Beyond Dreams (Curitiba, Brasil)

It’s amazing the people you get to meet when you’re traveling on your own… girls from San Diego on a RTW trip of their own, an Irish guy that can’t seem to find his way out of Brazil, a couple of Swiss guys on top of Pão de Açucar, and that’s not to mention the Brazilians… Who, by the way, are seriously some of the best people on the face of this planet. I go to the corner sandwich stand and the guy asks me my name and kisses my hand. Or the random kid in the favela where I’m staying remembers my name and calls out to me as I walk by. Or the guys from the hostel that take me out on a Saturday night to join in the festivities in the streets and teach me Portuguese. This isn’t even counting the people I’ve grown to know and love in such a short time.

Afterall, traveling is less about the sites and more about the people. For this reason, I decided to come back to Curitiba to hang out some more with my friends here before I head on to Costa Rica on Sunday. I know there will be time later to explore more of this beautiful country.

For some time now, a love for Brazil has been growing in my heart, and I knew if I did anything this year, it should be to come to Brazil and see for myself if there really was something to this desire. My time here has been more than I could’ve hoped for, and exceeded my dreams. As much as I don’t want to leave Brazil, I know I’ll be back- sooner rather than later- and I’m excited about the experiences yet to come, the people I’ve yet to meet, and catching up with old friends.

My last couple days in Rio, I went up to see the statue of Cristo Redentor and the incredible panoramic view of the city from up there (even if it was partly obscured by the clouds), and also took the cablecars up to the top of Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf) to watch the city lights slowly twinkle on after sunset. It was magical…

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