Santa Catarina

I was thinking the other day that I have been feeling a little homeless lately. After I thought about it, I realized that since the Planning at the beginning of July, I have not slept more than 5 nights in the same place! So I think that has something to do with it. And I probably won’t for the rest of the time that I am here either, because this weekend I am travelling again (though not far) and the weekend after I might be gone as well.

So where did I go this last weekend? Santa Catarina! If you go south from Sao Paulo state, you get to Paraná, where Curitiba is, and if you keep going you get to the state of Santa Catarina, capital Florianopolis.

On Friday morning I caught the 6:00 am bus to Curitiba and met up with Igor at the bus station. It hadn't rained in Curitiba for four months.... until I came back :P That evening we went to check out the wire opera house, which was really cool. It would be a really great place to see the Phantom, which is ironic because my family was in Vancouver this last weekend seeing the Phantom.

On Saturday I got up early to drive with Igor’s family down to Santa Catarina. Our first stop was the amusement park, the largest in Latin America (though what in Brazil isn’t the largest in Latin America..??). Igor wanted to go on the “Big Tower” which was basically a 10 or more story fee fall. I said first we should try the smaller version, which was a good 5 or 6 stories. And OMG it was scary! You go up and then wheel forward and you’re thinking…. There’s no going back now!! And then…. Whoosh……. Down you go, nothing underneath you! That one left me shaking! The roller coaster was also really good, though much tamer. We also caught some of the shows they had, and wandered around the zoo. They had a little of everything, from elephants to baboons. It was cool to see all the monkeys (technically primates) and I soon realized how much of my primatology I have forgotten from Anth 250 :P


The smaller tower with the "Big Tower" in the background

Then we headed back to Igor’s aunts house and made pastels! Afterwards we went for a walk on the beach. I was walking with Igor’s brother and two cousins (Matheus, Rodrigo and Fernanda). It was really interesting talking to the kids. The older two appreciated that I didn’t understand everything and they spoke slowly for me. When I didn’t get it, they tried to say it in a different way, or communicate with their hands. The little girl however, talked to me a million miles a minute in Portuguese with a southern accent and I was lucky to catch a few words! She didn’t seem to mind too much though, haha.

The previous weekend I met Renata’s little 5 year old cousin, who responded to me a little differently. She asked Renata why she was talking to me in English (she knew it was English). Renata told her it was because I didn’t speak Portuguese. The little girl asked why I didn’t speak Portuguese, in a rather shocked voice. Renata explained that it was because I came from a different country. At this point the little girl was a bit lost, but upon request, she told me some words she knew in English, which was actually quite a few for a five year old, which demonstrates the influence of North American culture!

On Sunday we went back to the beach and had the brilliant idea of climbing the rocks…..which were very jagged…. with no shoes. It took us two hours, but we made it! With only one cut toe (mine) and a bit of sunburn. Once on the other side, however, we realized that the rocks were part of a ridge that extended inland. So to get back home we had to walk all the way around, which took another hour. So after three hours of hiking around the beach and city, we made it home for a rest. We had some food and then it was time to head back to Curitiba.


Making our way across the rocks


Success!! Me, Rodrigo and Igor

On Monday I slept in and then went in the afternoon to catch the bus back to Sao Paulo.

Today (Tuesday) was one of those days where you just get nothing done. I had an education meeting in the morning, and then we decided to go to Bandejão for lunch. So we went to find Fernando to borrow his car. Who would drive? Me! When Renato asked Fernando for the keys he replied “você?” [you?]. Renato said “Nao, Jess” [No, Jess] and Fernando said “Ah, sousa” [Ah, that’s ok]. Haha. So I was given Fernando’s keys and we were off driving around USP. AIESEC Roadtrip about USP!! Haha. I gave my camera to the girls (Renata, Tiaia and Maira) and they took a video of us driving around. After lunch we decided to go driving some more, and Tiaia suggested we stop at the Museum of Anatomy. Why we listened to her I’m really not sure, but a few human organs and deformed fetuses in jars of formaldehyde later, we headed back to FEA.


Ahhh, back behind the wheel!

We had an EB meeting, which I was supposedly heading. It is very difficult, however, to keep a meeting on track when the participants keep talking in Portuguese and you have no clue what’s going on! So it wasn’t the greatest meeting, but afterwards we went for icecream. (See what I said about not getting anything done?). Then I sent a few emails…. Talked on MSN…. And headed home.

Getting home was painful though, as I had to wait 45 minutes for a bus which I would ride for 30 minutes. Ugh. OK, I officially hate the buses in Sao Paulo. But now I am home and I plan on spending the evening drinking tea wrapped in my blanket and making AIESEC documents. So tchau!