Ipanema Beach, Finally!- May 1, 2010

The rain finally went, leaving the gorgeous sun that Rio is known for. So even though we were leaving on an afternoon flight, we headed to the beach in the morning to laze around and soak up the sun for a few hours. Everyone was out, volleyball games afoot, and Rio was back to its energetic self.

Copacabana, Leblon, and Pau de Acucar- April 29-30, 2010

After a couple more days of furious rain, we finally got a beautiful rainless night to go up to Sugarloaf and watch the sunset on the city, its sparkling lights popping in the night.

Goooaaaaal!!! Going to a Brazilian Soccer Match- April 28, 2010

There's nothing like experiencing the mass chaos and fervor of Brazilian soccer. The city's excitement about their team the Flamengos playing against their archrivals and main competition the Sao Paolo Corinthians in the quarterfinals of the National Championship was palpable. Despite the torrential rain which soaked us, raincoats and all, in seconds, the stands were packed and the place sold out. We experienced the mobs starts and stops trying to get in, careful to hold on to each other and avoid being trampled. We sang their endless songs (well we tried anyway), hoped the fireworks didn't make their sparked way towards us, and prayed that the stadium wouldn't collapse as it swayed with 100,000 screaming and stomping fans. Thank goodness we won. Go Flamengos!

Rio de Janeiro and Santa Theresa- April 28, 2010

We spent the first part of the day walking along Ipanema beach, before deciding that the overcast skies made the hilltop community of Santa Theresa more appealing for our first day in Rio. We took the bonde up which like the San Francisco trolleys is a fun way to travel. Amidst the disrepair of the buildings, we could still see what a luxurious place it used to be. We went to a gutted mansion, a private art collector's home turned museum, and had our first taste of the deliciousness of Brazilian meat and pumpkin stew.

The Beauty of the Amazon, Brazil

The Opera House- April 25, 2010

Instead of just paying to walk around the famous Teatro Amazonas-- prefabricated in Europe in the late 1800s before being shipping marble piece by piece to the capital of the Amazonian rubber boom-- we actually went to see an opera there. Yerma written by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos was a modern interpretive opera. That meant that beyond just the language barrier which is usually ok in opera, none of us understood a single thing. :)

Jungle Hike- April 25, 2010

We woke up earlier this morning, so we could hike around in the jungle a little before clinic with Milton and a local who owned the land. It's fun to roam around with jungle boys who know so much about their home. We found natural torch material, saw giant ants that have the bite of a scorpion, and saw the remains of a sad anteater that lost an epic battle with a jaguar. It's hair the only thing remaining around it's skeleton.

Piranha Fishing- April 24, 2010

The piranha legend stems from when some locals dammed off a school of piranhas, starving them for a couple weeks, before entertaining future President Teddy Roosevelt with a live cow that they threw in the water. The cow lasted a manner of seconds before it was just bone. With that said, it was a good time fishing for piranhas with some raw steak. Missy, Tahirah, and I were lucky to catch one. They're pretty clever nibbling at the food instead of taking big bites.

Amazonas Clinics- April 2010

Overall, we saw about 200 patients a day between the 4 of us. We'd go to two villages a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, scavenging both the Solimoes and Rio Negro for patients who could use our help or just wanted to talk. We mainly saw worms and hypertension. Hopefully some our education both individually and in our planned sessions will leave a longer lasting impact. The trip was a good opportunity to reflect on my future plans and to really help, I'd need to have a longer presence, gain the trust of the locals, and more importantly get local time and talent investment to make a sustainable impact. We saw some cool stuff though, including this guy who got attacked by a caiman 20 years ago. Wow. Maybe shouldn't have been playing with one the night before.

Education at San Francisco Village- April 21, 2010

We spent the full day in San Francisco village today. In the morning, we gave an educational session to health workers and interested villagers on topics ranging from triaging adult problems to breast feeding. In the afternoon, we ran our more typical clinic in the school.

Caiman wrestling- April 20, 2010

So caimans are related to alligators. As in they eat fish and potentially people. So when we decided to go on Bagoge's boat in the starlit night trying to find a caiman, I was really excited. I thought we'd just shine a light at it and take pictures like on my previous Amazon trip, but in fact Milton freaked us all out diving into the water after a caiman which luckily scittered away before Tiago caught one which managed to bite him before getting reeled into the boat.

First day of clinics: Pacamundo and Vinado Januaca - April 20, 2010

Our first day of clinic was long and hot. We woke with the sunrise at 0600 and worked well beyond sunset, the oppressive heat and humidity not diminishing much with the sun. While exhausting, we saw over 200 pts b/n the 5 of us for the day between the 2 village clinics. Lots of worms and tinea. Pretty good day.

The Amazon: Sleeping in a Hammock- April 19, 2010

The gentle rocking, sounds of the jungle, and waking up to a gorgeous sunrise over the wide Amazon is pretty nice.