Mostly Brazil and a little Argentina!

3 days in Argentina + 15 days in Brazil with Miri, Rochel, & Gella

[summerinbrazil2015]

We decided to get an early start & skip sleeping in so we could make the most of our last day in Brazil. We went to praca da Republica which is a square where merchants sell all types of wares - sorta like a street fair. We were able to buy our gifts there & we also were able to see some of the music & dance culture as we followed the musical sounds in the square. We then went back to our hotel ate a quick lunch ( we officially finished off all our food - all 70 lbs of it!!!- don't ask where it is now !!) & checked out before heading to Oscar Freirre. It's a couple of blocks of all these classy stores that people like to frequent on Sunday's. We joined in & went into some shops. We each actually got something ( souvenirs for ourselves) even Gella !!! & then headed to suco bagacos ( thanx Elky) where they make smoothies & drinks just from fruits. It was very refreshing & just what we needed after walking all day. BH there were some Jewish pple there to help us out since apparently no one spks English in this country !!! We then headed back to pick up our bags & head to the airport with a quick stopover at Pinati to run in & pick up supper. While we were waiting to get our supper, Gella decided that since it was end end of our trip, she'll finally allow us to take our long awaited selfie making a fish face !!! Now we are checked in & sitting comfortably in the lounge awaiting our flight back home.

[summerinbrazil2015]

Wow! What a beautiful Shabbos we had here. Ok. Where do I start ? So we took a taxi to our hosts Fri night rt before Shabbos & even though it was only a few blocks, there was so much traffic ( Manhattan like) that we had to jump out of the taxi & run the rest of the way. It was a funny site. 3 dressed up girls ( Miri in her clonker wedges, Gella in her clogs & me in my heels ) running thru the streets of Jardins. We got to the building & after security let us in, we threw the security guard the $$ & in our broken Portuguese ( more like non existent) we tried to explain to him to bring it up to the apt we were eating in but then saw it was going nowhere so we just ran up & just made it before the zeman. We ate by the Pasternacks & were wined & dined. Yummy homemade challa, dips, 3 different types of fish, soup & a ton more by the main & we made a shehechiyanu by dessert as we tasted a new fruit. On the way home, we practiced our song 🎶 obergada, obergada, oi, oi, 🎼 obergada obergada, oi, oi, 🎵 baleeza 👍 chow 🎶 with the choreography. Today we davened on our terrace. It was perfect weather. Then we went to shul & joined them for a kiddush. Everyone was so warm & welcoming. At 1pm we went to R' Noach & Pessy a chabad couple who have a lot of guests. We were once a again wined & dined - literally ! The decor was beautiful ! Everyone got their own red goblet with black plates with red roses napkins etc. There was 4 different types of challa - chocolate, sundried tomatoes, onion & plain -all homemade delish. & then buffet style for fish all different types & main & desserts. Basically, we sorta gained back all that we lost but we enjoyed not only the food but the company. Such happy friendly exciting pple. We ended at 4 & hurried back to our hotel where b4 we knew it, it was time for sholosh seudas - we ate our Brazilian oranges & healthy gluten free chocolates & then havdala. We went back to Pasternacks where we had some Brazilian pizza & dulche deleche - some very good & fattening milk, cream, caramel sorta cheesecake & don't forget our coconut water straight from the coconut which Elky opened for us. Now we are back & packing & gonna try to get some 😴 so we'll b able to njoy our last day in Brazil !! 😜, Ro

[summerinbrazil2015]

Day 16 - Miri and I discussed it and figured out our perfect itinerary in hindsight. I will be sad when this trip is over but I won't miss the early mornings to catch a flight. Without the benefit of foresight, we woke up at 3:30am for our tenth flight to Sao Paulo. We got here and finally the atm machine took Rochels card (at the end of our trip, but we managed somehow.) We took a cab to our hotel and left our luggage there then ran out for yummy kosher food at Celadon; except the menu was in Portuguese and nobody spoke English. Luckily Yael was there and heard our anguish and offered to translate. Even then we were surprised when our food came (we thought we ordered salad but it was more of sliced tomatoes topped with cheese) but it was yummy in the end and more filling then it looked. Then Yael took us to the kosher grocery, and now we're in our beautiful and comfortable hotel getting ready for shabbos. Luckily we went through all the addresses with Yael and mapped it out. TG we realized we had written down the address of a restaurant instead of our hosts! We have it right now so hopefully we'll have a nice last shabbos in Brazil. So sad it's nearly over but the laundry in my suitcase and light food bag says time to go home! Shabbat Shalom to all! -G

