Sunday, September 7 (Salvador, BRAZIL—finally!): YAY! We made it to our first country—Salvador, Brazil! Last night residents wanted to sleep out on the deck, which I was open to doing, but we were rained out. So, as an alternative, we agreed to wake up around 05:30 (yes, AM) to watch pulling into port. Since the sleep out event was cancelled, I started packing for Rio…working on an ACPA conference proposal….organizing SAS tasks and, surprisingly, before I knew it 04:00 (yes, AM) had arrived. This was problematic first- because I had asked someone to knock on my door that morning AND second- because I had to distribute passports at 07:30 after customs officials stamped everything. For whatever reason, I had found a nice work pace at a random hour. Although it was 04:00, I decided a few hours of sleep would be necessary. When someone knocked on my door at 05:30, I answered it and crawled back into bed so I could sleep until 07:15.

Unfortunately 07:15 arrivedtoo soon, but I managed to get out of bed, brush my teeth, throw on clothes and run up to the dining hall for a quick bit to eat…all of that and I was only five minutes late for passport duty. When LLCs reported for passport duty, we were all told that Brazilian customs did not need our help until they stamped all the passports. Instantly I thought I found another hour of sleep, until all LLCs were called back up about 20 minutes later. I lugged myself back up from deck 3 to deck 7 to be told that customs changed their mind (again) and would not need our help until the Brazilian Diplomatic briefing occurred at 09:00. Seriously, I was called back up for this tidbit?! After the Diplomatic briefing, we distributed passports and the Captain cleared all passengers to disembark at 10:30.

I was delirious and wanted more sleep, but decided to go into the city with a small group. Prior to arriving in Salvador, numerous people reminded us of our safety: take off jewelry, keep your passport close, be cautious, don't give money on the street, walk with at least one other person, etc. So, before I left my cabin, I removed all my jewelry, secured my passport in my money belt, stuffed a few dollars in my bra (hee, hee), and Reais (Brazilian money) in my pockets. Brazilian Money is called the Real (plural: Reais). The symbol is R$. There are bills of R$1, R$2, R$5, R$10, R$20, R$50, & R$100; coins vary in size & color.

As soon as I stepped off the ship, humid air wrapped around me like a hot towel. I never sweat or rarely get hot, but my body worked over-time to stay cool because Salvador was hot, hot, hot. We walked around town and my green t-shirt and jeans instantly clung to my body. I wasn't able to stay in the city very long because I wanted to have lunch on the ship before my SAS sponsored panoramic city tour.

The city tour was really informational. Josuel, my tour guide, was a friendly local, who shared a lot of insights about Brazilian culture. In Brazil poor people live in areas called favelas, which remind me of the settlements in South Africa and the ghettos in America. And the people who are poor here in Brazil are much poorer than what Americans consider poor; I saw many children and animals sleeping in the streets or walking without any shoes. It was a sad sight, but also angered me. Why do we allow people, especially children, to live in this way. I understand it's an issue full of complexity, but what can be done to address such poverty in all these countries. I wish I had an answer.

At the end of the tour I asked Josuel's advice about taking a taxi to the airport. I was really nervous about getting and taking a taxi, because, outside of the five words I learned (hello- Ola or Oi; bye—ciao; please— Faz Favor; and thank you— males say obrigado, famales say obrigada), I cannot speak Portuguese and few Brazilians speak English. My stress level decreased when Josuel told me he could use his taxi to take me to the airport; his price was more than reasonable (R$60 one way), so I agreed. Josuel walked me into the airport and offered to stand in line with me, but I told him I'd be fine. He left me and I started an "act out the word" adventure. John purchased my plane ticket…thank goodness he gave me the confirmation number…this eased my need to translate words to the airline representative. My ticket was printed in English and they pointed me in the right direction.

During the flight, I was able to sneak in a few hours of sleep. I arrived in Rio and John was waiting inside for me. It was so good to see a familiar face! We started chatting right away and stayed up way too late catching up.

