Brazil-Salvador

LAST BRAZIL DESTINATION: BEACHES of SALVADOR

We guessed we would need a bit of vacation from our Brazil vacation so we hit the beeches last. It was a good call. We were both exhausted and feeling the effects of the "cuisine" by this time so a nice lawn chair by the ocean was a quite welcome respite. We arrived in Salvador after another long flight on TAM and after a golf cart driver drove us to our room, Q headed strait for the hammock on our porch.

It was a nice resort but much to the chagrin of Quinn, it was a family resort. Hence, not many hot Brazilian bikini babes. Oh, there were plenty of bikinis, but they were definitely NOT on hot babes. I must add that I ascertained not a little satisfaction from Q's predicament. I was thrilled! I told him he couldn't complain much because I am his wife and I was sitting right next to him. FYI: A Brazilian swimsuit consists of a string or two and is stretched across ANY size of body whether male or female (GROSS!). The pools were awesome though and so warm.

This was the point in the trip when I couldn't handle anything but watermelon. I ate nothing but watermelon for three days. It was all I could bare to choke down. Q, on the other hand, tried everything whether he felt queasy or not. He paid for it though. He contracted some horrible virus that we thought was a parasite. It put him in a miserable state of pain and out of commission for an entire month after we returned to the states and he had to see several doctors. Things were bad for me too but nothing near Q's suffering state. In Brazil, every restaurant is a buffet and sanitation is not a priority.

We were at the resort during New Years and flew out on New Year's eve so it was packed and people were ready to party. In Brazil, especially Salvador, everyone heads to the beach to celebrate. By the time we left, it was crazy. The freeway to the beaches was backed up for miles and miles with people trying to get here. We were so stoked to get a normal meal on AeroMexicana that we weren't sad at all to leave just before the big celebration (now that's desperation). It was a great trip, but it was exhausting!

Q loved the beeches. The finest sand for yards and yards out into the ocean. It was a nice beach. People stared at us though because we were wearing so much fabric. I was the most modest person on the beach by a long shot... including the men who wear tiny itty bitty speedos. The kids only wear bottoms (girl or boy) and the flesh fest was disgusting. Still, not as bad as when I lived in Spain where all the women go topless. I will not be taking Q back to Spain any time soon. He'll have to make due with fat old people in stringy bikinis. Oh how I love modesty!

Our check out was a little tricky. Good thing Q is fluent in Portuguese. Honestly, there is absolutely no way you could vacation or survive Brazil without a linguist. Maybe this is why we were the only foreigners in most of the places we went. The airport was an hour away from our resort so it was an ordeal to get anywhere. Just as we were leaving, our pet Iguana came out to say good bye.

HOME SWEET HOME!

This Starbucks hot chocolate is my first real food in over 17 days! I was so excited and sat right down there on the LAS airport floor to enjoy the spoils of America. This, incidentally, was just after we looked out the window and saw a Hawaiian Air flight take off. At that moment we decided two things:

#1) We would only take domestic vacations for the next two years.
#2) We would book a vacation to Hawaii as soon as we got home.

So far we've held true to our word. We were in Hawaii 2 months later. I kept humming the Battle Hymn of the Republic all through the airport and was tempted to kiss American soil when we got off our flight. In fact, we cut our Mexico City day short and booked an early flight back to the states. Brazil was great- a true adventure, but oh how I love America.
Pictures from our recent Hawaii trip to come!

We stopped at an American grocery store before we went home which is why Q looks so happy. He knows real food is on its way. He's also stoked about his fury face which he can never have in the real world because of his job. This is only a week's worth too because I made him shave for church in Brazil.

...And that, my friends, is our Brazil Adventure in a nutshell!
One more item to cross off our bucket list*.

*Bucket List: Things to do before we get a kid and have to face reality.