I'll Take One Trip To The Happiness Capital of Brazil for $100, Please.

Let me clarify things for a second. I did not spend my four day weekend in  El Salvador, the Central American country. I did spend my four day weekend in Salvador, the city in the Northeastern state of Bahia. 

Melissa arrived on Wednesday morning and because I didn't pay attention when booking the plane tickets I'm a really good friend who wanted her to be able to see as much of Brazil as possible, we were back at the airport less than eight hours later to board our flight to Salvador. 

We arrived at our hostel in Pelourinho late Wednesday evening and pretty much straight to bed. I mean, we had to be well-rested for the 8 hour tour that we had signed up for for Thursday. 

While in Salvador, we stayed at the Açai Hostel which was a pretty great place to call home for a couple of days. Much like Six Star Hostel that I stayed at in Taipei, Açai Hostel had bunk beds built into the walls and black out curtains for each bed. Each bed also had outlets, a small little locker, and a bedside lamp in each bed as well as a rolling locker for each guest. And they provided the keys for said lockers, which is a huge bonus. The only downside was that the hostel only turned the AC on from 10pm-9am, which is really unfortunate when there's 90% humidity each day.

On Thursday, we took one of the worst tours of my entire life. It was 8 hours of transportation. I'm not kidding. We basically sprinted through Pelourinho, jogged around Dique do Tororó (which is a small lake in Salvador that has statues of Orixás in the middle), caught a bus that took us to the sketchiest train ever, rode a baby boat across the bay where we did eat at the best ice cream in Salvador, hiked up to Igreja de Nosso Senhor do Bonfim and stayed a total of five minutes, crammed ourselves into a tiny car that drove us to the beach, laid on the beach for a total of 30 minutes, got back into the crammed car and drove back to the hostel.

Seriously. It was a huge disappointment. The only high points were the ice cream and the church. I'll admit, the ice cream was pretty bangin'. And even though we were only at the church for about five minutes, we were able to buy some of the famous ribbons, make our wishes, and tie them on the fence. Which is really all that we were going to do there anyways, we just had to do it a little bit faster than I would have liked.

Since we breezed through Salvador so quickly on Thursday, we wanted to devote Friday to exploring Pelourinho and spending some quality beach time. Before leaving Rio, a bunch of people had warned us to be safe in Salvador because it wasn't like Rio. You know, be aware of your surroundings, don't go down dark streets at night. (Which is good travel advice period.) Pelourinho didn't feel unsafe during the day, but I could see how it could get a little sketchy at night. During the day, it was filled with tourists and more shops than I knew what to do with. my favorite part is that a TON of the shops were selling paintings for R$10. Which is a whopping $2.75USD. For a handmade painting. It was pretty awesome. Not as awesome as when we stopped to watch a guy paint and he painted us into the painting, because that was pretty great.

We also stopped for a street performance of Olodum. It was like marching band, but better. I'm also a horrible dancer, but you know, YOLO and all that good stuff. I can say with a solid 98% certainly that I will never hear an Olodum performance on the cobblestone streets of Pelourinho again, so I was definitely going to carpe that diem.

After a morning of shopping and sweating, we were ready to go to the beach. We took a taxi to Praia do Farol da Barra (basically, Barra Lighthouse Beach) and it was definitely one of our best decisions while in Salvador. The water was divine and the waves were calm. Neither of which is true of the beaches in Rio. Seriously, I've been swimming less than ten times the entire time I have lived here. So we swam around, climbed on rocks, dug for shells, and basically played mermaid until the sun set. And let me tell you, it was awesome.

What wasn't awesome was the taxi driver on the way home who greeted us by saying "I'm sad." and then proceeded to talk about his broken heart for the entire 30 minute taxi ride. Seriously. I'm like Chandler Bing in these situations. I'm not good at advice, but I can offer you a sarcastic comment. Which, in my limited Portuguese, was basically "It's over."

And because my life goal is to make everything way more challenging than it should be, I got all of the way to security at the airport before someone told me that one of the souvenirs that I had purchased had to be checked and couldn't be carried on. And even a nice smile and batting my eyelashes couldn't convince them otherwise. Le sigh.

You Can Take The Girls Out Of Ohio...

... but you can't take the Ohio out of the girls.

Let's talk about how much I love Ohio. On a scale of 1 to 10, it's a solid 10. I'm not necessarily going to recommend making a stop there on a journey across the Midwest, but my little heart does start to pitter-patter when my own semi-annual trip to Ohio is on the horizon.

I love Ohio and my hometown, and Cleveland Indians baseball games, and Mentor Headlands,  and Taco Bell. But what I really love about Ohio is all of the people who have adventured through life there with me. 

