The BEACH

We went to a real beach today! I love beaches, especially ones that have real sand. Although the beach isn’t what we in California know as a beach it was still so relaxing and peaceful. It was a little island and you could tell that the lifestyle in this area was totally different than in the city.

It took us about an hour to drive there from our hotel. The drive went by quickly. I think that could be because Kendra and I talked about movie, books and TV shows. I seriously love Kendra. For those of you who don’t know this already, Kendra is my boss at the Daily 49er.

At only 19 years old, she’s taken on the role as City Editor. She is so bright and talking with her makes me want to be a better news writer. Same thing goes with Joanne. Joanne is on a whole other level of maturity. She’s only 20 and works as the Editor in Chief at the newspaper. Joanne is one of those people who you know will accomplish anything she puts her mind to. I really respect both Joanne and Kendra. I consider myself lucky to be working with such amazing people.

When we got to the beach you could immediately tell it was going to be one of those beautiful days. The sky here is so blue and the clouds make this place appear so heavenly.


It was probably quite comical to see our entire class taking pictures and laying all in a row on the beach. The water in the Amazon is really warm, but it does sometimes have patches of cold water that come from the ocean.

Raúl decided we should leave the spot we had originally stopped to go further down the road to another part of the beach because there was a restaurant where we could order some lunch. Sounded good to me! So we packed up our towels and drove to the other end of the beach.

The restaurant we ate at was really nice. It was completely open like a taverna and looked over the Amazon. The food was so so, but as always we had a good time. Kendra and I split fried chicken. The drumsticks had NO meat on them. I thought it was pretty funny because our class jokes about how everything here is so malnourished.

There was also a bee that would not leave us alone, mainly me. I’ve never been stung before so I don’t know if I’m allergic and I’m not about to find out if I am on this trip. Lisa and I stayed away from the table until our food came.

After lunch, we all walked down to the beach and swam in the Amazon. The water was murky, just like it was at the other beach we went to last weekend but it was cleaner. After about 10 minutes of swimming it started to rain. It was only a little drizzle, but then it started to really come down. Our day at the beach was over.

Carla, Lisa and I did however make a new friend. The dog we named Paris, because she had a marking that looked like the Eiffel Tower on her chest, was the sweetest dog ever. You could tell that we were all animal lovers by the way we gathered and gave the puppy so much love. We were sad to say goodbye.

Once the rain stopped, we all got into the van and drove back to the hotel. I quickly finished my papers so that I could go to Favella’s with everyone tonight. I am happy to say that I have completed everything, except for my media packages for each story. I’m going to complete those tomorrow if my computer doesn’t blow up before I can get to it.

My computer has been acting so strange lately. It all started in Long Beach around final period. I don’t know why it’s been geeking out lately, but it’ll just randomly freeze up or trip out. For example like right now- I’ll be typing a word and it’ll keep adding letters when I’m typing! It’s really annoying.

Emily, Dan, Kendra and I all decided to leave later than the rest of the group to go to dinner. We got into a cab who told us he knew where Favella’s was then asked us if we were going to the Docas. NO we were not going to the Docas- this guy had no idea what Favella’s even was. With that, we got out of the cab and just walked there. Without Kendra we should not have known where we were going.

Once we got to Favella’s I realized the group had already ordered their food and drinks so I quickly got a waiter and ordered my food and a beer. I really needed a beer.
There was a live band that went on tonight! They were a Brazilian band that sang American music. They busted out with some Rebelution and of course, we all sang along.

Raúl’s friend Renato met us at Favella’s again. This time, Joanne and I got to talk with him and get to know about how he became a doctor. He talked with us about his time in Massachusetts and how he worked in Denver. He is so charming! I must say that if I were a Brazilian girl that I would go after Renato haha.

My camera broke again tonight! I’m so mad. Luckily it still works and its just a little piece of plastic that broke, but still it’s really annoying. Hopefully if my camera breaks I can go get a Leica like Janice. Her camera is so awesome and it takes the best pictures.

After a few beers and some good live music, a few of the girls and I decided to head back to the hotel. We sang Beautiful by Christina Aguilera the whole way back because it was playing on the radio. The cab driver, who looked like Christopher Lloyd’s character in Back to the Future, laughed at us. We probably sounded terrible haha.

Now I’m back in my hotel room and I’m so ready to pass out. I have such a busy day tomorrow. I have to go to the little alley market to get my mom some lanterns she wanted then going to a place for lunch where they have trails to explore. I better remember to wear my vans. Raúl also wants to take us to dinner on a boat tomorrow where you watch the sunset. I can’t wait!! On top of all that, I need to do my media packages so I don’t know how much free time I’m going to have to relax on my last day in Belém.

I’m going to bed now. Ciao!