Chasing Dreams: August 2014

I'm coming home!

Here I am. Flying Home. Back to the states. What an amazing experience I’ve had these last three months. I feel I have learned so much about people, myself, and my priorities. It has been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. I’m heading home now with a greater appreciation of my life and the amazing family and friends I have. I’m also lucky enough to say I’m heading home with new friends and family in Brazil. It has hard to leave these people. I’m filled with a mixture of pure excitement to get home and despair to be leaving Brazil. There is so much here I haven’t seen yet! How can I leave Brazil and not have seen Rio De Janeiro!?!?! I probably should have scheduled that one into my trip. Oh well. I guess this means I’ll just have to return! ;p

I find myself comparing my experience here to my experience in Africa. But these two places are incredibly different and how I’ve spent my time here has also been very different. I think I was pushed further out of my comfort zone in Brazil. I had a language barrier, I lived with a host family, I only hung out with two other Americans, I traveled solo and I volunteered on a fazenda for almost a month. Africa was my first love and therefore it will always stand on a pedestal and be special to me, but Brazil challenged me to analyze myself and pushed me to grow. I am leaving with gratitude for all that I have seen, done, and accomplished.

And so I’m heading home. First stop, South Carolina where I plan to plant myself on my dock at the lake and pretend I don’t have a thing to do in the entire world. Next, I’ll be heading to Athens where I’ll be running around like a crazy person. I may or may not now regret only giving myself a few days before school started. It’s time to get organized and accomplish all the things I need to do before I jump on the tight rope that it vet school. But I refuse to stress. As my host pai, Luiz, says, “Vida Leve”. Live a light light. It’s too short to stress. Keep what’s most important to you as your top priority and everything else will work itself out.

Thanks for reading!

Lots of Love!
Kaylee Q

Porto Alegre

After Foz Do Iguacu, I was able to spend a day in Porto Alegre with my friend Wilia. It was wonderful to see her again. She showed me even more of Porto Alegre. I'm so lucky to have had her as a home base in Porto Alegre and to have had someone to show me around. We had some fun adventures!

I was able to hang out with Luna.

I discovered their are parking garages with lighting systems indicating which spaces are free.

I stocked up on erva for chimmarou, coffee, and wine. The important things.

Sightseeing

More Sightseeing

We visited a large, bustling market. They had meat, bread, cheese, and other products. I loved seeing everything. It's a way to feel connected to your food!

We went to a cool coffee shop!

And had delicious, delicious coffee!!

Foz do Iguaçu

What a place! I arrived to Foz do Iguacu with the help of three different buses after leaving Miranda. I splurged and took a taxi to my hostel, Flavela Chic. It was one of the cheaper places in Foz but had a great atmosphere. After getting settled in, I walked to the grocery store where I stocked up on things for lunch and dinner. My groceries consisted of yogurt, granola, bananas, crackers and nutella. A perfectly balanced diet! I had been without yogurt for a month and was craving it. Now, after eating yogurt for every meal for the last 2.5 days, I can say I’m satisfied!

Picture from the hostel!

So anywho, after lunch I headed to the main attractions! Foz do Iguacu is one the seven natural wonders in the world. The falls are absolutely incredible and you can see them from both the Brazilian side and Argentina side. I went to the bird park first because I was in a bit of a funk and I knew that me being surrounded by birds would be like putting a kid in a candy shop. My great grandmother passed away recently and I was upset that I wasn’t able to be with my family. I had tried to arrange to go home earlier but the cost of flights wouldn’t allow it. After a small pep talk with myself and 100’s of parrots in the park I was good to go. I whistled my way through the different areas and ended with a cappuccino.

The park was amazing and I had to force myself to leave so I could go see the falls. I walked to the park, bought my 50 Reis ticket, and got on the bus that took me through the Brazilian park. The falls were incredible. I knew they were going to be amazing but I was still caught unprepared. I dumbly followed the path in awe, with my mouth hanging open, as I took in more and more of the powerful falls. I swear, there’s just something magical about the place.

I arrived back at the hostel and met the new people who had arrived. I stayed in a bedroom with 17 beds but only had to share the room with two other guys, one from Israel and one from Texas. We hung out that night with the guy working at the hostel, played cards, and drank caipirinhas.