Melissa and I lived through the awkward high school years together, which included but wasn't limited to, marching band and our spring break trip to Disney as well as theater and winters spent sledding. I have never claimed to have been cool in high school. Since becoming friends, Melissa and I have lived through TEN YEARS of awkwardness together. TEN. YEARS.  It was horrifying to tell this to my students and have them say "Oh my gosh, I wasn't even alive when you guys met!" 

And I was sharing this little tidbit of information with my students BECAUSE MELISSA CAME TO VISIT ME FOR A WEEK!

After a year and a half of life in Rio, I finally had my first visitor. Well, the first visitor who flew to Brazil with the specific intention of visiting me. (Shout out, Grams and Taylor.)

Always representing our home state. 

We packed a lot into a week. Not only did she get to experience Rio de Janeiro, but we also traveled to the state of Bahia in the Northeast of Brazil to play tourists in the little town of Salvador. 

We made three wishes and tied our bracelets onto the fence at the Igreja do Senhor do Bonfim. We ate the best ice cream in all of Salvador at Sorveteria da Ribeira and it was pretty great. We swam at sunset at the Farol da Barra and danced to Olodum on the painted streets of Pelourinho. We almost sweat to death in a town that doesn't have enough air conditioning for being so darn hot. And then at the end of a nice three day weekend, we flew back to Rio where the adventure continued. 

Salvador, Bahia, Brasil

Upon arriving in Rio, we spent Easter morning hanging out with JC at Corcovado. We brunched with the gringo fam. We sipped coconut water on the beaches of Ipanema. We watched the sunset from the top of the Sugarloaf and then wandered the streets of Copacabana in search of good eats and fancy souvenirs. We played Heads Up until way too late and ate authentic American made tacos. We wrangled 38 rambunctious 4th graders on our field trip to the science museum. We stayed up late reminiscing about the old glory days at Chardon High.

Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil

And then after 7 days of Brazilian adventures, we had to say goodbye.

Saying goodbye is always difficult and its something that I have a lot of practice in. I would love to be able to look forward to the future and know that one day I won't have to say goodbyes anymore. Unfortunately, I know that isn't the case because I've chosen to build friendships all over the world and I'll always be missing someone.

And saying goodbye to someone who knew you before the you that you are now always seems to be more difficult. They may not be living the same current experiences as you are now, but they know what you went through to become the person you are now. And it's hard to say goodbye to someone who knows you that well.

For seven short days, I felt like a cooler version of the awkward girl who joined high school marching band because all of her friends were. The tough goodbyes are always worth the feeling of being with people who know you, always worth that moment when you can hug someone from home.

Ms. Melissa, you are always welcome in Rio de Janeiro. Please come back.

Meals at the Metro: The Boua- Kitchen Bar

Restaurant #1: The Boua- Kitchen Bar

Sometimes a person just needs some hearty American food. Like a burger and some beers on tap. (Which sounds like the makings of a country song.) The Boua- Kitchen Bar certainly satisfied every need that I had for some authentic American eats. 

Food photos from me, restaurant photo from Destemperados

Ambience and Environment- 5
The metro station is only a 15-20 minute walk from our house, but it can seem like so much longer when it's hot out. Kenny and I decided to bypass the outdoor seating in favor of the frigid air conditioning temperatures. According to their website, the restaurant is styled after a New York pub and I would say that it definitely fits the bill. It's super industrial with exposed brick and metal pipes and their sound system was blasting all sorts of Top 50 hits.

Service- 3
The service was just average. It wasn't bad, it wasn't great. It just was. In the restaurant's defense, I did have my back to the rest of the restaurant/ waiters and apparently the waiter and Kenny were communicating via eye contact the entire time which is why the waiter didn't come over to check on us.

Menu- 5
Oh, there was all sorts of goodness on the menu at The Boua- Kitchen Bar. Kelly got salmon with vegetables and said she would go back for the vegetables alone. Kenny got some delicious looking bruschetta. And I, of course, got chicken with chimichurri sauce made with malt beer, creamy rice, and french fries. The menu also included many different beverages, both alcohol and non-alcoholic, as well as a variety of beers on tap. The Boua- Kitchen Bar had a pretty extensive menu and a different twist on a lot of the classics.

Wait Time- 3
We waited an average amount of time for our food. Not to the point that we were looking at our watches in anticipation for our food, but it definitely wasn't fast food.

Food Quality- 5
Is it bad if my favorite part of the meal was the drink? Because I ordered the house ice tea with strawberry and cranberry and it was awesome. I would go back just for the ice tea. The portion sizes were more than enough to fill me up and still have some leftovers. Kenny and Kelly both loved their food, so it was thumbs up all around.

Overall Score- 21/25
I've already been thinking about when we can go back to The Boua-- Kitchen Bar, so it's definitely made a lasting impression. While it might not be authentic Brazilian cuisine, it's definitely worth checking out for anyone who is spending any amount of time in Rio.

