Spring Break

Writing this during my last few hours in Brazil, listening to the pouring rain and booming thunder outside, thanking my lucky stars that I'm escaping this soggy beach town just in time!

These past two days have been fabulous, though. We began our Tuesday with an "early" wake-up around 10:30 AM and walked over to Copacabana Beach. I was sporting my new, revealing, very nerve-wracking Brazilian bathing suit, slightly anxious but excited to show off, when--because it's me--my bottoms came completely undone.

I stood there frozen completely mortified, and Jenn, after taking a few seconds to practically pee her pants laughing, rushed to my side to hide my white booty while I quickly retied my suit.

Minor setback, though, because I determinedly relaxed and settled onto the sand to soak up the sun while munching on an acai bowl (aka the definition of heaven).

While Copacabana was more picturesque and quainter than Ipanema Beach, the water was frankly disgusting. Tons of debri and trash and dead plants swirled in the crashing waves, and I desperately swam way out into the ocean attempting to escape the nastiness. This, of course, worked until I had to wade back in, and I got covered in all of the blech. But the crisp coolness of the water was too seductive while laying in the +90 degree weather, so I took the dirtiness in stride.

yay, sunshine!

After multiple hours of tanning (burning) and relaxing, us ladies headed back to our apartment to get ready for the sunset at Sugarloaf Mountain! Unfortunately, I was distracted by this ridiculous situation with a restaurant that double-charged me, so I was on the phone with Portuguese speakers, using google translate to attempt to communicate my problem and understand their responses like,

My bank, on the other hand, was like "lol ya sorry, not our prob," and I literally was shocked at their inability to help me in my one time of need.

But I got assurance from the manager that the refund would be coming by the next morning.

So, I jumped in the shower to rinse off all of the ick from Copa, ran to a Mickey D's for some nommy picnic food (and dealt with unbelievably awful customer service I may add), then hopped in a cab with the four others to enjoy Pao de Acucar, 

Stupidly, I didn't bring my student ID to the mountain so I paid twice as much as everybody else for a ticket and gave the quite strict ticket lady a *subtle* look--

Then breathed deeply and rode up the mountain in these cool glass gondolas. We reached the top right as the sun sank into the water, which allowed us to watch the lights in Rio lazily twinkle in the hazy dusk. It was breathtaking--dreamy and far-away and lovely.

We roamed around the mountain for about an hour, then we rushed back to Ipanema Beach for a Rio-style bar crawl. We dropped by three bars and one very empty club that was playing super sick music until a random Brazilian folk band came on stage with a banjo and what looked like a cheese grater to make some music.

Today, the five of us IHPers met up once again to take on Rio via bicycle. We rented some bikes, and I swore to them all that I was going to eat it and fall, but they refused to listen, ugh. We saw some STUNNING views, including a beautiful lake--

The mansion at which Snoop Dogg filmed his music video "Beautiful"--

And Jenn!

hi, Jenn!!!

While Sally, Michael, and Takudzwa visited Rio's botanical gardens, Jenn and I marched back to the double-charging restaurant, because, despite the promises, I had not yet been reimbursed. I barged into the classy eating establishment wearing only Spandex and a sweaty bathing suit top, like--

They quickly got me on the phone with their manager, and I got slightly aggressive, but appropriately threatening.

This time, she really promised it'd be taken care of, and sure enough, within a few hours, I had a *driver* drop off two hundred fifty reals and 55 cents at my doorstop. It felt slightly illicit...

But I rolled with it.

After biking, Jenn and I walked home to relax and shower while the other three continued their adventures. Jenny from the Block and I gorged ourselves again on the most delicious burger in the world along with frieds, guava ketchup (better than it sounds), and thick, creamy milkshakes. Sally met up with us, and we walked to the beach for a street market. Just as we were in the midst of shopping, the sky opened up and poured rain (surprisingly not helping to abate the smell of rotten fish) while giant lightning bolts flashed above us, illuminating the storm clouds.

We hurried home (after finishing scouring the market for souvenirs) and took refuge in our apartment. We are currently packing up and cleaning up (recalling my housekeeper days, throwback to 2013) and, of course, watching VEEP and listening to JBiebs. It's a pretty classic spring break.

Tomorrow, we head to one of the natural wonders of the world, Iguassu Falls! I couldn't be more excited!!!

Tata, Rio, you've been good to us! Thanks for the sun!