Monday, September 8 ("How Do You Say Bra in Portuguese?"/Rio de Janiero, BRAZIL): I can't believe I'm in Rio…in Rio visiting a friend…how cool! We slept in kinda late and had a leisurely morning. In the afternoon, I went to John's voice lesson; he was practicing for his Tuesday performance.

While we were eating lunch, I realized I needed to buy a bra. John told me he would have a performance on Tuesday, and when I packed my bag, I forgot to grab a bra for my dress. This particular dress requires a specific bra; anything else would look ridiculous. I insisted on going to the mall to buy a bra, to which John replied, "I don't know how to say bra in Portuguese."

You know, I just couldn't write anything more comical: a 280 pound, 6'5" guy helping his girl friend (no, no—platonic relationship) find a bra. The first store we tried to give me an extender for the back of the bra, but I keep trying to act out and point to wired bras. I would say something, John would translate. The sales women would say something, John would translate. After all that, they didn't have a garment to accommodate me. So we went to another store and we both looked through bras trying to figure out which one would be best. I didn't know Brazilians size bras differently than Americans, which required us to guesstimate the size conversion. I finally settled on a bra that wasn't perfect, but good enough to get me through a few hours. John has been learning Portuguese for the past year and I think he increased his vocabulary thanks to me! John and I had a great day together. Well, I had a good day, but I'm not sure he'd agree with me.

Tuesday, September 9 ("John's Secret Life"/ Rio de Janiero, BRAZIL): Today John performed at Setembro Theatre Municipal (see pictures). He tries to deny it, but he totally has a "secret life". I mean he works full time for a large company and sings opera on the side…hangs out with famous samba singers like Elliana & Jennifer Santos…lives in Impanema in an amazing apartment across the street from the beach…employs domestic help. Wow, what a life!

John has a powerful voice and he sang beautifully with Jennifer Santos. The audience went wild. I was waiting back stage for John and as we exited to go seats, a few people came up to shake his hand and get autographs. Jennifer Santos continued to perform after her duet with John. I decided to go up the front of the stage to take a few pictures of Jennifer. I was standing behind a speaker to get up close shots and Jennifer saw me and waved me onto the stage. At first I waved my hand to decline her invitation, but she proceeded to use the microphone to call us up. You only live once. I walked onto stage and tried to samba with Jennifer's samba dancers, who—by the way—were infatuated with me as an American from Washington, DC. The samba dancers thought I was Brazilian because of my dark golden glow—lol! After the performance we drove John's pianist home, sipped on pre-dinner coffee, enjoyed dinner at Mr. Lam's, and ended the night with movies.

Over the course of the few days, I was able to sneak a peek into John's life and I felt slightly jealous/envious. There were moments when I wanted his life, but I know that we are two unique individuals with varied interests, different belief systems and interests; I could never be him and he could never be me. It's good to know that John is living and enjoying his life—that's what's important.

Wednesday, September 10 ("My new home, the MV Explorer"/ Rio de Janiero, BRAZIL): John had to go to work today, so I was home alone in the morning. Unfortunately the weather over the past few days had been cold, rainy, & gloomy; however, today, Mother Nature let the sun come out to play. John arranged for his driver, Michele, to pick me up and drive me into Rio's business district to meet him for lunch. The drive into the city was nice and I saw landmarks (Sugar Loaf & The Christ) that I couldn't see before. At lunch I met two of John's friends, Damir & Phillipe; they were really funny and we had a lovely time together. After lunch we walked back to John's office, picked up his things, then headed back to his place.

Since the weather was nice, I decided to steal a few quite moments on the beach; I dipped my toes into cold Atlantic Ocean. I reflected on my time in Brazil thinking about how I learned so much in such a short time period. Prior to arriving in Brazil, I did not know that the capital of Brazil is Brasília (not Buenos Aires), the national language is Portuguese (not Spanish) and the Brazilian national dance is the samba (not salsa). I had been thinking Mexico & Brazil were interchangeable cultures; they are not and now I recognize my own ignorance. But, as the cliché goes, the more you learn, the more you recognize what you don't know. I also started to consider the extreme circumstances throughout the country, yet this isn't too far from American society. What systems are in place that keeps injustice alive? We are becoming a deeply connected world, so why, exactly, are some of the conditions similar regardless of what country you're in? Just as I really began working through these ideas, I had to leave the beach because Michele was picking me up at 5:30pm to head to the airport; I went back to the apartment, grabbed my things, and we got on the rode. While in route, we called Josuel to secure my return to the ship. Overall, I enjoyed my time with John in Rio. Hopefully I'll make it back for another visit before he's relocated to another exotic place.

