More beach photos

Rebeka on the beachRachel bodyboarding


Micah and Isac

Micah's parents

Salinas

We just got back from about five days at the beach. Micah's mom knows some people who have a beach house there which was fantastic. The beach in Salinas is really beautiful and it wasn't crowded at all since vacation doesn't start here for Brazilian schools until July. The four days we spent there started to feel a little bit long though.... Unfortunately, in Salinas there's nothing to do besides going to the beach, no malls, no little shops, no movie theatres....etc. So we started to get a little bit bored and resorted to a lot of card games.

World Cup!

The World Cup has begun!! Which in Brazil means it's time for people to show their patriotism to a level I've never seen in any country before. Soccer is truly THE national pride of Brazil. For each of the games that Brazil plays, everything shuts down.....grocery stores, malls, schools, taxis, you name it. Everyone is wearing Brazil shirts and almost every house is decorated in green and gold. One of the things I love best though is the fireworks. Any time Brazil scores a goal or at the end of a game if they win, people set off fireworks in their backyard. The result is Brazil scores and you just hear tons of fireworks going off all over the city and you realize that it's not just you and your friends watching the game, it's everyone in the city.

On the flip side, it's hard to see this level of patriotism and not feel a desire to go home to your own country. I am American and am very proud to be American. I think it's healthy to have a certain degree of pride in where you're from and to be proud of the accomplishments of your own country. I am very happy to be in Brazil and it's a lot of fun to take part in this World Cup experience but it also confirms to me that my first love is the USA, not Brazil.

Side Note : If the USA wins it's next game against Ghana and the Czech Republic loses to Italy, then the USA will play Brazil. That would be a lot of fun!