~~Red and Tan Aubs

100

RIOOOOO! Spring break is wonderful, relaxing, amazing, awesome. So far, it's honestly been everything I've needed!

Yesterday, we woke up around 11 AM--late, since we decided to crash a hotel party on Saturday night and needed to rest up. We dressed quickly, and I donned my California-summer attire for the first time in much too long!!! (aka a bathing suit top and flowy skirt)

We visited this cool hippie market with lots of souvenirs and crafts, but I was too distracted by the crash of the waves only a few streets away to focus too hard on bargaining and shopping.

After just a few hours, though, my greatest desire was fulfilled--WE WENT TO THE BEACH. (Ipanema, to be exact.) The beaches are completely filled with Speedo-clad men and thong-bikini-clad women. Umbrellas cover the sand, and it's almost harder to find a sunny spot than it is a shady one! We laid out, though, and finally got some nice color (I mean, red is technically a COLOR). The water was perfectly chilly and crisp, refreshing us whenever we jumped in for a dip. There are also these vendors that walk up and down the beach, between the sun-bathers, selling everything from caipirinhas to bathing suits to acai bowls. It's really cool that you don't even have to get up from your towel in order to enjoy some refreshments! We enjoyed the sun and heat and shouts of the vendors for about three hours before settling onto a ledge for a view of the stunning sunset.

I mean, it's honestly difficult to wow me--I'm from California, sunset destination of the world--but I was pretty impressed. 

We showered and relaxed before eating a delicious Italian dinner and bonding with a really cute dog on the sidewalk (k, the last one was 80% me). We also really enjoyed the cool architecture that actually reminds me a lot of New Orleans with its bright colors and iron-wrought balconies.

While Jenn and Sally set off for a walk around Copacabana Beach, I pled out and settled into bed, savoring air conditioning for the first time in a full month.

This morning, we woke up around 9 AM in order to meet Taku and Michael for a tour of central Rio. I think I learned more from my Sao Paulo tour a few weeks ago, but seeing some beautiful buildings in Rio and enjoying a quick refresher of Brazilian history was pretty cool.

We also loved seeing these colorful steps towards the end of the tour that include tiles from multiple cities/states/countries around the entire world!

better pics on their way via Taku's camera

I couldn't find one from Anaheim, but I did find one from San Francisco, one from India, and one from Cape Town! V cool.

Then... off to our most exciting destination... Christ the Redeemer!!! EEP!

Due to some confusion, we bought tickets for a tram ticket for the ride an hour and a half later than we desired. However, thanks to Sally's awesome persistence and sunny attitude, we jumped on a way earlier tram and sped up to Cristo Redentor.

We soared above the city (2300 feet, to be exact) and were in all honesty more wowed by the view than by the statue itself.

the view

the statue + the best view of all (me)

Okay, in complete and total honesty, this is the only "wonder of the world" that I've visited that I haven't been in complete and total wonder of. Like we saw it and marveled for a few minutes and then were like...

Seriously though, with the other three wonders of the world that I've seen, I've been overwhelmed with awe. They've been amazing. But I really cannot figure out why the third-largest Jesus statue in the world is one of the Wonders... If you find out, pls lmk.

After more enjoyment of the views of the city and ocean, we hopped in a cab back to Ipanema. We enjoyed one of the best burgers in my entire life with guava ketchup (which was unbelievable!!!) then came back to the room to relax. I've been enjoying Veep (my new fave show, thanks to SalGal) and chilling out with the girls.

Even though this has been a rather tame post, I have some exciting news for you... This is my hundredth post on Wanderlust! Covering my adventures in seven different countries in four different continents, over the course of about seven months, this blog has kept me sane/connected to home/accountable to my own expectations of adventure/overjoyed. There have been days in which I've felt that if I didn't write, I'd go absolutely crazy. I've loved writing these blogs, knowing that loved ones back home are reading them and keeping up with me. There have been days in which I think, "if I don't explore today, I'm not going to have anything to write about!!"--so I push myself to break through any lethargy, or homesickness, or sadness to try out that museum, or that beach, or that new city. And finally, brainstorming and using silly gifs and pouring out my emotions has made me blissfully, wonderfully, undeniably happy. Both writing and travelling the world have been distant, seemingly impossible, wishes of mine since I was just a little girl, and here I am, fulfilling both at the age of nineteen. My internship and this program have been the journeys of a lifetime, and I don't want you to think for even a moment that I take them for granted or forget how lucky and blessed and grateful I am. My adventures--and this blog--are literally dreams come true. Thank you all so, so much, for joining me. I am so appreciative of every single one of you. 

