Throw Back Travel- Brazil
Upon arrival here, there were people outside handing out wish bracelets and sort of singing to themselves. I made my way into town via a giant elevator and there was a huge parade going on in the main parts of town because it was Brazil's Independence Day. There was music and singing and drums and trucks with loud speakers playing music all throughout the town. There were also dudes with big guns (not muscles, actual guns, but they probably had muscles too, but I was too distracted by their huge weapons to notice if they had huge muscles). People were performing Capoeira, a Brazilian sort of fight dance, and also really cool!
Most of the people I was traveling with were interested in the same experience as I was. Explore the culture and history of the country by day, explore the alcohol and dancing by night. Pretty solid plan if I'd say so... anyway there was what was called a Welcome Reception put on where there were young adults everywhere and the beer was bottomless. There were circus acts and dancing as well as making out. Not done by me, obviously, but the Brazilian boys wore beads around their necks and they had a thing for the blondies at the Welcome Reception. Legend has it, if they give your their beads, they want to make out with you. I gots no beads and no make outs either...I heard a lot that people thought I was Brazilian, and I learned this the hard way when people spoke Portuguese to me and I had no idea what they were saying. So, needless to say, to them, I was less than exotic. I did however, get a lot of beers and a blister from all of the dancing in awkward flats.
Some of my friends opted to go to Rio (overrated) others went on an Amazon adventure (lame) but I decided to take a few trips to nearby islands. Friar and Itaparica island. On Friar, people made music as they went about their day. Preparing food or walking around selling their goodies. We (the group I was with and I), spent most of our time on Itaparica Island. It was small and there were few people walking around and about, but the beach was beautiful and the snorkling was awesome. I am not a fan of snorkling... if I am being real, it really creeps me out. Here though, there were tiny jelly fish that seemed to disappear as you got close to them. There was a local dude, who was snorkling around with us tourists and he grabbed my hand and pulled me to where he was snorkling. Me in the full mask and flippers, totally creeped out, and him, bare faced and barefoot grabbing sea urchins and handing them to me to hold! Starfish and other random sea beings he spotted out and handed to me to hold. So cool that he thought I was worthy to explore his waters in the environment that he lived everyday. I got a tiny sliver into his world and though there was a language barrier, I was and still am in awe of what the nature that he was so enmeshed with, had to offer me, an outsider.
As we were about to board our small boat that brought us to Itaparica Island, my snorkling buddy came running toward us telling us, in Portuguese, to wait. He came up to me and offered me a shell, as well as a piece of coral, and motioned to his neck as if to form a necklace with the pieces of his island that he wished to share with me. I accepted his gift graciously and to this day, cherish the shell and piece of coral as it represents an incredible human connection that could never be forgotten or recreated.
