It was so hard to leave Manaus. I had such a great time there in so many different ways. I wish I would have had more to time to Blog for each day I was there, but I was very busy, so I will try to do so at my next port and thereafter.
Day 1: Setting foot onto Manaus was nothing like I expected it to be. It was busy, chaotic, cluttered, polluted, the city smelt like chemicals and waste, and it was the hottest and humid I had ever felt. Honestly, my only thought was that I NEEDED to get out of the city! “Where is the Amazon?” I wondered to myself before nearly getting nailed head on by a bus. I am such an anti-city type of person and was really looking forward to Manaus because I had thought that the Amazon would be growing all around me; out of the sewers, eating up the streets, and welcoming me as I walked off the boat. I was wrong. Instead, the streets were filled with chaos and madness of people, street vendors, buses, markets, and trash all swarming around the city as if they were the creatures and exotic plant life that dwelled in the concrete jungle of Manaus!
Manaus was the first port where only a handful of people could speak English, so the simple task of asking for directions consisted of me using my acting skills to express where exactly I wanted to go. After about an hour in the city I felt so incredibly lost. My main objective for the day was to find the opera house because it had a lot of good tourist information and people spoke English there. Next, I needed to find a bank and a good place to eat lunch. My friends and I managed to make it in one piece after walking in what felt like being trapped in a box with no air in the middle of the afternoon. I was shocked at how hot it was in Manaus and found out later that we were visiting during their winter season, I don’t even want to think about what their “hell” season felt like!
The small square that the opera house was situated on made me feel as if I were in Europe. Suddenly, I was no longer in the chaotic streets of Manaus, but in an area that I knew was important. I felt really safe there away from all the confusion of the people, streets and the shops trying to find themselves and sell their way into the modern world. It felt like I had taken a step back in time to what the hopeful city of Manus once looked like. The opera house was one of the most prized possessions of the city that stood so peacefully amongst the madness all around it.
We arrived on a Sunday when most families were at church, but the streets were still packed with people because of their Sunday market. I didn’t get to stay long because I had a field trip, but the vendors were selling beautiful and exotic handmade jewelry, arts, and crafts.
Being in Manaus was the most foreign that I had felt so far, being lost in a crowd of mutual misinterpretations, language barriers, and mannerism. It was mind-blowing at first, but once I managed to navigate myself though their culture and barriers, it wasn’t really so bad.
Day 1: Setting foot onto Manaus was nothing like I expected it to be. It was busy, chaotic, cluttered, polluted, the city smelt like chemicals and waste, and it was the hottest and humid I had ever felt. Honestly, my only thought was that I NEEDED to get out of the city! “Where is the Amazon?” I wondered to myself before nearly getting nailed head on by a bus. I am such an anti-city type of person and was really looking forward to Manaus because I had thought that the Amazon would be growing all around me; out of the sewers, eating up the streets, and welcoming me as I walked off the boat. I was wrong. Instead, the streets were filled with chaos and madness of people, street vendors, buses, markets, and trash all swarming around the city as if they were the creatures and exotic plant life that dwelled in the concrete jungle of Manaus!
Manaus was the first port where only a handful of people could speak English, so the simple task of asking for directions consisted of me using my acting skills to express where exactly I wanted to go. After about an hour in the city I felt so incredibly lost. My main objective for the day was to find the opera house because it had a lot of good tourist information and people spoke English there. Next, I needed to find a bank and a good place to eat lunch. My friends and I managed to make it in one piece after walking in what felt like being trapped in a box with no air in the middle of the afternoon. I was shocked at how hot it was in Manaus and found out later that we were visiting during their winter season, I don’t even want to think about what their “hell” season felt like!
The small square that the opera house was situated on made me feel as if I were in Europe. Suddenly, I was no longer in the chaotic streets of Manaus, but in an area that I knew was important. I felt really safe there away from all the confusion of the people, streets and the shops trying to find themselves and sell their way into the modern world. It felt like I had taken a step back in time to what the hopeful city of Manus once looked like. The opera house was one of the most prized possessions of the city that stood so peacefully amongst the madness all around it.
We arrived on a Sunday when most families were at church, but the streets were still packed with people because of their Sunday market. I didn’t get to stay long because I had a field trip, but the vendors were selling beautiful and exotic handmade jewelry, arts, and crafts.
