Final Countdown-Europe

I can’t believe it’s already our last day in Brazil!  It’s amazing how fast the time has gone but I also feel very fortunate to have been able to experience so many different places in such a diverse country.

The weather seems to have finally turned nice for good and we woke up to beautiful blue skies.  After some packing, Liza and I headed down for some much anticipated time on the beach.  Here things work much the same way as they do in a restaurant as you rent chairs (R$5 for the day, or $2.50 U.S.) and they write your name in a notebook.  If you order any drinks, snacks or coconuts they tally that by your name and you pay at the end.  I love this system.  We spent a few hours on the sand and it felt amazing to take a nap in the warmth of the sun after so many rainy days.

Beachfront coconut

Final rooftop picture

waves in the sand

waves on the sidewalk

Sadly we had to pack and check out by 2PM.  Tami and I walked down the beach to meet up with some of our Teachers for Global Classroom friends who had just arrived in Rio.  As we were walking Tami and I talked about how traveling together really binds people together.  Afterall, we had really only spent about 10 days with these people, four days in Brasilia and a few days in Salvador, and it had only been a week since we saw them last, but we were as excited to see them as if we were meeting up with long lost friends.  We had a great time catching up, comparing stories, and discussing the peaks and valleys of our time in Brazil.  Actually we only discussed the peaks, there were so many positive experiences.

 

Lunch reunion

We parted ways as Tina, Staci and Judy went on to begin their exploration of Rio and Tami, Liza and I got ready for the airport and heading home.

Final sunset over Sugarloaf

After an excruciating two hour taxi ride, we arrived at Rio’s international airport in time to check in, weave our way through security and passport control, and board our 9:30 flight back to the U.S.