The World is My Canvas

Thursday- The incredible tease.

I woke up early to see Table Mountain outside my porthole window. Hundreds of seagulls flew overhead.  We were here!  Only one problem, with strong winds and a storm the previous night, we could not dock.  The wind had such an affect on the water that the MV Explorer could not physically get through the small opening and park near the other ships.  We were stranded. Everyone was scurrying about the ship, staring out the window, eager to hear the upcoming announcements:  “We are unable to dock and will let you know when or if anything changes”.  Everyone sighed.  Many people would be missing out on their prepaid trips and some were non refundable.  Every couple hours, we watched the waves hoping the wind would die down.  No change.  Five more hours passed, no change.  Then lunch and dinner came.  The faculty and staff worked hard to put a last minute open mic night/talent show together for us in the Union (the ship’s biggest room).  Then they put on a movie to relax us.  Many people were getting dressed up in hopes we would dock and be able to go out for drinks.  Even if we were able to get permission to dock, we would all still have to prepare ourselves for immigration, which involves long lines and questions to get our passports stamped.  Eventually, we all went to bed.

Friday- The wind has blown over, and we are ready!

By the time I woke up, we still hadn’t docked and weren’t going to for four more hours.  By that time, many more people had missed trips, including safaris that were purchased through SAS, some costing up to $2,500 or more.  A lot of people were worried, anxious and devasted because they had missed their flights and were loosing precious time.  Hours later, we were cleared and could get off the ship.  I was so excited, that I forgot to plan what I was going to do for that day.  I ended up hanging out my roommate, Simi, and her friends Gia and Becca.  The three of us walked out of the ship and checked out the waterfront.  It was incredible!  Seagulls and sea lions everywhere, music playing, the smell of wonderful food, the Ferris wheel, big hotels, the mall, restaurants every where!  We were in love!  We checked out the mall, which was different from anything I have ever seen!  So many interesting shops and food stands! Back in November, I had purchased U2 tickets for this day.  I was so excited!  The best part was that only a few people on the whole ship had the same idea, one of them being my roommate.  We bought some drinks, and headed to stadium, which was a couple blocks away. Everything was within walking distance.  This stadium was huge!  Oval in shape and isolated in a big field, it is famous for being the same stadium that held the World Cup matches this summer.  I am a huge fan of the World Cup, so this was amazing to me.  I was so ready for one of the best nights of my life.  I had such a blast at the concert.  My tickets were up in the nosebleed section on the way top so I got some really great pictures.  Then about half an hour into the show, my friends and I decided to head closer.  We walked down flights of stairs, passed hundreds of people and eventually walked into the general admission section.  Once closer, we were at the gate that divided us from the front row.  My friends and I made conversation with a guy for a while and eventually he picked us up and handed us over the gate!  We felt so free! We all ran toward the front and screamed!  I got to touch the bottom of Bono’s microphone stand, and my friend Becca got to touch his hand!  I got some amazing pictures!  During one song, a bunch of people came on stage holding bags with logos on them. The lights dimmed and people held up their lighters, swaying them with the sound of the guitars. The logos on these bags were cut out, showing the candles lit inside.  The logo was Amnesty International’s logo.  This is the corporation I want to work for.  This is the corporation that the band fights for.  It was fate.  I have never felt this feeling, such a feeling of comfort.  I felt at home.  I don’t think that the concert could have gone any better.  We celebrated afterwards with drinks on Long Street, one of the most crowded nightlife areas in Cape town.

Saturday- War paint preparation and sky failure.

