January 8th: Day 7
Today was a day like no other, a day with NO scheduled programs of agenda. We woke up and piled out of our rooms because it is the day we leave Rio and head to Curitiba! We ate breakfast at the hotel, then loaded into the vans to be brought to the airport. The ride was bitter sweet, it was very great to see all of the beauty Rio has, but it was sad to have to say goodbye so soon. It felt like we just got to Rio and now we were leaving. We filed out of the van and headed into the airport and awaited our only direct flight of the entire trip. The flight was... I have no idea honestly. As soon as my butt hit the seat, I was completely asleep and I didn't wake up until I was shaken by Tyler at the gate in Curitiba. We filed off the plane and headed toward the baggage claim. After playing on the bag mover and being typical American college knuckleheads, we packed into the bus and off we went to the hotel. Today was about to take a very strange turn, Ana developed what looked like pinkeye and had a few people in a hysteria. This lead to high tensions between everyone as we sat attempting to figure out the room situation. Most of the girls wanted to rearrange, but that only caused tension and frustration. Tait handled it and made the girls stay where they were, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The guys were relatively the same except having a three man room and a two man room, we now had two, two man rooms and Andy had his own room. After we all settled in, Tait took Ana to the doctors and we were on our own until the next day. Everyone piled out of the hotel to find food, but after arguing for too long, Jack, Erika, and myself headed to a buffet, and it was well worth the walk! The food was fresh, authentic, and I didn't know what anything was! I ate whatever looked good, and I was not disappointed. With full bellies we walked back to the hotel to meet up with the group. A shower to get cleaned up to go back out for a walk, turned into a nap until supper time. I walked downstairs and met the group where we ordered form the hotel restaurant, ate and laughed about all the fun we had had! A very full belly meant, bed was soon in my future. Today was a very nice break to the fast paced schedule we had been following. We all were finally able to relax and catch up on sleep! Hopefully I will be rested up enough to tackle all the new adventures that come my way!
Fun Fact of the Day: The pressure change in an airplane will make a sealed water bottle leak all over the person sitting in front of you.
Fun Fact of the Day: The pressure change in an airplane will make a sealed water bottle leak all over the person sitting in front of you.
January 9th: Day 8
Today we had the first round of meetings with officials and the learning really comes into play! We began the day by dressing to impress, and meeting in the lobby. From here we loaded into taxis and we were off to the presentation! We goofed around outside for a while, until Tait told us we needed to act mature, whatever that means. We then were introduced to a few officials and the speaker. Our speaker was Daniele Moraes, an architect and an urban planner for Curitiba. Her presentations covered the history of Curitiba, the development of the urban plan, the evolution of the different plans, and how everything impacts Curitiba today. It was a fantastic presentation enlightening us on many of ideas and theories behind what shaped this iconic city. Curitiba is designed in a star formation with urbanized legs connecting urbanization and residential committees, everything was developed around this structure and runs very smoothly because of it. Since this presentation had ended, it was time to so visit the EPA office, where we met the most colorful characters I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. His name is Carlos, and he looked like he stepped out of the 1960's, long gray hair down to the middle of his back, skin tight biking clothes, circular sunglasses, and a 2016 Rio Olympics Bike jersey, a one of a kind individual. Carlos took us on a tour of the EPA office which was made of completely recycled materials, and one man's trash turned into a real treasure. The office was stunning! it had a open floor plan with, with offices and a huge conference room on the first level and a very open floor plan with a balcony on the second level. My favorite part of the offices was the wood work, it was gorgeous. The building was a heavy timber construction and the floors were the most beautiful recycled wood, all native forest species. The focal point had to be the stairs, a spiral stair case of recycled wood. The steps themselves were eighteen inches wide and four inches thick! It was the most beautiful stair case I've seen! The office was remarkable to say the least! We continued our tour stopping at various buildings and sites to discuss their design and uses. After coming to the final building we sat down and discussed a few of the cities initiative programs focusing mostly on the Green Exchange, but it was very hard to stay focused when we were so tired! The Green exchange s a program in which residents of Curitiba trade recyclable materials for vegetables, fruits, and other commodities in a four to one ratio. After the nap, I mean lecture, we walked into one of the parks to experience it first hand. The park was filled with people playing and enjoying themselves, but the best sigh was the capybaras! They are the world's largest rodent and they were hanging out on the river banks and even cooling