[summerinbrazil2015]

day 15 I’m writing my post as I relax on a lounge chair overlooking the South American Pantanal. I would explain this region as a large flat mixed vegetation area that has 6 months a year dry season and 6 months rainy. So there are swamps dry fields wet fields etc. It has open areas of land as well as dense closed areas of plants. There are lots of wild life that roam, i.e. cows, buffaloes, deer, anteaters, horses, caimans (South American Alligators) etc. the morning schedule today was a 5:45 wake up (Rochel called 3rd for the bathroom:) a quick breakfast (our last 3 packs of oatmeal!!), 7:30 safari drive (with our type ‘A’ tour guide Aynore),canoe trip down the river, and ending with a camp site barbecue lunch ( a.k.a. peanut butter, rice cake, pretzels, apples, and beer/diet coke). By the time this was all over, Rochel had guide Aynore (or for Gella 'Einhorn’) crack a smile 4 times. Gella became great friends with the other groups 'Haitian’ guide (cracking Jella jokes and almost causing a 'Piranha’ fish to bite an English tourist) and for me hmmm oh right, I was busy 'Toiveling’ our can opener in the river. If Gella ever thought she’s seen all the public toilets out there this one totally took the cake … in other words a tree stump with a toilet seat at the end of a path and if the toilet paper roll at the beginning of the path was missing u knew not to stroll down ;) it was also cool because the guides hung hammocks up in the trees for us to chill while some of the group went fishing off the dock. We returned pretty exhausted for our siesta once again .. I think I’m really liking this life style :)!! For the second part of the day … We walked through the dense vegetation down a rickety wooden trail to spot some more wildlife. We did see a monkey that almost jumped on us for Rochels banana that she decided of all things to bring as her snack. Then we climbed the monkey tower (which Aynore kindly let us know that the lodge was going to be repairing at the end of this season cuz it’s so old-yikes) 25 km high and waited for sunset. We learned that the snail is what keeps the whole ecosystem going in the Patanal (see Rochel important things come in small packages;) We totally made our type 'A’ guide into a chiller and bonded with the French Jewish family that we met who invited us to Paris!:) Another great deli salad dinner this time with avocado and we ended our day with a night safari (steep competition to the Monsey backyards - jk) We’re already checked out of our hotel and preparing for a 4:00 am departure to our final destination, São Paolo… Wish us luck we’re gonna be zonked!! Catch u later ,mirb:)

[summerinbrazil2015]

All good things have to come to an end & so it is with our stay at Tariri Amazon Lodge. We said our goodbyes - Gella & Miri to the monkeys while I stood to the side holding my hands over my earrings - & we even got a pic with grandpa ( aka jungle boy) & to the rest of our friends ( almost family by now ) who were staying at the lodge & then hopped in the boat ( with all our luggage - see pic) to continue on the rest of our journey to ….. The Pantanel. So we basically had a traveling day. first by boat, then car then plane with a stopover that we didn’t have to get off the plane for & finally we arrived in Cuiba where we met a driver to do more traveling 2 ½ hrs till we finally arrived at Araras lodge. We were quite tired from traveling all day so we had supper ( yummy turkey salad wraps ) next to a French Jewish family ( Gella figured that one out) & now we are winding down for the night since we gotta be up early tom for our 7:30 tour !!! Nite to one & all 😴, Ro

[summerinbrazil2015]