Being in Manaus was the most foreign that I had felt so far, being lost in a crowd of mutual misinterpretations, language barriers, and mannerism. It was mind-blowing at first, but once I managed to navigate myself though their culture and barriers, it wasn’t really so bad.
Later that day, I went on a field trip touring the city by bus. We drove all through Manaus and learned about the rubber boom that significantly shaped Manaus’ past and present economy. We drove past the palafitas, which are equivalent to the Rio de Janero favela slums, but with less drug crime. It was so shocking to see where most of the working class of Manaus lived in the city. It was worse than any public housing system I had ever seen in the US. Seeing these homes really made me put into perspective what we see as “ghetto” back in the states, to what people in the palafitas must see as a dream home. It broke my heart to see that people could live in such conditions, and made me feel very fortunate for everything that I have. Our tour guide talked to us a lot about relationship of poverty, inequality, and the education system in Brazil and how this relationship is kept in sync by the Brazilian government; because they do not put money into the Brazilian education system to give the impoverished community a chance to excel. In Brazil, like in most parts of the world, minority groups are the ones who take the jobs at the bottom of the pyramid and go without basic human needs such as education and medical attention. I was surprised that our guide had chosen to talk about this subject going from history to the corruption of Brazilian politics, making me realize just how bad their relationship must be.
We ended the tour passing the market and learning about the rivers and where different roads connect. The tour was really interesting and got me more familiar with Manaus and the history behind the city.
That Night: We were fortunate to have an inter-port lecturer on board from Manaus, Professor Lima, who gave us all sorts of information about Manaus. The first night there he offered to take students out to see the school of Samba, a popular style of dance throughout Brazil. He explained that the samba performers were going to be practicing their routine for the public to prepare for the infamous Carnival* festival in Brazil. Little did he know that almost half of the shipboard community would join him!
I didn’t really know what to expect. I thought that the school of samba was going to be a low key get together with some dancing and good music. It turned out to be one of the most amazing and memorable experiences of my life!
When my friends and I got there, we were overwhelmed with everything that was going on. We caught a cab and got dropped off on the middle of the street filled with vendors selling food and drinks with live music playing on a lanai overlooking the street. The Professor arranged a huge table for the students upon our arrival. We walked around on the street as more people began to pour in. It became chaotic with locals everywhere and I began to feel lost and confused again in the sea of Portuguese and music.
More and more people started to gather in the street until it was really hard to walk. We were motioned to move back and cones were set up, at this point I was so lost. Beautifully dressed dancers began to glide their way into the street with a whole troupe of musicians with all sorts of drums! They lined up in rows and no sooner the night had begun!!
The music was not only live, but alive. It was the most vibrant and loud mix of instruments I have ever heard. The music was incredibly loud, we were in the street and could not hear a single word of anything not even our own thoughts! In that moment the only thing that I could comprehend was movement, the music was my language and I was fluent in its rhythm. It was more than just a concert it was a celebration! My friends and I were lucky enough to be standing right in front of the performers, but were the first target to be pulled on the street to dance with them. We didn’t feel one bit embarrassed, or ashamed but followed them and soon everyone followed us into the street!
It was such an incredible experience! Everyone was having a great time, locals, students, teachers, performers, everyone was dancing in the street and celebrating! The music was nonstop for hours, live! It was the happiest I think I have ever seen people collectively and it was such a great feeling!
My friends and I left at around midnight because we had a field trip at 6am that we needed to wake up for. I was bummed that the night had ended so early, but glad that I went out and was able to experience the samba.
Day 2: My roommate and I managed to wake up from a long night. We got on a bus and slept for two hours until we arrived outside of the city and in a rural region called President Figeuiredo out in the Amazonian rainforest. I was finally in the Amazon! It was beautiful, a forest extremely more dense than any I’ve ever seen. There were all types of trees and sounds echoing throughout the forest, it was lovely. We hiked to a huge cave that we learned was where native birds go for shelter and to give birth and mate. It was so interesting with lots of different passageways.
We hiked out of that area and drove to a waterfall/stream. I was shocked to see that water was a brownish red color and decided that I was definitely not going to get in. I always knew that water that color back home was never safe to swim in.
After talking with my tour guide and other people who were getting in the water, I learned that it was that color because of the high concentration of acid that was at the bottom of stream. I didn’t really know if it was true but I was so hot thought to myself “when am I ever going to be in the Amazon rainforest again?” And jumped in! It was beautiful! The water was really clear and it felt so refreshing.
