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Belem, exceeded our expectations.....originally we planned to stay for a week but ended up staying for 2 ...... We stayed in the surburb of Ananindeua which is a 30min hot bus ride from the city......ok, so we now understand why dogs hang out of windows, a very enlightening experience!
We couch surfed with Raul, his family and 5 cats. Their house was small but very welcoming. We spent many a night chatting with friends of the family, drinking beer, trying out local specialities (our favourite being the fruit pizza) and not forgetting the Tacaca which Ramon (Raul´s younger brother) introduced us to! Can´t say we enjoyed the globulous gum residue left at the bottom of the soup bowl but we did try!
The Amazon has so many herbs, fruits and general foods we have never tasted or could even pronounce, so staying with a family was probably the best experience. We sampled boiled banana´s, fried banana´s, (Maz wasin heaven!) jambu which is a leaf that numbs your lips, cupuacu an amazonian fruit and many others of names that we have forgotten. Our taste buds were inspired by many a nutritious encounter. Knowing that we´re food lovers it can be hard to fathom menus and street vendors but through trial and error we are slowly learning......! The ice cream in particular is amazing!
The cats were beautiful, with lovely temperaments. They made our stay enjoyable, with a lot of attention and love. Belem houses an outdoor museum for Amazonian animals, flora and fauna known as Museu Emilio. We whiled a day simply exploring these grounds, covered with exotic animals and interesting wildlife. Maz was fascinated by a 7 foot long Crocodile (something that regularly visits her in nightmares!), lucky it wasn´t an interactive museum!!!
We spent a lazy sunday taking in local arts, crafts and musical entertainment at Praça da Republica......walking along the usually busy streets with now an eerie calm as sundays are officially a day of rest. People work all hours of the day, with many a person holding down fultime jobs and studying....days are long and tiring, but they still manage to find time for socialising.
We now look back at the hours we would spend tirelessly working for this trip, the effort it took and many a time opportunities we may have lost. We regret nothing but experiencing life from a more relaxed and freer position allows us to see the abuse this can have, physically and mentally.
Life can so easily turn into a rat race, without even being aware we´re living at lightening speed....to be able to swing lazily in a hammock on a hot, humid day......to appreciate the sunset every night, to really see the stars and moon......it sounds so corny but reflecting back we realise that we didn´t appreciate these true essences of life. Its still amazing how patterns and habits are hard to change and leave behind but our journey has just begun and sometimes we rush and panic where no-one else seems to, this we believe is one of the lessons that travelling really has to offer us......... letting go
Have made some really good friends in Belem, it was very much a cultural encounter as we met and spent time with many different people with differing outlooks & interests in life. Particularly on religion, spirituality and brazillian relationships!
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