off in the river itself! Seeing them made my day because I've always wanted to see one, and i finally did. We hung out in the park for a while, soaking in the sites and making fun of a lady's abnormally hairy forearms! Taxis took us back to the hotel, where we relaxed until dinner time. Dinner was a special treat from Andy's parents for his birthday. We walked a long ways to a mall where we had dinner at a very nice restaurant. The dinner was the usual, a buffet, but with a twist. Besides the buffet food, the waiters would walk around with plates of meat on a stick, and give you as much as you wanted! They brought skewers with steak, some with sausage, others with pork, some with chicken hearts. It was an absolute meat-fest, and I loved every minute of it! It was an awesome dinner and I really want to find another place like this either here or back in the states! Walking home was interesting, because Tait is directional challenged. What was a decent walk there turned into a winding hike down the dark streets of Curitiba. I could have done without the walk, but it was definitely an experience I will not forget! Today was very cool, I can't decide which was more exciting the capybaras or the meat fest dinner. They were both awesome and a tie of which made my day better! I am very excited to see what tomorrow holds, hopefully more steak skewers...
Fun Fact of the Day: The architecture of the buildings in the Curitiba area were designed to create natural air conditioning, and the average temperature inside the buildings is 15 degrees cooler.
Curitiba is named after the Pine trees that is indigenous to the area, which look a lot like an inverted umbrella.
Fun Fact of the Day: The architecture of the buildings in the Curitiba area were designed to create natural air conditioning, and the average temperature inside the buildings is 15 degrees cooler.
Curitiba is named after the Pine trees that is indigenous to the area, which look a lot like an inverted umbrella.
January 10th: Day 9
Today was one of the less exciting days we've had so far, but that doesn't mean it still wasn't fun. We began the day by hauling out stinky laundry down the road a few blocks to a the first laundry mat we saw. It was a good thing we brought them there because our clothes really were getting some serious funk to them. From here we headed back to hotel to began the walk to the transportation headquarters. The talk we listened to was very informative about how the actual transportation system was designed and how it is able to be so efficient. The city's most proud achievement is the "green line," a bus route completely run off alternative fuels. From here we went to see with transportation system in action, and we stared through a window at the operators, like people looking at monkeys at the zoo. I give the operators so much credit because I would not be a calm and ignore us like they did. The most exciting portion of the morning had to do with our own transportation, the walk to the presentation. We were followed for several blocks by a pickpocket, who was obviously trying to target us. The girls were moved to the center with the guys blocking form the outside. Tait did his best to ignore him, then discourage him, and finally he mutter a quote I will never forget. It goes, "Tyler hold my I pad, I'm going to deck this guy." This was the funniest thing I've ever heard Tait say, until he described the situation later on and explain that he does not punch to injure, " I punch to kill." This was a side of Tait I never expected and it made me laugh harder than I ever had. We soon stopped for lunch at another buffet, and like usual the food was great! I ate too many fired bananas though, three would have been a good stopping point not fourteen. Full bellies and all it was time to catch the bus, the tourist line to be specific. We rode the double-decker bus all over the city seeing all different sites, but only exiting the bus at two locations, the Botanical Gardens and the Steel Opera House. The Botanical Gardens were beautiful, being it was the peak of summer, everything was out in full bloom. The flowers were gorgeous, and the amounts of them were unbelievable. The opera house was very unique, with a interesting story. It was built in an abandoned quarry and constructed in seventy five days. The construction was of steel tubing bent in all shapes and forms, but my favorite part was the wildlife. We saw turtles swimming, what appeared to be bass, carp, and DUCKS! They were only muscovy ducks, but they were still wild ducks and I was glad to see them. From here we rode the bus back to the hotel, where we relaxed until supper time. For dinner it was Tyler, Kimmie, Jack, and myself and we headed to a little bar we saw earlier in the day. The bar was only a block from the hotel, and was a goldmine. The food was amazing, we even passed our sandwiches around the table so we could all try them! There was a live band playing awesome Brazilian music, and we soaked up the culture and loved every minute of it! My favorite part of the dinner was that we were given cards with are names on them for the bill, except Tyler was called Carlo, and I was Henri! Gotta love it! After dinner we ran back to hotel, trying to avoid being late for the presentations, but they were canceled. Instead we had a group reflection which was a needed change of pace. Today was a really cool day, it wasn't crazy like jumping into the Amazon River, but we made a lot of great memories and found a bar that was fantastic, and I can't wait to go back!