Next, we ate a local Amazonian meal of fish, smoked meat, chicken, fried fish, mixed rice, tucuma smoothies (Amazonian palm fruit), and a banana desert! I was a little hesitant at first to eat anything; it was my first time being given food by people I could not ask questions to. But it turned out to be delicious and one of my favorite meals in Manaus. After lunch we rode on a short zipline across the river. It was a little bit scary; they had us climb up a really thin unstable looking ladder attached to a post where we were instructed to jump off backwards! I was really nervous because it was kids who were running the zipline and I had no idea if they knew what to do, but it turned out to be really fun!
Day 3: My third day there consisted of walking through the city and doing some shopping with my friends. It was crazy to finally go out and explore most of the city streets of Manus, if I didn’t have my friends with me I would have gotten eaten alive and lost out there in the streets. I didn’t realize how many vendors there were until I walked though almost all of the back alleys. Each street seemed to be organized by categories; toys, electronics, clothing, school supplies, candy, hammocks, and a lot more. Yet in them you would find a random combination of other items it was really bizarre.
Earlier that day, I made plans to stay overnight in a jungle lodge for the following day through one of our tour guides. I was ecstatic that I would finally be getting a chance to get out of the city and explore the rest of Amazon! He offered us a really great deal on a place to stay with all accommodations included. I got a group of ten of my friends together and was determined that we would leave the polluted city and explore the jungle and have a real Amazon experience! Yet all day I found myself worrying about if the lodge was going to be safe and reliable.
My friends and I continued to shop for the rest of the day, until we arrived back on the ship to prepare for the next day ahead of us. I went up to the bar to buy water and ran into one of the SAS alums from Brazil. The issue of safety had been on my mind all day, so I decided to ask her personally what she thought about my plans. It turned out that she was the owner of the tour company that I had met the guide through, as well as an SAS alum! At first she was really upset that her employees had solicited a student, but decided that she was not going to fire him, but move him down a position. I felt terrible, but she explained to me the risks that I was taking by going though her employee. She explained how dangerous it was that I had attempted to plan such a trip and that it was smart that I had used my intuition to talk to her about going.
I was really bummed when she cancelled the trip, but thought of it as a blessing in disguise. Who knows what could have happened to me if I would have gone out there in such a remote area? Next, I had to go back to my room to explain to all of my friends why our adventure had been cancelled. Everyone was really bummed too, but was able to understand where the alum was coming from. Because my big plans had been cancelled, that left me with the only option of wandering about the city again. I was really not looking forward to it.
Day 4: I woke up early with my roommate so that we could attempt to do something productive and get out of the city. We ended up walking again through the humid streets and later took a cab to the mall to use the internet. By this point, I thought that my day had surely been wasted. While we were there, we ran into a lot of miscommunication at different stores. But whenever this would happen, an employee would always go out of their way to get someone from a completely opposite side of the mall who spoke a little bit of English so that we could communicate with one another. I found this really helpful, something that you would never see in the US. Something that even I myself would never attempt to do, and I am a pretty nice person.
After the mall we made our way to opera house because I had not yet had a chance to go inside of it. The opera house was constructed during the time of the rubber boom in Manaus, duration of time that both built up and subsequently ran Manaus into poverty.
The opera house was one of the most beautiful structures I have even laid eyes on. It was an ironic symbol of hope and poverty that made it all the more intriguing. We got to watch a youth orchestra rehearse for an upcoming performance, they were wonderful. I felt like I was in the audience of a classical performance. After our tour I began to feel a lot more at ease in Manaus. I felt like I had gotten to know the city so much more and began to feel a stronger sense of connection to the foreign place.
That Night: I felt really exhausted from walking around town for the second day in a row. And had planned on staying in. During dinner, some of my friends invited me go out to another school of samba! At first I was really hesitant because I was tired and already set on staying in. I gave it some thought and decided that I needed to go out at least the last night before I leave!
I ended up losing the girls I was supposed to go out with and found some really cool girls to go with instead. By that time, I felt like I knew the city of Manaus like the back of my hand and we decided to walk to a local restaurant before heading to the school of samba. We met some really sweet local students walking along who spoke some English. They were really helpful and even offered to walk with us to where we needed to go. It really made me think about how I would usually respond when put in the situation to help out a tourist. I realized that I would most likely be standoffish and not as willing to help someone as closely as the people in all of the countries I have visited so far have.
