Gang,
A lot has been going on the last two weeks, sorry I haven't been able to throw you all a post. Long story short, after much deliberation, some pleading, and finally a little luck, we have made it out of AMAN on our own terms. As I write, the sounds and cadences of Recife in the state of Pernambuco make their way past the hammock on the porch of our pousada room we checked into yesterday. Our plane landed at about 6:30 AM on Thursday and after having the inn explain that we couldn't check in until noon (a standard policy we were aware of but casually and unsuccessfully hoped against) we decided that a little beach time was warranted.
8 hours, 2 bags of pineapple, countless cups of cerveja, a few new friends, and a WICKED sunburn later, we stumbled back to the inn and checked in, more cultured in the ways of the Northeast or "Nordeste" of Brazil then when we had arrived. We spent a little time recovering from the days activities (read: I sat in the room whimpering and putting on Pós Sol, an after sunburn product) and then headed to the mall for a movie (Gigantes do Aço or Real Steel in English, quite enjoyable)
Today we headed to Porto de Galinhas (Chicken Port, a local vacation spot famous for natural pools full of schools of fish and some of the best scuba diving in the world) where I spent much of the day in the shade or covering myself with sun block (bloqueda de sol) After visiting the natural pools and laying about most of the day, we headed to a creperia (Crepe restaurant) for dinner and made our way back to Recife.
I need to reapply my post sunburn cream before going to sleep but hope everyone's having a grand old time in the states and elsewhere and for those of you covered in several inches of snow, BUNDLE UP! It took us 2 hours of scouring a Brazilian mall to find a sweater ("Sunburned skin loses it's ability to regulate heat which is why you feel so cold, dummy." (Eliasen, 2011) ) so I don't know how to say bundle up in Portuguese.
Tchau for now!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Tough Stuff
Loyal Fanbase,
Howdy ya'll. I'm on a Country music kick right now. Apologies in advance. In any event, I'm scheduled to take a Psych test yesterday (note, that's not a grammatical error, I wrote that right) so maybe at some point today I'll actually sit down and take it. We'll see, haha. Past that, Portuguese class today, woot woot!
Ok, so enough of the obligatory "hey-how-ya-down-hows-ya-motha" stuff and onto the real reason for todays post. I am (as some of you likely already know) competing this December in World's Toughest Mudder. WTM is the championship race for Tough Mudder series. A Tough Mudder is a 10-12 mile muddy obstacle course race run by Tough Mudder LLC. TM has raised over 2 million dollars (US dollars that is) for the Wounded Warrior Project (Known by many as simply Wounded Warriors), aiding personnel injured in the line of duty and many US Army veterans. They've also helped numerous other charities catapult their causes into the spotlight.
WTM consists of as many laps as possible of the standard 10 mile course in 24 hours, with the winner recieving $10,000 and the right to call themselves the World's Toughest Mudder. Good friend and fellow West Point Cadet, Alex Cattley (http://cat-man-does.blogspot.com/) will be tackling the course with me and decided to take his commitment to the cause one step further. He had the bright idea to raise money for Team Red, White, and Blue (another veteran charity) with our participation, with a goal of $500 (http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/toughestmudder/catman) Being the original and interesting individual I am, I not only created the same goal using the same website, but decided to actually copy and paste much of what he wrote on his site (Relax. I cited him for it) If only I could copy how much money he's raised already! (https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/gmoney/worldstoughestmudderfundraiser)
Every little bit (even your emotional support helps) as we've set a goal to run 5 laps of the course (50 miles in the wet, and muddy cold of Englishtown, NJ in December) Please donate if you are able and pass the link along if you know someone who might be able to help out.
Tchau for now!
Howdy ya'll. I'm on a Country music kick right now. Apologies in advance. In any event, I'm scheduled to take a Psych test yesterday (note, that's not a grammatical error, I wrote that right) so maybe at some point today I'll actually sit down and take it. We'll see, haha. Past that, Portuguese class today, woot woot!
Ok, so enough of the obligatory "hey-how-ya-down-hows-ya-motha" stuff and onto the real reason for todays post. I am (as some of you likely already know) competing this December in World's Toughest Mudder. WTM is the championship race for Tough Mudder series. A Tough Mudder is a 10-12 mile muddy obstacle course race run by Tough Mudder LLC. TM has raised over 2 million dollars (US dollars that is) for the Wounded Warrior Project (Known by many as simply Wounded Warriors), aiding personnel injured in the line of duty and many US Army veterans. They've also helped numerous other charities catapult their causes into the spotlight.
