29 March 2018
Written at 01:18 BRT (EST + 1 hour)
Location: Unknown
Hello everyone!
At the current moment that I am writing this I am on a bus with almost every other exchange student, almost because Ngwale has already gone home, and Maru didn't come with due to bad timing.
Why am I on a cramped, not entirely made for long distance travel bus writing this at one in the morning?
Well, at three o'clock in the afternoon, March 28th, I left my house with my host dad Nilo to pick up another exchange student named Marian, she's from Mexico.
From there, we left for Santo Angelo, an hour drive if the traffic is with you. Shortly after our arrival, three other exchange students arrived, another from the US, another from Mexico and one from India.
Now, we waited until about 18:30 (6:30pm) when a small, eighteen seat bus arrived. Being the first onto it, we picked our seats and before departing another exchange student, from Belgium, arrived and joined us.
At this point you're probably confused about why everyone is slowly meeting up. Well, we're all taking a thirteen hour (for me, shorter for others who got picked up later along the route.) ride to a place called Foz de Iguacu, or Iguazu Falls.
We'll be staying there and enjoying the sights and attractions until Sunday, when we will all be headed home the same way we arrived.
The reason I'm writing this at now 01:27 in the morning is because we stopped for dinner and hour and a half ago. That lasted an hour and we've been on the road for half and hour again.
After eating, everyone is VERY awake and there are two other people in the space of one seat next to me due ta a card game that's being played despite the bumpiness as well as the girl in front of that seat wanting her hair braided.
While it sounds like I'm typing that as a complaint, it's more funny to me as over the time we've all been together we've become our own small family so it doesn't really bother me much anymore.
Oh another thing I should probably note. I mentioned the Amazon last time didn't I? Well, if you know much about the Amazon you probably know that it is (maybe just suggested) required that every person who goes gets the Yellow Fever vaccine at least ten days before going.
Well, I got the Yellow Fever vaccine this morning and should be arriving in the Amazon on the 7th of next month. CUtting it close I know.
However, one thing that was interesting about that circumstance is my bodies reaction to the shot.
Since having two shots of medical dye and a shot of cortizone in my wrist, the pain of shots doesn't bother me much anymore. However, as it turns out, getting a vaccine you've never had before can cause your body to get sick for a least a little bit after getting it.
As told by my host sister Cris, who took me to get the shot, apparently I had gone very pale, including my lips and I got dark circles under my eyes, except they were green. Strange reaction, however the only thing I felt was dizziness and lots of buzzing.
A few minutes later, I was drinking a cup of water and beyong being a bit shaking and tired was perfectly fine. Quite an interesting reaction.
I'll be trying to take plently of pictures and videos while in Iguacu so be excited for that!
6 April 2018
Written at 21:19 BRT (EST + 1 hour)
Location: In the Skies on the way to Manaus
Hello again! The reason I'm putting this in the same one is because I never quite finished the other blog.
--Back in time to 07:00/08:00 March 29--
Well, the bus started beeping. At the time we weren't sure why, but we we're suppose to arrive in Iguazu at 09:00 and we were already no where near Iguazu.
After stopping on the side of roads, and at one point we even stopped at gas station sort of place to pour water on the engine because, apparently it had started to overheat!
We stopped multiple times and at one point, one of the other students pulled out her duffel bag from under the bus, only to find that it was soaked in an unknown liquid.
At noon, we stopped at a proper garage which, happily, had a building nearby that served lunch. So while I, the other exchange students, and the Rotarians ate lunch, the bus was getting repaired.
Three hours pass and we finally get back on the road. Only to have it start beeping an hour later.
As it turns out, when the bus was being repaired, it wasn't the engine that was getting repaired but rather the onboard toilet we had. It had apparently been leaking into the undercarrage where everyonce suitcases and in one special case, duffel bag, was.
Which means, that the girl whose bag was soaked through, had a very unhappy start to our trip. However lucky for her, she had a host family member who lives in Iguazu and so she was able to go and get her clothing cleaned.
Continuing on, we stopped on the side of the road once more where we waited an hour for a mechanic to come to us. While he was looking at the bus, some of us hung out outside and some stayed on the bus. Half an hour after the mechanic arrived, those off the bus comprised of two Rotarians, me and five other exchange students, and one of the two bus drivers.
At this time, the bus started, the door closed, they pulled off into traffic and drove away. Leaving the nine of us on the side of the road.
Turns out that the mechanic had told the driver onboard to start it and drive to test if he had fixed the engine, however they didn't tell us this before doing so. We waited on the side of the road for almost another hour until another bus under the same company name pulled up to us, picked us up, and took us to another gas station where the old bus was.
Apparently they were halfway back to us when it started beeping again and so they stopped, called for another bus and had it pick us up.
After tranfering our luggage onto the new and SO much better bus, we drove a single hour, and arrived in Iguazu at 19:00... 24 hours after I first gotten on the bus the previous day.