We made it to our destination ate a bit, and then headed off to the school of samba. When we arrived, the atmosphere was completely different. The street was not as busy and no one was really out. I began to feel disappointment once again, like noting was working out for me in Brazil. We went inside this time to watch the samba performers prepare and it just wasn’t the same. We spotted out some SAS kids and attempted to talk with them but the music was way too loud.
There were a couple of locals with them who looked about the same age as us. They were really friendly and were showing us how we should be dancing. It was so hard to talk with them over the music so we began to write what we wanted to say to each other on their cell phones. Turned out that they knew excellent English.
We all stepped out so that we could talk more and ended up all getting along together really well. The boy that we had met was Incaru, and the girl, Hafla or Rama. They told us so much about their lives in Brazil and were so interested and eager to hear about our lives in the states and semester at sea. We all ended up talking for the rest of the night and had such a great time! Hafla introduced us to her parents who were such kind people. They insisted on giving us a ride back to the port at the end of the night because they thought that it would be too dangerous to take a cab. I didn’t feel one bit hesitant and took their offer. We arranged to meet the next day for breakfast at the same place where he and the other SAS students had met and befriended each other the first they arrived.
By the end of the night I was really glad that I had not left for the jungle lodge that day. Meeting Incaru and Hafla was something that really changed my perspective on Manaus and brought me even closer to the city that I had earlier resented.
Day 5: We didn’t have much time because we needed to be back on the ship by 3pm to set sail at 5. My newly found friends and I met Incaru and Hafla for breakfast at the crack of dawn! We had to get there early because Incaru needed to go to work that morning and knew that this may be one of the last times he’d get to see us. The juice bar was a hole in the wall that had the setting of an American diner, but their food and juice was amazing! Incaru ordered us a local favorite which was a breakfast sandwich with tucuma (Amazonian palm fruit), cheese, and egg. It was the most delicious breakfast sandwich I had ever had. I also got a refreshing smoothie with all kinds of Amazonian fruits in it! Soon Hafla arrived with her mother so that they could show us around some museums.
Time started to slip away and soon Incaru had to leave. He told us how much he was going to miss us and how happy he was to have met some very friendly American students. He told us that we would always be welcomed in Manaus and would have a place to stay whenever we wished to come back. We all exchanged contact information and promised to keep in touch. He wrote us a letter telling us how glad he was to have met such great people like us. Less than 24 hours prior to that moment he was no more than a stranger to me, yet in such a short period of time I had managed to discover such a meaningful and genuine friendship, it really touched me. We all hugged and took photographs with one another in hopes of constructing a relationship that would span past the life of a distant memory.
We said our goodbyes and continued the day with Hafla and her mother. They showed us three different museums and took us to a great place for lunch as we continued to talk and share bits and pieces of our lives. The entire day was our interpreter, guide, and friend. We encouraged her to look into semester at sea once she finished high school. She told us her dreams of one day studying in America and getting to see New York city. We explained to her that people in America would be no where near as kind and accepting toward her and to be prepared. Telling her this made me feel really ashamed at the way most people even myself treat outsiders. I hoped with all of my heart that she would one day have the chance to go to the US.
3pm drew closer and closer as we tried to squeeze all of the last minute things into hours then minutes to our departure. I wanted to give Hafla something from Hawaii, but had nothing for her I was really upset. She told me that she had never seen an ocean before and how much she would love to see one, I tried to explain to her what an ocean was like and how absolutely beautiful it is at first glance. I promised to send her pictures of my exotic and far away home and that we would someday meet again in the future.
It was really hard for all of us to say goodbye to her. We had all formed such a memorable and powerful connection to these people in such a short time. Hafla and her mother said that we were welcomed to come to Manaus anytime and that they would be happy to have us stay with them and urged us to come for the world cup. Hafla began to cry which set off a chain reaction of tears from all of us. Manaus felt like a second home to me after meeting Hafla and Incaru.
We waved and walked towards the ship until I could no longer see them. While I was heading back I thought about how drastically my perception of Manus had changed literally overnight after meeting such kind and generous people.
I guess growing up in such an incredible place, I take beauty for granted. In Manaus, you do not find beauty when you step onto the street or at first glance, you have to do a little searching. I did not find beauty it in the heart of the city but in the hearts of the people who live and breath the life of it.
I did not need to need to venture out into the Amazon for a thrill and taste of what I saw in movies and postcards that would have lasted for only a day. But in Manaus I found a friendship that will last even longer with some of the most amazing people that I have ever met.
