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Published: February 11th 2010
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It is so hot here...since we arrived, 10 days ago, it has been between 40- 44 degrees Celsius (108-112 F)...this does not enable us to do much, as it is too hot to go out. But we are lucky to be staying with good friends; we are enjoying their company, making small outings in the evening and early morning, and of course - waiting for Carnaval. (We don't have many pictures to share as in Rio you take precautions and don't take the camera with you everywhere). On what we have done so far, here are the boys' voices:
Amit: "We spent 18 hours hurtling and bustling to get to Brazil. Our friends Christy and Maya came to pick us up, Christy's age I don't know but Maya is 3.5. There are two things I like about Brazil; food and the beach. The food because Acai is something that is very common and very tasty. We sat one night on the beach eating and watching the sunset. I like the beach because it is flat and fun. Another day we had a VIP excursion - this was a rehearsal to the very famous carnival in Rio. VIP stands for Very Important
Party. Everyone was dancing, singing and enjoying themselves, that I liked. The thing I did not like was that it was hot and smelly and everyone was smashed together. "
Shakked:" A word of warning about Brazil: never go in the summer, which is exactly what we did. The sun is the same temperature as in Hawaii. But. There. Is. No. Wind. So, for our first two days in Brazil, we enjoyed the scorching temperature of 37 to 40 Celsius in the shade. Brazil's highlight so far has been the beaches, mainly because they provided us a way to cool off. The first time we went to beach was at night, so it was too dark to get in to the water. All the same, this was the first time we'd set foot on sand in a month and a half, so we had a great time. Amit and I jumped, rolled, and chased each other around on the sand until our poor old lungs just could not take it any more and we were driven to the ground gasping for breath. The next morning we went to the beach, and actually got in the water! Again, after a month
and a half without getting in the ocean , we were ecstatic! Diving over and under waves, zipping around in the water,we had a blast. I just hope we keep going to the beach!
Another day we went to a VIO (Very Important Occasion); a rehearsal for the carnival! It was supposed to start at 0700, we were there on time. It ended up starting at 0900! A stream of performers poured onto the field. They were dancing, blowing trumpets, making formations, twirling, and there was even a play going on! Of course, being this only a practice, they didn't have costumes on, but the crowds still thought it was a big deal. They were yelling, screaming, clapping, whistling, and dancing . All this took about 50 minutes, which meant we had to endure 2 hours and 50 minutes of hot, sweaty discomfort in the smelly, dirty stands.
The next day, my dad and I went to see a soccer game. Now, in Brazil, a soccer game is serious business. This particular game was Vasco Da Gama - apparently one of the beast teams in Rio- Vs. Madureira - a not-so-good team. The strange thing was that everyone except
the Madureira team - including the referee - seemed to be on the side of Vasco. There were huge flags waving, drums booming and people screaming, clapping, whistling, roaring, cheering, jeering and booing! The game ended 2-2 which seemed to be a big insult to Vasco"
To escape the heat in Rio we made a small escapade for two nights, to a hill town called Teresopolis. the scenery reminded us of Hawaii and we found a great Posada (small hotel).
Amit: "Teresopolis is a small city in the middle of nature. We stayed at a nice hotel in a room with 4 beds, it was nice and cozy. They had a pool, a ping pong table and a pool table. The first thing we did was put on our bathing suits and swim. The pool was the size of a match box, as Sakked said, but we did not care. Breakfast there was so yummy- you know why? They had cakes!"
Shakked: "We stayed in Teresopolis for two nights mostly in our hotel, only venturing out to eat. The hotel was empty except for us. All day the hotel echoed with the sound of splashes, the pings
and pongs of ping pong balls on paddle and the thwack pf pool balls hitting each other. The hotel was a beautiful place; the whole place looked like a forest. There were trees and bushes and flowers growing out of every spared inch of ground or wall, giving the hotel a wild, untamed look. From the hotel you could see the vast glittering green mountains before you, their tops seeming to touch the sky. I hope we go there again."
No we are back in Rio, 5 days to go - we have Carnaval weekend coming up, with lots of music, dancing, parades and soccer games. The boys are impressed by how people here are are open, warm and friendly, every body talks to us, as Shakked said- they don't seem to teach at school to "not- talk- to -strangers"...The people are as warm as the weather, and to me that makes up for the heat 😊.
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Yaron Kapitulnik
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Shabbat Shalom
Following your travels with a big smile. keep on updating us - its like pure oxygen !