Curitiba: The calm before the storm

Although I may have talked about the food, I think it's time to talk about the last city I was in- Curitiba. 

Curitiba is a pretty city known for its history. We intended to only spent one night and then make our way to Ilha do Meil, a small island known for its beaches. When we realized that we weren't going to be getting the best weather, we extended our stay (I think I'm repeating from my last post so bare with me). 

We spent 5 days is curitiba and arrived on the 22nd. The bus ride took around 5 hours and we arrived to a rainy day (so the city didn't look very pretty) but our hopes were raised after talking to people in the hostel about things to do. The following morning we walked around the historical district and explored the Sunday markets. Rodrigo, the Brazilian that we met that I mentioned in my last post, came with us and gave us a great unofficial tour. From the markets we walked to the Pargue Pacifico, the old zoo of Curitiba. While they may have build a newer zoo and moved the animals, the park still had smaller cages still in use with different birds. We also tried to find monkeys but were unsuccesful. The weather had been mild until that point but it started to rain and we went back to the hostel (food post). When the rain let uh in the afternoon we visited the Jardim Botânico (botanical gardens). It was busy with families and couples enjoying the picturesque gardens. The rest of the night was really relaxed with cooking and playing pool (Canada+USA vs Germany+Brazil...team Allies won). 

The Sunday markets. People sold all sorts of cute crafts. 

Cages in Pacifico. 

A man in Pacifico feeding a peacock. Normal I guess? 

Hannah and I at Jardim Botânico. 

The next day we woke up early to catch a train ride to the small town of Morretes, a cute colonial town. The train ride is supposed to be the highlight of everyone's time in Curitiba. Through the Atlantic forest; amazing scenery, fantastic atmosphere, blah blah blah (we read a lot of blogs and reviews), but we found it to be pretty boring. Yes, the scenery was nice at times but it didn't live up to expectation. The town was also nice but very small. The highlight of our trip was getting treated to the towns speciality dish, Barreado, by the owner of a buffet (buffets by the kilo are incredibly popular in Brazil. They usually offer really great food at a cheap price). The dish consists of a slow cooked beef stew poured on flour...with stewed bananas mashed in. It was interesting to try but i don't think I'll be searching for that recipe. 

The train ride through the Atlantic Forest. 

Pretty view from the train. 

Morretes. 

The fixings for Barreado. 

Getting back to curitiba from Morretes was supposed to be a quick bus ride. I'm sure it would have been quick if our bus hadn't broken down. After almost 2 hrs hanging out at the side of the road, we hopped on a new bus and went home. More cooking was done and more pool was played. 

Our wonderful bus. 

The next day was a bit of a failure. We woke up nice and early to catch a bus ride with our new friend Phillip (German) to see Villa Velha, a park with a lot of interesting stone structures. Unfortunately, at the bus station we discovered that Villa Velha's closed on Tuesdays. Whoops. As an alternative, We decided to visit the Ukranian Memorial park in town. Curitiba has a large immigrant population from Ukraine but also has a large number of Polish, German, and Japanese immigrants. We failed again. We never made it to the memorial on account of our inability to use the very confusing and complex bus system. We asked many nice people for help but there's only so far you can get with limited Portuguese. We ended up near the largest park in Curitiba and spend a significant amount if the afternoon lazing around in the sun. The park has 2 large lakes and in those lakes are the adorable and very large Capybaras. Best part of the day by far. 

I want one of these giant guinea pigs so badly. 

The next day we had every intention of going to Villa Velha but realized that we wouldn't have time with our night bus to Rio (11:30 pm). We walked to the bus station in the morning to buy our tickets (there was a public bus strike that day) and then walked to the Museu Oscar Niemeyer. The museum looks like a space ship and is pretty incredible structurally. We had heard that there was modern art but that was not so. The exhibits were focused on architecture design and photography. Some of the photography was really cool (look up Roger Ballen-sort of grotesque but in a beautiful way) but over all the museum felt lacking. 

The museum. 

Enjoying the art. 