Fun Fact of the Day: Jamie Lerner was famous for finishing projects fast, He created the most famous pedestrian mall in a three day weekend, and the city constructed their steel opera house, in an abandoned quarry in merely seventy five days.
Fun Fact of the Day: Jamie Lerner was famous for finishing projects fast, He created the most famous pedestrian mall in a three day weekend, and the city constructed their steel opera house, in an abandoned quarry in merely seventy five days.
January 11th: Day 10
Today was a disappointing day. We began our day by dressing up and heading to what we thought was a meeting with the cities officials and the mayor. Everyone put on the best clothes we had, and we headed out to what we thought would be an amazing presentation. We arrived at what looked like a rundown factory, and were asked to walk to the third floor. The area was empty and in disrepair, it only had a few chairs, a projector and an old wooden table. The "officials" we were supposed to meet with never showed up, instead a bunch of political wannabes showed up for the press attention. The presentation was supposed to be about the inter workings of the city and the thoughts of improvements for the future. It was not, it was a slide show of "how great we were in the 70's" and "we are innovators." The ironic part was that there was no innovations to show for in the past forty years. This presentation turned out to be a dog and pony show for the new group of political knuckleheads who are now running Curitiba. Each question we proposed tot hem was answered he same way, Innovation. It didn't matter what we asked them, the responded we are innovators and we need innovation, a typical political dodge of the real question. We went back to the hotel, feeling as if we were just played by a group of politicians, and in fact we had been. Lunch was a good booster, especially since we found a milkshake shop. I had a Nutella milkshake and it changed my life. It was the best milkshake I'd ever had! After lunch, we had originally planned to walking the parks and embracing Curitiba, but much like that presentation, that was a let down. Instead of walking the parks we found ourselves at the Oscar Neimeyer Museum of Modern Art, Yippee... Oscar Neimeyer was actually somewhat interesting. He was a Brazilian, architect with a very futurist style of his work. We made the best of the situation and managed to have some laughs walking around, again being followed by a pickpocket. This time it was a young boy, maybe fourteen, wearing a white fedora. We finally scared him off as we all turned around and stared as a group at him, it was a real sight to see! After the let down of a day, we went back to the hotel,and walked around the surrounding area. Tyler and myself bought cigars to brighten the mood, and smoked them out front of the hotel like bosses. For dinner we grabbed some empandas from a corner stand and they were spot on! Presentations were given by Erika and Ana and another by Anna and Tyler. I unfortunately don't remember much from them since I fell asleep on Heather's pillow. I walked back to the room to relax and go to bed, but just before I fell asleep, Tyler and Christian grabbed me and took me back to the bar to hang out and listen to some local music! I was so glad they did, because the band played Guns and Roses: Sweet Child O' Mine, and dedicated to the American boys sitting there. Today turned out to be a pretty cool day after all, even with the disappointing start. I hope tomorrow is better, but one day of disappointment sure isn't going to ruin our time in Brazil.
Fun Fact of the Day: Curitiba has about 50 square meters of parkland per person, which converts to 12 acres per 1000 residents.
Fun Fact of the Day: Curitiba has about 50 square meters of parkland per person, which converts to 12 acres per 1000 residents.
