Brazil has been a cool experience so far. I have roughly 3 weeks left.

I've been meaning to write this and my dad just wrote "Tell a story" on my Facebook so might as well start here!

I'll break this post into 3 parts:

1. Expectations

2. Reality

3. Upcoming

It's been a minute since I've written a blog post, so please forgive my rustiness.

Expectations

I came to Brazil not fully knowing what to expect. I've met many friendly Brazilian's living in Portugal and many of them became great friends of mine. I've also heard that there's a lot of crime in some parts of Brazil and that in general the crime rate here is rather high, particularly in Rio de Jeneiro. And then again, there're people who totally love Brazil like Sofi Tukker (one of my favorite musicians) AND I know many talented Brazilian musicians and songs like one of the few on Austin Powers: Mais Que Nada.

I came here with my friend Luiza who invited me to come with her here and explore her home town of Rio das Ostras (3 hour drive from Rio de Janeiro) and meet her family.

In my mind

I always thought of Brazil as this beautiful place full of life, plants, cool birds, etc. like in the movies like the animated movie Rio. I think of the Amazon, Carnival, parties, etc.

Though from what I've heard, the Brazilians that come to Portugal talk about safety. I've also heard that many Brazilian's love Brazil but the popular parts of very unsafe. They've said the food is great here and that I may not want to move back.

While I could be understandably anxious, I was pretty much calm and cautios.

Now is my experience so far.

Reality (my experience)

What follows isn't a single story but a collection of my many little experiences so far. This is my reflection and sharing the details.

Day 1

My first night arriving from the Airport in Rio de Janeiro, Luiza and I were greeted by her parents. In Luiza's family's tradition, they bought us Coxinha's that we enjoyed in the car. A Coxinha is like a fried conehead shaped ball of meat. They bought 2 types for us:

1. Ham and Cream Cheese

2. Chicken and Cream Cheese (the original Brazilian Coxinha)

They also had a guaravita for me to try, which is sort of like a non-carbonated soda that tastes like the colored freezer popsicles from the U.S..

We drove through the city of Rio at night, crossing a river, and a really smelly section of Rio that basically just smelled like a fart the whole time driving through lol. This is NOT the city my friends live lol. It was dark but one of the lakes / rivers (not 100% looking back) there was a Ferris wheel.

Also, Brazilian traffic and driving is WILD. The rule seems to be drive fast and try not to hit other people haha. Luckily Luiza's father and her family are good drivers here. Also, the main roads here have many bumps 😂.

Anyways, before heading all the way home, we stopped at apparently the best Coxinha place in Brazil. I took a picture with the giant Coxinha 🙂

Arriving at their home we were warmly welcomed with a sign that translated said "Welcome Luiza and Zack!" with a bunch of yellow balloons. I saw the outside of their beautiful home (at night) and met Luiza's brother Davi (who I already met before when he visited Portugal). It was nice to see everyone. We unpacked our things and went to bed in their home. Our room in particular had a particularly strong ceiling fan that cooled the room well, the other rooms had their own Air Conditioners but were reserved for the family who lives there already of course haha. The home is still being constructed so it's not done but is a nice house. Anyways, was great to be on land in a warm welcoming home in Brazil.

Also, Brazilian weather reminded me a lot of Mississippi!

Foods recap

1. Coxinha

2. Guaravita (drink)

Day 2

I'm going to summarize these for time sakes if I can, but let it not rob of experience.

I was super jet lagged day 2 and my brain wasn't fully operational, so I'll write what I remember.

Starting the day, we woke up to meet Luiza's grandma on her dad's side in the kitchen. She is really sweet and super nice.

Luiza, her brother and I walked from Luiza's home to the beach. It was about a 25ish minute walk (at least it felt that way to me) walking past her neighborhood, and a main down-townish area with many stores, shops, construction, and restaurants. The street itself was pretty much fine. It was sort of a mix of nice buildings, restaurants, trash, and sort of poverty stricken local businesses to me. Again, some parts reminded me a lot of Mississippi.

For context, Luiza always told me that in Brazil cars do not stop for you like in other countries I've been to where pedestrians have the right-away (or as they say, the preference). This is true. In Brazil, whether it's the rule or not, the cars have the right of way (preference). You wait for the cars and bikes to pass then you go. The rule of the road here seems to be "ok everybody do your best not to hit other people" haha. Many interesting car situations 😂.

Quick note: Before fully going on this walk, we walked other grandma's and grandpa's house to visit them. They live on the same street so was just a pleasant stop on the way. Everyone in her family is very nice and kind and welcoming. Ok, back to the beach walk.

On this walk, some parts didn't smell great. There was a lot of trash on the sidewalks (somehow though, seemingly less than Istanbul to me). Apparently this is because when I came here in January, this is their summer vacation and there are many visitors from other cities who sort of junk up the place.

On the bright and prettier side, there were MANY beautiful plants and trees along the walk and all types of birds chirping. Not toucans and parrots but a lot of varieties of smaller birds chirping harmoniously.

On the way there, crossing a sidewalk and avoiding oncoming people on bicycles, one of them heard me speaking English and said "Hello my friend!". It was my first greeting from a stranger as a gringo haha.

There were many cool shops along the way and some great looking restaurants. Sushi. Pizza. Acai. Portuguese food. Bars. It was very much a beach feel the closer you got to the beach (naturally). It reminded me a lot of Sozopol, Bulgaria. I mean, not quite as clean but in terms of beach feel it felt similar haha. In some ways it reminded me of a prettier Mississippi if Mississippi had blue water, pretty plants, and large waves.

Upon arriving at the beach, Luiza purchased all 3 of us coconuts from a coconut shop. Agua de coco they call it. It's literally coconut water out of a freshly cut green coconut. Sadly I was a bit jet lagged so maybe I didn't fully feel the flavor the first time but it was cold and hydrating and felt GREAT to drink. I drank mine and Luiza's. It was awesome. Plus I was drinking a coconut on the beach in Brazil. I'm proud of myself for taking this adventure just to say that 🙂.

We walked on to Whale Beach where they have a real sized statue of a whale. It is epic. There were many people, we walked to get a souvenir, and then headed home in Uber.

After that, I'm pretty sure we either ate lunch or visited Luiza's other grandma who lives right down the street. We likely visited a market or something like that and then had a dinners or lunches with her family. Also might've took a really long nap haha. There were no more pictures from that day so I don't fully remember 😅 Showers and naps were taken and food was eaten haha. I was attempting to communicate in Portuguese with Luiza's family and it was overall a great time.

To be continued.

Saving this here just to keep the spot.