Make sure to scroll down to read about the last 2 days before reading here. Okay so let me say this, it's the most bizarre and amazing feeling to know we are in the Amazon rainforest!! It rains so much here that the forest literally floods. So where we go by boat everywhere, in a month from now they'll be hiking by foot. Trees grow out of the river as we boat through it, it's a thrilling experience! Our lodge is literally on stilts over water and forest. Day 13 - We woke up to the monkeys outside our room again. I went out and one of them climbed up and pulled my clip out of my hair! Then Miri did it! She let the monkey climb up her and it sat there for a bit pulling her ponytail! Today after our 'yummy' breakfast of oatmeal (we must be getting points for not eating the delicious looking food here,) we went for a hike in the highlands (where it doesn't flood even when it rains.) We literally hacked our way w a machete through the jungle and saw gum trees that stay soft the whole day for Miri, paint trees, fire ants, and the guests we hiked with were brave to taste nuts that were really bugs (eww, they said it tasted like almonds, I'll trust them.) The humidity is like 98% here (and 100+ degrees,) and we feel it all the time but it was even worse in the trees, and we were literally dripping. After our siesta, we headed out in the afternoon to swim w the dolphins. They were pink and so smooth to touch, the guy fed them fish to make them come up and they slithered in between and behind us, it was pretty cool. Miri and Rochel then went back in for a swim (Rochel safely with her life jacket and noodle,) the water here is really warm! We've been getting strange looks at meal and swim times but we just do what we do and move on. Germano, the lodge owner/guide never heard of us and only understood us when we explained that were 'Hebrews' (though he also asked me if we believe in J, and when I said no he figured we were Jehovas.) But I digress, back to our activity. We baited a hook to feed these huge man eating fish (they were violent snatching the bait) and then headed back to our lodge. We had our last sunset drive through the pristine waters of the Amazon, seeing the reflection of the trees in the still waters they grew out of. Time for showers and it started pouring! Another thrilling experience (we were safely indoors,) and then our last pomegranate dinner, no more left! So sad cuz that means were nearing the end, but we're not done yet! After we procrastinated packing to shmooze with Canadians (Rochel asked them if they had a shidduch for us, are we desperate?) Then finally packing. More still to come... -G

[summerinbrazil2015]

Day 12 - It's not that often that you have the opportunity to wake up to a little monkey pecking on your window with a piece of bread in his mouth...or that you have to hide your food on the way to breakfast afraid that the little rascal will snatch your earring and put it in his mouth (seriously, rochels pearl) But that's life out here at the Tariri lodge in the 'Amazon Rain Forest' ... an experience like none other. Breakfast was called for 8:00. We ate our oatmeal and bananas while the rest of the dining room feasted on homemade cheese cupcakes. At 9:15 we all met at the dock for the first activity (go camp Tariri). They took us out in the boat for about 45 min to this little beach where we all jumped out of the boat for a swim in 'coke' water (well maybe it was only me that actually did the swim). Someone got us a little worried that the bacteria in the water can grow out of your foot as worms but 'Germano' reassured us that it wasn't in this area. It was fun making friends with all the other guest at the lodge. There a quite a few people from France but our luck almost everyone speaks English especially out Spanish friend Rosa:) Before lunch we quickly washed out all our swimming gear and hung it out to dry. Little did i know that I would be sponsoring a 'diaper' to one of the monkeys (lol). We are all enjoying the 'siesta' (our two hour rest after lunch ) which finally gives us permission to just chill!! Right before 2nd activity we all met at the dock and Gella had a hey day playing and snapping pics of the monkeys )I'm still working on getting the courage...but I'm gonna do it!) Actually, Rochel braved holding the Toucan until it decided to let itself out on her. Every place we go to visit around here is only by boat. The plan was to head to a small near by village to meet the family that lives there. Once we arrived, things seemed pretty calm they told us a little bit about the culture how the kids get married pretty young (about 15) to kids from other local villages and some have up to 20 children (lately a little less)!!! There were chickens, A PIG, and of course some dogs walking around. Then the fun began, all of a sudden a little girl came out holding a small 'sloth' (monkey), another little boy popped out to play barefoot soccer, and then a guy came out with a huge 'Anacondas' (snake) wrapped around his neck!!!! We decided to take a picture as a team effort by placing Gella at the head, Rochel in the middle, and I took the tail. Just when we were feeling pretty comfortable.. Woosh, he decided to let it 'all' out once again on Rochel! After sun set, we hopped back on the boat, with one of the guys from the village, for a night activity, searching for alligators. They took us to a special area, and the man literally walked through the edge of the water and pulled out a 5 year old small alligator. Before we knew it, it was on the boat and we were all holding and petting it. Rochel decided to skip this one (poor girl had enough animal trauma for the day) but Gella and I took a turn holding it. On the drive back, in the pitch black, we felt like we were in a movie dodging trees along the sides, flying through crystal waters, with a sky full of stars above us. I can't even put the feeling into words. But all we can say is thanks Gella for helping us discover the cooolest vacation place ever!

