Sailing upriver from Santarem, Brazil: We went ashore today ... sort of. Actually, we left our cruise liner and boarded a smallish local boat and went out on the Amazon and into some of the channels that remain when, as we are now, the dry season is ending.
Our tour guide was a Russian emigre who came here a few years ago with multiple language skills and essentially nothing else and is today an entrepreneur, a radio host, a tour guide, and the founder of a language school. Now he has a Brazilian wife and two Brazilian kids, and couldn't be prouder of his new country. He reminded me so much of many legal emigrants in the U.S.
Santarem is pretty darn big, stretching along the river for several miles. I have to admit I'd never heard of it until I saw it on our itinerary. I'm no expert on it now, but at least I'll be aware of it when it next pops up on the news.
As I write this I'm watching President-elect Trump having too much fun in Ohio, doing a victory lap in his patented free-association style. Frankly, he is getting high on the crowd roars, applause and chanting; and I can't begrudge him the fun.
