Uma experiência inesquecível

I have safely arrived home and the most amazing journey of my life will remain as some of the best memories I have ever experienced. I expected to teach these kids as much as I could to help better their lives, but somewhere along the way they made my life better. I can't explain the feeling that I am feeling now. I have never missed something so much in my life. I left my heart a million miles away and Brazil will forever be in my heart. I truly feel like I accomplished something bigger than I could have imagined. Of course I miss the volunteers, the location, the independence, the adventure... but most of all I miss the kids that I coached. I especially grew a strong bond with Praiano since I had consistently worked there every day. Those kids made me a better person without me even realizing it. I can still picture my first week at Praiano and how scared I was. I was quiet since I could not speak the language, I was timid to play, and I was reserved. At the end of the two months, I was energetic, played competitively, smiled constantly, communicated with them, and joked around with everyone. I can't believe how much I grew in two months. Every single night that I have been home I have been counting the hour difference for when Praiano begins. I imagine myself still being there at that time. I can hardly wait until the next time that I see them!

One of the other volunteers, Kevin, began working at Praiano the last week I was in Brazil. I can see the same timid qualities in him that I had when I began. He noticed how close of a bond I had with them and he always informs me of how much they all miss me. When I was in Brazil I bought a soccer ball. I decided to give them the ball as a gift since they would put it to better use than I would. On the last day I was in Brazil I wrote a note in Portuguese and the same note in English on the ball. I signed my name and put #19 under my name. I gave the ball to Kevin to give to Praiano, so they would always have a token of me. Without knowing what would happen next, Kevin did something that was truly amazing. He knew how much they missed me, and how much I missed them. He had everyone from Praiano sign the ball! He is going to give the ball to Luis to hold onto until the day I return, in which I will come pick it up for my own keeping. Words can't even describe how much that means to me.

I have kept in communication with all my friends in Brazil and some of the kids from Praiano. It is great because I am helping them with English and they are helping me with Portuguese... it is a win, win. Today is 'Friends Day' in Brazil, so it was great to log onto Facebook to see everyone spreading the holiday to me. Even though we are in different countries, I still feel close to them.

Also, I thought I would share this with everyone. Jins had wrote a very good article for a paper in Australia and it has some great insights. It was about the work he had done at Project Gerson and he mentioned the work I contributed as well. It is a different perspective from my experiences, which is awesome to see how much we valued our work in Brazil in different ways.
http://capitalfootball.com.au/site/news.php?id=1613 - Great job Jins!

Kevin took a picture of my coach signing the ball... still speechless with how happy I am that he did this for me. He said that they all wrote there names and number just like I had done.

Carlinhos (as I mentioned in the other blog) made this for me on Facebook and wrote "Já to com saudades! :'(", which means I miss you already.

This is Itiociara beach and we climbed to the top of the rock (30 minute climb) and this was the view. The day before I had climbed this and I forgot my camera when the day was clear. I still think the clouds make the view look amazing.

This is how steep it was: Jon and I were laughing the whole way up because we were practically crawling up with our sandals on our hands to get grip. We felt like spider-man. Haha it was hilarious.

Here is some pictures of the view outside my house in Jurujubu. The water was right next to the house.

This song came onto my I-pod and it felt perfect for this blog :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEiDbErXSdI

Sugar Loaf

One of the last things that I got to see when I was in Brazil was the Sugar Loaf. The Christ and the Sugar Loaf are the two famous sights to see in Rio de Janeiro. They both have incredible views and I recommend to anyone traveling to Brazil in the future to see these two views. However, I did not go to the very top of the Sugar Loaf since I did not want to spend money, but I went to the smaller loaf close to it. There are two sets of cable cars; one that goes up to a smaller mount, and from the smaller mount a cable that goes to the big mount. We decided to hike up the smaller one, which was a great way to get a good hike through the forest. On the way up, we got a few pictures of some monkeys next to the path. I started to get closer with the new volunteers, but I was leaving in a few days, so it was unfortunate that I only knew them for a little bit. However, the group of volunteers that I was with for the duration of my time were irreplaceable. They truly are amazing people, every single one of them. We have already planned times to hang out with each other in the future. Anyways, after the Sugar Loaf a few of us went to Copacabana beach for my last day in Rio.