[summerinbrazil2015]

We were in the sky once again & landed early this AM, went to our hotel, re packed & showered & headed to bed for around 2-3 hrs before we were up & at it again. Our tour guide took us to the port in the industrial area in Manaus where we took a boat to the Meeting of 2 rivers. Black River & Solimoes River. It's actually really cool because one can see the 2 different rivers very distinctly ( one is .... U guessed it black.. & the other blueish - u can see the 2 different rivers behind us in 1st pic ) & they don't mix because of the difference in speed, density & temperature. But after 6 kilometers it meets & then it's called amazonos river. We then continued to drive 1 1/2 hrs till the road ended & then we transferred to a canoe ( luggage, food & all) for a 40 min boat ride till we came to Tariri Amazon lodge. We were greeted by monkeys & parrots & Tucans & then we went down a wooden bridge high up above water held up by wooden stilts to our bunkhouse. We are bunk Cabana 3 ( let's hear u cheer). Very cute, clean & campy. Lunch was at 1 in the " main dining room" where once again there was a whole array of food ( including homemade chocolate truffles which looked YUM!! ) which we cldnt partake in, but we were able to get fresh fruits & veggies which were probably homegrown & tasted good. Then there was rest time till 3:30. So went back to our bunk house ( to write letters back home -remember those days??) to rest up a bit & DRINK - cuz real humid & then the afternoon activity - fishing - was at 3:30. It was beautiful out as we got into the canoe & we passed thru mirror waters ( Gella was camera happy ) & then our guide stopped the boat in the middle of the water so we could fish. Our group caught 8 fish & we are proud to say that Miri caught one of them!!!! Then we came back while it was sun setting (is that even a word) which was beautiful & went to warm up our Pomegranate dinner. That's all for now folks !! 😉, Ro

[summerinbrazil2015]

Another week gone in Brazil, time is flying too fast, we need it to go slower!! Shabbos was beautiful here in Rio and no mishaps tg! We rushed to get ready fri afternoon because shabbos was crazy early (5:15) though we did get in our erev shabb pic and Rochel even managed to sneak in fish face. We needed to rush out and found the shul alright to light candles, but then after mincha we waited and davening didn’t start til 7! We spent the time shmoozing with 2 israelis giving us advice to get married! About 9:30pm we finally started walking to the Rabbi Goldmans house and we found a party there! Apparently there was some kinda reunion was going on. The rebbetzin is amazing, prepared food for at least 50 people and it ran like clockwork! We made it back to our place by midnight and I crashed immediately (the week was too exciting ;) I was out cold by the time miri and rochel went to bed so not sure when they went to sleep. Today we took advantage of chabad shacharis start of 10am and slept in (finally!) We made it to shul 12pm just in time for end of krias hatorah! We went upstairs to the meal the shul prepared and got to know Rabbi Schechter and fam. We headed back to hotel where we relaxed a little and then Miri and I went for an hour walk on the beach. If you ever thought NJ or Miami beaches are crowded, come to Rio! Every inch of sand was taken (I took many many shabbos pics on the way!) Rochel greeted us with shalosh seudos in our suite and we headed back to shul for havdala. Then we rushed back because we had 30 min to pack up and head out. At the airport we went through another weighing and managing our food bag of extra weight, we got half off but it’s on Miri's back now! Now were on our way to the Amazon! Don’t worry if we drop off for a few days, we don’t know what the wifi sitch will be in middle of the rainforest but we’ll catch u up on it when we can! Our adventure continues… -G

[summerinbrazil2015]

Day 9 - Wow.. One of those awesome days that you wake up and just don’t know what the day will bring!?!