Cheers to 100. And here's to hundreds more.

Aubrey Noelle

Bright, Bright Sunshine-y Days

It's been *quite* an amazing past two days--especially because I'm about 29 shades darker than I was on Sunday, hallelujah. Lots of adventure and lots of sun for the Stoddard fam!

Yesterday, we awoke early in order to take full advantage of the beautiful weather. Moo, my dad, and I trekked down to stuff ourselves with a hot breakfast--only to find that THERE WAS NO FULL BREAKFAST ON WEEKDAYS. JUST FRUIT.

me tryna keep it together

So, I had some more granadilla like the ~local~ that I am plus tons and tons of sweet pineapple that tasted almost Hawaiian it was so delicious, then three-fifths of the Stod clan walked on down to the beach. We tanned and read our books until Si and my mom joined us an hour later.

Si, Moo, and I were desperate to go paddle-boarding (even though we aren't exactly experts or the best balancers), so we rented a few out from the hotel. We were super excited!!!--until they warned us about the sea snakes.

wut

THEN some of the beach-goers pronounced with all-knowing looks that these snakes were deathly poisonous.

WHAT

Absurd!!!! I wasn't about to die for some physical exertion, so I was all ready to check those boards back in. Just as I was dragging the board back up shore, when we got the "all clear" on the sea snakes. Apparently, they're so tiny, the only place they can latch on to you is the skin between your thumb and forefinger. As long as you don't let them grab on, you'll be fine.

basically

We honestly all thought that keeping our hands out of the water wouldn't be too difficult; however, our terrible balance meant we were constantly falling. Our fear was not assuaged at all by Si and Moo's spotting of a snake in the water next to us!!!

one of the few moments I was able to stand up

We ended up getting distracted by a vendor walking along the street selling homemade bracelets and anklets with seeds from the beach and imported turquoise. We each bought two.

the babe of a seller himself

We ran up to the beach club's restaurant to get some lunch before going snorkeling. Although our waiter promised our meal would only take twenty minutes to prepare, it ended up taking more than an hour to get our food. We were like--

Especially when my dad realized his lasagna didn't even have noodles--it was just cheese and veggies.

After lunch, we headed out to a catamaran (this cool raised boat thing) that would take us to the coast of a small, uninhabited island to snorkel. Honestly, though, I think my favorite part of the entire day was just laying on the deck of the boat with my sisters, soaking in the sun.

Snorkeling, though, was pretty fun, too. We saw a stingray, a lionfish, and a prickly fish, and we even got to pet a blowfish! Fun stuff! 

We rode back to the mainland at sunset, and I think it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

The gold and the navy--stunning combo

The sky was perfectly violet!

Tan or tomato, you decide

This has probably been my favorite part of the trip so far. I don't know if it was growing up in a close-ish proximity to the beach, or perhaps it was playing water polo for four years, but I feel most at home on the water. I think I may just retire onto a boat, or sail around the world in a few years, or maybe just live as a mermaid. Any of those options would work for me.

The night finished perfectly with an early screening of The Bachelor #TeamOlivia

This morning, we woke up bright and early to go white water rafting!!! It literally took three hours of driving in four different vehicles to get to the river--but it definitely ended up being worth it. Rivers are scaled from Category 1 to Category 5, and the river on which we were travelling was about a Category 3--didn't stop me from screaming like a lil child at every slight turn.

However, my anxiety was validated when our raft flipped going over some giant rapids--TWICE IN A ROW. 

Me, Si, and Moo

The ride was such a blast, especially with our awesome guides. It took us another few hours to get back to the hotel, and we just about passed out after our return. We've been relaxing and watching TV as a fam for a few hours, and Moo and I are now watching my fave movie in the whole wide world.

Tomorrow is our last full day in the country--should be an amazing one!!!!

Sunkissed and Content,

Aubrey

Hello, It's Me

Ladies and gentlemen,

Drum roll, please.

I'M BACK!! Well, more aptly, I'm back to blogging and back to leaving everything I've ever known in search of some adventure and some new experiences. Over the next four months, I'll traverse four continents, five countries, and four oceans for play and study. I have never been more excited in my entire life. The journey ahead of me will be one I recount for decades to come, and it will influence every decision I make, every thought that flits through my head, and every action that I carry out for the rest of my life. And hopefully, you'll all be reading along with me every step of the way (:

Last night, January 1, 2016, the Stoddard family embarked on its first ever international trip to... COSTA RICA!