Friday and Saturday night were both my farewell nights. I did not want to go clubbing, I did not want to go to bars, but rather I just wanted to spend it with my friends. Friday night we went to Icarai and played some cards. One of the volunteers bought candles to light on the beach, which I thought was humorous that he thought of it, but it turned out to be pretty cool. I had to say goodbye to my closest brazilian friend Fernando, which was one of the hardest goodbyes I had to do. We were both holding back tears because he truly was one of my closest friends. I will never forget his promise. He asked me to promise him one thing. He said "Promise me that you will never change because I want you to come back just the way you are". The people that I met truly impacted my life and inspired me. People truly make the difference. Saturday we ate lots of food at a buffet... there is nothing better than eating food (Surprisingly, I did not gain weight either, I thought for sure I did). Sunday I spent the day playing volleyball/soccer on the beach and enjoyed my last acai.

Bom Viagem! I spent the rest of the day on a plane back home...

Sugar Loaf: (The pictures are all mixed... oops : ] )

The store says "Christi", I will have to go back to inform them that they forgot an "e"

Jon and Jurika's placement:

Enjoying Guarana on the beach for my farewell. Jon and I were the last two left from the old group, but we got really close in the last week. They are all great.

Guarana and Acai in ONE!! It was worth a picture.

Preparing for the hike up the Sugar Loaf

The monkeys below:

My great friend, Fernando:

Praiano

I solely dedicate this blog to Praiano. I worked at Praiano 5 days a week, every single night on the beach, and I will forever be in their debt. Words can't even describe the impact they had on me. They were my family for 2 amazing months. Luís, the director, looked out for me as if I was his own player. He always talked highly of me and he told me that I was the best volunteer they have had both through skill and as a person. That meant a lot. He always gives the kids a speech before every practice and I finally asked one of the kids what he says. The kid told me that he tells inspirational stories of his own life and positive things that encourage the type of people they are capable of being. The kid, Carlinhos (he looked after me from day one) explained to me that Luís is his "IDOL". One day I hope to hear these stories for myself. Marquinhus, the coach... there is so much I could say. Our interactions were amusing and I did not expect to get as close to him as we did.

The guys and girls that I played soccer with, truly taught me more than I could ever teach them. I grew friendships with them and strong bonds with some of them. I also had a lot of the boys crushing on me and saying they love me all the time, so it was entertaining to see what new tactic of communication they came up with. Oh man do I remember the youngen days... haha. I could go on forever about how much these kids showed me a brighter perspective, but explaining won't do them justice. I will be seeing them all again, and I had not planned on becoming so attached to them. Thursday was my last day with the older guys and the girls. It is a tradition in soccer that when someone finishes their time, they must celebrate the time spent by all running into the water. I had not planned on going into the water at Icarai beach because it is the most polluted water I have ever encountered. It smells like sewage, contains brown waves, and is everything but pleasant. The coach and all the guys had been plotting all practice about how they are going to get me into the water (it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out what they were snickering about). I had to play soccer with the girls, so a bunch of them waited until the girls practice was done to get me in the water. The girls joined in on the plot. I realized that I was extremely out numbered and finally said "let's do this". We all ran towards the water and jumped in. Three of the guys wanted me to swim and go under, so we spent about thirty minutes running around the water as they were trying to get me under. I was drenched from head to toe, but they never successfully got me under the water. Splashing water was the best they could do. I smelled like I had gone number 2 in my pants, that is how bad it was. No lie, it is the worst. It was worth the sacrifice and I knew I would do it for them. Afterwards, I got invited to play soccer at a college close by with some of the guys/girls (she was one of the brazilian girls that went to the Michael Jackson favela).

Anyways, friday was my last day with the younger guys and it was another great ending. I did not have to go into the water again, thankfully. I played with everything I had. This is the hardest goodbye I have ever had to do and I had the time of my life. I really, really, really, don't want to leave them. Praiano will be missed very much!!!!!

