By LYLA FULLER
I agreed to do another build with the woman I had roomed with during the Habitat for Humanity build in Vera Cruz, Mexico, so we chose to join a team traveling to Brazil. The town of Juazeiro do Norte is in the northern part of Brazil. It is high-plain farm country with rolling hills covered with chaparral suited for grazing cattle. Some sugar cane and corn are grown there as well. It is dry and hot.
I arrived a couple of days early in Rio. My cab driver delivered me to my hotel to check in then gave me a tour of the city. We drove up to the famous Christ the Redeemer statue that overlooks the city, to the stadium where Pele played soccer and the area where the floats are constructed for the Carnival parades. It was a whirlwind trip but worthwhile. My hotel was near the ocean, so I walked along the Ipanema beach the following day and shopped at the flea market. Then on to Fortaleza the next morning.
Portuguese is the language of Brazil and none of the 14 of us spoke it. Our local leader spoke some English as did another local.
It is a long 22 hours travel from the US to reach Juazeiro do Norte, stop in Rio De Janeiro, and Fortaleza. Then a 3-hour bus drive. Our hotel was on the town square, so we had front-row seats to all the action of the city.
The build was brick, but we didn’t need to make them. Long days and hot hard work. The group was mostly college-age people.
We all experienced a new drink, caipirinha, made with lime juice and rum. Good food and lovely happy people.
After the build, Toni and I had planned a trip to Manaus and Curitiba, which is south and near the ocean.
We flew from Fortaleza to Manaus, which is located on the Amazon River, just south of where the Negro River and the Solimoes meet to create the Amazon. It is a bustling city now but had experienced poverty when the rubber business failed in the late 19th century.
In its heyday, there were huge homes and many rich rubber barons. There was also a beautiful opera house that reminded me of the Tabernacle building on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. I could imagine the ladies in their beautiful silk gowns and the gentlemen in their tuxedos. Once there were other sources of rubber, the wealthy moved on. Then the only way to reach the city was by boat.
I enjoy farmers markets and other open-air markets like the one here. It was patterned after the market in Madrid, Spain, and I believe some of the steel beams were shipped from there. It is filled with fishmongers, butchers, fruit stalls, bakers, vegetable stalls and most anything you can imagine. Lots of color and smells.
We spent two nights at a hotel in Manaus then took a boat down river to the Amazon Village camp. As we cruised along, you could see the rivers join, the Negro River is dark and murky, so you can see the clear Solimoes flow into it. Also you can see the fresh water dolphins there—they are pink! Not vivid but a pale pink and very playful following our boat.
The Amazon Village is located on an inlet of the river and is about 25 buildings, some single dwellings and others larger duplex or triplex housing. Toni and I shared a room for the 3 days we were there. Meals were at the main reception building along with the Amazon Bar. It was hot and humid.
Our first evening, we took a small boat out to see the caimans (small alligators). They are only seen at night. The following day, we trekked through the jungle to a small portion of a rubber plantation and were given a demonstration of how the rubber sap is taken from the trees. Very much like maple tree sap tapping. The rubber is then processed and formed on molds we were told. Then the guide with a mischievous grin rolled out a rack with about 8-10 large rubber prophylactics! He was delighted to shock two middle-aged ladies.
The guide had cut a small sapling tree for me to use as a walking stick and I wanted to take it home with me. At the airport, the agent put the air tags on it as if it were a piece of luggage and off we went to Curitiba. I still have that walking stick! It came all the way home with me and moved to Brandon!
Curitiba is a large city in the south of Brazil, in the highlands about 50 miles from the ocean. It has a big German influence in the architecture and food, since many Germans came here about the time of the First World War. It is considered the cultural center of Brazil with many theaters. I was very different from Manaus but interesting. We rode a bus out through the city and back. I find this is a good, cheap way to see any city. Only a day there then we flew home. It was a wonderful trip!
