About two weeks ago we went to Porto Alegre. Kevin had meetings and a conference there so Emma and I tagged along. We arrived on Monday night, after an eventful drive there. The first event occurred less than two hours into the trip. We were speeding along nicely when Kevin gripped the wheel tightly and his eyes opened to the size of lemons. I had been looking at him, so I quickly glanced toward the highway just in time to see a lagarta (giant lizard - like 4-feet long, probably 20 pounds) turn his head to look at us. His eyes, too, became the size of lemons. . . just before we heard a loud THUNK! Kind of reminded me of the chicken Kevin hit in Argentina, but louder, and with fewer feathers.
About half an hour later we were leaving a city. There are always people walking along the highways here. We've gotten pretty accustomed to having them so close to the road, but it really used to scare me. Most of the time I don't even look at them anymore. However, there were two women walking along the opposite side of the road, heading the same direction as us, and they were kind of dancing/walking and just seemed to be purposely drawing attention to themselves. Odd. Just as we were passing, the one closest to our car lifted up the back of her dress (all the way up), grabbed her thong and made some move. It all happened in less than five seconds and then we were past them. Kevin was driving and the car was silent. I was frowning, trying to understand what I had just seen. I looked at Kevin and he was frowning too. "Did we just get mooned?" I asked. We were pretty sure she wasn't just trying to moon the drivers, though. It took several miles to get the image out of my head. Eww.
About halfway into our trip, I was driving so Kevin could work. At one point, I crossed into the other lane to pass and then return to my lane. I ended up hitting a lane marker (which isn't just any lane marker, by the way, but a huge plastic rectangular bump that lets you know you're an idiot and shouldn't be in the middle of the road). About a mile down the road, I started hearing something loud and the car felt heavy. Amazingly, we were about 50 yards from a gas station. I pulled over and Kevin got out to check the tires. Yep, flat. Dang it. Fortunately, we had a normal spare (instead of the worthless donut), so Kevin, with the help of the gas station attendants (one actually helped, two stood and watched like it was the event of the day), changed the tire and then we were on our way. We stopped at a borracharia (tire fixer-upper place) but the man said the tire was ruined and that he couldn't fix it. We drove the rest of the way to Porto Alegre (another 3 hours) on the spare and arrived safely after an eventful ride. While Kevin thinks that maybe it was my fault for hitting the lane marker, I think it was maybe his fault for hitting the lizard. Either way, it was a fun, eventful drive.
The next day, Emma and I spent the afternoon with the sister of a friend here in Horizontina. I had met the gal a few times, but didn't really know her. While she was here visiting, Josi had invited us to her home, gave me her number and said Tuesday would be a good day. I told her I would call. I didn't want to call, not because she's not nice (quite the opposite), but the thought of spending time with someone I don't really know, and muddling through the Portuguese that I hadn't practiced much for almost two months just didn't sound appealing. But, I had told her I would call, so I did. Emma and I ended up spending the rest of the afternoon and evening with her and her family. Her daughter, who's ten, played with Emma the whole time and we chatted the day away. We even went to a huge park near their home which was awesome. I was so happy that I made the effort and stepped out of my comfort zone. That was a pretty big deal for me. Well, while we were with them, she told me about the zoo just north of the city, less than twenty minutes from my hotel. What? I've been to POA how many times and never knew the zoo was so close?? She showed me on the map and I decided to go the next day.
I only freaked out a little bit on the drive. Normally, when I'm in the city, I take taxis everywhere, but because the zoo was supposedly just a straight shot north of our hotel, and I had the GPS with me, I chose to drive. Smartly, I started driving before I realized that the GPS wasn't actually working. Nice. I figured I couldn't get too lost and kept going. I was so, so happy to see the zoologico signs twenty minutes later!!
The path leading from the entrance to the animals. . .
There were three other cars parked outside the zoo. I figured it was a slow day because most of the schools around the area had started school already (it's the end of summer here). There were weeds about two feet high almost everywhere and it looked like the place just hadn't been kept up. I read online that the zoo had opened in 1967. In some areas, it still looked like something from the '60s. The property was huge, but most of the cages and plots were empty. There were plenty of ducks and geese though.
By far, my favorite sight at the zoo was the old train. As we walked the quarter-mile path from the entrance to the first part of the zoo, I saw old train tracks. I wondered if we would see a train. It looked like it hadn't been used in 10+ years. Emma had fun playing on it.
Strangely, for being at a zoo, I took very few pictures of the animals! Maybe it was because there were so few animals and the ones we did see looked rather unhealthy.
There were monkeys, two skinny elephants, two lions, two tigers and two zebra. Most of the cages were empty or the plots of grass were overgrown. I saw two zookeepers the entire time we were there. Although I'm not sure, I imagine the place was once an incredible zoo. Maybe there wasn't enough money to keep operating it well. I don't know. It was just kind of sad to be there, though. Emma loved it and was especially excited about the elephants, even though they were skinny-minnies.
There were monkeys, two skinny elephants, two lions, two tigers and two zebra. Most of the cages were empty or the plots of grass were overgrown. I saw two zookeepers the entire time we were there. Although I'm not sure, I imagine the place was once an incredible zoo. Maybe there wasn't enough money to keep operating it well. I don't know. It was just kind of sad to be there, though. Emma loved it and was especially excited about the elephants, even though they were skinny-minnies.
As we were trying to find our way out, it started sprinkling. I walked faster and felt like I was going in circles. I could not find my way out of the zoo and there was not a single person in sight. It was actually kind of eery for a bit. Suddenly, the light sprinkling turned into a torrential downpour and Emma and I were soaked within minutes. I didn't have an umbrella, so we ended up hiding under a tree with a couple of ducks. I laughed. We waited under the tree for about fifteen minutes, until the rain passed. We left our shelter and headed toward the entrance. About twenty feet from where we were hiding was a restaurant with a huge covered porch. People just stared at us as we walked by. They were all dry.
But they don't have a cute picture like I do:)
