Heading back to Belém, A 21 year old's story

Hey all!

I am sitting in a snazy hotel in the neopolitan city of Santarém, in the western part of Pará. My flight back to Belém is tomorrow morning at seven.

Yes, my birthday was wonderful. We crossed the Rio Negro in to the Rio Amazona, a juncture where black water and white water meet. The white and black water flow along each other for miles before mixing and it is a beautiful and mysterious sight. There was a rainbow over the Meeting of the Waters that day, and I spent my birthday watching the river dolphins jump out of the water. To celebrate we had two cakes- chocolate and corn cake. My entire twenty-first was spent in a boat and swimming in the Meeting of the Waters.

Well, what happened between Manaus and now? A lot, as you can imagine. After my last post we drove to Novo Airão, the last stop on the Rio Negro that can be reached by car. There we had a lecture with a local NGO that promotes economic development of that city. I got to translate the entire lecture from Portuguese to English to my class. The NGO has a branch called NovArte which cells arts and crafts made by local people and made from local peoples. I bought my mother a birthday gift there. That night we met our boat that would take us up the Rio Negro and down the Amazon for the rest of the trip.

The day after (March 20) Novo Airão we reached the Rio Unini through the Rio Negro. Four of my friends and I were dropped of at a rural community in Rio Unini extractive reserve. About thirty people live in Lagos das Pedras and I spent three days living the Caboclo lifestyle with them. IT WAS WONDERFUL! Everyday was swimming, hiking, collecting manioc, making farinha or just shooting the shit in the middle of the Amazon rain forest. A beautiful community, and I already miss my small family there.

The day after I left was my birthday (March 24) and you already know about that. Dolphins. Rainbow. Meeting of the Waters. Fun times.

A day later (March 25) we arrived in the Juruti region. I have to say that this is the most absolutely gorgeous region I have ever been too. Green rolling hills as far as the eye can see and glittering rivers and lakes taking you to small Caboclo communities living the life. An American company called ALCOA is destroying this area due to there bauxite extraction. That is what they use to make aluminum. Luckily, there is a strong group of Caboclos fighting the power- ASCOJURVE. Look them up and support them.

The next day (March 26) we went into a close the main town of Juruti and conducted interviews. My group had to ask people on the street how they thought education has changed since ALCOA came in to the region. I will tell you more about that once the report is written.

On March 28 we reached Santarém, where I am now. We had nothing to do so we simply went in to town, ate ice cream and swam. The next day we took a tour of the Cargill soy bean holding plant located right on the Rio Tapájos. How was it? What do YOU think? It's Cargill!

That day we met the Projeto Saude e Alegria!!!!! The Health and Happiness Project. CHECK THEM OUT!!!! www.saudeealegria.org.br. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO AMAZING! I hope one day I get to work with them.

You're pretty much up to date. Today we went to a community that is associated with the Health and Happiness Project. They raise fish, bees and have and ecotourism industry that does not involve buying pretty much anything. They collect food and materials from the forest and sustainably support their economy. I bought some ridiculously delicious honey from them. So serious, you never had honey like this. It's collected from native bees that do not sting, which collect their nectar from the surrounding forest. Beautiful.

Happy Birthday again to mommy. I am missing all of you deeply.

Today's Mission: Use money from my birthday present to donate to a good cause. Te amo.

Down Rio Unini

Holly looks out over the plaza to the Teatro das Amazônas in Manaus.

I arrived in Manaus Wednesday at two in the morning. I woke up at eight o'clock and spent the morning exploring this city with some friends. It is a pretty tourist-friendly place and I got to a lot of take pictures because of that. There are fewer thieves then in Belém, and a lot more of us gringos.

Manaus is beautiful. This Amazonian city made bank at the end of the eighteenth century because of the rubber boom. Now it is an industrial free trade zone and a popular tourist destination. The buildings here are beautiful and I am lucky enough to be an a hotel right down the street from the Teatro das Amazônas.

During Wednesday afternoon we went to the Instituto da Permacultura das Amazônas (IPA). It is and absolutely gorgeous research institute working in sustainable farming techniques. We had a full-on organice lunch and afterwards had a tour of the center. We ate so much fruit that fell from the trees and saw several amazing projects ranging from bee-keeping to the collection of bio-gas from pig waste.

Today we went to the Fundadção Vitoria Amazônia. It is an NGO that connects rural Amazonian communities to public policy. That description is an over-simplification of their work, but I do not have time to go in to detail. The group is also helping us enter a national park in the amazon and stay with families there.

This afternoon we went tot the largest rain forest research institution in the world- Instituto Nacional da Pesquisa da Amazônia (INPA). Dr. Gonçalo Ferraz spoke to us about forest fragmentation and its affect on biodiversity. I hope to keep in touch with him as I am interested in doing a project with INPA.

