Starting off the New Year right (kinda???)

Hey guys! I promise I’m alive and well haha (other than struggling quite a lot trying to adapt back to the ‘normal’ college experience). Sorry it’s been a while since I posted and I will fill you in on some of the cool things you missed.

After my program I headed to Santiago to spend 3 days, which for me meant rest rest rest and then some more me time haha. Spent two days sleeping in, making the video which is attached to the email you should have gotten, and walking around looking at some cool markets.

On the last night, I went out with a friend I had made named Angel and did the normal South American thing – which is stay out at the clubs/bars until almost sunrise. Had to dodge some protests happening, though while getting a drink outside I did get tear gassed because of a riot that had just passed by and the police followed shortly after. Always a fun thing to say that happened, right? Jk haha if you can pass on that one I would highly recommend.

The next 2 days were in Iguazu falls which is a beautiful spot that lands on a point where 3 countries touch (Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay). This is the largest waterfall in the world if you add all the many different falls together. I went to a bird sanctuary and saw many kinds of macaws/other birds, went to the Brazilian and Argentinian side of the waterfalls, and took a boat ride under one of the smaller waterfalls getting completely drenched haha. It’s crazy going from a freezing place to somewhere that is 90 degrees or hotter and all I’m wearing is shorts, a tee shirt, and sandals. (BIG thanks for my friend Aubrie who took my suitcase filled with all my winter clothes back home to NC so all I had to bring was my backpack.)

On Christmas Eve I flew to Sao Paulo to stay with a host family for 2 nights to enjoy a Christmas… Brazilian style. That night we went to Luis’ (the host son who spoke amazing English) Aunt’s house to start eating dinner at 10pm and continued to talk/eat/drink until it turned into Christmas day which is where we all said “Feliz Natal” and watched the fireworks around town go off. We stayed there until around 3am after opening gifts and then went home, slept until noon the next day, and was back for a late lunch. This tradition is very common in Brazil and it was SO cool to experience it with a family who was so accepting. There was also a girl from China that was being hosted at the same house as me so hearing about the Chinese culture on top of the Brazilian culture was double awesome. The conversations were the best part since I don’t speak Portuguese but however I do speak Spanish (which is pretty similar, and I found out if I talk slow enough without an accent, they understood ~75% of what I said). It really made your brain work in overdrive, but when can you ever say you did that on Christmas in a foreign country.

On the 26th I flew to Rio to enjoy the next week beaching it up, and just relaxing in the beautiful beaches of Copacabana. Angel (my friend from Santiago) joined me the next day which is when we went to Christ the Redeemer to try and get a good picture (SUCCESS). The other few days we had there consisted of going downtown, shopping, beaching it up, exploring, and going out to some cool clubs/bars. Rio was a suuuper cool city and was very vibey with all kinds of things to do, but was also a bit sketchy at certain times of the nights and certain places. So if you do make it to Rio walk around at night with someone (the daytime is completely ok). But the funny thing is, which is just like the movies, is that when you are on the beach people were carrying trays full of mixed drinks and would walk up to you and ask if you would like another. It’s crazy! There are so many bars and restaurants literally right on/next to the beach that you couldn’t look in one direction and not see a guy carrying drinks or a bar serving people.

Sooooo quick side note: Rio has 2…yes 2 airports and ya boy didn’t look close enough to see that I was flying domestic first then internationally back to the states (because come on who is thinking that, plus being slightly buzzed doesn’t make the mind the crispest haha.) I showed up 2 hours early to the international airport at 4am ready to head home after 4 months abroad, to find out that my flight was at the other airport whcih happened to be an hour away. I then quickly hopped in a cab and made it there with 15 minutes to spare, buuut the lady wouldn’t let me check in and run through security. ://// (let me remind you this is ALL happening in Portuguese with me speaking Spanish at 5am with my anxiety through the roof) Fun times – I mean not then – but looking back at it, it makes for a good laugh. The lady made me go to another counter to re-book my flight (which I did in Spanish) and the women that helped me out was a God sent because she literally didn’t charge me a single dollar for my new flight which flew out the next night. Shoutout to her and her kindness at such a early hour!!

This is one of those moments where you don’t see all the bad things that go on behind all the cool pictures/memories….. I threw my bag in the floor, plopped my back against a huge pillar, looked at my watch (realizing I had been up for more than 24 hours), and gave my momma a call. I TRIED not to burst out in tears because all I wanted to do at this point was be back home. The anticipation of coming home was building up the whole week, and it all came crashing down in a matter of seconds. SO, I called an Uber, went back to my Airbnb and slept for a solid 6-8 hours before ordering pizza, and watching TV for the rest of the night. Not too shabby for missing a flight if you ask me. On the other hand however when I returned home on January 3rd, I had a late Christmas on the 4th, saw mom and dad, and moved into my new apartment the 5th because classes for my last semester started back on the 6th. Now that is what you call no time to readjust, and hitting the ground sprinting… not just running haha.

All in all I had a wonderful Christmas ‘break’ seeing all the new places, and meeting the people I did! I am already looking for summer research opportunities back in the jungles of South America before I head off to graduate school in the fall (surprised? because I’m definitely not haha). There is lots going on with many many grad applications being sent to schools all across the states and waiting to hear back from them in late March/April. Where the heck is spring break? I need that in my life ASAP! LOL

Like always, keep adventuring and don’t settle for anything less than great!

Luke