Somewhere in the Atlantic

Just some other stuff from Brazil...


As part of my Global Journalism (GloJo) class, each of us collected a newspaper or some sort of news medium (i.e. magazine, tabloid etc.). Turns out, we made news all over the area. From newspaper articles complete with pictures, to television news stories with footage of the ship, we were famous. While some of the articles portrayed us well, others put a huge bull’s-eye on us. Stating how much we pay per night, and putting our faces on the front cover, they advertised us as moving targets.

To counterbalance this however, was the incredible amount of security they brought in for us. Apparently 600 American students plus an additional 100 Life Long Learners and the staff and their families are a group that needs to be looked after. The Brazilian government brought Military Police to Manaus along with five other police forces to help keep us safe. They also had undercovers and civilians watching out for us the entire time we were in Brazil. None of us knew this until we were back on the ship. In a city with as much violence as Manaus has (and it’s one of the safer cities according to the embassy people), we thought we were just lucky to only have one incident when a girl’s camera was stolen. Turns out, we have the Brazilian Government to thank for that.

Not only did Brazil provide us with security, they also ensured the health of 15 SAS participants after their stay in Juma Lodge on a jungle trip. The lodge had two toddler age pet monkeys. Treated like any other pet, they took care of them, fed them, brought them in at night and loved them. They had been brought in as pets, not picked from the wild. Naturally, the SASers would play with the monkeys like everyone else at the lodge. However, when they got back to the ship, the higher-ups found out about it and freaked out after learning that one girl’s skin was broken after being bitten (the people on the trip described it as puppy bites. They didn’t get attacked, just little playful teething type things). Even though there hasn’t been a monkey rabies case reported since the 80’s in Brazil, they couldn’t absolutely 100% guarantee that they wouldn’t get it. So, after much deliberation and discussion with multiple health and government departments in Brazil, they decided that all the people on that trip would have to get treated for Rabies. Rabies shots, if you’re unfamiliar, are a series of four and cost roughly $1500 for the set. Also, the only way to test a monkey for rabies is to take a brain segment. When we first got on the ship we were specifically told that if we were bitten by a dog or anything and needed to get treated, the ship doesn’t stock Rabies Vaccines and you would have to go home. Lucky for the Juma Lodge people, the Brazilian government came to the conclusion that they would provide the shots for all 15 participants free of charge when we stopped in Macapa to refuel. So, they all got the shots and vow never to touch a monkey again.

I guess, what I’m trying to say is that Brazil is really a wonderful country. Not only did we have a good time there, they made sure that we were all safe while in country, and on the rest of our travels from there. Thanks, Brazil. We (especially the monkey touchers) owe you one.