Beautiful In Our Thongs: A Journey of LGBT+ Empowerment in Medieval Brazil

On the third day Ana swore she saw a samba dancer in the woods.

We were winding down from a long morning of hiking, and I unzipped my backpack for water. "What? Where?"

Ana shrugged. "It was just a flash of color through the trees."

Everyone stopped to look around. "I didn't see anything."

"Me neither."

"Maybe it was a bird?"

Ana shook her head. "No, I saw legs..." she sighed and looked around again. "Do you think we should take a break?"

The question was met with eager nods and we sat down on the ground to eat some trail mix. I opened up my notebook and drew a few sketches of the mountains and trees before me. The sun beat down on us as we lazed in the shade of some giant boulders that seemed to have tumbled down from above. It had been 3 days since we left Rio, and while it was nice to be out and about somewhere new, I knew we would be happy to be back home soon. The trip was an impromptu idea, but after sharing it with Ana and getting her approval, everyone jumped in at once - eager for something different than their everyday lives. We all agreed that this trip would be good for us, an adventure away from our normal worlds, even if only for a few days. I nibbled on some dried apricots, savoring their sweetness before continuing to sketch the rocks in front of me.

Ana suddenly stood up and grabbed her backpack. "I'm going to pee!" she said and started walking through the trees towards a small clearing where sunlight shone through the branches. "Anyone coming?" she called over her shoulder. Everyone turned to look at each other before getting up and following her into the woods. The girls walked behind Ana as they chatted quietly amongst themselves; myself bringing up the rear as I finished sketching my last rock before putting my pencil away for now. I took out my phone to check messages when a rustling sound caught my attention, quickly followed by a soft chuckle from the opposite direction from Ana's path through the trees. "Did you hear that?" I whispered to Lourdes who nodded at me nervously as she clutched onto her pack tighter. Sergio quickly glanced over his shoulder, looking curiously back towards where he heard the noise as well before turning his eyes back down towards his feet as he continued walking behind Ana who had stopped to pee against some shrubs by now, not hearing us talk behind her. We kept walking forward until we reached the edge of a small clearing where sunlight shone through more clearly than any other place so far on our hike that day. I couldn't help but smile because it seemed like our luck had changed - there was no way someone could sneak up on us if we were right here in this clearing! A cool breeze blew past us as we stood there staring out into the open space when suddenly...