Sao Paulo

“Today is Wednesday, which is feijoada day, so be sure to try it,” your hostel owner tells you as you prepare to explore Brazil. You arrived in Sao Paulo late last night, and you’re excited to see the continent of South America for the first time. “Also Brazil is known for the caipirinha, but it’s too early in the day for alcohol,” he laughs. He also offers you an umbrella, and you gladly accept. You’re in the Liberdade neighborhood, and as you walk down the street, you see Japanese art, writing, and themes throughout the area. You were surprised to find out that Sao Paulo has the highest population of Japanese outside of Japan itself. You learned that when slavery ended in Brazil, Japanese and Italians migrated to Brazil because of the labor shortage and opportunity, and they stayed put for generations and generations. You note that the street crossing signs and the street lamp posts are all Asian inspired. Your mouth waters as you pass sushi and ramen restaurants.

It starts to rain and you open up your umbrella. You walk on a small street lined with fruit vendors. You stop at a table overflowing with bananas, pointing at two. You try to communicate nonverbally with the vendor, and he trims two bananas from the bunch. You pull out your Brazilian currency called reais, but he waves and smiles. You eventually realize that he’s giving you these bananas at no charge. You are shocked and say “Obrigada” multiple times as you wave goodbye.

As you continue to walk, you admire beautiful graffiti and murals. You snap a photo of a church, but make sure that a mural of the indigenous warrior contrasts the elaborate Portuguese church. You stop at a restaurant and order the infamous feijoada for lunch, which has rice, beans, and pork. In the afternoon, you walk through Batman Alley, where Bob Marley songs, clouds of smoke, hand-made jewelry shops, and art fill the streets. You walk back to your hostel and grab dinner at a diner across the street, sipping on a caipirinha, relishing the beauty of this special city called Sao Paulo.

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Salvador, Bahia

You hear the rhythm and singing in the main square of Salvador, which is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Bahia. You pass multiple drum circles pounding together, reverberating the joyful beat of their hearts in this magical city. A woman wears the Afro-Brazilian Candomble outfit of billowing skirts and a headpiece, offering to take photos with you for a few reais. You learn that 80% of Salvador’s population can trace its roots back to Africa. You see the unique celebration and fusion of Brazilian and African cultures all around you. You try the Acaraje, which is similar to a hush puppy that is stuffed with shrimp and spices, originally from Nigeria.

As the sun starts to set, you note how the brightly-colored row houses radiate even more vibrantly. You walk past several Jesuit churches, with ornate Baroque architecture that is rich with impressive detail and dramatic curves. You sneak a peak in one church that has multiple tons of gold decorating the inside. The sky itself becomes gold as the sun finally sets.

The next day you walk to the beach and pass a quintessential lighthouse. The beach is rowed with umbrellas and beach chairs. You sit and enjoy life in Bahia.

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Amazon Rainforest

“Something just bit me!” You yelp as you think a snake bit you. “Run!” your guide Leo screams.

You’re running through the Amazon forest, following a path that is lined with moist vegetation. The humidity astounds you; it’s so thick it’s as if you can cut the air with a knife. You thought it couldn’t get anymore more wet and sticky, but it does because it starts to rain. You’re starting to gasp for air after running for so long.

“Watch!” Leo points to the bright red line of something creeping and crawling on the same path that you are running. You slow down and look more closely: they’re red ants! You realize that this is what bit you. You can’t believe something so small could be so menacing and painful.

After escaping narrowly from the ants, your pace slows to a steady walk, enjoying the dense greenery around you. Soon enough, you arrive at the campsite and set up your hammock under the tarp.

Meanwhile, Leo is running around like a child on Christmas morning. He’s building a fire, he’s making a clothesline, he’s fixing the tarp roof, he’s putting the chicken meat on sticks by the fire, he’s getting water to make rice. He’s everywhere all at once. He’s barefoot, prancing around the jungle with so much joy and pride. “The jungle is my home,” he tells you, smiling as he strikes his machete on an old, fallen tree. “My belly button is over there,” he points. Leo and the jungle are the same; they are part of each other. You are so grateful to have him with you; the jungle is now double the fun!

After the most delicious chicken with rice and a crisp grain called farofa, you sit on some logs near the fire exchanging travel stories with an Argentine couple named Eugenio and Beatriz. They pass around a small bottle of Brazil’s famous liquor called Cachaca, and you take a sip. It’s not even 8 o’clock, but you walk to the other tarp and settle into your hammock, listening to the sounds of the jungle as you drift off to sleep.

You wake up with a jolt from the sound of thunder and the brightness of the lightning. It is pouring down rain, in quantities you had no idea were possible. It’s 4am and you spend the morning listening to the sounds of the thunderstorm and jungle combined, pinching yourself, loving every minute. You hear the birds, the sound of the trees, and the rain hitting against the tarp. You pull out your notepad and write a poem about this relaxing, perfect morning.

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Rio de Janeiro

You’re walking down Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro. You’ve enjoying taking walks on many beaches, but this beach is quite special and unusual. You observe that the volcanic mountains encompass the ocean and city skyline, making a unique panorama. The sun beats down on your face, and its warmth radiates through your body. The sand gently collapses under the weight of your foot steps, and the ice-cold water of the ocean ebbs and flows up and down the beach, touching your feet and sending chills up and down your spine.

There are bright colors all around you: neon pinks, yellows, blues and greens. There are vendors walking the beach selling grilled cheese, cerveza, hats, sunglasses, corn, popsicles, bikinis, feijoada. You finish walking from one end of Copacabana to the other, and you walk through the city to go to Ipanema Beach. You are wearing your swimsuit in the middle of the city, just as others are. You enjoy how relaxed and carefree the culture is. The streets are wide and the sidewalks have a beautiful pattern of black and white waves. You stop for an acai bowl, refreshingly full of fruit and granola. When you arrive at Ipanema Beach, you note that the beach is quieter and the ocean is even more of a bright teal than before. The panorama has sharp, jagged masses of volcanic mountains. You walk into the cold water, and a wave comes and moves you down the coastline.

You start your walk back to your hostel, stopping at a fruit stand on the street corner. You and the vendor point and try to communicate nonverbally. He shakes his finger as you check the softness of a mango, and he takes another mango and brings it to his nose to smell. “Bom,” he says, smiling as he nods and hands it to me. You open the Google Translate app on your phone, and carefully sound out, “Comer hoje?” He nods and smiles, “Sim, hoje!” You hand out him some reais, and say “Obrigada, ciao” as you wave and continue on.

The next morning you wake up early and hike up to Christ the Redeemer, the iconic statue that stands over Rio. “Eu te amo, Brasil,” you say as you smile, looking at the city and coastline below.

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