Tchau, meu Brasil! :(

My last day in Brasil!! Ahhh! :( I can't believe it's come upon me so fast, but unfortunately it's here: it's time for me to go home :(. But before I say an official adieu (since this will be my last blog entry), let me quickly recap today and yesterday (since Ambar and I have to take a taxi to the airport cuz our flight leaves at 11).
So yesterday was spent diligently in search of specific items for my souvenir shopping. As a result of that, Ambar and I decided to try out Rio Sul (which is a bit on the outskirts of Copacabana; we got there on a bus that took us through a tunnel), since Anthonette and Daneka had gone and had found some cool stuff. I can't even accurately put it into words, but the place is ridiculously expensive: very shi-shi, very over the top, with only designer-name stores and the like. Basically, only the upper crust and Rio's elite (which mostly reside in Copacabana and Ipanema anyway) shop there. It was even more shi-shi than Short Hills Mall in NJ, and that's pretty up there too so you can just imagine. It was to the point where I felt out of place and uncomfortable there. So, Ambar and I stopped in at the store Anthonette had recommended (where Ambar bought her last item--a shirt--for herself; it was a bit expensive, but you only live once, right? ;) and then spent maybe another 40 min. walking around, but then left because it was just too much. All I could think about pretty much the whole time was how Paulo, Jacson and the kids in Falete had never set foot in there and probably never would. It only added to my discomfort.
So after we left, we got off the bus in Copacabana so that we could finally be done with our souvenir shopping. On the way home, we stopped and ate at a juice bar (Bar Baco; if you're ever in Rio you must go!! It's on the corner of Rua Francisco Sa and Avenida Nossa Senhora de Copacabana), which was actually where Ambar, Russell and I had originally wanted to eat last Friday when we went out to dinner with Anthonette on her last night. It was amazing! I finally got my carne assada the way it was supposed to be made!! It was fantastic! It came with rice, beans, spaghetti seasoned with garlic and olive oil (I don't even eat pasta and I ate it all! It was dope!), fries and lettuce and tomatoes (which were the reddest, juiciest ones I have had in a while!)! All that (drumroll please...;) for only $10 reais (well, $12 with a Guarana Zero, naturally ;)! It was absolutely awesome. It was definitely among the top 5 meals I've had in Rio over the course of this trip. I didn't shut up about it for quite a while afterwards. Oh yeah, and Ambar got the pernil (accompanied by all the same things I got with mine) ;).
Today was pretty chill and laid back. Since Ambar and I had to check out of our room by 12, we packed up all our stuff and just left it at the front desk so we could go to the beach for the day (we met Russell at Post 7 where he works on Ipanema Beach, and just hung out there the whole day; and finally tanned some! ;). It was a pretty amazing final day in Rio and the weather was absolutely perfect. We took some pictures, and even got in the water! :) After Russell got off work, we went to Beach Sucos and got our last acais in Brasil before we go home :(. For dinner, we went back to Bar Baco (!!), where I got the same thing as yesterday, lol, and on the way back to the hostel we got our last churros recheados :(.
I can't believe this is the end of my trip! But I must say, everything I did was amazing and I met some of the most genuine and wonderful people here I've ever met in my life. I feel like I did what I came to do here, and even if I didn't have an impact on other people's lives here, they've definitely had one on mine that I won't forget. Brasil has so much beauty at its core (both natural and metaphoric), and so much of that beauty lies within its people. I was blessed to have the opportunity to meet a number of those people in Falete as well as in my day-to-day adventures while I've been here. To say that I love it here is an understatement. Brasil is infectious and once you've seen it and experienced it, it gets inside of you and won't leave. I hope to always be able to come back here and experience Brasil in a new and exciting way each and every time. It hasn't disappointed me yet, and I doubt it ever will ;). And with that, I end this spectacular experience I've had here. This is one of the best things I've ever done for myself in my 22 years of life, and if you ever have an opportunity to come here, I say do it! :) Tchau, meu Brasil querido! Te amo!!

~Com muito amor,
Amanda ;)