Today I hung out with Simi, Becca and Gia again and we vowed to experience the best parts of Cape Town.  We walked down the harbor boardwalk into the areas where locals played music and we danced and ate and enjoyed the fresh air and scent of Cape Town.  We had vowed to do something crazy while we were here, we had to make up for lost time!  We found a hippy clown face painter and swarmed her!  She was more than happy to paint our faces!  It was only 20 Rand, about 2 US dollars!  We all got tribal war paint on our faces and posed together in fun pictures with the locals!  We danced around the waterfront and ventured into stores.  We enjoyed lunch a classy out door restaurant and shared milkshakes for dessert.  I had been talked into skydiving.  This is something I have always thought about doing to help me tackle my extreme fear of heights.  I was as ready as I was going to be.  We found a tourist stand and signed up.  It was going to happen!  I can’t believe I signed up.  I was so nervous I could barely move.  I knew as long as I was with my roommate, and we were in a safe environment, that I had to make the best of this memory.  We met back up at the spot where we were supposed to be, but we had received terrible news.  It was too windy to go up in the plane.  They gave us our money back.  We were devasted.  I guess it was not meant to be.  So we hopped in a taxi and headed towards Table Mountain.  We got all the way there and found out that the wind also prevented us from being able to hike it or take the cable car up so we stayed at the rest area half way in between.  I was still able to see some gorgeous views of Cape Town from where I was standing.  From there you could see fog coming off the top of Table Mountain and I could also see Lion’s head mountain to the side.  Way down in the waterfront, I could see our ship. Our home.

We ventured back to the ship and enjoyed dinner outside by the sunset.  Afterwards, we went out for drinks.

Sunday- Mandela’s cell, penguins, Beluga and bars.

Because the wind had not let down, I decided to buy a ticket for a ferry ride to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela, along side many other political prisoners spent decades locked behind bars here during the apartheid era.  It was a short ferry ride and when I arrived, I stuck with a tour group that was brought all around the island.  First we went to an overlook to see Cape Town from a distance.  It was so beautiful to see Table Mountain and the city from a different view.  Then we went to the prison and heard stories from our tour guide who was a prisoner there for seven years.  I asked him why he was working there and he told me two reasons; one was because he was unemployed and had a record and the other was because he felt if he faced it everyday in a new light, he could move on with his life.  This was really interesting to me and gave me a new view on desperation with unemployment but also the values that that these prisoners had.

I saw many African penguins around the island, usually in pairs or small groups hiding in the bushes or waddling around the dirt roads.  If you asked the tour guide what their names were, she could tell you because she sees them every day.  I pointed out two small penguins, their names were Pete and Pingly.

After I left Robben Island, I went back to the ship to get ready and then head out to the night life with a group of friends.  We all dressed up really nice and went to a 5-star restaurant called Beluga.  Then afterwards got drinks at a small bar around the corner.  It cost me about 40 Rand for a martini, which is like 5 US dollars.  If I were to get a martini in down town Albany, it would cost me anywhere from 10-15 dollars.  I had 4 martinis for $20 and enjoyed the rest of the night!

Monday- I signed up for an SAS trip that donated the proceeds to Operation Hunger.  This day was dedicated to going around the outskirts of Cape town and giving back to those in need.  The first stop was a soup kitchen inside of a church.  This was one church of about 5 in a small town.  This church gave food out to the community on Tuesdays, the other churches would have other days assigned to give out food as well.  We got to meet some of the staff and the pastor and asked him questions about the neighborhood and the children.  He said the churches keep lots of kids from wandering around on the streets and also puts food in their bellies when their parents cannot afford to.  The next place we went was a day care.  This is considered a “crèche project” which is usually when a few women, living out of their houses, fixes up another house and runs her own day care.  This woman taught about 60 kids at one time.  They were all about 4 years old.  We asked her questions about her salary and she told us she gets paid about 60 Rand a week, that is less than 10 US dollars for 45 hours worth of work.  This is completely different from how day care salaries are in the US and it really opened many of our eyes up to the issues with money around the area.  It was time to meet the children.