This experience really taught me to look deeper because if you do, you will find beauty in strangest ways and in most undesirable places. Globalization is in full affect I know it I have been surrounded by it, and I think that in order to come to grips with it, we must look to our foreign friends to see the world in a new light. I think that if you can do this, you will walk away with something that is unique and extremely hard to find.
I will close this entry with one of the only words I managed to learn in Portugese Obrigada, which means thank you.
Obrigada Manaus.
We ended the tour passing the market and learning about the rivers and where different roads connect. The tour was really interesting and got me more familiar with Manaus and the history behind the city.
That Night: We were fortunate to have an inter-port lecturer on board from Manaus, Professor Lima, who gave us all sorts of information about Manaus. The first night there he offered to take students out to see the school of Samba, a popular style of dance throughout Brazil. He explained that the samba performers were going to be practicing their routine for the public to prepare for the infamous Carnival* festival in Brazil. Little did he know that almost half of the shipboard community would join him!
I didn’t really know what to expect. I thought that the school of samba was going to be a low key get together with some dancing and good music. It turned out to be one of the most amazing and memorable experiences of my life!
When my friends and I got there, we were overwhelmed with everything that was going on. We caught a cab and got dropped off on the middle of the street filled with vendors selling food and drinks with live music playing on a lanai overlooking the street. The Professor arranged a huge table for the students upon our arrival. We walked around on the street as more people began to pour in. It became chaotic with locals everywhere and I began to feel lost and confused again in the sea of Portuguese and music.
More and more people started to gather in the street until it was really hard to walk. We were motioned to move back and cones were set up, at this point I was so lost. Beautifully dressed dancers began to glide their way into the street with a whole troupe of musicians with all sorts of drums! They lined up in rows and no sooner the night had begun!!
The music was not only live, but alive. It was the most vibrant and loud mix of instruments I have ever heard. The music was incredibly loud, we were in the street and could not hear a single word of anything not even our own thoughts! In that moment the only thing that I could comprehend was movement, the music was my language and I was fluent in its rhythm. It was more than just a concert it was a celebration! My friends and I were lucky enough to be standing right in front of the performers, but were the first target to be pulled on the street to dance with them. We didn’t feel one bit embarrassed, or ashamed but followed them and soon everyone followed us into the street!
It was such an incredible experience! Everyone was having a great time, locals, students, teachers, performers, everyone was dancing in the street and celebrating! The music was nonstop for hours, live! It was the happiest I think I have ever seen people collectively and it was such a great feeling!
My friends and I left at around midnight because we had a field trip at 6am that we needed to wake up for. I was bummed that the night had ended so early, but glad that I went out and was able to experience the samba.
Day 2: My roommate and I managed to wake up from a long night. We got on a bus and slept for two hours until we arrived outside of the city and in a rural region called President Figeuiredo out in the Amazonian rainforest. I was finally in the Amazon! It was beautiful, a forest extremely more dense than any I’ve ever seen. There were all types of trees and sounds echoing throughout the forest, it was lovely. We hiked to a huge cave that we learned was where native birds go for shelter and to give birth and mate. It was so interesting with lots of different passageways.
We hiked out of that area and drove to a waterfall/stream. I was shocked to see that water was a brownish red color and decided that I was definitely not going to get in. I always knew that water that color back home was never safe to swim in.
After talking with my tour guide and other people who were getting in the water, I learned that it was that color because of the high concentration of acid that was at the bottom of stream. I didn’t really know if it was true but I was so hot thought to myself “when am I ever going to be in the Amazon rainforest again?” And jumped in! It was beautiful! The water was really clear and it felt so refreshing.
Next, we ate a local Amazonian meal of fish, smoked meat, chicken, fried fish, mixed rice, tucuma smoothies (Amazonian palm fruit), and a banana desert! I was a little hesitant at first to eat anything; it was my first time being given food by people I could not ask questions to. But it turned out to be delicious and one of my favorite meals in Manaus. After lunch we rode on a short zipline across the river. It was a little bit scary; they had us climb up a really thin unstable looking ladder attached to a post where we were instructed to jump off backwards! I was really nervous because it was kids who were running the zipline and I had no idea if they knew what to do, but it turned out to be really fun!