Wooooow. So most of you probably don't know my dad, but he is a bargain hunter if there ever was one. Our last family vacation was in the summer of 2014, and it was a week-long road trip up the Californian coast. (Moment of peace for the sanity of us five family members that hated each other after seven days in a confined space together.) To give you an idea of our budget, we stayed in single hotel rooms in places like Travelodge, and due to the inadequate space in the beds, one of us was forced to sleep on the ground every single night. One of us even got a rash from the nasty floor (just to clarify, it wasn't me). Basically, though the family bonding and timeless experiences were wonderful, the trip itself was a bit of a NIGHTMARE.

So, when my dad asked our family out of the blue if we'd like to go to Costa Rica and spend five nights on a premiere resort in a condo with three huge bedrooms,a kitchen, three balconies, and a flat screen TV, we were like--

But then... I started to get suspicious. WHY exactly were we going on a grand vacation in a foreign land? Out of Dad's generosity? OR is he escaping from the law/selling the house while we are gone/involved in a crazy Mob scheme? The latter seems a little more likely to me.

I trepidatiously confronted my dad and inquired about the truth, but he insisted it was just out of the goodness of his heart for my mom's birthday. He was like--

And I'm like--

So we may come back to the United States to find that my dad skipped on bail, or that we are homeless, or that he is wanted by the Mob, but my sisters, Mom, and I have made a pact to just enjoy ourselves while we are here.

We left last night on a midnight flight, and because of some weird mix-up, we happened to be the last ones on the plane even though we'd arrived two and a half hours early. All of my transportation mishaps in Israel made a little bit of tardiness practically inconsequential, and I stayed pretty calm.

me: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But Sierra and Miranda (my sisters) were slightly less patient.

Them

Landing, customs, and baggage claim were all extremely uneventful (thank God). My dad converted $100 into the local currency, and it ended up amounting to 36 MILLION COLONES.

Us: WE'RE MILLIONAIRES

It was a rush, let me tell ya. 

We hopped in our van-taxi thing with Angel, our driver, and embarked on our hour-long drive to the Westin Resort.

A few views

A few observations:

- SO many animals. It was like heaven for me, the animal lover. Dogs and roosters and cows all over the place. Miranda's goal by the end of the trip is to pet at least one cow--good luck, Moo (lol that's her nickname AND it's what a cow says, what a coincidence). These cows don't look like cute little American milk-producers--they have gigantic horns and almost look like African water buffalo. Don't think you'll see me getting anywhere near those things.

- It is fantastic to be in a Spanish-speaking country. Not only are the signs more intelligible than those in Turkish, or Hebrew, or Arabic, but my mom actually majored in Linguistics in college and is practically fluent in Spanish. HOORAY FOR COMMUNICATION!

- The areas we drove through were unbelievably lush and green. Pastel-colored shacks hid shrouded in leafy palm trees and foliage, and we zoomed past jungles and creeks and acres of thick vegetation. It felt like we were toeing the boundaries of an untamed wilderness, and it seemed as if all of the secrets of the world could be hidden just a few yards into the trees, and no one would find them. Which sort of leads to my last cab-servation (cab and observation, keep up!!!)

- I will forever remain in awe of the diversity on this earth. The lush green jungle of Costa Rica seems as if it could be on a different planet than the barren, sandy, apocalyptic deserts of Jordan, or the mosque-riddled harbor of Istanbul, Turkey. I consider myself the luckiest person alive to have the opportunity to explore these vastly diverse environments and to appreciate the whole of what the world has to offer. Regardless of geographical difference, however, the men and women I meet and talk with here in Costa Rica have similar, if not identical, concerns to those in the United States and the Middle East: they care about their well-being, and their children, and their futures. And perhaps that is most incredible of all.

We got to the resort around 9:30 AM to find that our rooms wouldn't be available until 3 PM. I didn't care--more time to stuff our faces at the complimentary breakfast and tan on the beach.

We each tried granadilla, a citrus-y fruit whose pulp kind of looked like slimy caviar. Eek. We decided to be adventurous, though, and try it out. Dad was not a fan--

But hey, I liked it quite a bit!

We headed down to the beach for a few hours to bake in the sun and soak in the ocean. 