The woman lead us to a classroom where a group of us, about 10 girls, walked in and stood there. There was a room full of 15 children. Half of them started to cry. They were scared by our skin color and the teacher had explained to us that the last time they saw white people was when they had received their vaccinations. These children were so beautiful. In Cape Town, you are white, black or “colored” which is anything other than white or black. There is a large Indian population and mixed population, which would qualify as the colored race. Their accents are so interesting and very pleasing to listen to. It sounds like an Australian or British-Indian accent. So I walked in the room and my jaw dropped. I have never had a chance to play with children, has crazy as that sounds. I am the youngest in my family and with Eden still a very young baby, I have never really had the chance to interact with younger children. This was a very incredible moment for me, I was very emotional when the children stopped crying and they came running up to us, hugging us and playing with our hair and clothes and jewelry. Each and every child’s skin was so beautiful; many of the children were of mixed race, all of them with South African accents. This was a very healthy classroom. We had the opportunity of weighing every child and then putting pink stickers on their hand that told them how much they weighed. They weighed anywhere from 14-25 KG which was average for this age range. After weighing them, we got to spend the next hour playing with them. I have to say here at this moment was the first time I have ever felt so appreciated by so many young children at the same time. I interacted very well with a 4 year old boy named Classé who not only fell in love with me but he loved my camera as well. He was very bright. He not only learned how to use my camera but he shared it with his friends and he taught others how to use it too. I let him take pictures and videos of himself, his friends and me for a long while. I got to look at the pictures afterwards and was very impressed with them. Its really great looking at the pictures he took because it gives you a great perspective into the eyes of a 4 year old and I thought that would make an interesting art project. I got to read the lion king to them, which was really powerful to me because I got to see the expressions on all of their faces at the end and it made me really happy. I was so sad to leave them and many of the kids started to cry again.

The next place we went to was a library that the community built into a small room the size of our shed in our backyard. This library meant the world to many students who would walk here after school and read books that were donated from families all over the area.

Lastly, We got to visit a “squatter village” outside Cape town and this was the most powerful thing I have done yet. We drove around the many shack houses and small shelters that were built in a small area and near by we could see big beautiful houses down the street. This was really shocking because we couldn’t believe that there was a small population of wealthy people living in these houses because the real estate was so cheap. As our bus drove by the side of the village, handfuls of children would coming running out from their houses, from playing futbol in the field and from around corners to see us. Pretty soon, about thirty children were running with the bus. We finally stopped at a woman’s house. This woman was the village babysitter and a government employed caretaker for all of the children in the squatter village. With help from Operation Hunger and volunteers like us, these children were fed in large groups about twice a week. The rest of the week, their parents could afford to give them very small portions of food. There were about 40 kids sitting on the floor in this woman’s garage. They were very happy to see us and even sang us a song that they had been preparing. One kid was even wearing a donated semester at sea shirt. Their ages ranged from 3-10 with very few teenagers. Most of them were wearing little to no clothing and many were victims of HIV and AIDS. We were able to prepare them some food and feed them in our short visit. This was a very powerful moment. Although each kid was starving, they waited very patiently to get their plates of food. Some didn’t even touch their food until handed forks. Afterwards, we passed around a pitcher of clean water and all of the children started to smile and laugh and sing because they were so happy. This was an incredibly life changing moment for me and I’m so glad I decided to go on this trip. When it was time to say our goodbyes, many of the kids were very curious to get on the bus because they had never seen anything like it. It was an incredible day. Tuesday- I participated in a Habitat for Humanity project in a village about half an hour outside Cape Town. I was surprised with how close these poor villages were to the very wealthy waterfront where our ship was docked. For decades these two areas have been very segregated with no help from apartheid across the nation. I was in a group of about 15 people, 3 were faculty members, one of them being my psychology professor. We arrived at a completely transformed part of the village. Habitat worked very diligently in this area, with the help of volunteers, to put up several houses at a time. They build about 10-15 houses a month, each taking about a week to build from the ground up. These houses were the size of a large garage. They were tall, square, sturdy and beautifully painted. We stopped at our project. There was a group of semester at sea students who arrived the day before that had started the foundation and dry walls of the house. It was our job to put the roof together. The day was spent in assembly lines passing hundreds of tile slates, about 40 backs of cement and red brick. We also worked on scaffolding, painting panels and cleaning the work site. I was having so much fun working with the group and we all stayed very positive. The new homeowners welcomed us with freshly baked Amaguenya bread and pineapple soda. This bread was the most delicious sugary doughy bread I’ve ever eaten. It was like a healthy donut. They were so appreciative of all our help. The day went very well and I’m glad I chose to do this.

