oh Brazil

So I was able to take a vacation in Brazil a couple weeks ago. It was a pretty amazing place. There were just a couple random moments that I thought were funny/odd enough to put on paper.

First of all, I get off the plane and Sparky and I find the apartment. Of course I desperately need to go to the bathroom, and he says, "Oh, by the way, you can't flush toilet paper anywhere in Brazil." My response was, "You said what?!" He tried to convince me that it was normal and the toilet paper in the trash cans next to the toilets never smelled, but of course I didn't quite believe him. So, I wipe and I put my toilet paper in the trash can like a good Brazilian would. And then the next 8 days there I did the same every time I went to the bathroom. And no matter how busy the public restroom was and how full the trash can was, Sparky was right, it never smelled. So it wasn't that bad at all.

This isn't exactly a story that would only happen in Brazil, but it seemed pretty funny to me at the time. So we are sitting in this perfect restaurant. At a perfect table with candlelight and a wooden duck, right next to a window with no screen, a warm breeze and the view of the stars. (note: Supposedly Sparky has become an astronomer because he could find all of these constellations that you can only see in South America.) Anyways, it was the waiter that made the night even more perfect and hilarious. He didn't mean to be funny, but his intensity for being our waiter was awesome! He stood by the wall and watched us and every time I took a sip of wine he would come over and grab the wine out of our ice bucket and fill my glass back up. After my tenth sip and his tenth time of running over and filling it up, I felt like the queen of Brazil or something. Then, when he added food or glasses to our table and had to rearrange or our cup was on the side of the table that was against the window, he would disappear as quick as he came and then reappear outside of the restaurant with his head leaning in and start fixing our table or our candle or our drink from outside of the restaurant leaning in the window. Once he was done he would run back inside the restaurant and finish what he was doing on the other side of the table. (Very small table may I add) Every time he ran outside and then popped his head in, I would laugh and giggle while he was doing it. He was definitely a man that took his job seriously and I loved him for it. He did serve us the best moqueca I have ever had. Well I've never had it, but I LOVED it!

Another little tidbit from the trip, I noticed right when I got on the plane to Brazil from Canada. I looked at every row and every aisle and I am pretty sure I was the only blonde on the huge plane. Even once I spent time there, noone else seemed to really care that we were the only blondes, but every once in a while when Sparky and I would walk around it was just funny to be the only two blondes in seeing distance everywhere we went. I actually kind of liked it. I'm used to blending in for the most part, and I kind of liked the change of scenery and pace.

So I survived toilet paper trashcans, intense waiters, brunettes everywhere, and even a monkey flying at my head. I loved every moment! :)

Where should I go next?!