Living Memories in Brazil
For 27 years, I’ve had this virtual love affair with Brazil.
Who wouldn’t be enamored by a country rich in resources and natural beauty? It’s a place where tribal people still live and thrive in the jungles. Brazil houses the largest rainforest in the world and is home to the most species and diverse flora and fauna. Yet, it also has beautiful beaches, great cities and nightlife, and even Michelin-star restaurants!
When I was pregnant with my son and on bed rest, I watched every documentary I could on Brazil. Then, a couple of years later, I met Chad. He had explored the most fascinating places, including the Amazon region. He told me about playing soccer with neighborhood kids in the streets, riding the river boat, seeing the dolphins, and even his experiences at Carnival. In 2000, he missed Carnival, but his friends sent him the video which he shared with me. It looked AMAZING!
After his death, I couldn’t bring myself to visit Brazil. At first, it was because I simply couldn’t afford it. Then it was because people told me it wasn’t safe. But really, when I finally dug deep into my own reason for avoiding it, I realized I was scared. I was afraid that if I went on my own journey, I would erode the memories of Chad’s stories. I was so wrong!
While there are many fine neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro, there are also many favelas.
Memories brought to life!
This journey enhanced every conversation I enjoyed with Chad.
Since our trip was in December, we could not experience Carnival, but we got to see the Sambadrome, where it is held. I closed my eyes and could picture the costumed dancers celebrating as they did in the video Chad shared with me. It brought that experience to life! I was simultaneously standing in his living room watching the video and standing in Rio de Janeiro, imagining I was part of the festivities.
Riverboats that cruise the rivers, including the Amazon, taking people from smaller cities to larger cities like Manaus.
What was it like two decades ago?
Years ago, while talking about the pink river dolphins, Chad shared an experience about a ten-day boat cruise where he slept in a hammock wrapped in mosquito netting. He said the dolphins would quickly come to the surface, but taking photos would have been difficult because they were there for a second and then back underwater.
I thought this was a small white boat that held maybe a couple of dozen people. It had a wide-open, uncovered deck space, and he had tied a hammock between two random poles (I have no idea why there would have been random poles) and then wrapped himself in mosquito netting. He had said the cost was only $75 for a 10-day cruise.
As we rode out to the Meeting of the Waters, we passed along the coastline of Manaus. There were a couple of large boats docked and boarding passengers. Our boat driver explained that these were the river boats and that people rent a space to hang their hammocks. This was much different than what I had envisioned, and I wondered briefly if these were the same boats Chad had been on twenty years ago. They are likely the same boats, and probably the only real difference today is that even on the rivers, you can often get cellphone and internet service!
Laundromat in Manaus
Soccer and Laundry
My daughter is a bit more extravagant traveler than I, so she insisted we go to the laundromat before we went to the Amazon jungle. Unlike in Chad’s days of exploring, we simply googled a laundromat, ordered an Uber, and went and washed our clothes in a laundromat that required no soap or dryer sheets and tap pay on a machine mounted to the wall.
This experience brought me more tears than any other on the trip.
As our Uber driver took us through the neighborhood streets, we had to travel slowly as kids of all ages played soccer in the middle of the street, just as I imagined when Chad told me the stories all those years ago. Perhaps the only difference is I didn’t envision the streets as paved, but these were.
The laundromat had only three washers and dryers, a large folding table in the middle, and several chairs along the walls. A Brazilian woman with her son and daughter-in-law was doing laundry when we arrived. We had to wait a bit to get started. After a short while, the son and daughter-in-law left, and three college-aged kids arrived to do their laundry.
We could not quite figure out the system, and neither of us spoke Portuguese. Fortunately, the young man in the college group spoke English and assisted. We struck up a conversation about their trip. The three of them were from Europe and were on break. They had just come off a hike through the Amazon jungle and planned to catch a riverboat the next day, renting a hammock and traveling south to explore other areas. As I listened to their story, it brought tears to my eyes, knowing Chad must have lived a very similar experience.
At last, the Brazilian woman’s laundry was finished. She threw it all on the table, and the kids started their laundry. Then they did something unexpected. They started folding the lady’s laundry. They spoke to her in Portuguese, and we couldn’t understand the conversation, but everyone was smiling and cheerful. We joined in the laundry folding; no one was a stranger at that moment. We were a small community of humans simply living daily life.
This was the most inspirational moment of the trip!