Brazil in Pictures (Salvador)

Here’s my second post on Brazil. This one is Salvador. Notes:

There are a lot of things I din’t take a picture of because I was enjoying them instead (or was advised to leave valuables at the hotel)

I hope you enjoy this post. I could work on it forever but of course time is limited.

Don’t forget you can click on the pictures to enlarger them so you can get the full effect!

Salvador

 

 Beach 1

 

Playing soccer with some guys on next to the beach. I played soccer more times in Brazil than I have in the past five years. This time we played a game that was essentially monkey-in-the-middle. The group stood in the circle passing the ball to each other as the person in the middle tried to get the ball (all he had to do was touch it). The people in the circle could not touch the ball more than two times before they passed it or they became the “monkey”. If the monkey touched the ball twice than whoever’s pass was intercepted on the second touch became the “monkey”

In the picture below I’m the monkey.

 

A picture of the guys who played soccer…

 

The girls were sitting down playing guitar and singing. I asked could I play with them…they didn’t understand but eventually they figured out what I was saying. Then I asked them to sing and play while I played . The girl standing up in this picture sat down and sang/played Bob Marley’s Redemption Song. At first I was just enjoying her performance, before I remember I was supposed to be playing along. It was already near the end of the song and boy was I rusty…

A hotel back in the village near the beach.

In another part of the village I watched a mother sitting down with three children (two playing at her feet and one laying on her lap). Then she said something in Portuguese and I heard a noise behind me. I turned around to see this little girl coming to join the family.

Brazil in Pictures (Recife)

 

*The pictures can be clicked to see them at full size*

I will be posting Salvador and Rio soon. (Hopefully…this post took more work than I thought)

Recife

 Olinda

 The view from Olinda. Olinda is a beautiful historic area of Recife. As a matter of fact Olinda means “Oh how beautiful.” We also learned that the phrase applied to describing a person as well. For example: You could say Olinda to someone or cut off the “o” and saying something like Ciao linda meaning “Goodbye beautiful. This view is from one of its highest points behind a church.

 

I took the above picture not too far behind this statue of Jesus (pretty much where there people in the background are). You can see the detail on this statue of Jesus depicting blood where nails were driven through his hands. Also, what looks to be his heart is shown as well. I’ve found an aerial view of the whole church on Google. 

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Around the back of the church. I cannot find the picture but to the right here is actually a stone wall with strategic holes for snipers to sit and take out invaders coming up the hill. 

Journey To Cambodia

3pm at Hong Kong’s airport. I met up with my cousins who also had a connecting flight in Hong Kong directly to Phnom Penh. We walked together to our terminal, our nerves getting the best of us. It would be the first time we’ve set foot on our motherland. It was thrilling and nerve wrecking. What were we to expect, we did not know. As we crossed the bridge to our gate number, I heard it. It was all around me. Cambodians speaking Khmer. I took in a short breath, reality setting in. I’m going to the motherland. I’m going to see my grandmother’s burial ground.

After a long delay of boarding and taxi, our plane finally touched down in Phnom Penh. As we’re exiting the bridge, I see a man holding a sign: Phyllina Kouch. I took a moment, unsure if he was looking for me, because that is not how you spell my name. My cousins shout that its me. Even in my own country, my name gets butchered.

The man turned out to be a family friend who worked at the airport and set us up with multi entry visas so that I may return again as much as I like until my passport expires. Down the hall, I see my whole family anxiously waiting, joy and relief spreading across their faces. We all hugged. I knew it was going to be a trip of a lifetime.

Places I’m Going: Volume 1

Cinque Terre, Northern Italy

Places I’m Going: Southeast Asia Tour and More

Hi lovely people!It’s been a trippy week full of long shift hours and night-owling my scripts for another contest. I’m long overdue for a post, and I have exciting news to share! I’m going to be solo touring Southeast Asia in May starting with Cambodia. It’ll be the first time visiting my country, and I am stoked! I’ll be gone for about a month and a half traveling to about 14 cities from Macau to the Maldives. I’ll be trekking the mountainous terrains, exploring the cities, and eating as much as I can fit in. And recently, I decided to also add New Zealand and Australia to the tour! It’s been a long time of saving up every little penny and I want to make this trip count every second! Stay tuned because 3 months sure do fly by. 🙂