John & I said our "ciaos" ("goodbyes" in Portuguese) and I was on my own again. Without John there as my safety net, I was limited in my ability to communicate, feeling vulnerable in a foreign place. Again, people say that one must be conscious of their safety in Rio & Salvador because crime is rampant and few speak English. I guess John had insulated me from those concerns over the past few days.

My flight was during the dinner hour. Unfortunately, I only knew five words and all I wanted was a Guranara soda and an empanada. The process of doing such a simple task was frustrating, because I did not have the language to effectively communicate. Luckily, a man next to me spoke English and he kindly helped me get what I wanted.

The plane ride back to Salvador was uneventful and arrived on time at 10:45pm. Josuel was waiting inside for me. He treated me kindly and behaved appropriately, but as we drove down a deserted street in Salvador, I had a heightened awareness to my vulnerability. In that moment, I was keenly aware of being a vulnerable foreigner, compounded by being a woman. As a woman in America, I am concerned about my safety, but overall I feel that I can navigate most situations. However, being a woman in another country feels different. Maybe anxiety on my part. What does it mean to be a woman in America vs Brazil vs future ports like India, Hong Kong, Costa Rica, etc? Expectations about women should and should not behave will differ. Anyway, Josuel walked me back to the dock. As I turned the corner, I breathed a sigh of relief to see my new home, the MV Explorer.

Thursday, September 11 ("On the Road Again"/ Salvador, BRAZIL): I had one final day to explore Salvador. Cindy, Angie, Curtis, Shalina and I went to the upper city for lunch. We found a quaint restaurant tucked in a cobbled stoned side street. A Brazilian customs agent recommended we try a Bahian shrimp dish (I can't remember the name of it); the food was full of flavor and I'm glad I shared the dish, because it was huge.

After lunch we shopped in a market and I bought hand crafted leather goods. Angie and I stumbled on an independent artist studio, with lots of creative art work; I bought one piece of art that really captures Brazilian culture. We had to rush because Cindy wanted all LLCs to return to the ship by 3pm so we could prepare for returning students.

All students had to be on the ship by 18:00; in order to be considered "on time," each person must have swiped their ID card and have returned their passport. Anyone who is 1-60 minutes late receives dock time, which means student/staff/faculty will lose 3 hours of time in port. They either have to return 3 hours early, or stay 3 hours late. In an effort to lure people back early, we decided to have a BBQ at 17:00, just one hour before on ship time. This tactic worked. Everyone returned on time.

However, we didn't have as much success with students bringing on inappropriate items. They are not allowed to bring alcohol or fresh fruit onto the ship. Sooo, sooo, sooooo many people were caught attempting to smuggle alcohol onto the ship. One person tried to fill water bottles with vodka, while someone else filled ziplock bags with liquor and stuffed the ziplock bags in her bra. The ship crew is good at finding things as they search bags and look for suspicious behavior/objects students bring back. All the students who are caught will have a judicial meeting with Curtis, an LLC who manages student behavior.

Some students went to Rio, others explored the Amazon, and many organized independent trips in Salvador. I couldn't wait to hear stories or see pictures from their journeys. I talked to as they waited in line to get on the ship and chatted to other people at the BBQ. By and large most people had positive experiences. Unfortunately two students had negative stories to share. One person unknowingly danced in a club with a woman, her boyfriend returned and pulled a gun on the SAS student. A local woman saw what was happening and grabbed the SAS student to defuse the situation. Another student told me he was robbed, at knife point, near the bar area. Thank goodness these students are okay, but their experiences confirm for me the importance of being alert and as safe as possible.

Now, we're on the rode again. One port down, several more to go…Namibia, here we come—toot, toot.