February 27.

It was like any other Saturday. Except for the fact that I had Saturday School, but even that isn't out of the norm. I woke up and cut it a tad too close getting to school, I taught, I came home and spent the rest of the day at the beach.

It was like any other Saturday. But it wasn't.

Because my heart was heavy thinking of my snowy hometown. My heart wasn't on the beach in Ipanema, but rather on the hills of Ohio.

Four years ago, my quiet hometown was shaken to it's core. Four years ago, we were known for snow fall and maple syrup and our schools all having excellent rating. Those aren't the only things that come up when you Google "Chardon" anymore.

And it was tough. It was tough to watch the lives of the people you've grown up with change. It was tough to hear people who have never heard of your town talk about it in a negative way. It was tough to be in Brazil instead of being with people who love and know Chardon the same way that I do. But people from Chardon are resilient. We have to be to deal with long, lake effect winters. And as a community, so many good things have come from such a terrible tragedy.

Some students have been working with contractors and adults within the community to build and open the Chardon Living Memorial Park.

Others have created scholarship funds to be given on behalf of the students who were killed.

And my students always, always, always get a lesson on bullying. Because whether or not this shooting was a result of bullying, others are. And it is never a bad time to discuss bullying and it's harmful effects.

So we wore red. We empathized. We spoke of Coach Hall and what makes a hero. We discussed bravery and we talked about choices. We prayed to God for continued healing of a city that many have never been to.

Meals at the Metro: Venda Mineira

There's a road near the Botafogo Metro that is lined with restaurants. Fourteen of them to be exact. In an effort to get to know my own city, I've challenged myself to try all of them at some point throughout the year. 

Kelly is joining me on this quest and last night, while trying out our first restaurant, we came up with a grading scale of sorts. Because we're obviously the newest food critics here in Rio.

We're going to grade each restaurant in five categories-- ambience and environment, service, menu, wait time, and food quality. And when we've finished all fourteen restaurants, we'll probably have our own Food Network show and, more importantly, we'll actually be able to make some suggestions when someone says "Where do you want to eat tonight?" besides Bibi Sucos.

Restaurant #1: Venda Mineira

Venda Mineira specializes in food from Minas Gerias, which is another state of Brazil. I've eaten at a couple of different restaurants that serve food from Minas Gerais, and in my opinion, the food is always very hearty and warm. It's stews and meats and food that I want to eat when its cold outside. 

Linguiça Acebolada com Cachaça-- Sausage and Onions with Cachaça

Ambience and Environment- 3
Like most of the restaurants near the Metro, Venda Mineira had some seating inside and some seating outside. Kelly and I sat outside and it rained pretty hard while we were there. Luckily there's a fairly large overhang, so we didn't get wet at all. Point for Venda Mineira. The restaurant didn't inspire me to take photos of all the cool decor, but I also didn't feel like I was in danger of catching any weird diseases from just sitting at the table. Which, I suppose, is a win.

Service- 3
Our service is rarely stellar in Brazil (that isn't to say that it's always bad, it's just rarely AWESOME) and I think its because a lot of waiters get nervous when they see that we don't speak Portuguese. I really just want to give them all a pat on the back when we walk in and tell them that it's going to be more painful for us than it will be for them.

Our waiter at Venda Mineira was really friendly and apologetic when he had to come to our table twice to say that they didn't actually have what we had ordered and a third time to say that they didn't actually cook what I had ordered. As we were paying, he complimented our Portuguese which definitely won him some brownie points.

Menu- 3
I'm a fairly picky eater, though I'm trying to be adventurous, and I had a bit of a difficult time choosing what I wanted to order. They didn't have a ton of choices and out of those choices, they weren't even serving a lot of those foods. I settled on shish-kabobs, and then feijão rico (like a bean stew), and then finally sausage.

Wait Time- 2
We timed it. We waited for 50 minutes before receiving our food. FIFTY MINUTES for some sausage, pastel, and french fries. We spent 10 of those 50 minutes looking at the menu and then proceeded to spend 40 minutes waiting. Un-happy campers.

Food Quality- 3
Despite the long wait, the food was actually delicious. It was so. much. sausage. I also got a little loaf of French bread with the meal and eating some sausage and onions with bread was a good choice.

Overall Score- 14/25
If I'm looking for a hefty helping of linguiça acebolada, then this is definitely the place where I will go. Other than that, I could kind of take it or leave it.

The Time When Anderson Varejão And I Had More In Common Than I Thought

It's no secret that I love Cleveland. I love Ohio. I love where I grew up. Would I recommend it to someone going to the States for the first time? Unlikely. But I love it. It's the city and state that raised me. 

And I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Give it a little Google search and you'll find lots of articles about things that only Clevelanders will understand, or things that Clevelanders love to hate about Cleveland, or why Clevelanders love Cleveland so darn much. 

