Hippie Fair

I love street fairs and farmers markets.  There is one in Ipanema every Sunday called Feira Hippie de Ipanema and it has A LOT of cool artwork, jewelery, purses, musical instruments, little nick nacks and much more.  Yesterday i grabbed my camera and ipod and just cruised around enjoying it all.

I thought this was really unique and cool.  And then i saw these...

 Hello! So beautiful, I cant decide if i like the woman or man torso's better. These were all very expensive but worth it if I had the money.  They were so heavy and this is a great picture but in person they were amazing.

Here are some indigenous music instruments.  Mostly drums and flutes made out of wood, coconut shells, bamboo, leather, and straw.  They sounds good if you know what your doing and are still fun to play even if you don't.

  My purchase! I couldn't leave without buying something! There is so much amazing jewelery here!!  And for a jewelery freak such as myself it is so hard to decide on what to get because I truly want it all.  Everything is mostly made by hand and they are all unique and sold by the actual person who made them. But I'm very happy with my choice, it's pretty and suits my style very well.
  As i walked home i decided to take to beach route and the timing was great. I watched the sun go down and just chilled in the sand as day began to turn into night.  Dusk is my favorite time of  the day, always has been.  I like it because the sun has gone down but the sky is still light, filled with all kinds of colors and there is just something special about it to me, it feels so peaceful.

"Spend some time alone everyday."- Dalai Lama

"I restore myself when I am alone."- Marilyn Monroe.

"You cannot be lonley if you like the person you are alone with."- Wayne Dyer



Waterfalls

Waterfalls are the best!!!Some of my friends took me to this one in Rio.  It was definitley worth the hike and very beautiful.   It was also the most refreshing thing ever because it has been HOT here the past week.

"Water is precious; it is the very source of life and a free gift from the Creator"-Desmond M. Tutu

ahhhhh.....YOGA

I have come to realize that I need yoga.  For me personally, it realign's and connects my entire being, mind, body, and spirit.  I feel so good after I'm done, so refreshed, and a little high to tell you the truth.  It just makes me happy.  I have been trying out different yoga studios and I have found the one for me.  YES! If you are ever in Rio its called Nirvana.  It reminds me of Corepower Yoga back in San Diego and I feel so blessed to have found it. I have only been a few times and i feel much more calm and comfortable in my skin.  The best way to explain it is that I feel connected with a higher source, as well as my breath and just concsiouness in general.  I am learning to adjust to no mirrors (because i haven't found one studio here that uses them) and the biggest thing is that it is in Portugese.  It sounds beautiful and some words are in Sanskrit which is universal in all yoga studios but meditations and directions are given in Portugese.  So, i'm learning, but i'm the creepy girl in class always looking around.  Haha...Once i get the flow down I'm good and the teachers have been so nice and helpful.  Yogis are the best.  It's nice to find like minded people who share simliar paths. Just wanted to share my joy and remind us all how important it is to have something you love that makes you feel connected and balanced in your life.

"Yoga is invigoration in relaxation.  Freedom in routine.  Confindence through self control.  Energy within and energy without."  - Ymber Delecto

Here is a picture of one of my best friends doing her thing...get it Tiff =) I miss you!

Brazil vs. Brasil

 OK, so i'm soooo curious why Brasil spells Brasil with a S as you can see and we in the USA spell it with a Z?  It sounds like a Z so we just changed the spelling????i dont know.Things that make me go Hmmmm... Does anyone have an idea?? I would love to know. Just one of the obvious differences i'm noticing.   Others are military time, ohh tricky, making me think!!!, kilos instead of pounds(which sounds like way less, hahah, nice for us ladies;) kilometers instead of miles, degrees in celsius instead of fahrenheit, and pedestrians DO NOT have the right away, plus self serve doesnt exsist at gas stations here, a guy comes to your car everytime and pumps it for u and everyone and thing around me is speaking Portugese instead of English( a given i know)  But i just wanted to share the little things that have my brain going all the time. It's fun to learn continuiously and experientually.  After a month here things are becoming more second nature, which is nice.  I am understanding more and more and speaking Portugese is coming with time.  I have my phrases that get me around but sometimes i want to express something and cant. That's when things get really funny because i start to use sign language and that creates some laughs. I love that laughing is a universal language( as is every Bob Marley song ) and luckily i speak it very well!! Its all part of the adventure and i love it. There is also the language of the heart.  I was worried at first that people would think i was rude or quiet because i couldn't really say much. But i found out i dont always have to say everything or express everything.  People can  sense what kind of person i am, a good one i believe, with good energy , and that goes farther than anything i could ever say. So i stopped stressing and just relaxed into being me because really thats all i can do.=)

If you cannot be a poet, be the poem.  ~David Carradine

Yemanja...the Goddess of the Ocean

 My intentiion with this blog is to share the amazing things i'm learning and give others a chance to see the beauty that is Rio De Janerio through my eyes...

     So i wanted to start by sharing about a Brazilian tradition that happens every New Years Eve that really touched me. Every year dressed in all white millions of cariocas(rio natives), of all different religions, go to the beach to offer blue and white flowers to the Goddess of the ocean called Yemanja. The offerings are a way of letting go of the past year and entering into the new year pure.  Some people even make tiny wooden boats filled with gifts for her. She is compared to the Virgin Mary and portrayed as a woman rising out of the sea.

Yemaya rules over the surface of the ocean, where life is concentrated. She is associated with the Orisha Olokin who represents the depths of the Ocean and the unconscious, and together they form a balance. I'll leave you with a quote from her and a picture.  I was just so impressed with the respect for mother nature and remebering that the ocean keeps us all connected because we really are all one.

"Do not be afraid to visit me in the depths"