Desculpe

I am sorryyyy for not posting more!

1- I haven't had internet
2- I haven't been home
3-When I am home, some other family member is always using the computer

I dont have enough time to post right now, but rest assured I have things I reallyy want to post about and I will when I can!

Capybaras!

We both groaned as we ambled towards the concrete wall in front of us. After half an hour of walking down this street, we had reached a dead end. I suggested just turning back, but the thought of that made us both cringe. After walking two hours to find the beach, an hour while on it, and another half an hour trying to find the street with the bus stop, we had done more than our fair share of walking, not to mention that it was now around 10 at night and busses would be getting scarce soon. We walked up to the wall in vain and saw a small path leading down to the river.
"I'm gonna check it out and see if there's a path leading to a road," said Josh.
"Watch out for possums!" I yelled back. We had seen many of them already, always giving us the death stare from the shadows.
"I found a path!" He yelled, quickly followed by, "Arggghhhhh! I just walked right into a huge spider web!"
I shuddered and looked at the "path". It was basically walking through the jungle in between a river and concrete walls.
"Come on," he yelled,"It's not far!" I stopped in my tracks. Last time he told me something wasn't far, we walked two more hours before we found it.
"No way!" I yelled. But Josh is a determined man, and wouldn't take no for an answer. After walking almost out of sight he stood there until I reluctantly followed, trying not to think about spiders too much. We walked through the tropical vegetation in the darkness, striving to see any sign of civilization in front of us, when we heard a squeal and a HUGE splash directly in front of Josh.

"What the HELL was that?" He yelled, jumping back.

"It sounded like a horse!" I answered back. We both peered cautiously into the water in front of us where we could make out a shape swimming in the night. It came out of the water and I could hardly contain my joy.

"Capybaras! They are capybaras!"

"Capy whats?"

"Capybaras, the largest rodents in the world!" We watched as 5 of them came out of the water and started grazing on the trail right in front of us.

"Are they vicious? Do they bite?" Josh asked. I answered that I had no clue, but I didn't think so. We looked in front of us and we could see the road, but five dog sized rodents stood between us and our way out. We had no other choice and decided to move forward. I talked to them to let them know we weren't a threat as we crossed the path, and they merely stepped out of the way to let us pass. We stopped once we got past them and looked back. They looked like gigantic hampsters, and made a series of barks, clicking noises, and purrs to communicate with each other. They were absolutely adorable. We stood watching them for a while until they decided to leave, swimming in the water and yipping to each other. We walked down the riverside and watched them swim down the river together, a happy, talkative capybara family in search for the next place they could eat more grass.

"Now aren't you glad we took that little path?" Josh asked.

"Yes, Josh, I am."

Trying Times

Living abroad can be quite difficult. Ironically, what used to be the easiest things to handle back in the states are the hardest things here. Ordering food, talking to someone on the bus, asking for directions... it is all difficult. Every time I leave my house I enter a jungle of unknowns and challenges. Heck, even leaving my room can be scary!
There are many things I can handle here. I can handle ice cold showers that suddenly turn scalding hot. I can handle looking down at my water glass and realizing I just drank ants. I can handle being the only white person. I can handle the constant threat of getting mugged. I can handle it when my credit card suddenly stops working and I have no money to get home. I can handle being sick for one straight month and not having any medicine that works. I can handle not eating cheese (one of my favorite foods!) because it is disgusting here, and I can handle cooking everything from scratch because they don´t have tomato sauce, tortilla chips, salsa, and many more things here in Brazil. I can handle it when my school gives me my family one month late and places me all the way out in Larangeiras where I have to commute an hour just to get to my classes. I can handle not being able to go outside alone at night. I can handle trying to go to the shopping mall and instead ending up in the largest favela in Brazil. I can handle all sorts of things but sometimes the thought of going outside and ordering a hot dog makes me want to curl up in my bed and cuddle my stuffed animal.

I´m Still Alive!

Hey readers, my internet has been down for the last week so there havent been any new updates. Sorry about that! When I get internet I will update immediately.

-Madi

Minority Status

Today I realized that I am a minority.

I walked into school today and decided to count how many people I saw who did not have brown eyes. By the time I walked into my classroom, my count was at zero. I think I might have seen one person who had colored eyes, but other than that everyone I looked at definitely had brown eyes. It's funny because I have darker skin than some of them, but I definitely stand out as the most caucasian. In one of my classes I am the only person who doesn't have dark brown to black hair.

You can tell Cariocas from their eyes. Even the convincing blondes here have dark eyes. The further south (further away from the equator) you get, you get more caucasians. Even in Sao Paulo, which is only an hour away by plane, about 15% of my Paulista friends were blonde haired and blue eyed. Not so here.

Saturday I was in a club and a Carioca saw me from a distance, walked up to me and said in English, "You're a gringa, aren't you?" (Gringa here isn't offensive, by the way) I laughed and said yes, and he responded, "You're probably the only foreigner in this club. I always know how to spot them."

Also, I have noticed that when I straighten my hair I look much more like a gringa than when my hair is curly. It makes no sense (especially because Brazilians straighten their hair when they go out and many Brazilians have naturally straight hair anyway) but I have noticed that people can pick me out easier as a foreigner when I have straight hair.

Well, I guess this is just further proof that I need to buy a pair of the amazing fitting Brazilian jeans that I see all the girls wearing. Sure, it won't make my eyes any darker, but at least my butt will look more Brazilian. One step at a time, right?

Lost and Found

It has happened here many times here in Rio de Janerio where I want very badly to find something specific but have no idea where to find it and then I get lost on my way to find something else that doesn't matter as much to me. When this happens I find exactly I was looking for in the first place (pretty much every single time I get lost this happens to me! And this is a huge city! Could Rio de Janeiro be magical?) It happened again today.

(I didn't bring my camera and none of these photos belong to me, fyi)

I was watching a Snoop Dog music video 2 days ago because it was set in Rio, when I saw it.

Around 2 minutes and 15 seconds in, they introduce the place that is pictured at top. I saw the amazing building and immediately I wanted to go there. But where was it? Was it even open to the public? I didn't know what it was called and didn't know how to look it up- and only hoped that someday I would be able to see it in person.

Today I decided to go to the botanical gardens. I took the bus there and got off at the huge gates. I entered and realized... that I had gone to the wrong park. Oh well, this one (Parque Lage) was gorgeous. I walked around and entered this beautiful old looking building.

It was filled with artwork which I gazed at before walking through an arch and seeing, to my great surprise, this in front of me.

No. Way. No. Way.

I couldn't help but smile.

Ode to a Paulista

Dear Rodrigo from São Paulo,

There were many things about you that I found fantastic. I especially appreciated it when, after my Marine Corps friend failed to keep that one forward guy away from me, you so smoothly grabbed my arm and with one look got him off of me for the rest of the night. Just for that you became my hero.

But it was when you asked me to dance that you gave me a reason to remember you always.

You led me to the very center of the club and there, lost in the faceless masses we danced. A really good song started playing and I closed my eyes, lost in the moment. I got self conscious so I opened my eyes and looked at you.

My God. There you were, magnificence personified. In the glow of the strobe lights you flashed before me, eyes closed, dancing as if nothing else existed but this song. That this very moment held within it your entire life, and that life was incredibly, incredibly happy.

And so I closed my eyes too, and let the song become me, and together we became mirages under the strobe lights.

Sometimes when I am listening to amazing songs at night your face flashes in front of me, and I smile and know that my life is a little better because of you.