As I mentioned in my last post, Friday evening, after visiting Josie's language school in Teresina, we were met by Ricardo, our driver sent from the Secretary of Education. We were scheduled for a road trip to the coast for the weekend. After about 7 hours on the road, we arrived in the small, coastal town of Parnaiba, where we had a wonderful dinne alongside the river.
Yummy Dinner by the River
Local Band at the Restaurant
That evening, we spent the night in the Hotel Pousada Parnamar; a quiant little hotel in the middle of town. We wanted to stay in the town so we could be close to the school for our visit the next morning.
Our hotel
Parnaiba
On Saturday morning, we head to the Centro Cultural de Lingauas de Parnaiba, where we had wonderful conversations with the school staff. We also were able to play some games with them to lighten the ambiance a bit. I am learning that laughter is a universal language:)
Language School in Parnaiba
Meeting the Teachers
New Friends
After we departed the school, we quickly checked out of the hotel and headed back on the road to drive to Carnaubinha beach where we stayed in a little “resort” of the same name. Frequented by wealthy Brazilians who want to flee the oppressive heat of Teresina, the Carnaubinhapraia Resort sits on the northeast coast of Brazil, and consists of a few two-story bungalow style accommodations, a small, relaxing swimming pool, and an excellent on-site restuarant.
Our beachside hotel
View from my room
After a relaxing few hours by the pool, Ricardo drove us all to Barra Grande Beach to catch an absolutely stunning sunset.
Brazilian sunset
Our wonderful host; Joselia!
Me and Jennifer
The next morning, we woke up early, had a lovely breakfast at the hotel, then drove down to the river to hop on a speed boat for a tour of the Parnaiba Delta; a unspoiled ecosystem that boasts a plethora of wildlife, including monkeys and giant crabs, as well as sustains the local fishing industry. Oh, and there's also giant sand dunes ready for exploration dotting the river. Absolutely stunning.
Josie and Jennifer along the Delta
Enjoying the boat
Fishing Boat along the Delta
Coming out into the Ocean
Fishing Contraption
Giant Crabs along the Delta
Rehydrating with some coconut water:)
After the boat ride, we headed back to the hotel, packed up, had a delightful poolside lunch, then headed back on the road towards Teresina where we will be spending the week teaching and learning. The weekend was a much needed opportunity to relax before we begin our marathon of observing and co teaching at the language school. As these little, coastal areas all over Latin America are getting eaten up by wealthy developers, the Parnaiba area remains a hidden gem in the Northeast of Brazil. I only hope it stays that way in years to come.
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wanderingweller 
The food and the beach looks amazing. ~lesly decastro
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I have recently just finished a geosciences program at stony brook university, where i learned that the world really is an amazing place! Just from traveling from the south to north shore of Long Island i have observed the variation in water type, inhabitants of species, and even differences of your surroundings. Even though these distances compared to the size of the earth is a decimal, i can only imagine the differences of surroundings from the south shore of long island to a coastal line in Brazil! One of my classmates at Stony Brook was a foreign exchange student and every time we went to the beach with her, you could just see the amazement on her face from just looking at the water color difference. Ive never been out of the country, but i have been to Hawaii and now that i look back at it i can see the differences; such as sand size, and water clearness. I hope one day to travel the world!
-Nichole Sutton
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Hi Nichole, I appreciate how observant you are about the geological differences, even just here on Long Island.
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While looking at these pictures one of the first things I notice is the architecture is very different from here back on Long Island. From the school in Parnaiba to the hotel you stayed in you can tell from the different vibrant colors and structures that it is a completely different culture that I would love to experience one day!
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Brazil could be the next grand Wilson adventure:)
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These pictures that you captured at the beach are absolutely breath taking! I love to learn about the ecosystems of different bodies of water around the world. I’ve been doing an independent science research project regarding shellfish utilization in the Tanner Park Bay to help filter toxic pollutants. What interests me the most about your beach pictures is how clean and peaceful the water looks. Most of the water surrounding Long Island is dirty, stagnant, and polluted. One of my favorite things about going on vacation is visiting the CLEAN beaches.
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The beaches look simply beautiful! It must be a wonderful experience to visit such a scenic place. I would like to visit it someday if I ever have the chance.
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These pictures are absolutely stunning! I noticed you visited a lot of different areas of Brazil. Are these areas (the hotel, ocean, and delta) near by each other or far apart? How long did it take you to travel to these three different places? And which area did you enjoy the most? Mine would probably be the ocean because it looks so beautiful.
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The beaches look beautiful, and so do the pictures from the boat ride. I think its amazing how the sand dunes surround the river like that, it must have been surreal to see in person. The food looks delicious. I wish I could try it, what was your favorite type of food there?
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