It all started with an early wake up ( once again .. but as Gella always says ‘sleep is overrated’;) we of course checked out the hotel breakfast and walked away with their buffet 'props’ ( all the whole fruits :) Louis met us at 7:30 and said if we hurry we’ll be able to catch the first cable car up to the top of 'sugar loaf’ mountain. Two cable cars later and a couple of us shivering from 'Acrophobia’ we stepped out to see the most awesome view of 'Rio’. This is where the bay and the Atlantic ocean meet. From there we headed to see a really cool circular building, designed by a famous architect, Nedermeyer. He positioned it in a way that it was exactly with the same slant as the 'sugar loaf’. We then headed to the market and drove across the famous Rio bridge (about 9 miles long) to one of Louis’s special 'secret’ lookouts. 'Breathtaking’ does not even explain it. There is this slanted piece of pavement and when u walk to the edge it literally looks like you’re falling off a cliff!!! Louis had to tell Gella to 'watch out’ and not go sooo close while Rochel was holding onto me for dear life!! And our luck the DOGS where running all around us again. All of a sudden, we realized that people were taking off from these landings with parachutes a.k.a 'para gliding’. We surprised everyone, including ourselves, when we decided we want to do it (even Rochel) (Gella was hesitant about the 'motion sickness’ piece but she wasn’t gonna lose out). What can I say .. It was scary.. Thrilling .. And totally awesome. Even for those who did get nauseous. Rio is a crazy beach city but I must say it’s absolutely beautiful!!!! Can’t wait to relax over shabbos … Have a great shabbos to all..mirb:-)

[summerinbrazil2015]

We were up at the crack of dawn, got ready to leave our cute little bed & breakfast & at 7 our ride to the airport was here ( this time they sent a truck so all our suitcases cld fit in). We cldve bought another ticket for the amount we had to pay for our food suitcase ( obergada 👍 Miri for putting almost 1/3 of my suitcase into ur carry on) but when we got on the plane & saw that our seats at the back were taken ( sit wherever u want policy ??) we found seats in the economy plus section so at least we got a bit of our $'s worth. We were met at the airport by our tour guide Luis holding a sign Rochel, Miri & Gella. He had a small car but BH he was a mover in his past life & was able to pack the car even though we just barley fit with all our luggage. Miri & I had an almost bullet proof mechitza between us from all the suitcases on the seat. ( see pics above) We decided to drop off our suitcases at our hotel which is rt off the beach & then headed to Corcovado which is 2100 ft from sea level where they have a statue there to celebrate 100 yrs of independence from Portugal. We went up up up up up in a minibus & after some very sharp turns we arrived. We were high up & were able to see the whole Rio from all sides. Beautiful view ! Luis had to lie down to take a pic of us with the statue in the background since it was towering so high. Gella did not want to leave so she seatbelted herself into the drivers latch !!!! ( by mistake) & we cldnt leave till she found her own belt. By the time we got back to the car, it was already dark so Luis dropped us off by a supermarket where we picked up some fresh vegetables & on the walk home we made sure to pass by the shul so we know where it is for tomorrow night ( we don't want a repeat of last Friday nite !!) then we headed to our hotel. It's really nice & spacious & we have an ocean view which we will hopefully be able to enjoy over the next two days. Until then, Have a gr8 Shabbos !! 😉, Ro

[summerinbrazil2015]

Oi back home, We woke up bright and early in Alto Paraiso (high paradise, despite Miris belief it’s about old people) and enjoyed our breakfast outside on the beautiful grounds of our very charming ‘posada’ (inn.) Then we headed out for a 10 kilometer hike in the national park, Chapada dos Veaderos. Up and down the rocks we went, some of us slower than others (meaning me) and we ended by a pretty waterfall and really clear water to swim in. (Rochel looked very fetching in the life jacket Juliana, our guide, brought along for her.) Miri swam but I just dipped my toes. Way back was dicier (what goes down must go back up.) Rochel was the cheer leader, and Miri joined in! At the end, Rochel was dancing, Miri cheered her on and I couldn’t talk at all. We discovered that we all have our strengths (and weaknesses.) But I did it!! We stopped in Sao Jorge (pronounced jor-jee) and got some ice cold water and Rochel braved the dogs and came out of the car! Next we went to the hot springs (rock pools with natural hot water.) I had enough after a minute but Rochel and Miri hung out and then we cut up the delicious fresh fruit our hotel left for us this morn after we explained yesterday that we couldn’t eat their fresh breakfast (our guide also brought us fresh fruit instead of the lunch they packed yesterday.) After the party we headed back to the hotel to shower off the dirt from the day and eat another yummy meal of real food (pasta for me, a real treat I haven’t had in forever but well deserved today!) The hotel gave me band aids (bandages in Brazilian) for all my blisters from yesterday’s hike in water slippers (not a good idea in case you were wondering.) Now we are packing for our early morn start to the airport tomorrow, onward and onto the next :( to leave but happy that the trip still has a ways to go… Bele-e-e-za -G

