The biggest opportunity I have ever won!

by Suzany Menossi Bizinha (Brazil)

I didn't expect to find USA

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My boyfriend's father lived in Irvine, Orange County, California for a while, on vacation my boyfriend decided to visit him. So, I won this trip from them with the tickets included, as well as accommodation and food. The trip was in February, it was winter and it was very cold. All of us are Brazilians, and what impressed me the most was everything that is not available in Brazil. But mainly, what moved me the most will be what I will tell at the end. On an afternoon with cloudless skies, it was supposed to be about 15 degrees Celsius, and while I was strolling through the historic Crystal Cove district of Newport Beach, local people were half-naked basking in the sun and also tanning, some of them, playing tennis, and, all of them, enjoying the blue sky and the freezing wind. In Brazil, people usually do this things only when it is very hot, at least around 25 degrees and without any freezing wind. One observation I made about economic differences between Brasil and United States of America it was that I saw many cars from the Porsche and BMW brands. In Brazil there are such brands and they are exclusively for the richest people, and therefore the quantities of these cars on the streets are much smaller than the proportion I saw there. I did not see only luxury cars, but I also noticed amazing homes across the state, and extraordinary mansions in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. All these details plus the wonderful landscaping and urbanism made my boyfriend repeat several times that he felt in the movie Truman Show. Besides that everything was very atypical for me, another unusual situation that dazzled me all the time while I was there, it was to see deserts with low vegetation, inherent to the place. For example, the beauty of the route from Las Vegas to Palm Springs, taking many hours to travel, passing the Mojave National Preserve, despite the arid landscape, it was very incredible, with many Joshua trees and other species of plants. In Palm Springs, with a temperature of around 26 degrees Celsius, we decided to visit Mont San Jacinto State Park, where it was much coder and there was a lot of snow! Yes, the most beautiful contrast I have ever seen in my life! The trails through the parks got us quite tired, but it was amazing to feel the thrill of seeing the landscape on the Coachella valley floor on the same day and then be 3000 meters high in the snows watching the desert below. So, I came to the end of the trip very delighted and touched by everything, and especially very happy and grateful for the wonderful experience.