Brail - Day 3/4 - City of Manaus

Day 3/ 4 - Manaus

So around 4pm we got back to the ship. And let me tell you, the excitement one gets from seeing the SAS ship is phenomenal because we know we’re home and it means I get a clean shower!! Anyways, I met up with Anna and my first mission was laundry. I had sweaty, Amazonian River smelling outfits that was going to make my room unbearable. So we talked with the local onboard tour representative and he told us of a local laundry mat but it was closing in one hour and it had to be left overnight – so I only had this small time frame to get my clothes there so I could get it returned to me before we left Brazil. This means I had to get all of my clothes together, get off the ship (disembarkment is not a quick process), and find the place. Anna and I thought no problem – we have plenty of time. While we were walking out into the city from the port area, we ran into a few SASers who had just went to the same place themselves. So they gave us the business card with the address which we thought would make things easier. Came to find out the place didn’t close until 6 so we had an extra hour. Perfect. So we started making our way towards the place and realized the city is nothing like cities in the USA. I don’t know how or where we got mixed up in the directions but our instincts told us we weren’t in the right place. The roads aren’t in quadrants; they are all twisty, curving and merging. Then we realized they don’t use street signs which is how the map is set up. Oh great – we knew we were lost. So we took out the business card and tried our next best options – handing it to the locals, look confused and pray for the right directions. Well after asking about 4 people, we were getting fed up with all the inconsistent directions and were just standing on a corner trying the map thing again. Out of nowhere, we heard a voice of perfect English. “Umm do you girls need some help?” I felt a huge weight of relief lifted off my shoulders. A white, blonde hair, green eyed lady in her mid 20’s said we looked in distress and decided to help us. Turned out she has been living in Manaus since she was 7 (Im assuming she was American???) Anyways, she directed us to the laundry mat which was only 2 blocks away and we made it in time @ about 5:50 so ten minutes to spare – I WOULD HAVE CLEAN CLOTHES. So I got my clothes taken care of and we started to make our way back to the ship. Well we passed an internet café and all we could think was facebook!!! So of course we got lost in the facebook, email and instant messaging world since it was only about $1 an hour. After awhile, I looked outside and realized it was dark. Shit. We were in the middle of Manaus Brazil, two American girls with NO idea how we got here and we speak no Portuguese. Shit this is bad news. So we were getting ready to pay for our internet usage and the boys at the counter wanted to talk. Of course they spoke no English so we hopped on Google translator and talked that way through the computer. It was just fun small talk.. where are you from, why are you here, etc.  After about a half hour it was REALLY time to at least get closer to the ship.

So we’re standing outside on the corner debating which way to start. I choose one way and Anna chose the opposite. I just started laughing at this point because I honestly had no idea what to do. Then, out of nowhere, AN ENGLISH VOICE AGAIN!!! Someone upstairs had to be looking out for us. It was a vendor that Anna had met the day before that was from Ghana and spoke almost perfect English. We told him we were trying to get back to the ship and were completely lost. He started laughing and offered to walk us home and we planned to keep him around for the rest of the night!!  (by the way, the way I wanted to go was COMPLETELY wrong). We got back to the ship, ate supper, and planned to meet back up with Seido (the English, Ghana guy) and Robert his other friend that speaks English. We had all been hearing about this Samba dance that was going on so we decided to make that our mission of the night. (The Brazilians heard SAS was in town and put on the Samba especially for us) It was quite a ways away for walking but we decided to go for it anyways. It took about an hour but it went pretty quick talking with Seido and Robert. They were REALLY interested in us since we were headed to Ghana next, their home country. Once we got to the Samba, the dance was already over L but the block party was just beginning. We danced, ate local grilled meats, drank beer and talked with everyone. It was a great mixture of locals and SASers so we felt really comfortable. After the Samba block part died down we decided to head closer to ship as it was getting later and go to the club a few blocks away. Again it was mostly SASers in the club with a few locals. It was a lot of fun, we danced for hours, hung out with friends and just enjoyed our last night in Brazil! We headed back to the ship around 3AM and attempted to watch a movie but fell asleep during the first 10 minutes.

 Anna and I woke up early morning and had to start the journey back to the laundry mat ALL over again. It was raining, I was still tired from the night before, and just not in the mood. But I knew I had to get my clothes and honestly was kind of nervous if they would be ready for sure (the lady told me 11AM). So we stopped at the internet café to kill some time before my clothes were ready. Then, Anna found out someone was using her credit card at home so we had to hurry and get back to the ship. I got my clothes perfectly (thank God), headed for the ship and said good-bye to Manaus!!! Time to head to Ghana next!!