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. 

Milestone COMPLETE! (Brazil)

I’m finally getting a chance to post about my trip a few weeks after getting home. I get excited even thinking about it. For those of you who don’t know, its been a looong journey, beginning with adding Christ the Redeemer to my vision board at a point when I had never been out of the country and had no idea when it would happen. Less than a year later…I did it! Who knew it would happen so quickly?

I will be short in my description of the journey because I could go on about it for days. Here are some highlights:

Sao Paulo

First we stopped in Sao Paulo, but only for a 2 hour layover (that ended up becoming 8 hours when our flight was canceled). Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to leave the airport. 😦

Recife:

I finally got my first taste of Brazil when we landed in Recife. After handling basics like exchanging money, securing hotel rooms (essentially beach front), and going over what my group’s itinerary for the next day.

First things first: we had to eat. My professors took us to a mid-prices buffet-style restaurant (Brazil has plenty of buffets–not the all-you-can-eat kind though). Afterwards we were free to do whatever we pleased so a few of us left dinner early and walked along the beach. Here, I had my very first Caiperina (instantly my favorite alcoholic drink) from a stand on the beach. While walking along the beach we ran into other students who were in our program watching a group of guys play soccer on the beach. It was night time but the beach was well lit. One guy wanted to join and I went with him. They welcomed us with open arms and it was amazing. First of all I hadn’t had the pleasure of playing soccer in easily over 6 years. Secondly, I was playing…Brazil! With people I had never met before. I truly saw the power of sports to bring people together. As a lifetime athlete I can probably recall small moments that resembled it but this was different. We could not understand each other whatsoever, but when we played…we knew exactly what each other was saying. Simple eye contact could mean so much and by the end of the game I had new friends.

Also there was an amazing market right outside of our hotel where locals came and enjoyed music, street performers, street food and simply relaxed. We also went to a Brazilian college’s class where students were learning about business in the U.S.. These people were all locals. Our entire time in Recife we were pretty much the only foreigners we saw.

Salvador

Salvador is my favorite city I visited by far. It is incredibly beautiful and welcoming. It feels like a completely different world. As in Recife, there were pretty much no tourists. The few that were there were visiting from other parts of Brazil in the way many people go to New York and L.A. in the U.S..

We went to the square where Michael Jackson shot his video with the world famous Brazilian the world famous Olodum drummers who operate in the area. Both days we visited the square we danced in an open, joyous and freeing way I have never experienced. The entire square seemed to light up. It was awesome. The first occasion there was an impromptu performance by an older group. They sat down playing a variety of instruments and singing. Most of the people in the square circled around watching, dancing and eating. There was a great spirit in the air and it was infectious. I was taken by the music and completely submerged in the present.

Rio

Rio was our last stop. Unfortunately we were only there for a little over a day I made the most of it. Of each city Rio had the most tourists by far. Still, it is such a global hot spot which  interesting dynamic. It was a cultural melting pot for tourism. Many people only knew there native language and maybe some Portuguese. If someone was not speaking English, German or the 9 words of Portuguese I picked up on the trip, pantomime had to be used to communicate. Being surrounded by so many cultures of people all out of their element, in a land that was foreign to me as well was a unique experienced I had never considered.

Annnnd, of course the highlight was *drum roll please* Christ the Redeemer!

For those who care to see, especially those who have been following my journey, I have a small gift for you in a follow-up post: PICTURES! (I took the thumbnail photo myself btw)

Sorry if this post was a little sporadic. I don’t have time to look over it as I usually do. I have a lot of exciting things going on, meaning I have a lot to post about!

Stay tuned!

Sean

Milestone Update: The Marathon

Over the past year (almost), I’ve been working on two major goals: My trip to Brazil and my book.

Let’s start with the book…

I cannot begin to express how many times I thought I was “finished”. From slight additions to slight subtractions to book cover adjustments and a number of other things, this process feels endless at times. At times I completely lose a sense of where the finish line is and wonder if it is even real to begin with. Consequently, I don’t even allow myself to believe I’m done anymore.

When I finished my final draft (now the final-final-final draft), I used the word marathon to describe the experience. Still I was completely ignorant to the many unknowns that would later ensue. The biggest problem this posed is being unsure if the book is finished or not, makes it difficult to completely shift my focus on distribution and marketing strategies.

Talk about a lesson in delayed gratification. At times, I’ve doubted my confidence. Other times I’ve embraced the fact my expectations are actually what I like to call “hard-earned reality.” Most of the time though, I just tell myself “Put your head down and keep on running.”

Brazil!!!!…

In two weeks I’ll be in Brazil. “THANK GOD!”… is what I’ll say when I finally touch ground. This process has been far more extensive than I imagined for a trip that I am technically not even planning (the study abroad professors are). There have been so many small wins along the way:

I rejoiced when I got accepted into the program, I fist pumped when I received a scholarship and went crazy when I received another scholarship a month later. I was humbled when people actually donated to my GoFundMe, and I was relieved when I finally got my passport and visa out of the way. All of these were great, but now I’m ready for the Big W. I know they say “It’s about the journey not the destination,” but in this case the destination will be a journey in itself.  There’s NO WAY anyone could tell me it’s about filling out countless documents and raising money instead of looking over Rio de Janeiro (a la Simba on Pride Rock) as I high-five Christ the Redeemer…Can YOU???

I…think…not!

Sorry, but I’m excited.

Most people who know me will say they’ve never really seen me excited about anything and they’d be right. It’s rarely a visible phenomenon in my case, but this is one of those rare occasions when I can’t keep myself from smiling ear-to-ear.  The case will be the same, when I finally am selling hundreds of thousands of books next year. Could that be the caipirinhas talking already??? We’ll see.

I’m in the midst of two marathons; one almost over and the other in many ways just getting started. The two journeys have been experiences future me appreciates, present me anticipates (ending), and past me is simply glad he’ll never go through. Don’t get me wrong I really am happy about my progress towards my goals, but boy I’m exhausted. Oh Copacabana, I can already feel your sand between my toes.

~~Sean

https://twitter.com/YAGCores

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. 🙂