Rio

The last few days in Ilha Grande were sadly tainted by lots of rain. We didn't get to do anything we had wanted to because it was pouring with rain so much. One of the days we spent having a long afternoon nap, the other just chilling in the pousada. On one of the days Rory and Bev (Magia's mum and stepdad) braved it out on a boat trip which they said was lovely even though they got soaking wet. On the next day, only Rory braved the rain as a proper english man does! Such a shame as the island has loads of things to do, in particular lots of treks through the jungle but I guess for us it was just not meant to be. It was a good opportunity to rest though, and just relax.

On the 28th we all left for Rio. We got on the boat and headed towards Angra from which we were planning to get the bus. When we arrived in the port though there were loads of people offering taxi rides and so in the end we got into one of those as the price they were offering us was good. The driver drove in true Brazilian style: fast and overtaking people on double white lines! But he got us there in very good time as a result. We were lucky because the weather was relatively nice too and so as we came in to Rio we had a clear view. No view of the Christ though, I didn't see him until yesterday. The cab took us all the way to the place where Bev Jess and Rory were all staying, which is in Santa Teresa. Originally I was meant to be renting a room from a friend of Magia's (Magia=Jess by the way) but then they suggested I stay with them for not much more anyway, and since the place is so lovely I agreed. We are staying in the most incredible private house up in Santa Teresa. The people who own it rent out rooms during the high season in order to make a bit more money. It has this gorgeous inner courtyard with a swimming pool and an amazing area for sitting outside. The house itself is white on the outside and sort of in a colonial style. Inside it is just amazing, wood panneled floors and doors, lots of space, lovely bedrooms...It is quite a big house as it also has a few rooms underground/in the basement. The basement isn't really a basement though as it connects to outdoors. Does that make sense? Anyway it is just lovely and the bathroom is fantastic as is the bedroom, and the breakfast, and the hosts who are just lovely! They are two artists, one Swiss and one Brazilian who have been working together for years. They are a very interesting pair. Anyway, enough said about the house I suppose....

In the evening we went for dinner in the local restaurant and then ended up in the street where there was a party going on. The local bar had a samba band playing and the music and people spilled out onto the street, turning it into a street party. It had the really nice feeling of one of those summer evenings when everyone is outside in the street enjoying the warmth and being happy. As the evening went on we met up with quite a few of Jess's friends and also, somehow, managed to meet some other tourists. Then we decided to head off to another party somewhere so we all got into a van and off we went. Then somehow, we ended up at a Baile Funk party in a favela. Santa Teresa is surrounded by 5 favelas so basically they are never far away. Baile Funk is a type of music that is really not so exciting musically or lyrically but is typical of Rio and favelas. It basically involves lots of dirty lyrics and has a beat a bit like reggaeton I suppose, except different. Maybe this link might explain it better. Anyway, I had a very small moment where I was a bit unnerved by the fact that we were in a favela, but I was with Max and Jess and I totally trusted them and their judgement of where we were. Also, we were quite a large group of people. So I basically felt completely safe and did not worry at all, and just acted like I would have done anywhere else. The place was busy and full of people just standing around digging the music. The favela had an amazing view over the port of Rio and that was quite impressive. There were quite a few people walking around with guns. Either they had them in their waist and were flashing them occasionally just to let you know they had them, or they were properly "waving" them around for all to see. Strangely enough this didn't bother me and I just ignored them which I reckon is the best policy anyway. I figured that really all they were doing with them was showing off and making a statement and therefore we were not in any real danger. There was another english guy with us though who was totally freaking out and couldn't cope with the guns. He kept freaking out every time he saw someone go by with one. At the end we were sitting by this house and lads kept going by on motorbikes showing off, and as we were all leaving one of the boys (english guy) had gone off for a pee in the corner. At this point two lads went past us on a motorbike and one of them was carrying a gun. This totally freaked out the other english guy who was like "oh my god oh my god they had a gun, we have to go and get so and so" and you could tell he was really worried and Max had to calm him down and tell him it was ok and that they weren't going to shoot this other guy, they were just showing off. But I felt sorry for him because he really was scared. Anyway we all made it home safe and sound and I thought it was an amazing experience, going to the favela, going to a baile funk party and experiencing the dancing and the music. When I say amazing about the favela I don't mean this in a voyeuristic way either as in "ooh wow I saw a Favela, I saw their poverty" but more as in an amazing experience of have been able to go there and blend in and not freak out and constantly feel threatened, and instead just to enjoy myself.