January 12th: Day 11
Today was unforgettable and special. It began like all of the other days, with eating breakfast at the hotel. Once we ate, we loaded onto the bus and we headed to the train station. The station was packed and no one had much room to move, and I was growing skeptical of the greatness that Tait claimed was in store for us. We all waited patiently for almost an hour before we loaded up into the train. Everyone took their seats, and I was stuck next to Tait... The guide in the front of the train explained that all the food and drinks were included so we took full advantage of that! We thought the free food and drink was going to be the highlight of the train ride until we left the outskirts of Curitiba. For three hours we rode into the mountains along the coast of Brazil, and saw things that simply took my breathe away! The views of massive waterfalls, steep cliffs, overpasses, tunnels, old mountain villages, huge rock faces along the mountain were all so incredible! It felt like we left the region and entered a whole new world. The Atlantic Forest is so diverse form one region to the other, which makes it that much more amazing to experience. I thought it was beautiful in Rio, but the views here completely takes the cake. After most of the views passed, I took a little nap. I woke up very confused to see three young Brazilian kids standing in the front of the train car chanting "No Music" into the microphone, and my entire class going wild as they did it. I will never understand what that was all about. After we left the train we were escorted to a local restaurant, where the meal was outstanding. The meal was simple, it consisted of rice, ground flour, fresh bananas, pulled beef, and fresh fried fish. Everything was delicious, but it wasn't as good as separate as it was mixed. An older gentleman from Belgium, who moved to Brazil, explained to me it was traditional to mix the dishes together. It was out of this world! The gentleman was very interesting, he spoke seven different languages and has spent his life traveling the globe. What a cool guy! After lunch we wandered around the small town, shopping, and just enjoying the sites! A small park is where I sent a good portion of the time, water rushed through the river below, and I sat on a large tree limb just soaking up the experience. Before we loaded into the bus, I treated myself to a acai bowl with bananas and granola! Beyond good, and it was the perfect dessert after the perfect lunch! After piling onto the bus, we stopped at a small church which we could see the ocean. It was so amazing to see the ocean again, and this time in a natural setting, not a crowed beach. After walking around for a bit and saying a quick prayer in the sanctuary, we headed back on the bus to continue the adventure back to the hotel. I was woken up thinking we were at the hotel, instead we were at truck stop where we all bought snacks. I ended up with six passion fruits, a Gatorade and some sort of banana candy which tasted like molasses. After stocking up on the snack it was back to napping on the bus until we reached the hotel. We relaxed for a bit, and munched on all of the fruit we bought sharing all the various snacks amoungst the group. Passion fruits have a quite acidic taste to them, and are sour, but very delicious, while the mango's were as sweet as could be! After a while, Jacalyn and myself decided we needed some time alone from the group so back to the bar we went. This time it was different, it was quiet even with all the loud music. We were able to talk, reflect and, truly get to know one another more than either of us imagined. It was one of the best dinners I've had so far, not because of the food, but the company made it special. After finishing up we decided it was a good time to head back and rejoin the group. The night ended with everyone hanging out and relaxing in the girls rooms, watching go pro videos from the days that had just passed. The entire class joined together to discuss and reflect upon the trip as a whole, and agreed it has been a life changing experience so far. It was a great time to wind down from the trip this far and prepare for our last city, Foz de Iguacu. Today was a really special day, not only did we go on an amazing train ride throughout Atlantic forest, but I can say I solidified a life long friendship today.
Fun Fact of the Day: The Atlantic Forest is a biodiversity hot-spot, meaning it is full of biodiversity and in threat of destruction.
The train we rode was originally used to connect the small mountain villages with the metropolitan hub of Curitiba, now it is a tourist passenger train.
Fun Fact of the Day: The Atlantic Forest is a biodiversity hot-spot, meaning it is full of biodiversity and in threat of destruction.
The train we rode was originally used to connect the small mountain villages with the metropolitan hub of Curitiba, now it is a tourist passenger train.