Welcome to the Jungle

One of the things I couldn't leave Brazil without doing was taking a trip up to the Amazon. So I flew up to Manaus for the weekend, where I stayed at the Hotel Tropical Manaus, thanks to the Azul "crew member" discount. The hotel was awesome, and had everything you could ask for including its own zoo. My favorite part was the riverside pool, which was absolutely breathtaking and actually looked like an extension of the river. It was paradise. I was also surprised to learn that during the summer when the water is low, a big white sandy beach appears along the river banks. So that combined with the fact that the Amazon is so big you can barely see the other side, I felt like I was on the coast - in the middle of the jungle! I definitely did not expect a relaxing weekend at the beach...how many people do you know can say that they swam in the Amazon?

I also decided to take a boat trip up to see "The Meeting of the Waters", which is where the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimões meet and where the Amazon technically starts. The two rivers don't mix, just like oil and water, and continue on for miles like that. It was a pretty neat phenomenon to see up close. It was also very cool to sail by downtown Manaus. A lot people think of the Amazon as just primitive Indians and remote jungle lodges, a la Anaconda or Disneyland Jungle Cruise...but Manaus is a huge port city with over a million people.

For the next part of my cruise, they took us to a little Indian community where we ate lunch, and shopped for cheap hand-made trinkets, and took a short hike through the jungle. I was a little disappointed at the lack of wildlife, and was surprised that the jungle wasn't really how I pictured it. Too many Indiana Jones movies, I suppose. I was still impressed by the size and diversity of the plants and trees we saw, and felt a little bit like Owen Wilson in Armageddon, when he says upon arrival in space "and this is only the beginning part of space! This isn't even outer space yet!" Well, I think that's enough movie references for one blog post. Anyway, maybe someday I'll get to come back and go explore a little deeper... see some crocodiles and fish for piranhas...but for now it's back to work.

Videos: 1- River Cruise, 2- Jungle Hike, 3- picture slideshow

THANKSgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This is obviously the time of year when everyone likes to say what they're grateful for, and I'd like to continue the tradition. I have a great family, awesome friends, a bautiful girlfriend...I have this once in a lifetime opportunity to do what I'm doing...but today what I am especially grateful for is PIZZA HUT. Yes, Pizza Hut. One just opened around the corner from me 2 days ago, and so today to "celebrate" I decided to treat myself to some good ol' American style food. It's no homemade turkey, but I'll take my Thanksgiving Pizza.


the nicest Pizza Hut I've ever seen
my Thanksgiving meal! mmmm
cookies and cream brownie. again, mmmm

Then on the way home there was a torrential downpour, and I got soaked to the bone walking back to the apartment...totally worth it. Happy Thanksgiving!


Now I'm watching the Dallas Cowboys game online, and just can't help but think to myself that Brazilian soccer fans have no clue what they're missing. No big hits, half time shows, no marching bands, and worst of all no cheerleaders! Football>futebol. Sorry, Brazil.....

That reminds of one family dinner a few years ago where we all went around in a circle saying what we were thankful for...and in all seriousness I said "I'm thankful for the Cowboy's Cheerleaders." I don't think that's what grandma had in mind.

ranting about rent

I think like most Americans, I assumed that living in Brazil would be at least somewhat cheap. Sadly I was dead wrong! Living in Sao Paulo is probably equivalent to living in LA or New York - especially since the dollar sucks right now and inflation here has driven prices up in the last couple of years. For my first month in Brazil, I was living by myself in a furnished apartment. It was super expensive, but from what I saw on the website I was willing to pay, and didn't really have any other choice. They claimed it had a gym, a pool, maid service, laundry service, cable TV...and from the pictures it looked pretty nice. Here's a list of reasons why I was paying WAY too much money to live there. (this isn't meant to be a list of complaints, but a hopefully funny retrospect)
-my TV was so old I had to turn a knob to turn it on and I couldn't control the volume from the remote
-the gym consisted of a few treadmills and bikes from the 1980s
-the pool was cold and small. No one ever uses it. Not a good sign.
-gross, old, lumpy pillows
-the phone lines were always so staticky you could barely hear
-I had to buy myself a new phone because I couldn't even dial out on their crappy phones
-for as much as I was paying I assumed I would at least have a microwave! Nope.