WTM consists of as many laps as possible of the standard 10 mile course in 24 hours, with the winner recieving $10,000 and the right to call themselves the World's Toughest Mudder. Good friend and fellow West Point Cadet, Alex Cattley (http://cat-man-does.blogspot.com/) will be tackling the course with me and decided to take his commitment to the cause one step further. He had the bright idea to raise money for Team Red, White, and Blue (another veteran charity) with our participation, with a goal of $500 (http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/toughestmudder/catman) Being the original and interesting individual I am, I not only created the same goal using the same website, but decided to actually copy and paste much of what he wrote on his site (Relax. I cited him for it) If only I could copy how much money he's raised already! (https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/gmoney/worldstoughestmudderfundraiser)
Every little bit (even your emotional support helps) as we've set a goal to run 5 laps of the course (50 miles in the wet, and muddy cold of Englishtown, NJ in December) Please donate if you are able and pass the link along if you know someone who might be able to help out.
Tchau for now!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Back
Gang,
WOW. So I'm tired. Still cranking out the Psych paper. But here's the update from Santa Maria.
1. We spent about 55 hours on a bus. Surprisingly, less than last week. Yet we were only on a bus twice. As opposed to 6 times. My butt hurts.
2. We were in one of the "coldest places in Brazil" I think it might have gotten to about 60 at night.........@West Point, any comments?
3. Gauchos are like the Cowboys around here but are a little less culturally different than in the US. A lot more chill. And they drink herbal tea called Chimmarão out of these great big cups with spoon straws. It's hard to explain. They're kind of like a cross between hipsters and cowboys except pretend you don't hate hipsters. Like that.
4. All you can eat Barbeques (Churrascaria) is not a deal, nor is it a challenge. You will not "win". They don't care that you only paid R$22.50 (like $14 bucks US) you're gonna get fed until you cry. And then they'll ask if you want to take anything for the road. And then they'll ask if you want dessert (sobremesas). And then they'll ask if you want a road beer (Saideira). And then they'll ask if you're sure you don't want anymore. It's as if the deepest innermost ring of hell had a restaurant. And that's where you are. Except the food is amazing. And cheap.
5. We (just realized this one's unrelated.......too late) got invited to the Marine Corps Ball here in Rio de Janeiro. Marine Corps Balls celebrate the birthday of the United States Marine Corps and from what I have heard are generally very fun experiences. Leggo!
Wow, way more tired than I thought. Hate to be a downer but I'm off to bed.
Portuguese for the day is cansado which means tired. As in "eu estou cansado" (I'm tired)
Tchau and such.
WOW. So I'm tired. Still cranking out the Psych paper. But here's the update from Santa Maria.
1. We spent about 55 hours on a bus. Surprisingly, less than last week. Yet we were only on a bus twice. As opposed to 6 times. My butt hurts.
2. We were in one of the "coldest places in Brazil" I think it might have gotten to about 60 at night.........@West Point, any comments?
3. Gauchos are like the Cowboys around here but are a little less culturally different than in the US. A lot more chill. And they drink herbal tea called Chimmarão out of these great big cups with spoon straws. It's hard to explain. They're kind of like a cross between hipsters and cowboys except pretend you don't hate hipsters. Like that.
4. All you can eat Barbeques (Churrascaria) is not a deal, nor is it a challenge. You will not "win". They don't care that you only paid R$22.50 (like $14 bucks US) you're gonna get fed until you cry. And then they'll ask if you want to take anything for the road. And then they'll ask if you want dessert (sobremesas). And then they'll ask if you want a road beer (Saideira). And then they'll ask if you're sure you don't want anymore. It's as if the deepest innermost ring of hell had a restaurant. And that's where you are. Except the food is amazing. And cheap.
5. We (just realized this one's unrelated.......too late) got invited to the Marine Corps Ball here in Rio de Janeiro. Marine Corps Balls celebrate the birthday of the United States Marine Corps and from what I have heard are generally very fun experiences. Leggo!
Wow, way more tired than I thought. Hate to be a downer but I'm off to bed.
