Brazil
March 2017: Meetra embarked on her 1st solo trip ever, and to Brazil! 5,375 miles, 3 planes, and almost a full days travel without family or friends to help me....can you say panic attack??! Ha ha. But in all honesty, this was one of the greatest trips of my life. Despite the horrendous stomach ache the entire flight there and lack of sleep, it was all worth it. Getting to see Danny again and meeting his family for the first time was truly a remarkable experience.
We began our Brazilian adventures in the town he grew up in, Curitiba, where I also met his close friends to help celebrate his birthday at a classic restaurant that attempted to replicate American diner foods, but ended up created foods a bit too greasy. I also made his friends speak and learn some English... the day of his birthday Danny and I took a bus tour of the city, where I got to learn a ton about the culture, the background and the history of Curitiba as well as Brazil as a whole. Even though I'm not a city person per say, Curitiba is such a beautiful area to visit. The next portion of my visit we drove back to his hometown of Sao Bento do Sol to spend a few days before traveling again. I fell in love with the German-Style buildings, and the overall look of the town. I do have to say though, I wasn't too fond of the cobblestone roads(awful to walk on if you have a physical disability) or the fact that we couldn't flush toilet paper or trust the water.. Needless to say, it took some getting used to.
For the final leg of my 10 day trip, we drove to Bombinhas, which is where we stayed in a beach house. Along the way, I got to meet Danny's grandparents, aunts and uncles and some cousins. Once at Bombinhas, I again met some more family, grandma,aunt, uncle and his brother and sister in law. I truly fell in love with the surrounding area of Bombinhas, particularly Porto Belo. The sunsets there are absolutely stunning!! <3 Plus, I LOVE that we could walk along the beach together, and drink coconut water right out of the coconut. Another fun experience on this trip was a pirate boat tour. The team did not speak English, so Danny ended up translating the majority of what was beign said. I did learn some portuguese to joke around with them a bit.
The hardest part of our trips is always the "see you soon". We remind ourselves that this isn't goodbye, we are going to see each other very soon and we will continue to make new memories as well as redefine what Spina Bifida means to us in our lives.
