By the way, today was a rough one for me. I have had back pain (a terribly poor SI joint for a 25 year old) on and off for a few days, but today hit a new level. I could not walk without a limp and sitting made it worse. So either I had to stand and not move or wince every time I picked up my leg. Clearly I had to walk, but I am just trying to paint a picture for you! Well we went to the zoo next, which was pretty interesting. It is not one of the better institutions out there, in fact most of the enclosures were to small for the poor animals. But we learned a lot nonetheless. Zalmir taught us about each of the species and we even got to pet and play with the jaguars, pumas, panthers, otters and baby caiman alligators. Some were more friendly than others, in fact we should probably not have been allowed to do what we did. The other visitors clearly wanted to jump over the ropes and join us. However as soon as they saw we were with the zookeepers, it was clear that they could not follow along and break the rules too. Again, thank you Zalmir for a wonderful, unique and free experience. I tend to take a lot of photographs and animals are my favorite subject to capture. While I was trying to get an epic shot of a jaguar, I happened to step onto the home of a trillion red ants. They weren't happy that I forgot to knock first, so they showed their concern by attacking my feet and legs. I ran to the bathroom and took off my pants, slapping my legs and shaking the pants repeatedly. I literally had ants in my pants. The rest of the day my ankles began to swell with ant bites. As if living from an injured back wasn't bad enough. But guess what, I'm in Brazil! So life could be worse.
(Me with a baby caiman!)That afternoon we went on tour of the Itaipu technical center. They have 3 universities, a planetarium and some amazing views. We ended up having a pretty interesting conversation with the young man who gave us the tour. He had a tattoo on his forearm and I commented on how much I liked it. I realized that not many Brazilians had tattoos (or visible ones at least). He said that culturally it is looked at differently than the states. He said he hopes it changes soon but thinks it will take 20 years. Regardless though, he said "I will finish a sleeve tattoo when that day comes, even if I'm 45." We told him to come live in the US, he won't have to wait until 45. I always find it interesting how different cultures can be and I love when I become aware of something new that a travel book wouldn't be able to share.
(The different color buildings show different universities!)That night in the hostel, I went outside to blog. It is too beautiful not to be outdoors as much as possible. Well, just so you can get an example of what hostel life is like. I had just taken a shower, was in sweats but dancing in my seat to the music that played from the bar. Low and behold, a British boy comes up to me with tequila shots. He doesn't say a word except for "hello" and then gestures at the shots and hands me a lime, counts to three. I laughed but clearly, you only live once so I took it with him. He apologized for interrupting my writing and after finding out what I was doing he asked if I would please write and mention him. Well it was the start to a wonderful night, one of my best in Brazil. Made lots of friends and memories. Thanks Pat for getting me to join the party.
(New friends from England and Brazil!)
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