I'm sure there's more...anyway, my boss and a couple guys from work were also living there, but recently got a new place together. Fortunately, they had a spare room and let me move in for my last month. I got the "maid's room"! haha. Unfortunately, the new place isn't furnished. And that apparently also means "your new apartment doesn't have electricity." When we called the power company, they didn't come the first time. We called again and they said they would come between 8:30 am and 7:00pm on Tuesday OR Wednesday! And you thought American cable companies were annoying. So for the first few days we camped out with air mattresses, an extension cord from the hall, and lots of candles. I was just glad to be out of that extremely over-priced apartment and saving some money! Check out my new, unfurnished digs:



our extra-spacious living room



my improvised closet



my luxurious bedroom

weekend misadventure...

Well this weekend was supposed to be another fun-filled weekend of travels and new adventures...but I have suddenly become super spacey apparently. I took the hour and a half bus ride all the way to the Campinas airport, got to the check-in counter, and realized that I forgot my passport! I couldn't help but laugh at myself for my own idiocy. I did get some in-airport entertainment though as I was waiting for the bus back "home". It started to rain so hard that the airport ceiling started to leak...but leak is such a weak word. It was more like "rain inside" than "leak." Check out the video ----

weekend in São Paulo

Well, I've been living in this city for almost 6 weeks so I figured it was about time I get out and see a little bit of it...



My girlfriend Brittany's aunt also happens to live here with her family. They were nice enough to offer to show me around some sights and take me to a soccer game. We went to a little artesan village called Embu das Artes where I bought some souvenirs, ate a "pastel" (which is kind of like a deep fried taco) and drank sugar cane juice, which was delicious! After that, we watched São Paulo beat Vitória 2-0 and tried not to get lost in the madhouse after the game. Then I got to relax, play some Smash Brothers and eat some good old home-cooked American food!





I was also finally able to meet up with some of my mission buddies who live in the area. One, Jonas Monte, was in the same group as me at the MTC, so we spent the whole two years working close by. The other, Marcus Torres was my companion for 3 months in a hell-ish place called Guabiraba. We had a great time meeting up at the temple and laughing for hours about mission stories. Good times!

Goo00OO00oollllll!!!

One of the things I really wanted to do while I was here was go to a soccer game. Brazil is obviously known for its futebol, so I had to see firsthand what the fuss is all about. The game itself, at least to me, doesn't seem any different from an RSL game. But what is completely different....the fans. They are CRAZY for soccer. They're loud and obnoxious, they'll sing when they do well and they'll turn on their own team and cuss out the players in unison if they start to suck it up. (Not to mention the often violent rivalries between cities...) Jazz fans have nothing on Brazilian soccer fans! haha

The first game I went to was between a small local team and one of the most followed teams in Brazil - Flamengo, a team from Rio. I went with some people from Azul since it was close to the office. The funny thing was there were literally no home fans - the entire stadium was filled with Flamengo jerseys. Sadly they all made the trip for nothing, 'cause they got embarassed 2-0.

The second game I went to was the extremely popular São Paulo Futebol Clube. They're the frontrunners in the Brazil Cup and were fighting to stay in 1st place. We arrived early, but so did the entire city it seemed. There were songs, chants, street vendors selling everything from flags to shirts, and there were even some riot police on hand in case things got ugly. I hadn't seen a crowd like that since the Inauguration! SPFC won 2-0.

Check out the video to see the cultural experience that is Brazilian soccer...

RECIFE! ~back to the mish~

I was supposed to work at a couple more events last weekend, but after they got canceled I took advantage of the time off and flew up to Recife for the weekend. It was actually kind of a strange feeling being back in my old stomping grounds, but it was a great experience. I stayed with some old friends, got to visit my favorite ward and see a few of the people that I served. I thought I had seen everything in Recife, but I even got to do and see some things I had never done in Recife before, including going to the beach!

Pictures of the "feira" - the flea market

Pictures of the Torreão Ward:

Pictures of the BEACH!:
(beware of sharks...duh nuh...duh nuh....)

Porto Alegre

The best part about this internship with Azul is that it's an awesome way to see the rest of Brazil - all without having to pay for airfare and hotels! Over the weekend, they sent me to Porto Alegre in Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil's southernmost state) to put up a booth at this big temporary outlet mall/flea market kinda thing. Despite not being on vacation and having to work over the weekend, I was pretty excited about going to Porto Alegre though for one reason - churrasco! This is the land of the gaúcho and the birthplace of churrasco (Rodizio Grill style food). So check out my the pics of me exploring the city, checking out the Temple, and watch my video of my traditional churrasco experience -all you can eat dinner AND a show for half the price of Rodizio!