Red Dirt

I’m in Pocone (accent on the e), not yet at the Jaguar Ecological Reserve mainly because of our friend, the Kombi, is getting her engine fixed.

http://images.quebarato.com.br/T440x/kombi+93+branca+jundiai+sp+brasil__1787F3_1.jpg

More or less what our Kombi looks like, ours is however more rusted, dented, and covered in a thick layer red dirt

Yesterday was more or less a wild goose chase finding all the parts for either a) our biodigester, b) parts for the Kombi, c) ourselves (food).  Julie, Adrienne, and I were able to find most parts and were able to wing it with the rest. To prevent the thunderous rattle and shake of the doors, pieces of flip flop (Havanas, Brazilian made, of course) are superglued to the frame.

Late into the night, we finally put the last pieces of the engine back together and today with all fingers crossed, we (there’s six of us now) will be making our way down the  bridge-filled Transpantanaeria Highway.

—- On another note —

Leg mosquito status: worse. My bites are now red welts, making me think that these weren’t mosquito bites

Internet status: Not again until a week or so’s time, depending on how the Kombi decides to function today

Dust Status: Everything has a hint of red

Tucan Status: spotted

https://wanderlustling.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/tucan.jpg?w=300

Mosquitoes: 20 Cassie:0

Ah yes, that’s right. Mosquitoes are out and my legs look like they belong in kindergarden- they’re pockmarked, red, and swollen. Itching doesn’t help, nor does my forgetfulness to use bug repellant.

It’s been about a week since I arrived in Brazil and so far, I’ve had a completely wonderful time. São Paulo was a dream – I ate fruits, discussed the bounty of indigenous trees, and drank stong, Brazilian coffee the whole way through it.It never occured to me how immensely vast São Paulo is until I was flying over it on my way out. I touched and saw quite possibly one hundredth of a percent of SP and even the people who have lived there for their whole lives tell me that they still don’t know all the nooks and crannies of the city. Graffiti was beautiful and in abundance, adding color and flavor to store fronts and unused city walls and streets are lined with all sorts of trees and bushes. My favorite was seeing all the palms, something to reiterate that I’m not in Michigan anymore.

Passion fruit (maracuja) quickly became one of my favorite fruits

I ate good foods and fruit, met some wonderful people, visited little corners of the city that I wouldn’t know about if it wasn’t for my host, wandered through organic farmer’s markets, and saw some exhibits.

http://www.worldhum.com/images/slideshows/sao_paolo_graffiti/cache/graffit02-540×345.jpg

I’m now in the city Cuiabá, Mato Grosso , experiencing the heat and mosquitoes- things that are ever prevalent in the Michigan summers that I always miss. I’m extremely lucky right now and am staying with another amazing host and her family and my lack of Portuguese is becoming a very humbling experience. I’m always nodding, smiling, pointing, and quite frankly impressed when someone approaches me in Portuguese. I thought my glowing white legs, who haven’t seen sunlight since October, were a dead giveaway for ‘I’m not from around here.’ On Monday, I visited a small, local zoo on the university campus and was blown away at the bounty of wildlife that this state, Mato Grosso, has. There were macaws, jaguars, anteaters, ostriches, pumas…. and the list goes on. For me, it’s like a fairy tale – these animals always seemed so distant, locked away in zoos. But to see and know that they’re in the wilderness right around me is absolutely mind-blowing. An iguana even dropped out of a tree right in front of me one day. I used to own a pet iguana, now I’m seeing one in the wild.

Yesterday was spent in Chapada, this area not too far away that’s home to cliffs, canyons, caverns, and waterfalls. My host and I walked through the forest (no, not the rainforest) and walked through some huge caves. Our guide told us that the indians had raves there. We also swam in waterfalls and ate our lunch next to roadrunners. And stood at the middle of South America.

http://images.travelpod.com/users/amitevron/1.1261138666.waterfall-at-chapada-dos-guimaraes.jpg

So, in short, all is good on the home front and I’m leaving today to go to the Pantanal for the next five weeks to do real work. Everytime I tell people that (or rather, my host translates that for me) they laugh and wish me good luck.

São Paulo

I formally ‘arrived’ (aka. dropped my bags off at my host’s place) around noon today. It’s about 5:30 pm and already past dusk. Weird. Lots of birds, murals, colors, and palm trees. And exotic fruits.

This is nice.

I have also forgone my usual tea drinking in favor of coffee- way too much turbulence on the plane and my head is still spinning. Needless to say, it wasn’t a perfect sleeping environment.

Anticipation

When I think back a year ago, I had the same anticipation and hesitation that I do now…

Last year on June 1st, I was walking into my job in Freiberg, Germany. This year on June 1st, I’m leaving for Brazil. It’s that same sort of teetering apprehension of ‘what did I get myself into?’ and ‘I could just be at home right now.’ Walking into it alone makes a whole world of difference.

But- I’m starting a new venture into unknown territory, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Sonja’s Farm

Detroit

The gnome is back!