I am so proud of myself to have helped so much in Cape Town. Because we lost the first day to wind, I wanted to be selfish and take one or both of the last two days to myself and go horseback riding, but I’m glad I didn’t. If I ever do return to South Africa, which I highly plan on doing, I don’t think I will be able to have service project experiences quite like these.

Sunday- Cape Coast, a visit to the Slave Castles, an insight on the horrors inside.

It was early morning when I boarded a bus to Cape Coast. This was a trip that was generously given to me by Aunt Deb. About an hour later, we arrived at the first castle I have ever seen. Cape Coast castle is beautiful. It stands tall, bright white, with cannons surrounding the perimeter. Built by Swedish traders in in 1653, made entirely of stone. It was conquered by the English and was rebuilt in the 18th century. It became the seat of the colonial Government of the British Gold Coast. This castle was used in the Atlantic Slave trade. Once inside, a tour guide showed around my group. The inside was incredible and beautifully structured. The views from over the wall were breath taking. You could see the Atlantic Ocean crashing up on the beach surrounding the stone walls. This was the home to hundreds of thousands of slaves. In the castle were several dungeons, a few for men and a few for women. I stood in the middle of the castle. The sky shows through the area like a courtyard. On the second floor you could see all the brightly blue painted shudders. All the windows that were kept open represented the rooms that were used in determining how much each slave was worth. I entered the male dungeon first. I walked down a dark narrow hall that lead me into a corridor with several rooms. Each room would contain up to 250 people. These rooms were very small. There was only one window about 1 foot in width. A feeling of complete sadness overwhelmed me. I was standing in this room with about 50 people and it already felt crowded. It was pitch dark and we were all sweating profusely. I could absolutely not imagine how it felt to live each and every day waiting inside these walls. Around the edges of the room were ditches in the ground that were meant to contain human waste. There was a chalk line drawn on the wall that showed us how high the waste would go, about a foot and a half off the ground. The ground we were standing on was black. It was made from a mixture of dirt and feces from the people who came and went in these dungeons over hundreds of years. I wept tears of complete sadness for those who stood where I was standing, dying.

On the outside of the dungeon were two plaques.

One read: “This plaque was unveiled by President Barak Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama of the United States of America on the occasion of their visit to the Cape Coast Castle on the 11th day of July 2009”.

The second read: “In everlasting memory of the anguish of our ancestors. May those who died rest in peace. May those who return find their roots. May humanity never again perpetrate such injustice against humanity. We. The Living. Vow to uphold this.”

We got back on the bus, went to a beautiful resort on the beach and had lunch. I enjoyed the views of the ocean, the color of the sand and how it felt in between my toes. I am so blessed to be here. One more castle to see. The Portuguese built Elmina Castle in 1482. It is the oldest European building in existence below the Sahara. It was first established as a trade settlement, and soon became one of the most important buildings involved in the slave trade. This castle was even more beautiful than the first. It stood tall, white with a large gate, and a moat surrounding the perimeter. This castle had several floors, with large areas that contained more cannons. The views here were unbelievable. I took pictures and videos but could not possibly give it justice. Outside the walls of this castle, boys played futbol on the beach as the tides came in. There was a city near by with small houses and many people. Men on the beach were building the most unusual fishing boats I’ve ever seen, out of gorgeous wood. These people lived here, everyday they were reminded of their ancestors who served here and were tortured, sent away from their land forever to serve the white men. Inside this castle were many corridors. One of the courtyards contained a trap door to the basement. This door was explained to us by the tour guide as the entrance to a secret room used by the most highly known people in the castle. This is where governors, superiors, and slave sellers would rape slave women. Many times, these poor women would contract STDs, including AIDS and would become pregnant. The biracial children would spend the rest of their lives as castle workers, never to leave the outside walls. This trip gave me a greater insight to the evils that humanity can prevail. I learned so much about how one power can become just the right amount to destroy nations and the people who live within them. How could we have let this happen, and for so long? The independence shown here is the most important part of my travels. I vow to be one of the people who seek injustices around the world and to help the suffering find hope for a better life. Thank you Aunt Deb for providing me with this trip and the experience I’ll never forget.

