Day 15 - Cotijuba Island & Tapioca Com Quiejo

Today we took a little boat over to another island.  It was a little hot and sticky so I was looking forward to getting to the beach. 

More boats to share with you.

We got to Cotijuba and it was such a sweet little town.

I guess that this used to be a prison quite a while ago.  Here are some of the old buildings.

I love this place!

Our unique experience here was that we got to take motor buggies to our beach location.  

Very bumpy and sometimes a little scary but I'm so glad I got to experience it!

The ride back to the boat was a little more crazy.  This driver drove FAST!!  At one point we hit a bump and 1 of our wheels was in the air!

Everyone rode bikes and motorcycles around this city.

Red dirt roads everywhere.

Also, a little bit muddy.  I am thankful that it was not pouring rain here like it was the other day!

What a gorgeous view!

The river water felt nice but it had a lot of mud. It kind of felt like quick sand when we were in the water. There were quite a bit of rocks, too. Not my favorite beach on the trip but it still felt nice to float around and feel free for a little bit. I was one with nature and in the most unique water that I’ve ever been in. There was also a dog on the beach and it actually bit Maggie. I was afraid to come out of the water.  Jarin had to help me.

We met a man named Jóse.  We helped him push his ATV which had broken down.  Jose sat down with us and wanted to know more about our lives. I asked him about his family and he wanted to know about mine. I have found that people really like it when you ask them about their lives. Jose retired 20 years ago and lives on this island. He has 4 children.  Everyone knows him but he said he doesn’t know everybody. He made me feel so comfortable and welcome. He insisted on buying us drinks which I gladly accepted.  I didn’t want to be rude.  I’ve learned that if someone offers you something, you accept it.  I wish I would have been able to meet his wife, too, but he said she was riding around the island on her motorcycle. He lived across the street from where we ate. He was a joy and I felt happy being with him. An interesting perception…. When a girl came over and wanted to practice her English with us he got a little frustrated. He said he couldn’t understand and wanted to be a part of the conversation. From that point on I tried really hard to focus on him and practice my Portuguese. That is one way to make someone feel important. 

We met a girl and her mom here were from Belém.  The girl is learning to speak English.  She wants to move to America someday. She says that she gets inspiration from the Influencer moms on Instagram. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that nobody lives that way and most of it is just made up for their social media page.  One of my goals for this trip was to connect with the people and this girl and her mom were so welcoming. This makes me want to come back after I’ve studied the language a lot more and get to know the people better. When I smiled at them, or asked them their names, their faces would light up. I love making people smile. 

I love that the people referred to us as "Gringos".  Even on the receipt!  LOL!

Yummy dessert!

I got to talk with my Elder Tommy Cardon today as it was his Pday on his mission.  We have the opportunity to chat with him once a week via Whatsapp. It was so cool telling him about some of my experiences so far.  Even just from today.  He is happy that I'm embracing the Brazilian culture.

It's time to head back to the hotel!

We went to do a little shopping back in Belém.  I snapped this picture of Alexis. I thought it was so sweet how she was having this moment with this child.

Tapioca com Manteiga for life!!!

This Guaraná shake was so good!

We stayed to watch the sunset over the river before heading back to the hotel.  Belém is truly magical.  I'm so grateful I've been able to have this experience.  I have learned so much and I feel like I am forever changed.