[summerinbrazil2015]

Day 6 So where were we..oh right just about to take off to Chapada dos Veadeiros (1 of the 4 ‘ecosystems’ in Brazil-flat mountain range area). We arrived at 12:05 am and met our guide in the airport. He was a little taken aback to see us wheeling two carts full of luggage and when we looked up at his little circus car we knew why.!!! But he told us we just need to learn one Brazilian word and all will be ok 'BALEZA’ (and oh man Gella hasn’t stopped saying it since .. been getting us a lot of smiles) Long story short an hour later .. an extra taxi for our luggage .. We were off on our 2 ½ hr drive (with a schizophrenic driver). Thanks to Rochel we pushed our morning tour off to 11:00 which was life saving. On our way out this morn we got our full real glimpse of our B&B, totally adorable, in a city called 'alta kacker’ ( or at least that’s how Gella pronounces it- lol)… I can’t even begin to describe it.. But we all love it.. And they have an amazing freezer and oven for our yummy pomegranate meals!! We spent the day with Juliana (our female tour guide .. she’s great!) We zipped across a breathtaking zip line, which I’ll admit Rochel and I were quite petrified. Then we hiked through the Chapada and jumped into the falls. Awesome!! Thanks Roch for insisting on buying the coconut…it definitely added to the experience. It gets dark pretty early here so we had a quick walk through the village (literally a block long..tons of loose dogs(Gella shopped & Rochel babysat the car for us;) We came back to enjoy our steaming hot 3 course dinner out on the patio. Looking forward to an early night! C u all soon.. mirb:)

[summerinbrazil2015]

When we woke up this AM, I was relieved that we had no visitors in the night ( especially since I was one closest to the door look at 1st pic). There was a nice breakfast spread with plenty of food ( which of course we cldnt eat !!) but we were able to get 2 tomatoes & passion fruit & then off we were to catch a train to “devils throat ”. It’s a section of the falls where tons of waterfalls just fall into each other. Was beautiful. Then we came back checked out of hotel & took a taxi across the border to Brazil. Just know for the future: one can not take pics of border patrols ( ahem Miri). Once over the border, we went into the Iguazu falls park on the Brazilian side. We took a bus & then got off to walk a trail where we were able to see a panoramic view of the falls !!!!! We stopped for lunch ( yummy tuna wraps with tomatoes ) & finished them just in time bec the anteaters were hot on our trail. Miri & Gella went back down the glass elevator to go to “Devils throat” on the Brazil side while I was way too tired ( we haven’t slept much if u cldnt tell & not sleeping tonight as well) so I’m sitting here with gella’s “dead weight” & writing to u guys. We then hopped back on the bus to go back to our taxi which was waiting for us with all our luggage for a 15 minute ( I think 15 minutes in Brazil equals 7 American minutes) ride to the airport for flight 3 and 4 & BH we made it thru with all our luggage without having to pay for an xtra bag & for being way overweight !!! Now we’re sitting in São Paulo airport waiting for next leg of our journey. Till then, Chow, 😜 Ro

[summerinbrazil2015]

So wifi here has been slow hence the late posts but today is better so bear with us as we move along. After discovering that the hotel put our food that made it all the way from the US into the fridge instead of freezer at 2am, we woke up 2 hours later and started out really early this morn @4:45am to catch our 8am flight out, and then we waited and waited and waited. It was pouring in Buenos Aires so flights were delayed and we got to Iguazu 12pm instead of 10am. Thankfully our driver checked the flight arrivals and was there to pick us up. He was not happy about our ton of luggage but fit it all in so we were good (after paying a phenomenal sum when we left to cover excess of 33lbs per person!) Luckily we could check in to our hotel by then (make sure to lock balcony out monkeys will break in,) so we hurried to change (and eat.) We walked around the upper trails of Iguazu Falls first, to see it from the top, it was stupendously stunning! To compare it Niagra it was just much more. Bigger and wider and really awesome. Then we got into a jeep to drive thru the rainforest and hear a bit about it (though Miri heard it only in her dreams, the lack of sleep catching up w her.) We continued out in a boat and literally got SOAKED driving into the spray (no pansy rain jackets and light mist like niagra, this was right into the water.) We walked back on the lower trails to see more falls closer up. After showering, we gave the first of our meals to the hotel to heat up. Rochel reminded them about 5 times they dare open it under penalty of death (or starvation.) Now were enjoying our delish hot meal, it’s yum! Keep checking for more, -G

