Their stay really was great. Even though I (technically) had class during this period, I let myself take a well-needed break and enjoyed shutting my brain off. I don't have the energy or memory to go through what we did every day (Mom has it all written down and I'm sure would be more than happy to go through their stay in great detail with every single one who so desired to hear it!), but I can at least provide a good general outline:
The parental units got in to Rio's international airport around noon on Sunday 4/1, and since this would be the only weekend-time they'd be in Rio, I ran them a bit ragged taking them to things (fairs/markets) that only happen here on weekends. We spent the next 3 days in Rio, touring around and seeing the sites (The Big Jesus on the Big Hill, cultural centers, exhibits, downtown, etc).
On Thursday we flew down to Iguacu falls (some VERY big waterfalls which make Niagara look like one of those fountains of a kid peeing) in Southern Brazil (the falls are half in Brazil and half in Argentina - the border runs down the middle of the river), where we stayed in the only hotel that's actually located inside Iguacu National Park. We spent 3 days there, which was admittedly more time than we really needed there, but the forced relaxation was wonderful. We visited the falls on both the Brazilian and Argentinian side... and let me just say they are aMAZing. The sound and the obvious power of the falls was stunning. We also got caught completely unprepared in an insane tropical downpour while visiting a bird park in the national park... and thus was born the catchphrase of the trip: "so THAT's why they call it a 'rainforest.'"
We flew back to Rio Sunday, spent Monday bumming around, Tuesday I went to class (booo) and then we decided last-minute to go to Buzios (a famous beachy/resorty area a couple hours south of Rio) Tuesday night through Wednesday evening. We had to be back Wednesday evening in order to see a semi-final soccer game between two Rio soccer teams at the huge stadium here.
It was ridiculous.
We got there early and hung out at a little bar by the stadium, watching and listening to the loud&rowdy fans go nuts. When we decided to enter the stadium, we were walking along by the stadium wall and all of a sudden several hundred fans (of the other team) started sprinting towards us... being chased by riot police on horseback! We safely got inside and took our seats in one of the teams' (Botafogo) fan-sections (the parents wanted the full effect - none of this "neutral zone" seating crap for them!) and watched an incredibly dramatic and exciting game which ended in shootouts after reaching 4-4 in regulation time. To add to the drama, Romario - one of the other team's (Vasco de Gama) star players - was trying to score his 1000th goal (a feat only previously accomplished by Pele) during the game... and failed! Thursday we hung out at the beach and then went out to a samba club with my homestay mom. The two surprises of the night: Mitch had fun dancing, and we discovered that my homestay mom shares the same birthday as both of my real parents! Whaaaaaat? All of my current parent-figures share the same birthday... scary! Friday day we hung out at the beach some more, and then got Mom & Mitch to the airport. They enjoyed 24 uneventful (if boring) hours of travel and got home safe.
And best of all... now I have enough peanut butter to kill a small moose!
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| Mom & Mitch visit |
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