Dinner that night was really fun because we made a huge barbecue as a hostel. Steak, sausage, potatoe salad, garlic bread, I could keep going but I already dedicated a blog to food. It was a ton of fun but we had to leave early to catch our bus to Rio. The ride was easy (13 hrs? Nothing) but we hit traffic entering Rio that extended the ride a bit longer. What made up for the traffic was that we were facing Christ the Redeemer. It was tiny in the distant but still breathtaking. 

We're currently in the apartment that we're renting and it's really nice. On arrival yesterday, we immediately washed all of our clothes, took showers, and went grocery shopping for the week. Last night we watched movies with another person renting the place (a nice British boy) and today we're going to a Bloco, a street party with bands and dancing. We're really looking forward to celebrating Carnaval. Of course we're going to be safe (money belts will be worn, no purses, no wandering into slums). 

Fun fact: It was 99 degrees yesterday (37 c). I melted. So hot. 

It's raining so let's talk about Brazilian food

We've made it to Curitiba, it's a nice city, but it's raining. So let's talk about food. 

Since entering brazil I have been able to try all sorts of new foods-and they have all been absolutely delicious.

Today we walked around the Sunday markets in Curitiba, a city located in the state of Paraná. We took a short bus ride (5hours) from Florianopolis. We originally planned to stay one night and make our way to Ilha do Mel (translates to Honey Island) for the beaches but the weather is awful and we met some interesting people. One such person is a Brazilian named Rodrigo. He was a teacher, seems to know everything about Curitiba, and is happy to answer all of my questions about Brazil. He gave us an informal tour of the markets and city today. As it began to rain, we realized that it was the perfect day to sample some Brazilian street food. 

The beginning of the market and Rodrigo! Didn't even know I had a picture of him yet. 

We began our food tour with Pastel, a thin fried dough that can be filled with meat, cheese, vegetables or sweet things. It's a common Brazilian snack. It was delicious and I'll be eating it again. It was especially good because they made it to order. 

Making the Pastel to order at the stand. 

That's what happiness looks like. 

We continued with possibly the most delicious thing in the world: Pamonha. It's made using corn..with more corn...and I think more corn. Then it's boiled and comes either salty or sweet and served with butter. Brazilians like to put condensed milk on everything and this was no exception. If I could eat this everyday I would. 

Corn with corn with more corn. The little cups have a delicious corn pudding with cinnamon. The Pamonhas are under the net. 

So goodddhgrdbnfgjhb (also I'm wearing my Brazilian coin necklace. The Brazilians I've met all really like it and have never seen anything like it!) 

It started raining really hard at that point and I didn't get my hands on Coxinha, a tear shaped dough filled with spicy chicken that translates to 'Little chicken thigh' (Rodrigo couldn't explain the name). It's supposedly really good and popular. Might have to be dinner. Overall it's been a great food day and it's still really early.

I haven't only tried good food in Curitiba. Back in Florianopolis I was able to try Mate, an immensely popular drink in Argentina and South Brazil. It's made using Yerbe Mate, dried leaves that are rich in caffeine, and hot water. The Yerbe floats and forms a thick mossy looking top to the drink. People use a metal straw to drink it that has a filter on the bottom so they don't drink the leaves. It's incredibly popular and everyone on the streets drank it. You drink Mate out of a gourd shaped cup and people would walk around town carrying containers of hot water. I've never seen anything like it. 

When I tried Mate I thought it tasted like bitter grass (never again). Julio, a staff member at the hostel who shared his drink with me, explained that in Brazil you start drinking Mate at a young age. Parents want their sons to acquire a taste for it so if the son goes to visit a girlfriend's house, and the father of the girlfriend offers them Mate (to test them as men), they will be able to drink it with the father and gain approval to date the daughter. 

Another tasty dish that I was able to try in Florianopolis was breakfast cakes. Unfortunately I never caught specific names for each cake but they were all delicious. Breakfast is included at most hostels in Brazil and usually has bread, cheese, ham, and some fruit. There was a nice lady who worked at the hostel who would not only clean but would make us a cake every morning for breakfast. One day was a carrot sponge sugar cake and the next would be apple banana sugar whatnot cake. I have no idea what they were but there was cake offered this morning at breakfast in Curitiba. I'm enjoying this trend. 

Breakfast? Apple banana cake. 

