December 24 - 30, 2013 - Texas Christmas

December 24 - 30, 2013 - Home - Part 1

Dec 24:
I arrived into DFW just a couple hours late.  Dad picked me up from the airport and we immediately headed towards Amanda and Patrick's home.

Once there I got hugs from everyone and chatted for a bit then showered!  I had been traveling for a while and was a bit greasy.  So I got cleaned up then we had a fantastic Christmas dinner with all the fixins.  Soooo tasty.

The Jones family does a white elephant Christmas exchange.  We all get one $25 gift to put in and we go around opening one at a time and stealing gifts from each other.  I contributed a hammock from Brazil but took home a giant bottle of vodka with sprite.  Dad thought he had the hammock tucked away, out of sight, out of mind, but on the last turn Steven stole it!  That caused quite a funny uproar.

Dec 25:
On Christmas day, I loaded up with Dad and we headed out to Gram and Grandads house in Peaster, Texas.  My mom was able to fly in from Seoul, South Korea, Kale and his GF Megan came, as well as my Great Grandpa (GPa).   We  had another GREAT dinner and sat around the fire place opening a plethora of gifts and sharing some laughs.

I got some great new clothes, an awesome scratch map (you scratch off the countries you have visited),  some gift cards, lots of Korean goodies and a New Zealand Lonely Planet book.

I have such a great family and am super thankful that I got to spent the holiday with them.

I spent the next few days with my mom, visiting Weatherford folks and hanging out with my grandparents.

December 21 - 23, 2014 - Rio De Janiero, Brazil

December 21 - 23, 2013 - Rio De Janiero, Brazil

I flew back to Rio for the last few days of my time in South America.

I was able to do a few things that I missed on my first stop in Rio.

I visited the Sugar Loaf Mountain.

 

Walked along Copacabana Beach.

And ate some tasty Brazilian meats and had few last caipirinhas.

THEN it was off to airport to fly home for Christmas.  The plan is to land at DFW and go straight to Christmas dinner at my cousin Amanda's home.  Cant wait!

Brazil has been fantastic and its definitely on my list of places to return to and spend more time.  Its such a large diverse place and I spent so little time there.  Until next time, Brazil, Cheers!!!!

December 14 - 20, 2013 - Morro de Sao Paulo, Brazil

December 14 - 20, 2013 - Morro de Sao Paulo, Brazil

On the 14th I caught the fast boat from Salvador to the island of Morro de Sao Paulo.  It was a 2 hour and 75 Reals ride to the island. Once there I was immediately in love with the place.

Once you exit the boat you walk up a hill, stop to pay the tourist fee of 15 Rs, then continue up the hill to the main square.  After the main square and over another little hill you come up to this amazing view!

The water and the sand and the view was just fantastic and I got super excited about my stay and I hadnt even found my pousada yet.

After asking a couple of people in my minimal spanish I finally found my pousada, Millennium II.  For $20 a night I got a private room and bathroom alllll to myself just 2 minutes from the beach.

I spent the first 2 days on the beach soaking up the sun and enjoying the warm water.  The first day I stayed on Segunda Praia (2nd beach) and the next day I went down to Cuarto Praia (4th beach).  The 2 are very different beaches but only about a 20 minute walk apart.

The 2nd beach has the most people with umbrellas and beach chairs everywhere.  4th beach has very few people and the water comes right up to the restaurants and hotels along the beach.  Its easy to find a patch of sand without any else in sight.


On the 17th I signed up for the island hopping tour.  We visited several different islands.

A floating bar within a natural pool about a mile from shore.

We stopped for lunch and a short hike along the beach on Boibepa island.

We visited a floating oyster shop.

Then toured some villages on other islands.

During the rest of the week I was there it rained a couple of days so I made myself comfy in the hammock and read some of my books.  I also visited the beach a few more times.

I ate seafood, Acai, Picanha, and drank coconuts and Caipirinhas!  It was a realllly great week on the beach.