YES! I don't know what Eric was thinking when he said that dancing wasn't fun. Don't listen to him because he's crazy and dancing is so much fun, and it is especially fun with crazy Brazilians who also love dancing! On our last night of the Pantanal (goodbye Pantanal!) we had a huge dance party and oh my gosh, it was so much fun! At 7:00 my group ventured out onto the river to have an evening boat ride. Again we saw alligators and birds and iguanas, and it was an absolutely wonderful way to spend our last night in the Pantanal, but our evening didn't stop there. When we got back, we ate dinner and rushed to our rooms to finish packing and get ready for our party. I walked out of the room wondering where in the world this party be, but I found it rather quickly by following the flashing lights and pounding music coming from one of the main buildings at the hotel. I walked in and found Americans and Brazilians all jumping and dancing and having fun. Of course I expected to see something similar to our dances back at home, where the dancing there involves standing in a circle and either jumping and waving your arms, or fist pumping. This dance, however, was very different. Almost everyone danced the entire time, and they all knew how to dance really well! I do admit that there was a good amount of jumping, but this jumping was mixed with different and crazy foot steps and dance offs between the really good dancers. I didn't understand or know most of the songs because a lot of them were in Portuguese. During one of the songs, everyone grabbed on to each other and jumped in a a big hugging circle, and then everyone stopped and held up a finger to show that they were listening to the song. I looked around in confusion to see if I could figure it out or if someone would explain it to me, but the next second, all of a sudden, everyone started to jump around while hugging one person in the middle of the circle. Then they all stopped for another couple seconds, and then they all grabbed on to another person and started jumping/ hugging them. It was insane! I had no idea what was going on, but it was still fun. Later I found out that the song was saying that everyone should hug someone with a black shirt or everyone should dance with a girl. We danced and danced and danced until midnight, when we had to get packed and out of our hotel rooms so that we could get on a bus, and then catch a plane back home to Rio. It was the funnest dance ever! It was a perfect way to end our trip to the Pantanal!
The best part, though, was learning how to do Brazilian dance. They taught us how to do a couple different types of dance, but my favorite was a dance called "rebolation." It involved a series of steps which forced you turn your feet in and out, and move them in all crazy directions. When they first taught me, I was completely confused, and I probably looked ridiculous. For a while I just flapped my feet around. I'm sure that I looked super goofy, but soon I started to get it. Then it got really fun; I learned how to go forward, back, side to side, and walking. Some of the Brazilians were REALLY good at it. I am definitely still a beginner, but I'll practice!
So, now we are back home, and of course we all miss the beautiful Pantanal, it is so nice to see all our friends again. It is crazy and sad to think that we will be leaving soon, but we are all enjoying our time here while we still can! Luckily today is English Day, which is exciting because WE SPEAK THAT LANGUAGE! After playing flag football (which was confusing seeing as I know close to nothing about football), we are off to have a "quiz" about some environmental moives.
Beijos!
-Isobel
Oh, P.S. Happy Father's day to my daddy and to all the fathers! We miss you and love you!
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