Ilha do Mel

   Ilha do Mel or Honey Island in English is located almost directly east from Curitiba.  Being 4 km at its closest from the mainland, the only way to get to this island is by boat.  The island is a true paradise with no cars and only three small villages.  So when my Canadian coworker invited me to join his group of foreign exchange interns I couldn't resist!  The weekend was spent exploring this exotic island and it couldn't have gone any better.

Our first few moments on the island...

Our hostel... which was nice except for no hot water or heat.  Wouldn't really have been an issue except for that at night the temperature must have dipped below freezing.

The first destination, Farol das Conchas on the far east of the island.

A top view of part of the crew.  Yes Kurt (far left) is also taking a pic.

About half way to the light house.

The final push!

Probably my favorite view of the trip.

On our second day there we explored the other two major points on the island, Grutas das Encantadas and Fortaleza de NS dos Prazeres...

A view of the cave from above.

And from the inside looking out.

Praia de Fortaleza (Fortaleza Beach) It was cold but I made it into the water! 

The group in front of the fort.

   And just a random pic that I wanted to share... 

Foz do Iguaçu

   With an extended holiday weekend in Brazil the next chapter of my journey would take me to Foz do Iguaçu, home of Iguaçu falls!

   First for this trip I would pick up a new traveling partner, Kaily.  As another American intern studying abroad she was an awesome travel partner!

   As you might have noticed we are sitting on a bus.  It was a long trip (about 10 hours), but the scenery was beautiful and we got to see some rural areas as well as tiny villages.

   
   When we finally did get to the town of Foz do Iguaçu we took a cab to where we thought the hostel was.  We ended up close but still pretty far away and ended up asking a stranger for directions.  It wasn't smooth, but we got there!

Looking for the Hostel

   When we finally did make it to the Hostel we were warmly welcomed by a bunch of other foreign exchange students studying in Brazil.  They included students from Mexico, Columbia, Italy, France and Spain so we were a very diverse group!  They would end up taking us under there wing and we had a blast all weekend.  Here is a picture of the group in Argentina before we would take on the town, followed by a group picture at some Buddhist Temple. 

   
   Our first stop was the Itaipu Dam on the border between Paraguay and Brazil.  As a massive engineering feat, it produces 75% of the electricity used in Paraguay and 17% of the electricity used in Brazil.  It was a ton of fun and our tour guide took some awesome pictures! (the last 2 are his... the others are mine.)

   Later, we explored the Brazilian side of Iguaçu Falls and the next day the Argentinian side.  Pictures don't come close to capturing the majestic beauty of it, but I will give it my best try...

   
   And not necessarily of the falls, but just some fun pictures that I wanted to share...  First those raccoon looking things?  There called Coati and although they look cute they are vicious!  They have no boundaries and will attack to get food. (Saw it happen twice in the time I spent there.)  The last two pics are of the Argentine peso which is right now 13.75 to 1 in favor of the US dollar.  I was super rich there!  To put it in perspective part of our group went out for dinner and with food and drinks it cost about 9 US dollars per person.

A Brazilian Soccer Game

  So as you probably could have guessed soccer (or futebol) is a very big deal here is Brazil.  I wasn't going to let myself leave without going to at least one game so I took the first opportunity I got to watch a match.  Although the Coritiba stadium is closer, my host family supports Atlético Paranaense so we went to the other side of town to watch a game. (If I get an opportunity I think I will check out a Coritiba game as well.)

   The day of the game it was raining heavily (not unusual), but with a closed stadium it was dry and warm inside.  The stadium wasn't packed for that game, but it would fill up more than what is shown in this picture.  As an ex-soccer player I loved the game and it ended in a draw (1-1).  The referee did make some questionable calls, however it amazed me at the vulgar being clearly and loudly chanted. (Of course, Luiz would have to translate this for me haha.)

A picture of our crew that made it to the game.

The future of Brazilian soccer!

Settling In...

   So after the honeymoon was over it was time to settle in for my first full work week of my trip to Brazil.  Lets go through a typical day for me.  First of all, although in the picture above it looks sunny and warm, Curitiba is not normally like this.  Multiple times locals told me that you can experience all four season in one day here and that has certainly been true.  In the morning it is generally cold (just below 50°F) and rainy.  By the time the afternoon comes it warms up to about 60°F and sometimes clears up although many days it just stays cloudy.  To my North American friends remember that in the southern hemisphere the end of autumn is approaching and winter is beginning.  Rio de Janeiro is still as you think of it from the internet, but I am about about 430 km or 522 miles south of there.  Again for my north american friends, that is about the distance between Philadelphia to Charlotte.  

 Now for the reason I am here in Curitiba, to complete a internship at Construtora Sustentare, a sustainable construction company. Curitiba is known as a very green and environmentally friendly city and Sustentare's goal is to provide sustainable solutions for the surrounding area. It is a small firm, but that is what I was looking for, enabling me to wear many different "hats." In my first week things have been a bit slow and the Portuguese is difficult to understand, but slowly I am picking up more and more. Also, hopefully we will be able to get on site soon.

My boss and I on my first day

Me rocking my staff shirt

   
   How am I getting around?  I am very fortunate in this sense.  First, I have made multiple connections who give me rides everywhere, which I am quite grateful for.  Two, Curitiba is an extremely bike friendly city. (Also, my boss gave me a bike for free to use which is a huge plus.)  And three, for what I think is the most interesting part, Curitiba is one of the best planned cities in the country.  The public transportation is top notch and you can't walk down the block without seeing a bus go by.  The interesting part about some of the buses is that they have their own special lane where cars are not allowed.  This makes the them super fast, as they avoid any and all traffic.  Then to make boarding the bus faster you pay your fare before you board and enter one of these tube looking things.  At first they look strange, but when you see their usefulness it makes perfect sense.  To make payments the best way is to get a refillable bus card.  And then finally (and most important to me) Movit works here, which allows even someone with my minimal Portuguese to get just about anywhere in the city.  Overall, it works as well as any public transportation system I have seen.

OK, yes, it has a basket, but it gets me around.

The bus lane is on the right, the car lane is on the left

One of the many "tubes" to get on the bus

   What about food?   Breakfast here is unusual for my american lifestyle, but nothing crazy.  Each morning they almost always have bread (from a bakery and really good), ham, and cheese.  Lunch on the other hand is a much bigger deal.  As the largest meal of the day, Brazilians often go out for lunch.  A typical lunch restaurant is a "por kilo" type of place.  It is buffet style except it is far better then any american buffet and when you finish going through the line, they weigh your plate.  You pay by the weight so make sure your stomach is as big as your eyes!  At any por kilo restaurant you can expect rice, beans (made from dry beans, never canned), veggies, and a variety of meat.  After, since lunch is large, dinner is far simplier, consisting normally of bread, butter, and coffee.

My favorite lunch place near work

So with the conversion in my favor this cost about $4 (R$14)

Although I am rarely home for it, a typical lunch at my house.

Now for the specialties/cultural foods...
For as many por kilo places there are there are just as many bakeries (panificadora) and sorta fast food places selling snack (lanches) and assorted fried items (salgadoes).  The most traditional item in these types of places is coxinha, a fried fried doughy thing, typically with chicken in the middle. (aka really good)

A coxinha from the bakery across the street. 

Some other interesting cultural foods...

Manioc: a white fibrous root that is boiled or fried

Pao de Queijo: Bread with a cheese filling

Pinhao: Pine nuts