Not all Who Wander are Lost

Well, it's been two days since take off.  I'm in Campo Grande waiting for my ride to the farm in the Pantanal.  I'm a bundle of mixed emotions.  First of all, I lied.  The whole  "I've got a gypsy soul to blame and I was born for leaving"  is bullshit.  I may have a gypsy soul but I was not born for leaving.  Leaving is hard.  Really, Really Hard.   I did not want to get on that bus and leave Santa Maria.  Yet, I chose to make plans in the Pantanal and head out when the program ended.  I could have stayed longer but I wanted to see more of Brazil.  So why was it so hard to actually leave!?  Gah.  I think it's hard to accept that my time in Santa Maria is over. I miss my family, my house, my comfort zone.  I think I'm also faced with the fact that I wish I would have done more and seen more in my two months.  I know that's ridiculous.   I want to rewind the two months and start again.  There are many things I would have done differently.  But I guess hindsight is 20/20.    On a different hand, I know that I did do so many things!  It's impressive when I look back at all the stuff I accomplished.   I guess there will always be demons demanding that you give more. 

After getting on the bus as a hot, crying mess, I spent the next several hours sulking and watching Ghost Rider.  The view to Porto Alegre was beautiful.  Although I've made the trip several times, It's always been in the dark.   I got off the bus and my friend Wilia was waiting for me!   She is retired but worked as a veterinary virologist for many years! I first met Wilia in Athens where she spent a month visiting friends.  She tutored us in portuguese for almost a month! She also picked up up from the airport when we first arrived.  It was relief to see her!  She drove me around for a good couple of hours and gave me a tour of the city!  What a cool place! It was way more legit than I was expecting.  I'm not sure why I currently have these stereotypes against big cities, but Porto Alegre sure proved me wrong.  It had a beautiful, old historic district with buildings I would only expect to find in movies and books.  You could easily see the european influence. There were also a ton of park areas with old, protective trees.  Porto Alegre sits near a very large lagoon.  The city has created many great ways for people to enjoy the lagoon.  There are parks beside the water, a nice walking path, and even bikes you can rent to ride.   I felt like I was at the beach.  There were so many people out and about because it was an absolutely beautiful Saturday.  The city felt so alive.  

After our tour, we went back to her really cool apartment and watched the Brazil-Holand game.  I was  exhausted and fighting with all my sad feelings of leaving Santa Maria so I took a quick nap.  It's a good thing I did because afterwards we went to a delicious restaurant with her daughter.  It was Paraguayan food and we ordered several dishes to split.  We had a roasted red pepper, caesar salad, melted cheese block thing, steak, a baked potato covered in cheese and of course dessert.   I had a blast and it was fun to practice my Portuguese with them.  The staff was very nice and invited me to take a picture behind the counter at the grill.  I had consumed just enough wine to think that was a great idea.   After dinner,  we headed back to the apartment.  I went directly to sleep!

The next morning, they graciously gave me a ride to the airport.  I was running a little late and was dismayed to find I had to wait in line to check my bag.  After my experience in Sao Paulo, where I ran around like a crazy person, couldn't speak to anyone, and barley made my plane, I'm a bit weary of airports.   Lucky for me, everything was fine and I was planted firmly in my seat long before the plane departed.  I even got to sit beside the cutest little boy and his mom.  He informed he his name was Lucas.  He liked to play with his toy figures from Toy Story and could also count to ten in English.  Muito Legal! (Very Cool!)  

When my plane landed, I happened to make friends with an older lady who had the same connecting flight as me. I'm not sure who was more nervous to find their flight.  I think she may have won.  We communicated only in Portuguese and it was easy!  We found our way and talked about where we were going.   I even convinced her that our gate had changed and we needed to move.  It's times like these I realize maybe I have learned quite a bit of Portuguese!  WOW! 

I arrived in Campo Grande to a small airport and a lot of obvious travelers.  It's weird to see and hear other Americans again. It's actually kind of fun to play guess who's not from Brazil.  I found a open air cafe where I could properly enjoy the drop dead, beautiful day.  It's so warm here!  And sunny!  Almost tropical.  

Yari picked me up with her two friends and off we went to a friend's house to watch the last game of the world cup!  It was great to Yari.  Like usual, she had it going on.  She's pretty much a rockstar.  She's fluent in Portuguese.  I mean freaking fluent.  She's from Porto Rico and speaks Spanish so I think it helped her a lot.  But I know she also put in a lot of time and effort.  She's the kind of person you want working on your team.   I had so much fun getting to know a few of her friends.  We watched the game, made and ate an amazing dessert, and looked up different dance videos on youtube.  I held my own somewhat at the beginning with my Portuguese but as the night drew on and I became tired I felt like I was barely comprehending anything. It's times like these I'm so mad at myself for not knowing more Portuguese.  I scream at myself,  "What were you doing the last two months!!!???"  You had all this time to become fluent in Portuguese and you still speak like a relatively smart parrot.  Aye Aye Aye. 

That night, we went back to Yari's place and hung out.  I kept her up talking about her time in Brazil even though she had to leave the house at 4:30am!   That's right 4:30!  She is spending the next week in the Pantanal through her university doing work on three different farms! 

I am now back at the airport where I await a ride to the farm I'll be working at.  I'm really excited!  Bring it on Pantanal!