Monday- Running with the waves in Africa Beach

I woke up late, well rested from a night of deep thought. This was a beach day. Eager to venture, my roommate, Simi, and her two friends invited me to come with them to Africa Beach. We hopped in a cab for 5 Cedi (2 US dollars) and were on our way! We arrived at a beautiful hotel that welcomed tourists to their poolside bar. The four of us swam in the pool, enjoyed drinks and walked on the beach. The waves were high, and the water was warm. I had never been so comfortable in the Atlantic Ocean. We met a handful of men from Scotland. We were all having a good time, sharing stories about mixed cultures and getting along great. These men live here all year round, working for a private company that drills oil. I had just recently learned in my Global Studies class that Ghana, as well as Nigeria and few other African countries, have been recently discovered as very resourceful oil targeted areas. I found it interesting to get to speak with men who spent every day working with this oil. Several hours later, we parted ways, them to the drills, us to our ship.

Tuesday- Adventure to Accra; return to Takoradi

Seven of my friends and I had planned to devote a day to see Accra. This is the capital of Ghana, about 4 hours away from our port in Takoradi. It is home to nearly 4 million people. We had made it our goal to wake up early, get breakfast, and walk half an hour away to a bus that would take us there. Upon arrival around noon, we exited the bus and searched for a cab. Accra is very crowded. Instantly, I felt like the minority. Hundreds of African men and women stared at us. We were not very welcome downtown near this bus station. We were shouted at, and told to “go back to America”. We decided to walk to the nearest point on our map. About 45 minutes later, we arrived at Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum, named after and dedicated to a prominent Ghanaian leader. It is the last resting place of Ghana’s first president who is remembered in history as one of the leading exponents of Pan-Africanism during his days. We paid 10 Cedi to enter the park and see the sculptures and fountains built in his remembrance. There were several peacocks that lived in the park and represented peace and tranquility. These are the most beautiful birds I have ever seen. We also walked to the Independence Arch, built to commemorate Ghana’s independence. Inscribed at the top of Arch is their national motto: “Freedom and Justice”. After that, we walked to the Parliament buildings of Ghana and viewed the Supreme Court houses resting inside tall gates and representing large statues. Next we went to grab lunch at an out door restaurant and shop at the market near by. We walked around a bit more on Oxford street and got gelato then boarded the bus again back to Takoradi. When we got on the ship, we found out that the water had been turned off for conservation. Our legs were all sandy so we washed up in the shallow water in the pool on the 7th deck while looking at the stars.

Wednesday- Busua Beach Villa Overnight

Because the port of Takoradi is located near a cocoa factory, it is inconvenient to get into town. We have to walk half an hour to a checkpoint where Ghanaian police check our IDs and let us through to the cabs. I spent most of this day on the ship getting some work done. I waited to for my friends to return from their trips and then all 15 of us got into cabs and headed to these beach villas at Busua Beach. We stayed at a place called “Alaska resort” because the owners moved here from there. We all drank by the bonfire and shared stories from back home. We went swimming for hours and fell asleep on the beach. It was one of the best nights of my life! Thursday- lunch, departure I spent the day walking around Takoradi to find an Internet café. Most of the internet that streams into Ghana is hooked up through a company called Vodafone. This internet runs through their cell phones and gives them a better connection. I paid 1 cedi for an hour (that’s less than 50 cents US) But it was so slow that I could only check my Sage email and bank account. Afterwards a group of us went to eat at a Ghanaian -Chinese restaurant. The food was amazing. I had to be back on the

Hello All~

Have been hearing lots about the snow and terrible storms.  Hope that you are all safe and have been taking advantage of a few days off from work!  Hate to say it, but I’m a bit glad that instead of worrying about parking on the right side of the road for a snow emergency, I am waking up early every day, attending class, then tanning on the starboard deck for about 5 hours a day and loving every minute of it.  We are so close to the equator and it feels like it is about 85 degrees with bright blue clear skies and lots of salty wind.  I try and do yoga at sunset on the top deck every other day to stay active and practice meditation.  

