Curitiba

A few weeks back, my host mother had brought up the subject of going to Curitiba, a city in the south of Brazil, this weekend. Curitiba is in the state of Parana, 2 states to my south. It's known for it's culture, art, and being the "most livable" city in Brazil. Seeing as the tickets were free and would give me something interesting to do for the entire long weekend, I eagerly accepted, and on Friday at 10 p.m. my host mother Guilhermina, my younger host brother Vitor and I boarded a bus for Curitiba. Being inexperienced with bus travel, I thought the journey there would be quick and painless. Wrong, wrong, wrong. In between traffic from Sao Paulo, as well as some technical difficulties, the trip there ended up taking 18 hours. This, coupled with some very noisy passengers, had me arrive in Curitiba a very irritable and tired young man. After we arrived, we went through the Botanical Garden (jardim botanico), which was very, very pleasant. I got some great photos of the grounds, as well I think was the first true breath of fresh air I've had here. You know the kind: tinged with the smell of trees and a little bit of fallen leaves, the kind that makes (along with a cup of coffee) an 18 hour bus ride disappear from memory.  However, just when I had gotten relaxed and recuperated, my older host brother  Lucas, who was supposed to pick us up, called to tell us he had gotten lost and had no clue where he was. This led to a stressful cab ride that ended up costing more than R$100, but eventually we found him and we went to the house of my "host aunt", where after a little food, I promptly passed out and slept until 8:30 the next day.

The following day, Guilhermina and I went along with her group (a mix of art students, teachers, actors, etc.) to see some more of the sights of Curitiba. These included various art museums and galleries, a large open-air market, and the Oscar Niemeyer museum, which was by far the highlight of the day. The museum is huge, with many different collections of varying styles and influences, and the building itself is of his design. After this trip to the galleries and museums, we went out to a pizza restaurant, and went to sleep fairly early, being very tired from all the walking around. The day after, we took a tour around the new house my host aunt and uncle were planning on buying. This beautiful home and gorgeous neighborhood offered a stark contrast when compared to the shanty-towns and little mountain farming villages we passed on the way there.

At 6 p.m., our bus left the city, and, while a bit more quiet and sleep-filled than the first part, still took 18 hours due to a problem with the windshield-wipers. So, 2000 kilometers and 36 hours on a bus later, I'm back in Uberlandia with a lot of new photos and knowledge of a whole other part of Brazil. Despite the troubles with the trip, I'd say it was worth it.