Day 3: My third day there consisted of walking through the city and doing some shopping with my friends. It was crazy to finally go out and explore most of the city streets of Manus, if I didn’t have my friends with me I would have gotten eaten alive and lost out there in the streets. I didn’t realize how many vendors there were until I walked though almost all of the back alleys. Each street seemed to be organized by categories; toys, electronics, clothing, school supplies, candy, hammocks, and a lot more. Yet in them you would find a random combination of other items it was really bizarre.
Earlier that day, I made plans to stay overnight in a jungle lodge for the following day through one of our tour guides. I was ecstatic that I would finally be getting a chance to get out of the city and explore the rest of Amazon! He offered us a really great deal on a place to stay with all accommodations included. I got a group of ten of my friends together and was determined that we would leave the polluted city and explore the jungle and have a real Amazon experience! Yet all day I found myself worrying about if the lodge was going to be safe and reliable.
My friends and I continued to shop for the rest of the day, until we arrived back on the ship to prepare for the next day ahead of us. I went up to the bar to buy water and ran into one of the SAS alums from Brazil. The issue of safety had been on my mind all day, so I decided to ask her personally what she thought about my plans. It turned out that she was the owner of the tour company that I had met the guide through, as well as an SAS alum! At first she was really upset that her employees had solicited a student, but decided that she was not going to fire him, but move him down a position. I felt terrible, but she explained to me the risks that I was taking by going though her employee. She explained how dangerous it was that I had attempted to plan such a trip and that it was smart that I had used my intuition to talk to her about going.
I was really bummed when she cancelled the trip, but thought of it as a blessing in disguise. Who knows what could have happened to me if I would have gone out there in such a remote area? Next, I had to go back to my room to explain to all of my friends why our adventure had been cancelled. Everyone was really bummed too, but was able to understand where the alum was coming from. Because my big plans had been cancelled, that left me with the only option of wandering about the city again. I was really not looking forward to it.
Day 4: I woke up early with my roommate so that we could attempt to do something productive and get out of the city. We ended up walking again through the humid streets and later took a cab to the mall to use the internet. By this point, I thought that my day had surely been wasted. While we were there, we ran into a lot of miscommunication at different stores. But whenever this would happen, an employee would always go out of their way to get someone from a completely opposite side of the mall who spoke a little bit of English so that we could communicate with one another. I found this really helpful, something that you would never see in the US. Something that even I myself would never attempt to do, and I am a pretty nice person.
After the mall we made our way to opera house because I had not yet had a chance to go inside of it. The opera house was constructed during the time of the rubber boom in Manaus, duration of time that both built up and subsequently ran Manaus into poverty.
The opera house was one of the most beautiful structures I have even laid eyes on. It was an ironic symbol of hope and poverty that made it all the more intriguing. We got to watch a youth orchestra rehearse for an upcoming performance, they were wonderful. I felt like I was in the audience of a classical performance. After our tour I began to feel a lot more at ease in Manaus. I felt like I had gotten to know the city so much more and began to feel a stronger sense of connection to the foreign place.
That Night: I felt really exhausted from walking around town for the second day in a row. And had planned on staying in. During dinner, some of my friends invited me go out to another school of samba! At first I was really hesitant because I was tired and already set on staying in. I gave it some thought and decided that I needed to go out at least the last night before I leave!
I ended up losing the girls I was supposed to go out with and found some really cool girls to go with instead. By that time, I felt like I knew the city of Manaus like the back of my hand and we decided to walk to a local restaurant before heading to the school of samba. We met some really sweet local students walking along who spoke some English. They were really helpful and even offered to walk with us to where we needed to go. It really made me think about how I would usually respond when put in the situation to help out a tourist. I realized that I would most likely be standoffish and not as willing to help someone as closely as the people in all of the countries I have visited so far have.
We made it to our destination ate a bit, and then headed off to the school of samba. When we arrived, the atmosphere was completely different. The street was not as busy and no one was really out. I began to feel disappointment once again, like noting was working out for me in Brazil. We went inside this time to watch the samba performers prepare and it just wasn’t the same. We spotted out some SAS kids and attempted to talk with them but the music was way too loud.
There were a couple of locals with them who looked about the same age as us. They were really friendly and were showing us how we should be dancing. It was so hard to talk with them over the music so we began to write what we wanted to say to each other on their cell phones. Turned out that they knew excellent English.
