Já sei namorar

CARNAVAL!!!!!!

So we went to Carnaval...I know what you are thinking..."That is a horrible idea. Isn't that the most wicked thing on earth?" But turns out the samba parades are very family oriented...full of old people and children. In fact, I am pretty sure most of these people usually wear less clothes, but for Carnaval they all get dressed up. Its like a big marching band parade with everyone playing the same repetitive music. They make a bunch of fancy floats and walk down through the middle of a stadium. It was cool, and if I liked parades I might go again, but since I hate parades I think I am done with samba. (Disclaimer: I did leave before 10pm. It might get a little saltier later in the evening)

Here is some Pupunha. It grows on palm trees and tastes like a really fibery potato, and some how has a hint of butter without putting any butter on it. I don't understand.

To eat pupunha, one must boil it until it becomes soft.

Monkeys are hilarious, although sometimes dirty and they eat out of the trash. Of course there are a lot of people who eat out of the trash. These people, however, are not as adorable as this monkey.

This is pretty much just to prove that I was here with this monkey, and that I did not get this picture off the interwebs.

This is a delicious Sunday dinner I made for the gods.

(I breaded the pork chops with some seasoned mandioca farinha, and it was delicious)

Here is our first Self Employment Workshop group. They all have ideas to start their own businesses, some are better than others, but know at least they all have some kind of plan.

Mais fotinhas

This last week we took a little road trip to Presidente Figuereido.

Here is Edivaldo making my breakfast. Its kind of like a tapioca flour tortilla filled with cheese and fruit. i would highly recommend it.

This is for Wendy. I am teaching the local indigenous population correct creeping techniques. It is important for their economic development.

Sean and I love to do awesome things all the time.

This is on the trail on the way to the waterfalls.

After a hard day of swimming through jungle rivers and playing amazing waterfalls, Sean and I take a moment to ponder the beauty that surrounds us.

This is Cachoeira do Santuário.

This is the head of an ant that decided to bite Isabella's foot. These ants have massive pinchers that do not let go even when the body is no longer attached. I had to use a key to pry the pinchers out of her foot.

Here is a full ant that decided to bite her sandal. That thing is stuck in the rubber. The local indians have a test before a boy can become a man and a hunter, he has to put his arm in a nest of these ants.

This is over at my friend Richard's house. He has a ton of neices and nephews and although they were not quite as cool as my neices and nephews, it was a lot of fun to play games for a couple hours.

Here is me and Richard and his fiancé Ana out by Ponta Negra and Hotel Tropical.

This is the little bridge thing we were standing on in the previous picture.

These are some crazy looking little fruits that I have never seen anywhere else in Brazil. Everyone I ask tells me a diffrent name for the fruit, so I am not really sure what it is called.

The inside of this fruit might very well be the fruit from the tree of life. It is white and amazingly delicious. It is very sweet and there are a few little seeds inside.

This is genipapo. They had it in Bahia and it was one of those things that most Americans hated so I drank it all the time.

To make juice from genipapo you must wash the outside very thoroughly, then you scoop out the inside and through it away, then cut up the rest and put it in the blender with water and sugar. It tastes and looks like it you took all the rotting leaves out of you raingutter and mixed them with gasoline. but it is supposed to be super good for you especially if you have low iron.