We got settled in our hotel, showered and freshened up and then we went to a mall for two hours. We had food and shopped for a bit before heading back to the hotel and going to bed.
7 April 2018
Written at 21:06 AMT (EST + 0 hours)
Location: Manaus, Amazonia
The next day, we got up, got ready, ate and headed out by bus to go to the Iguazu Falls. We walked along a massive mountain area on the other side of the falls and still got wet from the fall's mist.
At the end of the giant walking path, you are right up against one of the falls meaning that even if you have a rain coat, your shoes are going to be soaked on the way up to above the falls.
We finished the trek and then waited an hour in line to get to the buses to go back to the main entrance area. Once there, our clothing almost or at least half dry, but our socks still soaked through, we went down the street to a restaurant and had lunch. Did I mention it was about 16:00 in the afternoon?
Just before 17:00, we managed to get into the Bird Park nearby just before the doors closed. We walked through the entire park, traveled back to the hotel by bus, got cleaned up and once more went out to a mall for the night, though a different mall this time.
Sunday was the day we were scheduled to go home on, however due to us missing the first day it was decided that we would go to Itaipu, one of the world's best water powerplants. We went through the entire tour and picked up a few souvenirs and than sat down to talk.
The other thing we would have done was go to a very popular budist-type temple. We put it to a vote, and it was decided that we all just wanted to go home.
And so we started the drive home. We stopped for lunch at the same place we had on the way to Iguazu and continued driving afterwards. With the route we were taking, I would arrive in Palmeira das Missoes (where I was going to be picked up) at midnight, and then after the hour long drive to Panambi, arrive home at 01:00.
At about 16:30, we were driving down a road in the middle of no where when suddenly pulled to the side of the road and stoped, a strange smell of smoke coming into the bus.
Turns out we had lost a tire. Not just popped a tire, but lost a tire. The entire tire came off while we were driving.
For the first half hour, we were told to stay on the bus. However, soon they needed us off because they needed to raise the bus to get to the wheel well better.
And so, fourteen exchange students sat on the ground with a few sitting on a giant wheel at the front of the bus, for a total of three hours.
At one point during that time, the Rotarians called the police because we were on a two lane road that didn't have shoulders and so in order to avoid more accidents, they had a officer come out and direct traffic if it was coming from both directions at once.
I ended up arriving in Palmeira at 05:30 and Panambi at 06:30. Upon arriving home I walked into my room, set down my backpack and, wearing my sweatshirt and all, collapsed onto bed and fell asleep.
While overall, the Iguazu trip was fun for the activities and company we had, our luck could've definatly been better.
Continuing, when I woke up later on Sunday, we figured out I had gotten a fever. So I spent most of the next few days bundled up and resting.
On Monday however, I still had my Portuguese class at Cipex that I went to, though I still kept my jacket on.
Later that night however, I had gone into the bathroom to use the bathroom of course. Shortly before standing up from the toilet, I found out that I had a 'small' friend sitting less than half a foot away from my feet.
A spider.
BIGGER THAN MY HAND!!!!
I bolted out of there, and just stared at it from outside the bathroom until Cris returned home from picking her mom up from Cipex.
Let's just say I stayed upstairs on the couch that night.
Oh, I might've forgotten to mention. While I was on the Iguazu trip, my family had me change bedrooms in their house. My new room was downstairs (across the hall from the bathroom where the spider was), double the size, with a double bed (rather than a single) and an AIR CONDITIONER!!! YES!
Though at first I wasn't allowed to use it because I was sick.
--Present Time: 21:44 AMT (EST + 0 hours)
Well, I left Rio Grande do Sul (my state) yesterday on the path to the Amazon.
Yesterday, at 05:00 I woke up, finished packing a few more things, and traveled to the bus station.
At 06:00, I left on a six hour bus ride to Porto Alegre where my flight was going to leave at 15:20 towards Sao Paulo. I arrived at the airport two and a half hours before the plane, and an hour and a half before the other students from my district (who were already in Porto Alegre.).
Our plane was a bit late, and so at about 16:30 we were off and on our way. When we landed in Sao Paulo, we had a plan.
First, we were going to find where our next gate was, then, we were going to find the Starbucks. If you didn't know, the international airport in Sao Paulo is one of the only, if not the only, place that has a Starbucks in all of Brasil!!!
Upon finding our gate we headed to the Starbucks, which was mostly on the other side of the airport. When we found it, it was right next to a ramen-type restaurant as well as a TGI Friday's. Definantely the kind of american food I've been looking forward to.
Jan-Philip [Germany], Nicole [Austria] and I ended up having dinner at TGI Friday's while everyone else went to the other restaurant.
We finally arrived in Manaus yesterday at 01:30 our time, however 00:30 their time.
We were the first exchange students here, as everyone else was going to arrive on the next day.
Now the trip has begun, there won't be any cell reception and no wifi during the trip from tomorrow onwards so wish me luck and I'll be sure to take many photos!