We all stepped out so that we could talk more and ended up all getting along together really well. The boy that we had met was Incaru, and the girl, Hafla or Rama. They told us so much about their lives in Brazil and were so interested and eager to hear about our lives in the states and semester at sea. We all ended up talking for the rest of the night and had such a great time! Hafla introduced us to her parents who were such kind people. They insisted on giving us a ride back to the port at the end of the night because they thought that it would be too dangerous to take a cab. I didn’t feel one bit hesitant and took their offer. We arranged to meet the next day for breakfast at the same place where he and the other SAS students had met and befriended each other the first they arrived.
By the end of the night I was really glad that I had not left for the jungle lodge that day. Meeting Incaru and Hafla was something that really changed my perspective on Manaus and brought me even closer to the city that I had earlier resented.
Day 5: We didn’t have much time because we needed to be back on the ship by 3pm to set sail at 5. My newly found friends and I met Incaru and Hafla for breakfast at the crack of dawn! We had to get there early because Incaru needed to go to work that morning and knew that this may be one of the last times he’d get to see us. The juice bar was a hole in the wall that had the setting of an American diner, but their food and juice was amazing! Incaru ordered us a local favorite which was a breakfast sandwich with tucuma (Amazonian palm fruit), cheese, and egg. It was the most delicious breakfast sandwich I had ever had. I also got a refreshing smoothie with all kinds of Amazonian fruits in it! Soon Hafla arrived with her mother so that they could show us around some museums.
Time started to slip away and soon Incaru had to leave. He told us how much he was going to miss us and how happy he was to have met some very friendly American students. He told us that we would always be welcomed in Manaus and would have a place to stay whenever we wished to come back. We all exchanged contact information and promised to keep in touch. He wrote us a letter telling us how glad he was to have met such great people like us. Less than 24 hours prior to that moment he was no more than a stranger to me, yet in such a short period of time I had managed to discover such a meaningful and genuine friendship, it really touched me. We all hugged and took photographs with one another in hopes of constructing a relationship that would span past the life of a distant memory.
We said our goodbyes and continued the day with Hafla and her mother. They showed us three different museums and took us to a great place for lunch as we continued to talk and share bits and pieces of our lives. The entire day was our interpreter, guide, and friend. We encouraged her to look into semester at sea once she finished high school. She told us her dreams of one day studying in America and getting to see New York city. We explained to her that people in America would be no where near as kind and accepting toward her and to be prepared. Telling her this made me feel really ashamed at the way most people even myself treat outsiders. I hoped with all of my heart that she would one day have the chance to go to the US.
3pm drew closer and closer as we tried to squeeze all of the last minute things into hours then minutes to our departure. I wanted to give Hafla something from Hawaii, but had nothing for her I was really upset. She told me that she had never seen an ocean before and how much she would love to see one, I tried to explain to her what an ocean was like and how absolutely beautiful it is at first glance. I promised to send her pictures of my exotic and far away home and that we would someday meet again in the future.
It was really hard for all of us to say goodbye to her. We had all formed such a memorable and powerful connection to these people in such a short time. Hafla and her mother said that we were welcomed to come to Manaus anytime and that they would be happy to have us stay with them and urged us to come for the world cup. Hafla began to cry which set off a chain reaction of tears from all of us. Manaus felt like a second home to me after meeting Hafla and Incaru.
We waved and walked towards the ship until I could no longer see them. While I was heading back I thought about how drastically my perception of Manus had changed literally overnight after meeting such kind and generous people.
I guess growing up in such an incredible place, I take beauty for granted. In Manaus, you do not find beauty when you step onto the street or at first glance, you have to do a little searching. I did not find beauty it in the heart of the city but in the hearts of the people who live and breath the life of it.
I did not need to need to venture out into the Amazon for a thrill and taste of what I saw in movies and postcards that would have lasted for only a day. But in Manaus I found a friendship that will last even longer with some of the most amazing people that I have ever met.
This experience really taught me to look deeper because if you do, you will find beauty in strangest ways and in most undesirable places. Globalization is in full affect I know it I have been surrounded by it, and I think that in order to come to grips with it, we must look to our foreign friends to see the world in a new light. I think that if you can do this, you will walk away with something that is unique and extremely hard to find.
I will close this entry with one of the only words I managed to learn in Portugese Obrigada, which means thank you.
Obrigada Manaus.
Incredible story. I have created images based on your descriptions, and I am curious to see your photos, which is usually a completely different perspective from what I envisioned.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for your next post.
U Steven