My once in a lifetime trip to Northeast

MY NORTHEAST ADVENTURE 

From the date of November 24^th – December 20^th I had the month of my life time in the northeast cities and beaches of Brazil with 88 other exchange students from 22 different countries.
 I boarded the trip in Sao Paulo with another 30 exchange students and then headed to Belo Horizonte where I met up with another 40 – 50.  It was great catching up with old friends but was also great to meet so many new friends that I knew would make my month amazing. That afternoon we had our orientation about the trip and then that night we then went to a forro class, a traditional dance from brasil that we would use in the trip at parties and places we went too.
After staying two nights in Belo Horizonte/MG we then headed of to Brasilia. The capital city of Brasil where we visited Brazilian National Congress, LBV, JK museum, the Cathedral, among other sights of this beautiful and projected capital of Brazil!! The morning after we were then of to Lençóis, at Chapada Diamantina National Park, in Bahia state 1 night we stopped at a different city to rest as it was such a long way, called Ibotirama.

The first day in Lencios we went to 2 place called Pratinha farm and Lapa Doce cave that were so much fun an involved a lot of exercise. The next day we climbed Pai Inácio Hill where we saw breathtaking views (which reminded me a lot of Australia). We then had lunch in the local town and then had free time until dinner where we had a capoeira show, which was wonderful. The last day in Lencios we went to a natural 60m slide where a lot of people got cuts n bruises. After that we went to a colored sand dune where we got to swim in a waterfall and again take in the breathtaking natural views of Bahia.

We then went to our first beach early the next morning… which we all very excited about. Maceio (state of Alagoas), I think that the beaches of Maceio were defiantly one of the most beautiful places we went in the whole trip. After a long 1 day drive to Maceio we arrived and were all very eager to go to the beach and of coarse tan.  

The first night in Maceio we got free time and we all ran down to the beach took in the fresh air and bought ice cream. When we woke up the next morning we saw the breathtaking views of Maceio, crystal clear water with gorgeous blue skys. We had free time til 12 and all went to a market where you could buy everything from a pencil to a hammock to a million different types of bikinis (which Emily loved). We then all had lunch together and then headed to boats where we headed to natural pools around 20 minutes of the beach, where we jumped of the beachs and swam with fish and relaxed. That night we went to a bar where they played forro and we got to practice our forro, it was very funny to see everyone forer and a lot of people were very good. The next day we took another boat Barra de São Miguel around 30 minutes from the main island of Macieo where we spent the day on the beach, this was one of my favourite days on the trip as we could relax and had a lot time to tan and swim.

The next day it was time to move onto our next place Natal/ Rio Grande de Norte. 

In Natal we visited the largest Caju farm (Caju is the fruit that cashew’s come from), we then had free time at the beach and to shop. That night we had a group party where we all got to dance and watch the beach at night, it was enjoyed with a lot of fresh fruit an laughs. The 2^nd day in Natal was amazing as we went on buggy’s on the sandunes in Natal, I had so muchfun and then we had a day on the beach again at Genipabu beach. 

 We were then of to Recife/Pernambuco state. That night after a short drive to Recife we had our Talent show of the trip. Around 9 – 10 girls plus me did funk ( a Brazilian dance ) but it was so much fun putting a lot of cloths in our shorts to make our butts look brazilain and got up and danced and made a lot of people laugh. The next day we saw recife and an old city called Olinda we then went to another historic castle, Ricardo Brennand Castle. And what made our day was going to the 2^nd largest shopping centre in Brasil and having over 6 hours there, we all went and saw a movie and defiantly used our credit cards one or two times. 

The next day we were on our way to Salvador, were we stopped of at Porto de Galinhas and another city for the night before we arrived in Salvador. Our first day in Salvador/Bahia we went to a turtle project called TAMAR, where we saw how they are rebuilding the turtle population. That night we went to a performance of Olodum which was a lot of fun to get into the Bahian feeling. We also all danced sooo much and then were all so excited about the next day about exploring Salvador. The next day we went to Senhor do Bonfim Church, Lacerda Elevator, São Francisco de Assis Church and Pelourinho Historical Center, but sadly I got sick and could only go to the church and then spent the day in the hotel getting better.

The next day after a 1 day drive we were then of to Porto Seguro, one of our last cities in the trip.
The first morning we all headed of to the beach then went to Cidade Alta, the first Brazilian city. Then we went to Santa Cruz de Cabrália, where the first Mass was celebrated in Brazil. That night we went to a party were we all danced til 2am, it was great with 2 stages and a lot of people we could mix with. It was then time for us to head to the place we were all excited for Rio de Janeiro, we stopped of for 1 night in a place called Guarapari.

We arrived in Rio on the Friday afternoon and had another 17 students who just chose the Rio tour join us that then made us around 100 exchange students. A boy from my Brazilian district Miles (from America) was there and it was great to see him ! We all went o the beach that afternoon and explored around Rio de Janeiro. The next morning it was time to head the Christ on the hill and the sugar loaf where we saw the amazing views of Rio de Janeiro on a sunny day. Sunday I did the Favela tour where we went to the largest favela in Latin America, Favela de Rocinha. Sunday afternoon we went to the sambadrome where Carnaval in Rio is held, but sadly it was under construction. We then went to Barra da Tijuca were we had dinner at a tasty churrasco restaurant (Brazilain steakhouse).

It was then our last day of trip, we had a 3 hour bus ride to Angra dos Reis (in rio state) where we took an amazing boat ride to an island. Along the way we got to jump of our boat and swim in crystal water with fish it was defiantly the best day of the trip, I also got to work on my tan that one last time. That day my best friend and I, Emily Gray also got engaged (which we were planning all trip) on the boat around the wonderful islands of Angra doa Reis. That night we had our Farewell party was so sad, there were defiantly a lot of tears shed. It was so beautiful looking out over the water and reminiscing the trip with what was now our family and remembering the good moments. That moment on a small beach of Angra dos reis Emily and I got married as best friends which was a very funny time, our closest friends were invited and Debora (the trip instructor) had a good laugh at the video after. We now have rings and all to prove our love for eachother and are now best friends for life. 

The next day was the hardest things I have had to do my whole exchange, say goodbye to the people who had just become my family after a month. I don’t think I have cried that much for a long time saying goodbye to the people that had become my best friends and family as we had shared so many good times together. 
I would like to say a big thankyou to Debora, Adriana and Anna for making my trip J
And my lovely crew on northeast Emily Gray, Bus buddies (Blair, Carl, Emily), My #1 Canadain Dustin and My FB for ever Jeanette. 
T xx