Ahhh...finally: The Brazil I envisioned...

When we got to the hotel, I fell into my bed, and slept for 7 hours...wasting an entire day of exploring this beautiful island. We spent 2 days in lectures at the Federal University of Santa Catarina and then we went on a day-long tour of the entire Ilha de Santa Catarina, an island collectively known as Florianópolis, or Florípa to the locals. We went to an old Portuguese fort in the more popular, touristy Northern part of the island, and then we went to the less-visited Southern part which included an old colonial village. It is about 43 miles long from north to south.

Finally, the fun was about to begin...the upcoming weekend was "the last holiday of the year" meaning most folks had off Thursday and Friday, making for a long holiday weekend. More importantly, this also meant we didn't have class the last half of the week. Everyone in our group agreed to take advantage of the time off by renting a beach house located on Lagoa da Conceição, near the town of Barra da Lagoa, and a short walk to Praia Mole (Praia=Beach). This is pretty much in the middle of the island. Needless to say we had a great 4 days. I was a little apprehensive spending that much time with 11 other people, but it truly was awesome. And, beautiful people were everywhere. It was the first time in my life that I felt like the ugliest person on the beach. I have so many stories from this vacation...but I will let the pictures speak for themselves. It by far has been the highlight of the trip...