[summerinbrazil2015]

Day 2&3 Argentian shabbos: Hola to all. To be honest my Spanish does not exist and .. the charades aren't quite cutting it. So we arrived in Buenos Aires/Argentina late Thursday night to find out that our hotel (which we literally booked a min b-4 takeoff .. Long story .. Ye I take the blame Gella:) can not have 3 in a room and the guy wanted to charge us for a second room (luckily @50% off). Gella volunteered to take the room alone and boy did we all sleep.. We had a slow morning since it was so overcast and finally headed out to catch the hop on hop off bus ..(which we never found;) followed a lady to change $.. almost got arrested for having our cell phones out in the bank..dodged hundreds of dogs (go brave Rochel) and where told by a guy selling water that Gella better put away her camera and I better hide my cell phone. Lunch at Luba caffe was awesome (or maybe we were just really hungry). But the cutest Chabad girl served us ( and thank Gd she spoke English). We showered .. Got ready for shabbos .. And set off to go meet our Friday night host in shul (or so we thought but that's when the trbl began!!?!?) we had the address but weren't sure of the number and thought it would be simple to find the local synagogue but after circling around (Rochel clonking in 4' heels) falling into a 'reform' shull and not one yamulka in sight we came back to our hotel. Fredrico our hotel receptionist was our saving grace. He tried everything to help us as we sat in our plastic colorful ponchos. We were hoping the ppl wld come to pick us up but no such luck. We hinted to Ferdrico to look up the address which he did and that sent us on another hike (Rochel still clonking in heels which even I gave up) but no family Weil. You should have seen the face of Ferdrico when we returned and hour later. We ended up making kidush on matzah and pathetically dipped into our bag of tuna and peanut butter. Thanks to Rochel we did manage to have a gourmet dessert. We had no idea what shabbos morning would bring since we were supposed to meet these people and eat with them in their shul ??? I remembered someone mentioned to me that there is a R' Oppenheimer who has a big shul we decided to find out where it is and just head there. The min we walked in two women came running to us to welcome us and then somehow one of them said oh my you are the 3 Am girls .. She knew out host and said they were so worried about us!!! They walked us out and showed us how to find the shul we were originally supposed to go to. You should have seen theirs faces when we walked in!!! Long story short they were the nicest ppl!! We had an amazing Sfardic lunch and then they invited us back for Shala Shudis. It was definitely an Argentinian experience.. But they convinced us that our exp isnt over until we taste the official Argentinian meat in restaurant 'Asian' Fleishik Melava Maka ?! It was really yum and a cool. We finished off the night with a walk along puerto madero..walked the bridge ... skipped the drinks and ran back to pack up for a big day tomorrow .. Ahhh two hours until we hav to get up. catch u all later. Mirb:)

[summerinbrazil2015]

So, we had a bit of a scare with Gellas phone with all our info on it ... but BH it worked out. Gil found "Gella" & her crew (Us) & off we were to tour São Paulo. We felt rt at home with the traffic & homeless pple ( too bad "Jella" cldnt take pics of them). After learning our horoscopes & which signs would be compatible for us to marry, off we sojourned into the market. There were tons of beautiful looking fruits, meats & cheeses which we couldnt really partake in ( even though Gil kept asking the meat proprietors- who sold ham- if they sold kosher meat!!!). We tasted an exotic orange that tasted like a sweet version of a Pamela. Then we went to ring the peace bell in the square. After a debate about racism with Gil, he showed us the "rodeo drive " of São Paulo ( & kept telling me " I knew you'd like this part ). We finished it off with a drive by a "unique" hotel where we can " meet Jewish guys" & a picture at a mural (aka graffiti- Gella that's for u ! 😜) We continued on to the star alliance lounge which was really nice & then we got our exercise in by running to catch "last call for Buenos Aires " which we BH made & went into an almost empty business class ( empty of stewardesses as well). Now we are all showered & cleaned & ready for bed. Nighty nite 😴 ❤️, Ro #day1 #SaoPaulodaytour #graffiti #lastcallforBuenosAires