Natal and Reveillon in Brasil
So this is take three (my computer deleted the last two attempts at this post before I could publish it). I spent two weeks over Christmas and New Years back in Brasil with my host family again. Christmas, a day after I arrived was once again filled with food, family, and fun, as well as a few glasses of sparkling wine and champagne. Many of the days before new years were spent relaxing, sleeping, and planning for what is to come. New years itself was once again a fantastic affair with everyone dressed in white, wishing for peace in the new year, and my host family once again all coming together to celebrate. We enjoyed more great food, drinks, company, music, dancing, and of course fireworks. In the morning I hopped on the 7:00 bus to Rio de Janeiro to visit one of my friends from GMUN. She took me to her grandparents for lunch, then to the lake to see the huge Christmas tree and enjoy some Arabic food. The next day we headed to the Botanical Gardens to look at the incredible flora of Brasil, then out for lunch for crepes before I caught my bus back to Pindamonhangaba. I had one last day to spend with my host families before caught the 5:30am bus to the airport. I thoroughly enjoyed my time and will greatly miss my families now that I am gone once again. 
I had several hours to kill at the Sao Paulo airport so I made sure I sent my postcards, exchanged my money, picked up some last second gifts, and made it through security in time to catch a plane to Panama City. On the way I met a wonderful Brasilian family (on their way to Disney land) and chatted almost non stop to Panama about everything from Brasilian cuisine to the political climate in Canada. After saying goodbye as we got off I went in search of some food (nothing gluten free and vegan on the 7 hour flight unfortunately) and had a hard time finding something that wasn’t strait out of the States. The airport took me aback, especially since I had just come from Sao Paulo. After finding some food I spent the next 30 minutes trying and finally succeeding at connecting to the free internet in order to book a hostel in Quito where I could spend a couple of nights. I finally heard back from one just before boarding, mixed up my gates and had to run, then spent the next 2 hours sitting between two Canadians and speaking Spanish all the way to Quito. I had met yet another Canadian in the line to board and we caught a cab together to our respective hostels once we had cleared customs and collected our baggage. I finally arrived at my hostel at 12:30am, was led to my dorm, climbed the ladder to my bunk and fell asleep.
