The Passineau Family: Pittsburgh Edition: I'm back....Brazil Part I

After 26 full hours of travel from Brazil to Michigan (after a 7 hr. delay in DC--thank you very much United airlines---last time I fly them ever!) & then a 6 hour car ride back to Pittsburgh I am happy to be home. Our time away was so awesome, but it is also nice to be back in our home with our little ones safely tucked in their beds. I'll start at the beginning of our trip to give those of you that read the blog the whole story. We began our Brazilian adventure on June 18th when we departed from Detroit & then picked up our flight to Sao Paulo in Chicago. No problems, thankfully, on the way there. We had a 9.5 hr. overnight flight from Chicago to Brazil & we mostly were able to sleep on the plane. When we arrived we were greeted by Portuguese airline announcements & Brazilian customs/passport control (by the way, we did have to get a Brazilian tourist visa in order to make this trip....bigger pain than a passport). Everything was great & we soon discovered that I could read most of the Portuguese in the airport. From Sao Paulo we flew to Curitiba--both larger cities than I imagined & then finally we arrived in Iguazu Falls which is shared by both Brazil & Argentina. We were on the Brazilian side. Michael's conference lasted until Saturday & I am proud to say that his talk & the lunch & learn he gave were both very well received. I mostly just relaxed while he was at his conference as there is very little to do except the falls when you are in this area. This side of Brazil, near Argentine & Paraguay, is very much a spanish speaking area....so we were in luck that I did know how to speak enough to get us around & to order our food/drinks. It was quite fun for me to use a skill that I haven't used in years.

As for the falls.....WOW! Eleanor Roosevelent apparently was quoted as saying "poor, Niagra" when she viewed the falls & I can see why. Having seen both sets of falls....Eleanor was dead on. Iguazu Falls is actually a set of 18 different waterfalls. We actually saw them at a unique time b/c this is South America's winter & rainy season meaning they were in full force. Beautiful, yes, but also kind of scary. We really got an upclose view of how powerful & deadly the water could be. Now I've been to Niagra & done the "behind the falls tour", but that doesn't even compare with what they have in Iguazu. They actually have this bridge that goes out onto the waterfall area & perches you right as the water falls cascade over the granite ledge (about 100 ft up). The water was so powerful they day we did this tour, you had to wear a poncho & even then you got soaked. I actually didn't think I could make it out there as I'm afraid of heights & the rushing water made me even more nervous. I just kept telling myself I probably wouldn't be back to the area ever, so I better suck it up & just get my behind out on that crazy bridge (I was praying the whole time that the Iguazu Falls Park did maintenance checks on this thing). All was great, but with the mist off the falls & the humidity in the air trying to keep dry was not on the radar. It really was something to see. Although, it was cloudy the day we went, they are apparently known for all the rainbows they normally get. We also got to see the lovable, yet mostly rabid creature called the Quati. It's a S. American aardvark that looked a lot like a raccoon with a long tail to me.

We rounded out our visit in Iguazu with a little shopping just across the border in Argentina. It was a large mall-like shopping plaza with all duty-free stuff much like in airports. I can't say they had the largest selection of things, but the prices were pretty good. We also went to the shopping mall in Iguazu Falls & then a Portuguese-only area of the downtown. From what we saw this area was mostly frequented by Brazilian tourists. I got some great handmade dresses for the girls here, but it surely made me nervous to only know 5 phrases in Portuguese. If you're in the market for Brazilian gemstones....buy them in Iguazu. Having now priced them in Iguazu & Rio---you get more bang for your buck in Iguazu! I think that pretty much sums up the 1st half of our trip. We were most surprised by how friendly & patient people were with my broken Spanish & my broke-down Portuguese. I would say our first impressions of the country were great. Here are some pics of the 1st part of our trip--some are not so bad for a point & shoot ;) A big thank you to Michael for allowing me to tag along on this trip & a huge thank you to Gaga & Papa Passineau for keeping the girls for us during our trip...this was truly one of the best adventures of my life!