While on the Barra do Lagua beach on our last full day in Florianopolis we noticed an amazing popular beach snack. Men walked around with small grilles, bags of oregano, and cheese on sticks. The men would coat the cheese in oregano and grille it to perfection. We had to try it and it's as good as it sounds. 

Man with cheese and grille. It seemed like a big summer job for teenagers. 

Fingers of a nice Brazilian man join me, Hannah, Lauren, Octavi, and Damia. The 2 boys were in our hostel and hail from Spain. We're all very proud of our cheese sticks. 

While it wasn't traditional Brazilian food, I was also able to eat a variety of other great meals in Florianopolis. As a hostel we would come together to make meals and, thank god, people were really good at cooking. We made chicken curry one night and Thai beef fried rice the next. Traveling is really showing me that I not only need to get over my embarrassment of speaking new languages but that I also need to learn to cook. Although the fish we made the other night wasn't that bad...eh. 

Giant pot of Thai beef fried rice. 

While I'm not drinking very much this trip, I was excited to try the traditional Brazilian alcoholic drink called Caipirinha. It's made using lime or other fruit, cachaça (sugar cane liquor), and more sugar. As you may have guessed- it's incredibly sweet. Not my favorite but sweet drinks seem to be very popular here. 

Drinking caipirinhas with Hannah and Lauren on the beach. 

There were multiple stands for making caipirinhas at the beach. You could chose what fruit you wanted. 

I hope I didn't make everyone too hungry! 

Brazil is Amazing

The bus ride into Brazil was not the greatest.

We crossed the border into Brazil from the Iguazu Falls. It was a 45 minute ride using a Taxi and we went straight to the bus station. Crossing the border included showing our visas and filling out one short form. It was really easy and our taxi driver helped us. We caught an overnight bus to Florianopolis and it was the worst bus ride yet. The roads were really bumby and the bus was really cold (the girl in front of me may have thrown up).

We arrived at the hostel 18 hours later and immediately walked to the beach. It was overcast, we were tired, and we both fell asleep for an hour on the beach. Low and behold, we were burnt to a crisp when we woke up. Good start to Brazil.

We opted to stay in a girls only dorm room (7 beds yay) and there were only 2 other girls in the room. They're Brazilian and here to party (or prostitutes...they actually might be prostitutes. It wouldn't be the first time we stayed in a hostel with prostitutes). They speak zero english, we speak very limited and terrible Portuguese, but we get along with them really well. 

Tip/Fact: When Brazilians tell you that something is 20 minutes away, add an extra 15 minutes.

The next day was a planned hiking day. The two trails were beautiful and both had amazing views of the water. It took us around four hours (we knew it would take that long) but we were hot and tired by the end. When we got back to the hostel we jumped into the pool and went to bed early.

A view from the hike. 

Julio, staff at the hostel, serenading us with Portuguese music. 

Yesterday, the 19th, we visited a nice area and took a public boat across a lagoon. We made a friend at the hostel and she joined us for the day (Hi Lauren if you ever read this!). We got off at the other side of the lagoon and found a very small waterfall. After seeing Iguazu Falls we were pretty underwhelmed. We did find a nice stall with a person selling jewelry made from old coins and now we all have matching necklaces. It's pretty darn cute. 

Boat ride. 

Nice man making us jewelry from old coins. 

Waiting for the public boat. There were 22 stops and you can't reach the houses by car. 

We had decided that we were going to make fish for dinner (it's very fresh and cheap here) and went to a fish market. The hostel staff here are amazing and helped us prepare the fish. We used lime, salt and banana leaves that are growing at the hostel. We grilled the fish and made rice. Everyone was making dinner at the same time and it turned into a party. People at the hostel make food together everynight and made curry (they shared it and now we're joining them for food tonight). It was a really fun night hanging out with people in the hostel. 

Fish in banana leaves!

Hanging out and eating dinner. 

Professional opera singer staying at the hostel? Yep. So he sang. It was great. 

Tip/Fact: Making dinner at the hostel not only saves you a ton of money but you meet people. Not only did I eat the best food I've had this entire trip but we also all talked about travel plans and ideas. A nice Colombian man wrote down every place we should go in Bolivia and Peru (including tips and tricks).

We were only planning on staying here for 3 days but we decided to extend our stay. We're now staying until Saturday.

