03/08/2012 - The Last Day

Today is the last day of the program.  We left the hotel Tiwa and returned to the hotel in the center of Manaus.  We told everyone goodbye and left everyone to their own path.  Sara and I are continuing in Manaus for a few more days.  She wants to visit the people she knew and then we go to Brasilia.

02/08/2012 - The Amazon Rainforest

Today in the morning we went to a restaurant that floats on one of the tributaries of the rivers.  There we walked on a pier and fed some wild monkeys.  Then it was time for us to eat and there was a lot to try.  Then we went to a house that had an anaconda and a sloth that we were able to hold and take pictures with.  In the afternoon we went on a walk in the middle of the rainforest.  It was pretty cool the guide showed us how the Indians set their traps and caught their prey.

01/08/2012 - Pink Dolphins and Indians

Today was awesome!  In the morning we went to swim with the dolphins in the Black River and we were able to touch them and it was amazing!  We spent a good long while there swiming and then we left to see the Indians of the Amazon Rainforest.  There we went and saw them showing the dances that they used to do all the time.  They danced about five or six different dances and then they invited us to dance with them.  Then we went to the Rubber Museum in the forest and they explained how the workers were exploited and basically slaves.

31/07/2012 - Tiwa and Piranas

Today we made it to a new hotel here in Manaus.  It is a hotel on the edge of the Black River that is part of the Amazon River.  We got there and got assigned rooms the went piraña fishing.  I was able to catch only one, which is pretty sad.  We had a great time, but there is no Internet here at the hotel, so I will post these later.

30/07/2012 - Manaus

Today we made it to Manaus from Fortaleza.  Our plane actually made a stop in Belém hitch is in another state, Pará.  Then when we got to our hotel we had to wait for the rooms to be cleaned and prepared, so we went out and saw the Teatro Amazona and then we ate at a burger joint that Sara knew about.  After that we went back to the hotel until a little later.  Then we went to an opera show at the theater that was put on by Koreans.  It was actually the first time that I enjoyed an opera song, but I thought that the Koreans were amazing.

28/07/2012 - Fortaleza

Yesterday we left Salvador and came to Fortaleza.  Here we just made it to our apartment and went to eat.  While we were eating we watched the openings of the olympics in London.  That were truly amazing.  At night we went to the movies and watched The Dark Night Rises.  It was amazing.

26/07/2012 - Islands in Bahia

Today we went to the bay in Bahia called the Bay of All of Saints.  There we took a boat ride to some of the islands that are near Salvador.  We went to a beach on Ítaparica and swam with some jellyfish and then played volleyball on the beach.  The water was crystal clear and you could see the bottom even when you couldn't touch it without diving under the water.  After that we went to another part of the island for lunch and then took a tour of the town.  We weren't able to go inside of practically anything.  But we saw the outside of a fort that was built in 1711 on the ruins of the first fort that was built in the 1640s.

25/07/2012 - Turtles!

Today we went to a tiny lake with a pretty cool myth behind it and we just looked at the lake, but we didn't swim in it.  After the quick stop at the lake went to a place called Projeto Tamar where they take sea turtles to help them recover from being an endangered species. They also have some sharks and sting rays as well as a lot of information about turtles.  It was really awesome what they do for the endangered species.

24/07/2012 - Salvador

Today we went exploring Salvador first we went to the lighthouse here that is also a fort and then we went to another fort that is close to the lighthouse, but it was closed.  Later we went to the center of Salvador, but I walked there with only a few people from our group.  We stopped at an art museum, and took pictures on the staircase because they wouldn't allow cameras in the museum.  Later we went inside the Bascillica São Sebastião which is a more neo-classical church instead of a baroque church like most of them have been.  Later we went in the palace of the governor, and then went down the elevator on the hill.  Later we went to a souvenir shop with a lot of little stores in it.  At night we went to a catholic mass that was mixed with an African religion.

23/07/2012 - Bye Recife

Yesterday was the last Sunday that we had in Recife with our families.  So Brady and I just hung out with our family and started packing for our trips.
Today we made it to Salvador.  All we did today was get set up in our hotel and look for somewhere to eat.  We found a little snack area and buy something small.  Sara has been sick for a while now, so I bought her coconut water, which seemed to help.

21/07/2012 - nothing much

Yesterday Sara gave her presentation about the rubber industry.  We also had a party at night where we danced the Howdown Throwdown by Miley Cyrus.
I wasn't feeling very well today and so I decided that I would just stay at our families house.  So all I did was some homework, and then I played video games while the others went to a museum.  After that some of them went to a soccer game, which I really wanted to, but wasn't able to.

19/07/2012 - Porto de Galinhas

Today we went to Porto de Galinhas and went to another wonderful beach.  Right when we got there we went on a boat ride to a reef  and saw the fish that live in the reef and swam in the natural pools with the fish, which was amazing even though it was very similar to what we did in Maceió it was still an awesome experience.
After that we just hung out at the beach bodysurfing and playing soccer on the beach.  For lunch we ate tapiocas which were pretty good, but not the best I've had.

18/07/2012 - Lampião

Yesterday we went to a fort in Natal, the fort of the wise men, that is on the beach near a river in the  city.  They said that it was used in World War II to signal the planes that were coming from the USA to get over to Europe and Africa.
Today I gave my presentation for classand it was on Padre Cicero, a catholic priest that was kicked out of the priesthood because of some miracle that the church didn't approve of.  The other person that I talked about was Lampião, who was a RobinHood type person who would steal from the rich and then use the money so that it made its way to the poor.
After class we went to Marco Zero, where all of the roads in Recife start, and also we went to the oldest synagogue in Brazil.

16/07/2012 - Genipabu

This morning Joe, Josh, Brady, and I went to the beach at our hotel and went bodysurfing and after that we played soccer on the beach with some Brazilians.  At ten we went to a beach here in Natal called Genipabu and it was awesome.  At Genipabu we rode on some sand dunes in buggies, the was an amazing ctivity for us to do in Natal.  Later Sara, Brady and I went sand boarding, but I like snowboarding a lot better.  When we returned to the hotel we played another game of soccer on the beach and then for dinner we went to a pizza buffet.

15/07/2012 - Natal

So yesterday on Sunday we went to church in João Pessoa and then we went to some catholic churches.  They were really cool, and had an amazing amount of history behind each one of them.  We actually took a tour of one of the churches there and the guide took us to all of the places inside the church where we had not been able to see in any of the others.  We saw the area for the choir on the second floor and how they had a revolving music stand, so that the piece pointed at the director was the one everyone was supposed to sing.  The people who where taking care of the building were extremely nice and very helpful at answering questions that we had for them.
Later we drove for another two hours and a little bit so that we could make it to Natal, which is the capital of another state, Rio Grand do Norte.  We made it to our hotel and Dr. Fitzgibbon decides to play a practical joke on us.  She says that there is no more room at the hotel and that they messed up the reservation that we had made. She tricked all of us into believing her, but it was all correct.