Busy in Brazil

Busy barely describes the last few days. Work was exciting and full of several opportunities. The last time I wrote, I mentioned the monkeys, well the next day we worked on even more. I was so thrilled to work on a male black howler monkey! I drew blood, placed an IV catheter and did the dental and post recovery. The morning flew by, mostly due to the monkeys but also because we were interviewed for the Itaipu newspaper. They took several photos of us working and asked far too many questions, recording the entire conversations because their English was not perfect and they wanted to make sure to understand everything we said. It was exciting and also very funny. The whole community seems to be fascinated with us, it's going to be depressing when we return to the States and we realize that we aren't as special as Brazilians make us feel! That afternoon we treated several rabbits which had the unfortunate luck of being diagnosed with Giardia. If you are unaware of this organism, look it up, then you can understand the poor nature of these animals. It is rare in the states for Giardia to cause death in our typical domestic pets, however, one little individual was put down due to it's decreased quality of life. On a happy note, the others are doing much better already!

The next day, we learned about falconry from the biologists and worked on several birds with Zalmir. A falcon had bumblefoot, a terrible bacterial infection that results in severe inflammation. While in the US, bird husbandry prevents this, in cases where it does occur, the animal may be euthanized due to the difficulty in treating the infection. It was very interesting to see that here, the bird is bandaged every week with no discussion on stopping treatment any time soon. That afternoon we learned how to make a passion fruit chocolate mousse cake with Raquel and Rafaella. They taught me an amazing trick on how to separate egg yolks using and empty water bottle and physics. Ask me some time and I will teach you, it is guaranteed to change your life in the kitchen. A must have knowledge for any "chef" like yours truly (I wish). While we were waiting for cake, Zalmir taught us how to use the blow dart as a form of tranquilizing. Of course it immediately changed into a competition between all of us working, the 5 Americans, Marcos, Zalmir, Rafa and Raquella. It seemed rigged because Zalmir uses it almost daily if not most certainly weekly, but we decided to make the bet regardless. To say I was awful would be entirely accurate. I made awkward noises when I tried to blow and then I would miss the target every single time. What was even worse than it just being plain embarrassing in front of the Brazilians and my classmates was that I HATE losing. Really truly hate losing. Each person had 6 shots and the best shot won. Seems fair enough. Well, after missing every single shot, God intervened and my 6th shot went straight on target and hit the bullseye square in the center. Of course I reacted modestly and smiled like it was no big deal....not quite. I ran around the property pumping my fists while Zalmir sang "you are the champion" in a wonderfully hilarious Brazilian accent. Best part was that Zalmir went last and never hit the bullseye. If we did this again the next day, I don't think I would win again, but I will continue to pat myself on the back until my next darting competition comes along (which happens more often than one would think...this was my 3rd in less than 2 years). 

 (Very realistic target I know, incredibly life-like)

I'm sure I have mentioned several times but I feel so thankful to be here. We have gone on tours and entered museums, etc, that normally cost the public a decent sum of money, for free every time. Zalmir is a blessing. We gave a presentation one morning to the staff and he was so positive and patient, translating everything as we went slide to slide. He is fascinated with our culture and believes traveling while you are young is essential for everyone. He wants to maintain a relationship with Purdue and has hopes of it growing every year. He said we have blown him away and looks forward to our life long friendships. I couldn't agree more. One day I will be back and hopefully we will be able to speak English and Portuguese perfectly together! It really has become a new life goal of mine. Portuguese is incredibly difficult but I love learning from everyone willing to teach. 

Last night Rafa, her boyfriend, Raquel, Arthur (our favorite hostel staff member) and a few Argentineans  (also staying at the hostel) all came out with us. We went to a bar called "Zeppelin" and enjoyed one of the most interesting and hilarious nights of my life. 12 people, 3 languages, endless beers and loud music. In case you couldn't have guessed it, that is a recipe for confusion. We used a lot of hand gestures, smiles, and took way to many photographs. 

 (Rafa, me, Rica and Raquel) 

It was a blast, we returned to the hostel at 3am and stayed up talking with staff members until 4am. One who works over night, Junior, said that he didn't recognize me, that I looked "beautiful" in a heavy Brazilian accent. I laughed and asked if I was ugly normally, he smiled and clearly didn't understand the question. It made me realize how little I care about my appearance while working all day with wild animals, I could see how makeup and heels could appear as a shocking style change. All in all, it was a wonderful night and great success. Not sure if we will go out again while we are here, but if we do it will be hard to top last night. After looking at the photos this morning, I realized how sad I will be to leave in 8 days. Traveling is truly a fascinating thing. You make connections and gain friendships, only to be torn away from each other soon after. Yet, because of these friendships, we have more excuses to travel in the future or for them to travel and visit us also! 

To friendships and memories. These are the things that traveling is all about.