Tales, Tidbits, Mishaps and More...

I thought that since I am coming home so soon I would start with answering some basic questions that I think will all be asked of me at some point when asked to share my stories. This way, instead of repeating them each 100 times, I can share other ones with you and just go with the flow. Here´s a basic list that I put together...

What was your favorite country?

I was thrown into the air by four Huge Black Brazilian Men at a futbol game.

Well, in South East Asia I would have to say Cambodia. Although I loved Thailand and Vietnam and had amazing experience in both places, Cambodia was the poorest of the three countries and had the least tourist impact. I think that because of those reasons I was able to have a more cultural, in depth experience, than if there was more infastructure. Also, Jills brother was with us, and since he had been there before we had an insiders perpective to the culture, the history and the people.

I cant include Brazil in the above question because the way the trip was set up with traveling for the first half and living in one place for the second half, Brazils experience doesnt even comapre to that of SE Asia.

Did you eat any gross stuff?

I had snake at one point and Im not kidding, it really did taste like chicken. I also ate a chickens face. I had one side of the face on my plate and Jill had the other. I removed the eye ball and picked meat out around its beak. In SE Asia there were many times when ordering chicken and rice, there would be a bowl of chicken parts that were served. There were always chicken feet sitting right on top.

I also saw pigs feet go into a stew in Brazil and after it was cooked, I wasnt able to fish around to pick out parts that looked like pigs feet. So I may have eaten that. When ordering fish in a foreign country, it comes complete with the skin, head, teeth and tail. I have also eaten bull. It is much more tough than a cow. Oh, and i´ve picked many a bug and bits of stone out of rice.

What was something you packed that you didnt need?

A 5 pound rain coat.I got rid of it in the first month. A poncho from the dollar store worked just fine.

OK Pause. I dont like this writing format. Too formal. Im just going for more Brazil randomness now...

* Let´s play a game. It´s called "Guess what crawled on Laureen during her sleep one night?" A cockroach. Thats right a cockroach! UGH UGH UGH UGH!!!! I moved the mattress to the floor for a night. I heard something hit the window, and fall down.I thought it was a giant moth. But when the bug started crawling very rapidly up my arm, I screamed, brushed it off of me and jumped on my bed. I couldnt sleep for an hour after that. If there was a slight breeze that brushed my skin I would spaze out shaking and flailing my body, thinking I had cockroaches all over me. I still get grossed out thinking of that now.

* I was smacked in the eye one night at dance class by some guys dread.

* Did you know that if you let a stray dog take a nap with you for a few hours that you will wake up with flea bites on your legs? Yeah, I didn´t know that either.

* For about a week I realized I was missing underwear. Why do I only have 1 pair left? I know I washed them and hung them up to dry. After miming my problem to the housekeeper and speaking a few words of port. she understood what I was saying and said she would be right back. 5 minutes later she comes back with all of my underwear. She put them in one of the men´s closets! Since I choose not to wear a piece of dental floss on a daily basis, here in Brazil my underwear, (regular womens underwear in the states) are the mens styles here in Brazil. How Embarrassing!

* Have to use the bathroom and there isn´t one available? No problem, just wip it right out and pee on the wall of a building. It makes the whole city smell really pretty.

* A quarter of a watermellon costs 44 cents. A coconut, a dollar.

* The entire city of Salvador shuts down on Sundays. Its really nice to walk through the streets when there's absolutley no one around. The traffic of both cars and people is down to a minimum and people are enjoying the day at the beach, the park or spending times with their families. I remember hearing stories from my parents of 'back in the day" and i wish that our country still took Sunday off to just rest.

* They have to mop / squee-gee the dance floors at the end of the class from all the sweat that lands on the ground. There are times, depending on the number of people in the class for that certian day, that I am literally slipping on everyones sweat. Its kinda gross but kinda awesome because you know that everyone is getting worked! I like watching the pattern that the drips of sweat make on the ground when they fall from my forehead, nose or earlobe. Everything just drips! I have had to literally ring my clothes out after a class. It is just that amazing!

* Volleyball Brazilian style: 2 v 2. with a soccer ball and no hands. Only juggling back and forth over the net. It's more like foot volleyball. It seems that everyone in the country knows how to do this. They are amazing athletes.

* Brazil = futbol, drums, dancing and intensity. It seems at times that this part of the country is made of only that.

* There are about 500 churchs in Salvador (or something ridiculous like that) and every Tuesday night one of them turns into a bar. I´m not sure how I feel about this yet although i am pretty sure there is some blasphemy and sacrilege involved. I´ve never been very religious so I go anyways and dance regee and samba on the outside of the church steps (about 60 of them) to a band called Geronimo. In a country that is incredibly Catholic I wonder what they think about it. After all we´re not IN the church. On the outside. On the steps with loud music, the smell of ganja in the air, and alcohol on everones breath. Its an interesting experience all the same. And that´s why Im here. For the different, the new, the original and the diversity. This church / bar is after all, different.

* Brazil is an incredibly diverse country and the city of Salvador was the largest Slave port bringing in slaves from all over Africa. At least 80% of this city is black and there is African heritage and history all around. To understand Brazil one must understand the influence of Africa. This country is incredibly accepting of cultural and ethnic diversity. Much of the South has the European influence and the Interior, the Ingio influence. The people here are not divided by race. There is an acceptance of all. Instead, they are divided by economics, with favelas exsiting right next to wealthy areas and there is a constant struggle for money. Although almost every house, regardless of income, owns at least one television set. That is how important futbol is to the people.The people gather around a teeny tiny television with rabbit ears to catch the game.

Novelas are also highly poplar. The Brazilian verison of the American Soap opera. To a former theatre major the acting, directing, lighting, EVERYTHING is painful to watch. Just awful. But unlike the soap opera back home, entire families gather around the tv, on a nightly basis, to follow the story of their favorite novela. Each station has their own program and each cultural, economic group has representation in the different novelas. The programs actually benefit the people who watch them because they talk about current issues, challenge the observers and show the mingling of classes. It has been (to put liberally) used as an educational tool to reach a mass media. One way that televison can be useful. If only our country did that more.

* I ended up in the hospital with what I thought was Dengue Fever. Turns out I just had a really bad flu. After everyone in the house took care of me for 4 days, and after self disgonsing myself on the internet, I learned that there was a potential chance of death with Dengue. I thought it better not to take a risk. So, $150 later, a 5 hour emergancy room visit behind me, and getting pricked a few more times than necessary to find a vien...yep...its the flu.  Hey, at least Im not dying, I was just out of commission for about a week.

In Closing...

I have enjoyed sharing all of my sotries with you as I have traversed the globe. Once I get adjusted back to life at home, I would be happy to go out and tell more tales. I can show you the scars from mosquito bites on my legs, and you can try to guess what country they are from. Or if that doesnt suit you, for an icecream cone, I´ll share the time I was thrown into the air by 4 huge black Brazilian men at another futbol game each time their team scored a goal. However, If you want stories that didn´t make it on the blog, and aren´t appropriate for all viewers, Im afraid that requires a lunch. A girls gotta have some secrets, unless there´s a good enough bribe.

I'll see you all very soon. Much Love! Laureen