Maureen's Argentina: 02.2010

Me with Gus, Guihlerme and Rafael

I am on my last day of vacation to Brazil. We've had a ball. I came to see my good friends who went to McCall to work at Brundage last year. They're Rafael, Guilherme, and Gustavo... but it doesn't stop there. I've met many more of their friends. They're amazing, I'm so happy to have met these amazing new pals!!

The first week, Guilherme and I traveled within their city (Curitiba in Paraná Provence) while Rafael, Gustavo and friends worked during the day. But almost every night, everyone got together to go to a different bar, or restaurant to introduce me to the Brazilian Cuisine (Which is wonderful by the way!). Like these boys were celebrities in the States, everyone has treated me as a celebrity here... they are so welcoming and extremely friendly... I have to come back someday!

Guilherme and I saw many things during the day. We went to plazas, parks, and museums. The highlights were the eye museum (Museu Oscar Niemeyer in Portuguese), which is a building with amazing architecture... and popular art. My favorite pieces were from Vik Muniz who did all sorts of pieces with land and objects... One park that was really neat was called Botanical Garden of Curitiba. This garden had a really beautiful greenhouse and views. Another favorite was the Wire Opera House. It is made all of wire, and had some really famous people preform there. There was also a Ukrainian park, that had a beautiful church. Ukrainian eggs were displayed and the church had stunningly simple architecture. Tanga Park was another beautiful park with a gorgeous man made waterfall...

On the weekend, we went to the Atlantic Ocean in a town called Camboriu (Santa Catarina Provence). Rafael and Guilherme's parents have a beach apartment there. When we made it to the door of the apartment, I was like, WOW IT'S BEAUTIFUL! Everyone laughed... their apartment was really beautiful, 12 floor, 1 block from the beach. They had a great pool on the 4th floor with striking views of the beach. This town is very large and touristy. There were millions of people on the beach... so the guys took me to all of these other, more secret beaches! How amazing to have seen what I saw!! There was one beach called in english "Retirement of the Priests." When we got there, we had a little hike to a small beach... with trees, rocks, sand, clear water, and brilliant fish. Breathtaking... I didn't take pictures because I wanted to save it for myself! You're going to just find some fun Brazilians to take you to your own secret beach! The next day, they took me to the floating bars in Caixa D'aco which literally means "Box of Metal" in English. The first way to the bar, I rode the boat, the way back, I swam off the beer. We had a lot of fun needless to say!

This week, I went to a party on Monday... and my newfound pals renamed it "Mo-day." We just hung out and watched "The Hangover" and if you know me, you know I fell asleep... Yesterday, we had a movie marathon at Guilherme's house... and in the evening, we went to all you can eat Pizza. I loved it. Buffets here are very different from the States, there are waiters who bring you food... so you don't have to move. There was one server who discovered immediately that I was foreign and kept giving me everything he served. I think it added up to at least 15 pieces! Of course you don't have to eat them all... and when he started serving dessert pizza, he made me finish what I had on my plate before I could get any dessert! I WAS SO FULL!

Today, I'm getting on the bus to ride from Curitiba, Brazil to Santiago, Chile. Yeah... you should google it. It's far! Please send me some interesting brain waves... so I have something to think about!

In Chile, I'm going to meet Rodrigo and start looking for a job. I hope I find one so that I can stay for a year... wish me luck!

The crowded beach in Comborui