So much to see in Rio De Janeiro!

COUNTRY: Brazil
PROGRAM: GapBreak
PROJECT: Wildlife Conservation & Youth Work
WRITTEN BY: Hannah McHardy

The last month has been very busy! Since the first week of returning from Curitiba, the girls and I have been doing volunteer work each day, venturing out to explore the island of Florianopolis and have made many new friends. It has been good coming back to a place that has easy access to internet and basic things, such as shopping centres.

The first weekend back in Floripa was a quiet one. Camille and I went to the beach with my host family called Giavota near our suburb. There has been lovely weather and it has been getting hotter and hotter with an occasional cold day. We have finally wrapped our heads around the bus system on our daily expedition from Ingleses to Centro! We catch the 7:20am yellow “Ingleses” rider that goes from the tip of our street. It is very comfortable and easy and takes us straight there! It is so nice to see the whole island each day during our bus trip, it really has become like home. The bus system has been very temperamental; buses are either extremely late or don’t come at all! This has proved to be a problem to get places on time or get anywhere at all...

On our second week back, the public holiday long weekend took us to Rio de Janeiro! It was such a good time as it was all nine of us there (our new German friend Kitty, who is a host sister to Steph, came along!) staying in Copa Fun Hostel! It lived up to its name; we all had a blast there. It was comfortable and the complimentary breakfasts proved extremely satisfying for all. Four days was simply NOT ENOUGH!

One thing we realised is that there is so much to see in Rio! Christ the Redeemer, Lapa Stairs, Sugar Loaf mountain, some famous beaches, the markets, the Lapa party scene and a Samba Lesson is what we managed to get around to. We all splurged at the Copacabana markets (probably no one nearly as much as myself...) but it was definitely worth it! The extent of all the amazing clothes, jewellery, art, bags and trinkets was incredible. The weekend was nothing but fun and it was disappointing to head home and not to have more time to get to know the city!

The last four weeks of volunteering work have seen us involve ourselves in the sport and other miscellaneous activities, teaching some English lessons and getting to know the children! Camille and I are in the mornings from 8am-12pm with Kitty, and then Cat and Emily take over from 12pm-4pm. It can get very tiring as the children love to get you involved in everything they are doing and it is very tough keeping up with them! There has been lots of basketball playing, skip roping and colouring in!

Today we started painting the play equipment that was looking rather boring in the playground so it brightens up the place; our donation to the centre has paid for the paint and brushes. One day last week they took us on a little excursion to a talent show that included all the centres in Florianopolis. It was so cute to watch some of the kids get up and dance and sing!

The other girls have returned from Curitiba, and we only have three weeks to go! The time has certainly flown and I’m sure the next three weeks will go just as fast. It’s now Cat, Emily, Camille and I in the mornings and the other five girls in the afternoon. Hopefully in these last weeks we can see as much of the city as possible and spend more time at the beach. We have become familiar with the night club “El Divinio” and can hopefully go back again before we have to go. For my host mothers birthday, Camille and my families went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant named “Guacamole” which was really entertaining.

The food was delicious and they have people that come around pouring tequila into mouths and giving your head a shake! After my host mum subjected to taking a shot for her birthday, the whole table was very enthusiastic for me to do one too, so I did! It was really amusing but don’t think I’ll be doing another one, the way they shake your head afterwards is way too much!