It is an absolutely breath taking few.  I can dine outside and see the sun hide between the clouds, painting the entire sky pink, showing its reflection on the water.  The ocean is just as beautiful.  It scares me a bit to know that there are so many creatures underneath us right now.  Many have said that they have spotted whales and dolphins.  I was lucky enough to see pink dolphins and sea snakes in the Amazon.  

From Manaus, Brazil to Takoradi, Ghana is a 9 day trip at sea.  It will be our longest time in between ports this semester.  Many of us don’t know what to do with ourselves on the ship while at sea.  We only have two classes a day and they are pretty spread out.  My friends and I have been making it a habit to show up to lunch early every day (11:45) so that we can get the best spot in line.  (The line usually runs down the hall, around the corner and down the stairs).  And the same goes to dinner at 5:30.  The food is pretty good but very plain.  Every day, every meal will consists of pasta and potatoes which are my favs but when you add it up, I have already eaten 63 meals of pasta and potatoes since I have been here, so I have already blown through the snacks I have brought with me.  And since I am so used to being spoiled by Albany’s delicious water, I have been completely grossed out by the water on the ship.  It tastes salty and is full of chlorine.  Unless you want to spend $4 for a bottled water, you’re chugging purified amazon. (just kidding)  

Having limited internet and resources really makes you appreciate what you have at home and also makes you think more carefully when you encounter those in developing countries who have grown up without either.  There is also a shortage of fruit on the ship.  The other day one girl almost got trampled to death by 600 hungry students for taking the last vine of grapes.  Picture: a bunch of lions on a wildebeest.  You do the math. Grapes everywhere.

Every night at 10pm there is “snack time”.  This is when the chefs put out PB J or other sweets and treats and we socialize for the most part or twiddle our thumbs.  Since there is no TV or music, there is nothing left to do but play board games to pass the time.  We have all probably played just about every game possible from UNO and Catch Phrase to Rummy and Go fish.

Tonight was fun because we had our sea olympics pep rally (each floor is a different sea) my floor is the Aegean Sea, we sported our team spirit with our color, navy blue.  I was decked out with a blue tee, jean shorts and a bandana (pics to come).  Tonight every team met in the union, the biggest room on the ship, to chant and boo other teams and kick butt!  Each team had a couple mins to show off their spirit, we practiced a song, screamed a chant and even had the DJ choreograph the lights for us… but we only got 2nd place in terms of chanting spirit compared to the others.  Tomorrow is our “reading day” which is a day that we do not have class.  It is dedicated to the participation in the SEA OLYMPICS.  The point of this is to get everyone to come together regardless of race or gender to gain a greater knowledge of team work and moral support.  There are a ton of activities that we had to sign up for in advance including synchronized swimming, dodgeball, basketball, soccer, relay races and more.  It goes from 1pm to 8pm I believe but I have a psych test the next day so I have to study in between.  The winner of the olympics will be the first group of people to get off the ship when we dock in our last port, San Diego.  This may not seem exciting to us now but when the last day comes and we’re all packed to go, there will be a line for 750 people to get off.  We are going to make it be our goal to be first off.

The ship welcomes a student from each country to come on board.  They are given scholarships to fly to the country before theirs and stay on until we reach the port closest to their port.  They are called “inter port students”.  The last student’s name was Louis from Brazil.  He had to fly to Dominica and get off in Manaus.  It was sad saying goodbye.  I just met Ghana’s inter port student.  Her name is Esenam and she is a real sweetheart.  The inter port students get the most attention on the ship and do not have to participate in class unless they want to.  She sits at every meal with us and tells us all about life in Ghana.  She told me she would take me to meet her friends and family in her village.  Since I am doing a project on Ghana for my Global studies class, she has agreed to let me use her in my digital art posters.