Luís is the one holding the ball below:

This is Carlinhos below: 

We are doing the thumbs down because.... (I copied his explanation to me) *I thought it was awesome*

• because in the movie, GLADIATOR, the imperor do the thumbs down to the gladiator kill the enemy­ ­
• and, in brazil, we call ATACANTE MATADOR the foward player of do many goals (in english FOWARD PLAYER KILLER)­ ­
• and i am a Foward Player Killer, the Gladiator haha­ ­
• and in every goal of i do, i do the thumbs down­ ­
• and, i take photos with the thumbs down, and my friends (the girls, mainly) do this in the photos­ ­

The picture below is after we all went into the water:

This is Thiago below: One of my favorites, he is an amazing little guy. Dennis gave him a jersey when he left, and he wore it the next day, he loved it. He was always smiling.

What a journey...

Finally, I got to see the one thing that I have wanted to see this whole trip. I can see the Christ from where I work on the beach because it is lit up with lights. I got to see it up close and it is quite a sight up close. We had a long journey to get there, but once we did it was awesome. It was trippy, though, because when you would look up at the Christ it looked as if it was moving with the clouds moving behind. It was almost as if the whole statue was about to fall on us. The view from the Christ was by far the best view I have seen yet, you could see everything. I got to see one of the 7 wonders of the world as well as one of the 7 natural wonders of the world at the same moment... muito legal.

I haven't been blogging because I am soaking in every last drop of this place. Two more amazing people have left in the last few days and it really hit me that things are changing and I am about to return home. Dennis and Indi had a goodbye barbeque at Dennis's house and it was the perfect way to say goodbye. All the volunteers were together that night and it was great food with great people. I was the last one to leave that night because I wanted a proper goodbye. The old group of us is finally separating. There was a group of us volunteers that all got really close and bonded in unlikely ways. These are people that I would have not become friends with if I hadn't been forced into this situation. This situation being that I did not have my friends from home at my side here, so I was not surrounded by my comfort zone. I had to make brand new friends and every single one of them has showed me my potential in different ways. They have impacted my life more than they know and I had no idea I would come across such great people on this journey. Saying goodbye to Dennis was when it really hit me, and I walked out of that house with tears that I could not hold back. It hit me so hard because I realized that these people have become my best friends here in Brazil and I don't know when I am going to see them again. Indi left a few days later and I became really close with her. It was hard saying goodbye to her because I lost my closest friend here, but I am grateful for the time we had. I have barely talked to my best friends or family at home, which seems odd thinking about it, but I realized I chose to do this journey on my own and I got everything out of it that I wanted. There is a quote from Eat, Pray, Love that describes this feeling perfectly; "I was the administrator of my own rescue". 

On another note... I am a very clumsy person as is, but here in Brazil my clumsiness has been magnified. I trip over everything, I hit my head on random things, I fall down in unlikely places, and I run into things. O que é isso?! Yesterday, was probably the best fall of them all. I took one step on the stairs at my house and I slipped off the step and went flying down. haha... that is not the funny part. The funny part was that my host mom was sitting on the couch below the stairs and let out a scream that could wake up the whole town. She was more terrified than I was, and kept saying stuff in portuguese, and we both just bursted into laughter. I can still picture her face and her scream... hilarious. Thinking about falls... some random guy riding his bike along the beach might just get the award for the best fall of the year. Indi and I saw the whole thing and died laughing. Even telling the story we could not stop laughing for ages. Days later we tried to tell the story and both of us bursted out laughing and the volunteers kept saying "oh here they go again." I will save that story for another time, but he looked up hoping no one saw it and there we were cracking up... we could not help it. 

I spent the day today at Itiociara beach, but I did not go to the beach. We went to the top of this rock and I wish I brought my camera because it was the most amazing view. An exhausting climb, but soooo worth it. Other than that, I spend my days on some beach playing sports, or eating an açaí with volunteers or my brazilian friends. Life is goodddd. However, I am ready to get on track with my responsibilites. I had the break I have been yearning for about a year, but I am beyond motivated for all the good things to come. Beijos.