Several Discoveries

by Geovanna Borges (Brazil)

I didn't expect to find Brazil

At the beginning of the trip, I went my father, my mother and my sister to Paraty, a colonial city that is considered a National Historic Patrimony, between the end of the state of São Paulo and the beginning of Rio de Janeiro, when we arrived we were walking just looking the city passing through the streets and buildings well preserved since that time, we passed the church that is already a symbol of the city and then we went to our hostel. The next day we decided to go to Trindade, a well-commented beach among the locals and one of the most famous, well, we saw the route and to our surprise the bus passed through a hill affectionately nicknamed '' Deus Me Livre '' which is like a '' God forbit '' this hill is known for having many sharp curves and the speed that drivers drive on this path, we were excited by a specific point that passed through for the tropic of capricorn, during the trip with every bump the heart beat faster and the name lives up to the journey because God forbid having to go through this again but we continued and it was worth the fear because it was one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen in my life and the sand was very soft, we were enjoying the sun until it set and when it started to get dark we decided to go back, it was when a couple of Argentines asked us something about the return and my parents and they started to talk as if they already knew each other, the curious thing is that they went on the same bus as my family and only at the end we met. The next day arrived and we were looking forward to the next destination and decided to go on a Jeep tour that would have traditional alembics and waterfalls as a route, when the car arrived the car had seats in the back for all tourists, it was nice to see the conversation flowing and the different accents from different parts of Brazil became evident as the conversation started to take shape. When we arrived at the first still my sister and I just watched the adults tasting samples of the liqueur recipes and looked for something that didn't have something alcoholic, almost without success, but we found and took a very famous candy in Brazil called ''Doce de Leite'' which is made of milk, had some guides explaining about the place and informing us about the other places we would go to, when we left the alembic we went to a waterfall that had bathers gliding over a gigantic stone that passed the water of the waterfall, some they went on standing and others sat, after sliding on the stone they fell in the part of the river that was safe we kept watching until we went to a bridge that informed us that on the other side there was the possibility to buy snacks, however, the bridge was very thin, it swayed a lot, the river passed right under and only two people could pass at a time, but even so we went and found that on the other side there was only açaí , but as I like it a lot it was not a problem, we went back to the car and went to another alembic that now showed how everything was produced, we went back to the trail after knowing a little more of everything, where we passed by Caminho do Ouro, path which was built by slaves around the 17th century and passes through Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. After all this we were the last stop that would be our group farewell, but everyone got close enough and we decided to meet in the near future and add us to the common social network, until we went to a restaurant after the tour and talked until dusk and return each one to his or her own life, complete strangers who met on a walk, people from different places and personalities who became friends at the end of the day.