Do you know who else loves Cleveland? (Former) Cleveland Cavalier Anderson Varejão.

That's right. 5'6" me teacher and 6'11" basketball player him have more in common than I originally thought. Not only do we both have a strange affinity for Cleveland, but we both love to hold to Brazilian flag above our heads, we both attended the NBA Global Games in 2015 (one of us as a player and one of us as a spectator), both of us have lived in countries that have required us to speak English/ Spanish/ Portuguese. 

I may never walk down the street and have random people screaming my name and running up to me (though that is what happens when I see my students in the grocery store), and our salaries may never be comparable, but Varejão and I love the same cities. And as he says in his good-bye letter to Cleveland fans, "Home is where the heart is, and my heart will always be in Cleveland." Lar é onde o coração está. E meu coração sempre estará em Cleveland. 

In a similar way to how Brazil holds a special place in my heart, Cleveland has also become a part of me.  

Taking Over Taiwan: Transportation, Temples, and General Shenanigans

Brace yourself, it's about to be a bumpy ride. Not in a bad way. Just in a "here's all the other pictures from Taiwan that I want to share, but didn't know what to do with" sort of way. 

I saw some pretty wild things while in Taiwan. Asia is SO different from Latin America (duh); I think I walked around all week with my eyes as wide as saucers. 

Let's start at the beginning.

Transportation. I'm no stranger to flying, but flying to Asia almost killed me. Actually, flying there wasn't too bad, but flying home made me want to die. I've been spoiled with flights to Rio because, while they are long, they're overnight so you don't actually lose a day or anything. Flights to Taiwan left in the morning, so between that and the time differences, I spent two days traveling. About 28 hours, but two days. When flying home, I was traveling for about 34 hours, yet left and arrived on the same day. It was rough.

I did get a few more stamps in my passport, a stopover in Japan, and my first experience in First Class (four times, but who's counting?). All in all, the flying to and from Taiwan wasn't the worst think that has happened to me. Thank you, ZzQuill.

As far as transportation in Taiwan, is there anything we didn't do? My preferred mode of transportation (in life and in Taiwan) will always be the scooter. Made even better in Taiwan because full body ponchos (to protect from rain) and face masks (to protect your mouth and nose from cold) are encouraged. Over the course of my five day stay, we also traveled by MRT, local trains, bus, and HSR (High Speed Rail). Because who doesn't love taking in the views of Taiwan at 160mph? Don't worry, barf bags included. 

Temples. Along with bubble tea shops and scooters, Taiwan has more temples that I could ever count. And it was awesome. Tracy took me a number of different temples both in Hsinchu and in Taipei. In Hsinchu, she taught me how to check my destiny and I walked away with mine-- written entirely in Chinese. I'm still waiting for the translation, so hold tight. We also went to a temple that was inside a night market (which is where I found the Buddha statue) as well as Longshan Temple, both of which are in Taipei. 

Noms. I didn't eat anything too wild while in Taiwan. Really this sort of thing is best done when in a large group of people so that you can all get something different and just taste little bites. For example, I wanted to try grilled cuttlefish, but knew for certain that I didn't want the whole thing. Lots of Taiwanese food is best for shares. Tracy and I did indulge in dumplings, bubble teas, sticky rice and bamboo leaves, shaved ice covered in strawberries and condensed milk, sweet potato balls with plum powder, noodles with meat (which we ordered by pointing to what a man was already eating at the restaurant), mochi, wax apples, dragon fruit, jujube, and some 7/11 treats like Passion Fruit Yogurt Green Tea and chicken rice wraps. After four and a half years of rice and beans, Taiwanese food was a nice change of pace.

General Shenanigans. Let's be real. If your life isn't full of shenanigans, are you really even living? I definitely had my fair share of fun in Taiwan, so it was certainly a successful trip. Not only did we kill ourselves laughing with the whole row of Asians across from up on the train whip out their GameBoys (circa 2000-ish?), we also starred in a variety of photographs with Asians (some of whom approached us by saying "this would look great on my Facebook page." Wait, what?), shopped for any and all Chinese New Year decorations (it's the Year of the Monkey now, by the way), scootered all over Hsinchu in search of adventure and mochi (which, of course, we found), and mastered peeing in squatty potties (I only peed on my foot once, how's that for an accomplishment?)

I also learned about five words in Chinese, all of which I can recognize and none of which I can say. So if anyone wants to write a sentence about a big, middle, person who is hot and has tea, I'll gladly read it back to you. Anything else and I'm out. I can say "thank you" in Chinese which is startling similar to how you say "pee" in Portuguese. Imagine my surprise in hearing hat for the first time.

And with that, Taiwan officially tops my list as the cutest little country I have ever been to.