The Parents are Here!

**Note** This blog is a bit late but I didn't want to spend time writing it while my parents were here... I wanted to spend my spare time with them! I will get pictures up as soon as they send them to me (they have them all!)

March 17- St. Patrick's Day- was the big day. After nine long months, my parents reached Brazil to see me. At noon, I met them at the hotel where they were staying. It was so close to my apartment that we could see my apartment building from the window.

Day 1- Wednesday, March 17. We took a tour around Perdizes (the neighborhood I live in). I showed my parents my university PUC, where I take my Portuguese classes at CIEE, my gym, we ate at a traditional Brazilian restaurant for lunch, and finished with a walk in the crazy Agua Branca park before I ran off to work. At night, we finished the day with a delicious Brazilian pizza and an awesome chocolate pizza for dessert

Day 2- Thursday, March 18. The Soccer Museum had a free day that Thursday so we headed to the Pacaembu stadium and took a tour through the museum. It was a very good museum and kept us entertained for a couple of hours. We hiked back 45 minutes to my apartment where we met my host mom (my parents' first meeting with her!) and we went to the weekly fresh foods market. We ate pastels (fried pastry stuffed with cheese and another topping) before heading off to buy our groceries for the week. I ran off to class and then met up with Mom to go shopping! We found a couple of good shirts for her and then Mom, Dad and I headed over to my host family's house where the three of us dined with my host mom, host sister, and the other girl who lives with us. It was a good night.

Day 3- Friday, March 19. I had to work that day so Mom and Dad flew to Rio de Janeiro and took a tour of a favela, a Brazilian slum. I took a bus to Rio that left Sao Paulo a little after midnight and arrived in Rio 6 hours later.

Day 4- Saturday March 20. I met up with Mom and Dad at the hotel and we went for breakfast before heading out on a tour of Rio. We first saw some scenic views from Chinese Viewpoint and several other lookouts. We also went into a forest, the largest urban forest in the world, and hiked a bit into a waterfall. After the forest, we drove up to the Cristo Redentor, the most famous tourist attraction in Brazil, and took plenty of pictures with the guant Christ statue overlooking Rio. We finished off the tour by seeing the Arches of Lapa and the steps of Lapa. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach before heading out to eat.

Day 5- Sunday, March 21. MoWe spent the morning walking along the beach and then headed back on the 7 hour bus ride back to Sao Paulo.

Day 6- Monday March 22. A day in the historical center of town. We headed downtown via the bus and two metros. We first headed to the Santander Bank building. It is a 30-something floor building on the top of a hill so it looks out over all of Sao Paulo. We could see everything. The city ust lay all around us... huge and ever-continuing. In a city of 20 million people, there was certainly no end in sight to the buildings. Afterward, we walked through 25 de marco, a famous street in Brazil where you can purchase almost anything at a cheaper price. You can bargain, you can buy off the street, and you can certainly collect your fair share of illegal DVDS and fake purses there. Next we went to Mercado Municipal, a huge Market that sells fresh meats, fruits, nuts, oils and other items. It was the starting point of Sao Paulo when the city first began selling coffee beans and is now a huge market for the finest, most expensive fresh products in Sao Paulo. Mom and Dad tried the famous Mortadela sandwich while they were there. While in the area, we saw the monastery of Sao Bento and then headed to Praca de Se and saw the Cathedral of Se. We headed back so I could go to class. It was a busy day!

Day 7- Tuesday, March 23. It was a busy day of work and class for me. Mom and Dad headed to the beach an hour away from Sao Paulo. I've never been to this beach but from what I heard, it was beautiful and a great day. We met at night for dinner before I headed off to some more class.

Day 8- Wednesday, March 24. The final day. The week was coming to an end all to quickly. We met after my class to go to Parque do Ibirapuera, a beautiful park about an hour from my house. We took a series of buses to get there and had a picnic lunch and then headed to the Afro-Brasilian Museum. All to quickly, it was time to head back. We arrived at the hotel, packed up the taxi and I said my goodbyes. My parents were going home.

While the trip was all too short it was definitely a good week with my parents. We were able to do a lot of things and it was great to see them again!