We had a fantastic afternoon as a family, then relaxed at lunch until our condo was ready. It's basically the most beautiful thing you've ever seen.

A full kitchen, a family room and dining room, three gorgeous bedrooms, and a beach and jungle view. 

STUNNING!

We've been napping, eating, and chillin' out for the past few hours, and we're getting ready for an amazing day tomorrow. I'm pretty exhausted, so I'm going to check on out. So happy to be back on the blog and back on the road to adventure.

So much love and joy and YAY!

On the Road Again Aubs

The Beach Cures All

Okay, I have sufficiently recovered my peace of mind enough to record the events of yesterday and today. I'm just as sane as I normally am, which is to say, not very.

SO after work yesterday, Kajsa and I took the bus to Tel Aviv to eat some acai bowls and sit on the shore. If I squinted just a little and sort of held my breath and didn't listen to the incomprehensible conversations going on around me, I could pretend I was home in Laguna Hills chilling at Thousand Steps Beach! We'd only planned on staying a few hours, but time slipped away as we chatted and watched the sun set.

We had two interrupters.

First, some crazy dude literally slid on the sand in between me and Kajsa like this--

And Kajsa and I were like--

This random guy was trying to make weird conversation, so I kindly asked if he'd throw away my empty acai bowl for me. His attitude completely darkened, and he started cussing me and Kajsa out, calling us "douchebags" (what?) and telling us to shut up.

So of course I'd just say random words so he wouldn't think I was obeying his order. It was like fighting with a 2-year-old with an excessively colorful vocabulary.

But our next visitor was way more fun. Davit, the middle-aged Israeli man, basically loved me.

Real quotes from Davit:

"You have a lovely skin color. Very dark."

"You just have to make sure you smile when it's dark out, it could be hard to see you."

"Do you play volleyball? I can tell your hands handle balls well."

"Boys are stupid. You need to wait for the right boy. Not an Israeli boy."

"You have a lot of spice. Boys can't handle your spice."

And I was like:

To Kajsa:

"You are so white. How long have you been here?"

"You need to go to the doctor. Something is wrong with you."

"Start drinking some carrot juice. You need some veetameens."

"You can't leave her!! (Referring to me) She will go after stupid boys without your help!"

Kajsa response was:

So honestly, it was hysterical. I was about dying of laughter.

Today, I wanted to head into Tel Aviv to hang out with Kajsa and Kara for one of their last days here in Israel. But for some reason, the 347 bus (my usual) wasn't running today.

Why?

Oh, just because. Who knows? So I had to jump on the only bus going into Tel Aviv from Raanana, the 501. It was slow. And long. And loud. And ridiculous.

After twoooOOOOOO HOUUUUURSSSS ON THE BUS, I got to the destination... But not the one I wanted. I had no idea how to get to King George Street, where I was supposed to meet Kajsa and Kara, and since it was already 3 and the last buses would stop running around 5, I literally had to turn right back around and get on another bus to go home.

Me to public transportation:

I ended up getting off at an early stop to stroll to the beachside in Herzliya, near my house. I walked for about an hour through tall city buildings down a busy highway. There's nothing like the sudden tapering-off of buildings as you look to the west towards the waterfront. I love how you walk towards a beach, and you can tell you're getting close when the skyline empties. It's one of my favorite forms of anticipation. 

The walk was a liiiittle longer than I thought (I was planning on a half hour, it took an hour), but stepping into the Mediterranean made the fiascos of the entire day worthwhile. Like I've stated--give me some sand, and some saltwater, and the crashing of some waves, and I am home. 

I finished up my walk on the beach (such a cliche, by the way) and walked to the closest bus stop. But, I mean, it was already 5:30 PM on Shabbat, so I was positive no buses were running. I sat at the bench more to mourn my sore feet and ponder whether I should walk the 7 miles home or shell out the $25 for a taxi.

*thinking about spending money*

But then--on the horizon--could it be? A big shiny... BUS??!!

YES. IT WAS MY BUS. COMING TO RESCUE ME.

leaping up from the bench, hallelujah

The bus driver probs thought I was way too excited for a bus ride. But I finally finished the ride back and practically skipped home. I showered and dressed for a Shabbat dinner with some family friends down the street. It was a beautiful and delicious meal, and it was the first time in two weeks I'd had a meal that consisted of vegetables and not just carbs. I'm a terrible adult.

Thank God for the beach, and for friends, and for prepared food, and for life in general. I'm blessed!

Much love,

Aubs