A Country Apart

With a huge land mass that dominates the South American continent, Brazil is a gem that stands apart from its neighbors. We immediately encountered a warm, more ethnically diverse population than we had found in the neighboring countries. It was helpful that Brasilians are a patient, curious people. With no background in portuguese, we had to rely on our spanish to get us through. Most Brasilians that we met were more than willing to roll with the punches and piece together a conversation with us. They spoke to us in slow portuguese and we responded in spanish. With the addition of hand motions and facial expressions, we were befriended by our neighbors at our campsites, random people at restaurants, and helpful people along the route. They never seemed deterred when we shrugged our shoulders and told them we did not understand. They just pressed on until they got a glimmer of recognition in our eyes and returned a friendly smile. With limited time (we know....we know....most people don't consider 2-3 weeks a limited time), we opted to forego Rio de Janeiro and cut across southern Brazil to the coast and work our way down the coast. Most Brasilians let us know that we missed the most beautiful parts of their country by taking this route, but we simply vowed to return.