).

Last day in Brazil
So, for my last day in Brazil, fellow lifelong learners, Cliff and Jill invited Cat, (a girl from the Amazon trip) and I, to go on a private tour of Salvador with them. I am so happy I did it, because I got to see so much more then I would have wandering around with a guidebook. Their tour guide drove us around and pointed out interesting sites. One of which was a church which had a strong following especially because their was a sailor/captain who is famous for making a “pact with God”, in his journey to Brazil from Europe, that if God saw that he and his crew arrived in Brazil safely, that he would build a church in his honor. Well, the captain and crew arrived safely, and as promised he built a church as a token of appreciation. The church has a room full of stories and pictures and paraphernalia which demonstrate various “miracles”.


When our tour was over, the guide dropped us off at the mall, I know it sounds cheesy – I didn’t come all the way to Brazil to see a mall, but honestly I thought it was very interesting the layout, the advertisements, the stores, etc. it was actually a very informative site, from a business perspective of course. Anyway, we also grabbed lunch there, and Cliff had the great idea to get it family style! We went to a “traditional” Brazilian restaurant and asked their hostess, who luckily spoke some English, to order us the 4 best dishes on the menu; one seafood, one beef, one pork and one chicken. It was delicious!

Crossing the Atlantic
So, the worst part about crossing the Atlantic Ocean is losing time. I think we lost a total of 5 hours, over the course of about 7 days, as we sailed from Brazil to Namibia. The other downside was the weather. It got considerably colder, both on the decks outside the ship and on the inside. You saw fewer people walking around in shorts and more people sporting their Semester At Sea gear.

Classes are going well, and people are settling into different routines, working out, playing games, doing homework, watching movies and of course napping (it’s kind of hard NOT to do since we’re constantly rocking).

Random Stuff
Regional Dinners – Ok, so I definitely have some critiques of the Semester At Sea program, but one of the ideas I do like, is their regional dinner idea. Basically they set up a time and a place for people from the different states to meet up and have dinner together. It was very nice to meet fellow NJ people. I thought it was funny that they put NJ and Florida in the same room, kind of random, but I was able to blend them a bit, since I’ve now lived in both states. (I do think it would have made more sense to have Connecticut and/or NY around the same time since they are soo close, but that’s just me.)

Vicarious Voyage – Prior to leaving for this trip, I had the opportunity to sign up for a program called Vicarious Voyage, during which a classroom from the United States, follows my travels and learns about each of the countries I will be visiting. In exchange, I send them little tokens from the countries. It is optional to visit the classroom upon my completion of the voyage. (Since the classroom I was assigned to is in New York, I definitely hope to visit them upon my return.) I was assigned to a team with two others, Cassie from California and Whit from Connecticut. We recently compiled our token gifts from Salvador and it is making its way back to the states. J For the first package, we sent some ribbons, a coloring book, a map and some postcards. Hopefully they like the gifts!

Documentaries – I have watched more documentaries on this voyage then I ever have in my life, and I love it. I have definitely developed a new appreciation for them and plan on watching more in the future.

Until my next post…
Thanks to everyone for all the comments and e-mails, they truly make my day!

It seems somewhat surreal that for the first time in awhile that when I wake up, I’ll be looking at land - Walvis Bay (pronounced Val-fish Bay), Namibia!