The next day I played it lazy and lounged around the hostel until noon. I walked around the town of Foz and contemplated what I could/should buy. I had to call my credit card company and figure out why it wasn’t working. My debit card had expired and I was out of cash so I was playing with fire. Thankfully, the compnay helped me and my card was good to go. I eventually ended up buying a few things such as a new pair of funky pants. For those of you familiar with my bright, hippy pants from Cape town then you’ll understand why I bought this new pair. Don’t worry, these are a wee bit less in your face. I’m pretty much in love. So excuse me if I wear them everyday for the next several months. I also bought a hammock. Yep, that’s right. I fit that baby in my suitcase. I just couldn’t leave without one. All in all the town of foz is pretty cool. I enjoyed exploring it.

Pao de Queijo
(Of all the food I'm going to miss. This cheesy bread sits at the top of the list!)

That night, I met more people who had arrived at the hostel. I also got the opportunity to tell someone about rabies. The guy from Texas had been scratched by one of the Coati’s at the falls that day when it tried to steal his fries. Coatis are similar to raccoons and are rabies vectors. He was advised to get exposure shots. We were discussing the need for him to actually get the shots because he wasn’t bitten and the thing was more just a nucience then rabid. Yet, rabies is not a disease you want to play games with! Since it was free to get an exposure shot in Brazil, he went ahead and got one. He needs to get around four more to complete the post-exposure vaccination series. Aye aye aye. Man. 1) I’m glad I have my rabies pre-exposure shots. 2) You never know what could happen on vacation. 3) Stuff like this happens when people feed animals and alter their environment.

So yep. That’s my adventure at Foz do Iguacu. I flew out the next morning to Porto Alegre. I can see why it’s one of the seven natural wonders of the world. If you get a chance to go, you should do it!

The End of Meia Lua

Well. My month at Meia Lua is completed. I'm not sure how to describe my time. I can't really decide how I feel about the overall experience. It's hard to say. Don't get me wrong, I had an amazing time. I'm grateful for my experience. I'm just not sure I would do it again if I had the chance.

My last week and half at Meia Lua I was the only person working there that spoke English. I therefore was the only person the guests turned to when they needed something. I waited on those guests hand and foot. Let me tell you, working with tourists is hard. I guess it more depends on who you are working with. Some people are a pleasure to help and don't have any issues. Other people make you wonder why they decided to leave their houses in the first place. It was a difficult experience because the guests expected me to know things but I really had no idea of what was going on. This left me constantly running between the guests and the staff to try and figure stuff out. I also had to deal with their complaints about the place.

"There's a frog in my bathroom" -> Yes ma'am. You are in the middle of the Pantanal.
"My bed is uncomfortable. I can not possibly spend another night there." -> I'm so sorry about that. Maybe if you had told us that this morning instead of now at 8pm at night, we could have done something about it.
"I don't like my cheese and meat mixed together. I only eat them separately." -> uhhhh. okay?
"You mean I have to pay for the capirina I drank last night!? Well how much was it!?" -uh yes. Sorry, about that. I'm not sure how much it is because you see I never have time to drink them so I wouldn't know. But I'll find out for you right now!
"Why would you talk about trees on the bush walk?" -> Because flora can be just as cool as fauna. ~ignores the laughter from the guests~

Oh man, do I have a few good stories. Lets just say I have a whole new appreciation for people who serve others every day. I've never experienced feeling like a second class citizen. The guests were gods and I was there to serve them. I ate after they finished eating. I cleaned up their messy dinner table. I rode up front in the car so they could ride in the back. I don't know. It was an eye opening experience.

I don't want to sound whiny or angry. I just want to be honest. Working for your keep isn't all rainbows and butterflies. I worked my butt off and I would have to think twice about signing up for that program again. I do see why other people sign up for shin digs like that often. You learn so much about the area, animals, plants, and the people. I made good friends and became close with the people there. I was forced to use my portuguese and became more confident in my ability to communicate. I also met some pretty cool people who came to the fazenda. I loved more than anything to hear their travel stories, where they had been and where they were going. On top of that I saved THOUSANDS of dollars. Between staying on the resort, getting free food, transportation, and tourists activities, it was a ton of money. There is no way I could have done so much experienced without doing the volunteer work. So yes, I worked hard, but I got a lot in return.
Plus, It wasn't all work, work, work! I got to go on several more night safairs at Fazenda San Francisco as a translator. I went horse back riding quite often! You can pretty much call me a cowgirl now. He he (Just kidding). I got to go to a birthday party where they tried to teach me to dance. Not that was a show! It was fun though. I wish I actually could dance! I also took time to lay by the pool and drink from several coconuts my last couple of days!

Leaving was difficult, no matter how hard or frustrating the work was sometimes. I made some great memories at Meia Lua! I will always be able to look back at "that time I worked as a translator in Brazil" with humor and appreciation.