Tomorrow we leave Manaus at 5:00AM to take a six hour bus trip to Novo Airão. Novo Airão is the western-most city you can reach by car along the Amazon River. We have a quick lecture there before we board the boat that will take us up the river. We will spend the night on the boat and then meet our rural families on March 20.

At this moment I would like to wish my mother a happy birthday. The same day I meet my rural family is the day my mom embarks on a new year of life. I could not have gone on this trip without her love and undying belief in my capabilities. I owe so much to this woman and I am sorry that I cannot be with her on her day. I love you so much, mom, you don't even know. I will put a flower in the river for you and ask for a wonderful new year for you. Eu te amo, mamãe. Obrigada por minha vida.

Today's mission: Think about travel in a new way. Why go to a city that is just like America when there are so many things to see in this world?

Off again

Sugar cane and cacau fruit- Sao Francisco do Para

Hey kids!
I spent three days learning about rain forest ecology and sustainable agriculture in the Bragantina are of Brazil- 98% deforested. Really interesting, really fun. Got bitten in all sorts of unmentionable places.
We split up in to three groups to study different forest issues. My group was assigned a project on gap dynamics. We planned and executed an experiment in one. Our hypothesis was that if there was more leaf litter on the ground of the gap, then a larger population of plants would arise, independent of light variables. We found no correlation. Science!
Today I am taking an 11:30 pm flight to Manaus. One week in Manaus, about two on a boat. It´s all happening.
I am happy and well. I will be out of contact for the majority of this Manaus trip. I have hundreds of pictures that I´ll try to put up soon. Check out my other blog for more detailed info and pictures: www.reachtheworld.org/journey/journeytobrazil
Hawt.

Getting settled

Our school, everyone hanging out after lunch, waiting for class.

Host mom, Dona Clara, feeding host dog, Pandora.

Internet access is limited here, and a lot has happened, so I'll try to make it brief.

My host mom is the best. She's been making me a lot of typical Paraense food. Baked fish with a plate açaí, stewed chicken in tucupí and jambu. Tucupí is a sour yellow sauce made from manioc that is in many Paraense dishes.

Yes, I have been eating meat. It's more out of necessity and being polite. Don't get excited, I eat it only when I have too and I won't be coming back to the United States eating hamburgers.

Classes are going well and my Portuguese is coming along nicely. I have an advanced Portuguese class every morning at eight-thirty and a lecture in the afternoons around two.

I take the bus from my neighborhood, Marambaia, to Marco, where my school is located. It's about a twenty-thirty minute bus ride where I'm packed into a tin can. At least I get to get to know the people of Belém intimately.

My new friend Abigail is staying with my host mom's daughter. I guess that makes me her aunt. Abbey and her hosts parents came over to eat lunch on Saturday and afterwards took us out for a night on the town. We went dancing: forrô, pagode, bolero, and disco! The band even invited Abbey and I up on stage to sing with them.

Today is international day of women and yesterday, Sunday, there were big celebrations. I was taken by the hand and coerced in to dancing carimbó in the middle of a crowd. It was awesome! After that Abbey and her host parents took me to the old parts of the city. Absolutely gorgeous, and so full of history. I'll try to get those pictures up on Facebook as soon as I can, but it's a bit tough with the internet situation.

It's hot here. Ridiculously so. And muggy, worse than Sarasota. We'll be traveling in this heat to study rain forest ecology in São Francisco do Pará this week, which is three hours away. I won't be able to post for some time, so just know that I am safe and enjoying the hell out of this country.

I love Pará.

Today's mission: Learn a new dance.

Way too much going on

Hi.

The past week has been pretty busy. My 13 classmates and I stayed on our director's sitio, which is pretty much a country house with maybe a few animals. His backyard is the Amazon.

One of the past week's activities was a drop-off exercise. We drove about two hours north of Belém to some small neighborhoods. Each on of us was dropped off by ourselves in a community and we had three hours to complete a task. Some of us speak more Portuguese than others, so it was interesting to see how people communicated.

We spent that night in hammocks at my director's (Gustavo) friend's house. We got up the next day at 5:45AM to head out in a boat which then took us to mangrove forests. We all sank in the mud, but it was pretty rockin'. The economy of the area is based on fishing and crab-farming. At the moment, there are plans for a super-port that would destroy the local ecosystem and put a lot of people out of jobs.

After the mangroves, we spent the day at a secluded beach that's used by the local fisherman as a resting point. We swam, ate fresh fish, and talked to local fishermen and NGO coordinators. Really awesome. I got my first sunburn and it was baaaaaad.

I met my host family this past Monday. I mostly just have my host mom, Dona Clara. She's a lawyer and a wonderful person. Her 28 year old daughter, Amanda, is in and out of the house with her husband, Eduardo. I have my own bedroom and bathroom, which is more than I can say for my house back home.

Mmk, I gotta go. Hope all is well with you.

Today's mission: Discover new fruits.