I know I didn't write about at least a week of the trip but I didn't have great internet until now.Here are some key words and snippets from the past week:

-We made friends with 3 Israeli boys in Rosario, Sante Fe, Argentina. We played a lot of Jungle Speed (amazing game) and made dinner with them. We might meet up with them later in the trip.  We also went bowling when it was raining.

-We possibly exchanged money with someone in the mafia. It's a weird and wacky story for another time. We followed a man in a suit to a weird white room (we were with the Israeli boys...so it was safe) and a really nice lady exchanged with us. And we got a good exchange rate!

- We took a boat ride into the Iguazu Falls. We got soaking wet and it was absolutely amazing. The falls are beautiful. Completely breathtaking.

-On our second day in Puerto Iguasu we went to Guira Oga- an animal sanctuary. It was pretty relaxing and we saw a lot of beautiful birds. We took an hour long tour (in spanish) and learn a lot (that was joke, we understood very little).

Tip/Fact: Mao Backpackers in Florianopolis is fantastic and the staff are the greatest. The hostel we stayed at in Puerto Iguasu (Stop Hostel) was the absolute worse. Smaller hostels are better. A lot of backpackers take time to write reviews on HostelWorld and Hostelbookers (the best websites).

Tip/Fact: Slacklining is the best. There's one set up at the hostel and you immediately make friends when you do it. There was also one set up on the beach here. We ended up meeting and talking to a bunch of lifeguards who were teaching themselves (it was a slow beach day).

Graffiti everywhere: Exploring Buenos Aires

Hola! It took 3 flights, which included layovers in El Salvador and Peru, to make it to buenos aires. 

Day 1

Our first day in the city was hectic but fun. I think we walked 8 hours straight taking in all of the sites and sounds. It was raining for the first half of the day but the weather got better as we walked.

Our walk began at the Plaza San Martin. It was empty of people and pretty but boring. We ended up back at the Plaza on a sunnier day and it was much better. Afterwards we went to the famous Plaza de Mayo, known for the Casa Rosado. Many protests take place on the plaza but we only saw many police standing with barricades. 

Although we were tired we decided to continue to La Boca. The area has colorful houses and tango artists perform at every restaurant and on the streets. 

Casa Rosado in the rain. 

Tip/fact: Learn to speak English at a slower pace. You meet people from all over the world in the hostels. Learn to speak Spanish for Argentinians. Few people speak English. 

Day 2
The thunder was so intense it woke us up multiple times that night.

It continued to rain in the morning of our second day in Buenos Aires. We had made some hostel friends and decided to venture into the rain as a group to check out El Ateneo Centenario, an old theater that has been converted into a large bookstore. It was beautiful but we all ended up drenched from head to toe. After drying off and sipping on coffee we walked to Florida St, known for great shopping and the ideal place to exchange money on the black market. The current exchange rate for Pesos is 7.5 but through the black market you can get 11 or 12 for a dollar. 

Exchanging money was one of the highlights of the day. We also happened upon Tetro Colon, a beautiful theater known for opera, before ending our day out for drinks with our new friends.

El Ateneo Centenario. 

New friends with the obilisque near our hostel. 

Tip/fact: To insure a peso isn't fake you hold it up to the sun and look for a face on the side. Then you make sure that numbers shine through in a line. After that, you look at the top right corner and make sure that they are a mixture of small and large numbers and letters. We were almost cheated out of 800 pesos.

Day 3
Day three started off weird but turned out to be amazing. The day started off with Hannah saying that she wanted to spend the day sleeping because she was jet lagged and tired. I was itching to go out so I mentioned my predicament to my new friend Baptiste. We decided to go to the Recoleta Cemetery, resting place of Peron Avita and home to beautiful and elaborate tombs. It was fantastic. If it hadn't been so sunny and hot I would have spent the majority of the day there. After the cemetery, we saw the Floralis Generica sculpture in the Plaza de las Naciones Unidas and cooled of in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes.

Recoleta cemetery. 

After walking for so many hours, all we wanted to do was take the metro back to the hostel. Yet, you need a card to get the metro and getting said card was proving difficult. We spent an hour trying to find a kiosk that sold the cards and ended up asking people on the streets for help. Finally this lovely older lady ended our suffering by taking pity and giving us her card. It was amazingly kind. 