5 more days till we reach Africa! I am so excited and cannot believe this is happening.  Every day I thank god that it is and am so so blessed to have such an amazing family such as you guys!  I am thinking about you all a million times a day and am praying for each and every one of you! Love you all so much,

Michelle :)

Sunday- travel, (Miguel’s story of the butterfly) arrival at lodge, dinner, gator hunt, star gazing

I signed up for a 3 day Amazon adventure with a group of 10 other students.  We got in a van that took us to our tour place in Manaus.  From there, we paid R450 ($250) to go on the Amazon Tour.  I got to meet the founder of the program, Miguel, and spoke to him about the Amazon and it’s natural beauty.  He told me to appreciate everything the way it is and to look with my eyes more than with my camera.  He also told me the “secret” of the jungle.  He told me to approach Brazil ~

the forest with an open mind and heart.  Once at the base of its roots, I must close my eyes and ask my soul for permission to experience such beauty.  He said I would know if I am allowed to embrace the strength of this nature once a blue butterfly lands on me.  I was hopeful.

Our group got into a van which brought us to a speedboat where we saw the “meeting of the rivers”, the crossing of two river bodies; the black one (Rio Negro) and the tan one (Solimoes), both separated by temperature and density.  This was incredible because if you were in the boat, you could look out your right window and see all brown water and then look out your left and see dark and cold murky water.  It looked as if someone had poured their tea into the river.  We spotted a few dolphins as well.   They had beautiful pale pink skin and long mouths containing lots of teeth.  Once we got across, we walked to a bus that drove us an hour to a river boat with a motor.  This small boat brought us through winding waters filled with green plants.  We ended up getting our motor tangled and had to maneuver ourselves out.  Eventually, we arrived at our lodge, a cozy little village made out of wood huts and bamboo roofs.  It stands at the top of a huge hill surrounded by hundreds of river passages that replace the streets.  We had a wonderful lunch with fresh fruit and pasta.  After lunch, we went canoeing to see the local birds and spotted more dolphins and heard howler monkeys.  We returned for dinner then back out for alligator spotting after dark.  We saw a baby black Cayman that was a couple feet long, I even got to hold it.  After that, we all laid down on the dock and looked up at the stars.  The sky was the most beautiful I have ever seen it.  Being in the southern hemisphere, I got to see so many new constellations.  It was pitch dark and it made every little star stand out.  At night, we fell asleep in hammocks that had mosquito nets wrapped over them.  I felt like I was sleeping in a cocoon.  Surprisingly, I was very comfortable.

Monday- jungle trek, fire ants, lunch, piranha fishing, Miguel’s stories

We woke up at 7am ready for the hike through the jungle.  I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect so I took some people’s advice about wearing a long sleeved shirt and jeans even though it must have been about 100 degrees out and super humid.  The Amazon river is located in the Amazonas section of Brazil which is the hottest and most humid part of the country.  I was dripping with sweat before I even stepped outside.  I approached the entrance and asked my soul for permission to enter.  Nothing happened.  Once inside, the sun disappeared, causing dark shadows to fall on everyone’s faces.  Our guide, Matteo, showed us the different types of flora and fauna in the jungle and spoke about many of their purposes.  We came across a path that had been infested with army ants.  I’ve never seen so many huge red ants in my life.  Suddenly, Matteo tells us to run and so we did.  I never ran so fast in my life, it felt like years.  We ran about half a mile through the jungle, jumping over logs, dodging tree branches, swatting mosquitoes, wiping our faces, and making sure we didn’t look behind.  Once Matteo stopped running, we knew we were safe.  I looked down to see ants crawling all over my jeans and shoes.  I stomped around, shaking them off one by one.  This was the moment that I thanked God for wearing jeans.  We continued through the jungle looking for exotic insects.  We came across a tarantula the size of my face!  It lived in a small hole at the bottom of a tree. After the hike, we returned for lunch and a short rest before heading to the canoes for piranha fishing.  The river was beautiful at sunset.  We split into two boats and held long wooden fishing poles and used larger fish meat for bait.  I held my hook down into the water for a couple minutes and lifted it back up to see that the bait had already been eaten.  I raised the pole higher in the water so that when I lured the piranhas in, I could see them swimming about the bait.  It was incredible how many of them swam to the meat and how fast they ate it.  I practiced pulling the hook up into their mouths when they least expected it.  After about an hour, I caught two!  Not bad for my first time fishing!  When we went back to the lodge, we ate our dinner and listened to Miguel tell his stories from life.  He brought out his photo album and explained to us what life was like when he was a young Brazilian.  He started a band, joined the circus, sang in the Opera, was an Olympic gymnast, worked for tourist companies and even took over the village that we were staying in.  He also spoke about telepathy, UFOs and coincidences, all of which will be theories discussed in a book he is currently writing.  That night, I was awoken several times by the loud howls of the howler monkeys outside our window.

