Here goes my first Sunday post!
Right now I'm reclining in my bed (which is pretty much what I've been doing all day, exciting, I know) and I can hear some soccer game on the TV in the living room and also on at least one other TV in the apartment complex. I think that my host mom's real son is here visiting and watching it, but I haven't gone down to check and see if it's him yet. I'm pretty sure it is, though, because here, Sundays are the day that families visit each other, so it makes sense.
I've been googling and wiki-ing Brazilian birds for the past hour or so, because I've seen a lot of birds so far that I don't recognize and I've been trying to identify. I'm having a lot of success, although there are a couple birds that I don't know how I'm going to identify without having a proper bird book. Yesterday I went to the Jardim Botânico again, and this time I brought my camera! Unfortunately, a lot of the birds were a little camera shy, so I don't necessarily have the best pictures of them. But I'm going to start keeping a list of the new birds that I see every week, and I'll include pictures (either ones I've taken or ones I find online). So here is installment one of the Brazil Bird List:
At the Jardim Botânico, I saw the following:
Slaty-breasted Wood-Rail (local name-saracura do brejo)- I thought these were chickens or something at first, seeing them from afar. But they're more like coots, I guess.
Swallow-tailed Hummingbird- This is the biggest, prettiest hummingbird I have ever seen! But I didn't get a picture because it kind of swooped in out of nowhere, hung around for a second, and then flew away.
Dusky-legged Guan- This one looked like a weird pheasant/turkey type bird, and half jumped, half flew up into a tree.
Masked Water-Tyrant (freirinha)- I have seen a few of these besides in the Botanical Garden, and couldn't figure out what they were for the longest time. They're really striking!
Channel-Billed Toucan (tucano do bico preto)- This was definitely the coolest bird I saw at the Jardim Botânico. We happened to see it right before we left, because it landed in a tree over our heads. It was really hard to get a picture of, though, so my picture of it is kind of like a picture of Big Foot; if I told you it was of a toucan, you might believe me. Apparently there's a few subspecies of this type of toucan, but the picture I'm linking to is the one that looks like the one I saw.
I also saw some kind of dove at the Botanical Garden, but since I am not sure what kind, I will not include it yet. This also goes for some other random birds I saw.
In addition to the Botanical Garden, I've seen some cool birds at the beach:
Magnificent Frigatebird/Great Frigatebird (one of the two, not sure which)- These guys are always flying above the beach, really high up. I've heard that they steal food from people and stuff, but haven't seen that yet.
Amazon Kingfisher- A big kingfisher I saw skimming the water at Ipanema one time.
Anyway. That's the beginning of the bird part of my blog I guess.
Other than the birds, I have a few pictures to post of my apartment, and of some of the cool stuff I saw in the Botanical Garden.
The view from my window (note the jungle across the street)
A monkey! Macaquinho!
Little kid trying interacting with the monkeys!
Little macaquinho screaming in the bamboo.
Huge lizard! I would say it was a couple feet long!
After the Botanical Garden yesterday, I went to see a play with some of my friends from California and one of the girls from China. One of the girls from California is living with a host dad who knew someone who got us free tickets to the play. The play was called As Meninas and it was about the death of a woman and the subsequent effects on her female relatives (but it was a black comedy, so it wasn't too much of a downer). After that, we went to this apartment party in Botafogo. The apartment belonged to this guy from Harvard who is here in Brazil doing something with his company that tries to help ameliorate the situation in favelas. I guess he's already done some stuff in India, so he's working here now. There were mostly only Brazilians there, and a few Americans that have been living in Brazil for like 5 or 6 years...basically Brazilians. Got to practice a lot of Portuguese. And there was great music, and it was a really relaxed, chill setting. Basically yesterday, with the Botanical Garden, a play, and a chill party, was an ideal Brazilian day for me (maybe missing a quick visit to the beach).
This week we have a day off on Wednesday for a Brazilian holiday, São Sebastião. And then on Friday, I have to go to the international airport with a bunch of other students to register with the federal police. And then on Saturday, I think we have a field trip somewhere...I think to Petrópolis, which is a city of historical importance or something. So another big week starting tomorrow! I'll try and take lots of pictures and remember lots of important things to write about! Até logo!
your room looks sooo nice ;)
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