After dinner we ended up at a carnival/festival. I still have no idea what it was for and will look it up and edit this as soon as I have the time. The outfits were really colorful and sparkly, while the dancing and music were exciting. Children were spraying each other with shaving cream during the parade and celebration. I ended up walking back to the hostel covered in the white foam. 

Kids lining up for the parade. 

The day ended at 3 am dancing in the rain with an Israeli outside of the hostel. He taught me how to salsa. No alcohol was involved...on my part at least. I had spent the majority of the night bonding with 5 Israeli boys who had just finished their army duties. 

 Tip/fact: Argentinian people are incrediably friendly. Every time I took the metro or ended up looking at a map on the corner of a street there have been multiple offers of help. 

Day 4
Our fourth day was spent walking around the famous San Telmo market. It was insanely busy, colorful, and overwhelming to the senses. It was fun to people watch, look at the crafts, and listen to the street performers. Afterwards, Hannah and I walked to the bus station where we bought our ticket for Sante Fe. The rest of the day was dedicated to planning our trip itinerary. For dinner we were determed to try Parillas, a meal of mixed meat cuts. It was delicous but too much food. 

San telmo market. 

Tip/fact: Argentians eat around 10 pm. We always went out for dinner around 9 or 10 and the restaurants would be crowded. Any earlier and you're surrounded by tourists. 

Day 5
We went to Tigre Delta, an hour train ride outside of Buenos Aires. It was a nice change of pace but it was raining for the majority of our trip. I ended up having my first Cafe Dulce de Leche while hiding from the rain. That evening we went to La Bambo del Tempo, a huge drum performance that happens at the Konex Cultural Center every Monday. The music was fantastic and we were dancing the entire time. 

First cafe dulce de leche. 

Terrible picture of the drummers. 

Tip/fact: It seems to rain every day in Buenos Aires and its not a light drizzle. I've never seen rain as heavy as I have in the few days I've been here. We learned to always have a rain coat on hand. 

Day 6 
Jumped on an early bus to Rosario, Sante Fe. We spent the afternoon walking around and people watching. While its a beautiful area and seems to be popular with tourists, we're planning on leaving tomorrow evening for Iguazu Falls. Although the cities have been nice, I think we're both ready to be around nature again. 

Monuments nacional a la bandera (flag monument) 

Tip/fact: There seems to be some weird fades in Argentina. The dread-mullet is a popular haircut. This is when you have the front of your head shaved or styled short and the back is all dreads. Its popular with both youth and business men...I don't understand. 

Journal, hostel, showers

Packing for Backpacking

There are a few things I've needed to purchase for this trip. I started by getting a new bag. 

And not just any bag. A few months back, I bought myself a backpacking pack (say that a few times fast) and I'm incredibly excited about it. While my giant rolling bags were good companions in Australasia and around South East Asia, they were a pain and a half to schlep around hostels and it was time for them to retire. My new bag fits my body well and isn't too heavy. Although it could do with a nice squirrel keychain for decoration, I'm really happy with it. 

Yet, what do you pack for a 4 month trip to South America?

Thank you vast and wonderful Internet. There are plenty of helpful blog posts from fellow travelers that offer suggestions and ideas for a smart trip. Here's an example of what I've been looking at: Female Packing List for South America. 

And here's a picture of what I ended up packing:

I specifically made my bed to take this picture. 

sleep, socks, family

Attempting and failing to focus, focus, focus.

I'm going to South America in a day and all I can think about is South Korea?

For those of you who don't know, I am applying to teach English in South Korea for a year. I would (hopefully) leave August 2014 and the application is due in April. Yet, I'm going to be traveling around South America for almost 4 months....including April. So what am I doing? Finishing everything I possibly can before I leave. My week has been a mess of collecting reference letters, getting my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification, writing essays and lesson plans, getting background checks and getting papers notarized.

So while I should be getting excited and focused on my upcoming trip to South America- I'm not. Is the stress of getting everything done early worth it? Absolutely.

Tomorrow is dedicated to getting my Yellow Fever vaccination, making sure I have the correct adapters, and rechecking my backpack.

Popcorn, Football, OKCupid