Portuguese for the day is cansado which means tired. As in "eu estou cansado" (I'm tired)
Tchau and such.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Field Trip, Round 2
Fellow Chivers,
So there's a few things to address before the big thing we need to address. First and foremost, I'm a big fan of the Chive. As in http://thechive.com/ It's a great place.
Further, it's possible to see what countries people who read this are from. While I expected the people reading this to only occupy a few places (USA @fam and friends, Brazil @me, and Spain @Uncle Victor) I have been read from 10 different countries including those above and Germany, Russia, Iran, Australia, Switzerland, Greece, and India. And 6 people have read me on an iPad, and 3 on an iPod. Technology is just the best!
So anyway, we mentioned to our commanders that we were hoping to stretch our legs and travel a bit more (@spendingthemoneyWestPointgaveus) and after thoroughly researching and planning a weeklong trip to 3 cities culminating in a weekend at the biggest Oktoberfest outside of Germany, it was "suggested" that we take a training trip with the Cavalria (Cavalry) guys to Santa Maria for a week of armor instruction along with some free time in the city.
What looked like a bummer at first could be a blessing in disguise; Santa Maria has a deep and rich German heritage and while is not the largest city in the south, comes highly recommended. It has a large contingent of universities and a young population. Further, as we've heard countless times from many a cadete, "As mulheres mais bonitas são de o sul" or "The most beautiful women are from the south." The weather is supposed to be nice this time of year (read: as it is EVERYWHERE in Brazil) and we'll be going with a branch we haven't spent much time with yet so we'll meet some more good guys I'm sure.
On that note, since we're leaving on Sunday morning and it's a 25 hour bus ride (we're gonna smash last weeks totals) there's a little more school work I need to get done in order to ensure I get this Psych paper in on time (@PsychProf, it's gonna be close) Hope you guys are enjoying the US, we're all starting to get a bit homesick but are being treated extremely well down here so no complaints yet!
Portuguese of the day (apologies in advance if I've already done this) is "saudade" which, sadly, has no direct translation into English but is mostly similar to longing or wanting. When people are homesick or miss someone, they have saudade or "ter saudade". To express homesickness, you say, "Tenho saudade pra casa."
See you on the other side of the weekend,
Tchau for now!
So there's a few things to address before the big thing we need to address. First and foremost, I'm a big fan of the Chive. As in http://thechive.com/ It's a great place.
Further, it's possible to see what countries people who read this are from. While I expected the people reading this to only occupy a few places (USA @fam and friends, Brazil @me, and Spain @Uncle Victor) I have been read from 10 different countries including those above and Germany, Russia, Iran, Australia, Switzerland, Greece, and India. And 6 people have read me on an iPad, and 3 on an iPod. Technology is just the best!
So anyway, we mentioned to our commanders that we were hoping to stretch our legs and travel a bit more (@spendingthemoneyWestPointgaveus) and after thoroughly researching and planning a weeklong trip to 3 cities culminating in a weekend at the biggest Oktoberfest outside of Germany, it was "suggested" that we take a training trip with the Cavalria (Cavalry) guys to Santa Maria for a week of armor instruction along with some free time in the city.
What looked like a bummer at first could be a blessing in disguise; Santa Maria has a deep and rich German heritage and while is not the largest city in the south, comes highly recommended. It has a large contingent of universities and a young population. Further, as we've heard countless times from many a cadete, "As mulheres mais bonitas são de o sul" or "The most beautiful women are from the south." The weather is supposed to be nice this time of year (read: as it is EVERYWHERE in Brazil) and we'll be going with a branch we haven't spent much time with yet so we'll meet some more good guys I'm sure.
On that note, since we're leaving on Sunday morning and it's a 25 hour bus ride (we're gonna smash last weeks totals) there's a little more school work I need to get done in order to ensure I get this Psych paper in on time (@PsychProf, it's gonna be close) Hope you guys are enjoying the US, we're all starting to get a bit homesick but are being treated extremely well down here so no complaints yet!
Portuguese of the day (apologies in advance if I've already done this) is "saudade" which, sadly, has no direct translation into English but is mostly similar to longing or wanting. When people are homesick or miss someone, they have saudade or "ter saudade". To express homesickness, you say, "Tenho saudade pra casa."
See you on the other side of the weekend,
Tchau for now!
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