Tuesday- village visit, lunch, depart, drinks

In the morning we got in the canoes and ventured toward Matteo and Miguel’s family homes.  We got to see what the average river property looked like and see firsthand the experiences that Brazilian families have there.  Upon arrival, we were greeted by the families two fun, spunky, flea bitten dogs and lots of squawking chickens.  I got to see the father cut a huge block of wood into a paddle for his boat in a matter of twenty minutes.  The mother prepared us a snack of dried flour and the kids showed us their room which they shared with everyone.  The house had a kitchen, bathroom and one main room all built by the father out of beautiful soft wood.  The main room slept 8 people comfortably in several large hammocks.  We walked all over their land and came across their food factory.  In the backyard under a wood roof, were all sorts of wooden machines that processed the flour they collected and turned it into breads.  They had a large steel stove used for cooking and also an electric stove in the house.  The family survives on the income they make and are happy.  They can choose to work on the farm growing pineapple, nuts, flowers, and large coconut like fruit, or they can sell their property and move to the city.  The kids come and go from school on a small motor canoe and fish for dinner every night.  This family was content and very gracious for letting us walk through their home.  When we were leaving, I walked up to the mother and said “Obregada!” which means Thank you in Portuguese.  She in turn gave me a large round fruit.  Moments later, a blue butterfly landed on my arm.

We said our goodbyes to Matteo and Miguel and thanked them for the incredible 3 days.  We ventured back to port and had dinner together.  The 10 of us, 6 girls and 4 boys have grown really close and have been hanging out almost every day.  We went out for a drink that night at a street bar in the middle of town.  The streets were filled with people and there were several huge flat screen TVs hanging from windows that were showing many different futbol games.

Wednesday- early morning city trek, shopping, site seeing, infinity pool, samba, crocodillios

The 10 of us agreed to meet again the following morning to see Manaus.  It is a beautiful city with interesting architecture and highly respected people.  We toured the Opera house built in 1896 and got to see the behind the scenes of where the wealthy would sit and dance during and after the performances.  Then we went to a giant cathedral.  We walked in and watched as people were kneeling, praying.  One by one, we started to kneel and pray too.  For some of us, this was our first time, for others, it felt familiar and comfortable.  I sat back and appreciated being blessed with this opportunity.  Others may have prayed for the heat to retrieve.  Our next stop was lunch at a local “Buffalo Buffet” and then to the market for some shopping.  At this point, we were so drenched in sweat and exhausted from the heat, that we needed to take action.  We had heard rumors about a luxurious hotel called the Park Suites and that it had an infinity pool.  We hopped in a cab and drove 45 mins away from port to this hotel.  We made it our mission to walk in like we owned the place, back to the pool and swim!  Success!  The sun was setting as we came up to the most beautiful pool I have ever seen.  We were the only ones there.  The water came right up the edge of the walls of the hotel, looking as if it went on forever, out into the huge river.  This was the perfect cure for a hot day.