Yesterday the weather was amazing and we started out by having breakfast by the pool. After that I decided it was time to go and explore Rio and do as much as poss in the good weather. Rory had planned an expedition by cab and all sorts of stuff to see and do but I decided I would rather spend the day alone and just explore the city in a normal way by public transport, and to just blend in and live the city. So I got a ride with Rory and the others to the bank and then left them to go and get the bus into town. A nice old lady accompanied me to the bus stop and waited with me til it came, then I got it to the metro and took that into Copacabana. The metro is big fast and efficient, and also freezing cold compared to out of doors! Anyway I got to Copacabana in the blazing sun, beautiful beach and sand, and felt so excited to be in Rio! Finally I was seeing this amazing city I have heard so much about. I walked all the way down Copacabana beach which was packed full of people, and just took in the sight, and walked to Ipanema. Then I walked down that beach and then turned in a bit to see the lake that is formed right near Ipanema. By doing that I happened upon the busy streets of Ipanema with shops and bars and cafes and all that. I looked for the Christ from the lake and couldn't see him so postponed my visit, but then I finally did see him and it looked fantastic so I got a cab to Cosmo Velho to go up. The ticket I bought though was for a train that was only an hour and a half later, and by that point I was exhausted having slept only about 4 hours and then walked all day. There was nowhere to sit and nowhere to eat so I decided to give my ticket back and go another day instead. Considering the rain today I kind of regret the decision but I was just way too tired to do it. Hopefully there will be another good day for me to go.

In the evening I went and met up with the Aussies down in Copacabana and had dinner with them in a place they had found. Then we went down to the beach and walked along it. At first I was sceptical as I wanted to go to a samba party with Magia, but in the end it turned out to be great because there was a huge ceremony going on down at the beach. It was a candomble /orixa ceremony for the goddess of the sea. There were loads of people dressed in white, and Baiana ladies in their big white skirts, and there were candles all over the beach and flowers and music. It was fantastic to see! We went down to the waterfront where there were the most people and I asked a man what was going on. He explained to me that they were making an offering to the goddess of the sea, for her to take away all the bad things of 2008 and bring them good things for 2009. The offerings are put in a boat and then they set the boat out to sea with all the offerings and off it goes. They were having a bit of difficulty doing that though because the waves were so big. Anyway this was a traditional end of year ceremony and I was so glad and excited to have experienced something like that out of the blue!!! Such an incredible experience! Then we just kept walking and on our way so a little roda de samba which got me well excited too! :-) All in all a very successful day except for the fact that I was so exhausted. Finally we all piled in to a cab together and got absolutely ripped off to go home which was not so cool, but at least we made it back. I think that is more than enough for now as this post is huge! Really excited about New Year's eve on Copacabana tomorrow!!!

Christmas

This has by far been the weirdest Christmas I have ever spent. Part of it is because I am in the southern hemisphere and it doesn't feel like Christmas at all, part of it is just the sequence of events. I went to Trinidade with the Aussies and back, and it was mad because they were meant to get a 7pm bus to Rio, and we got back to Paraty at 6h50. They left two of them at the bus station with me, whilst the others went on a mad dash to pick up their bags from the hostel, pay, and come back in time. I was there to stall the bus driver and was getting really stressed out coz he kept saying to me "I can't wait I have to go, I have to stick to the timetable!!!!" but all was well in the end because they made it back in time and jumped onto the bus and off they went. That was the end of the Aussies! Then I got an email from Magia telling me to come to Ilha Grande coz they were there. So the next day I packed my bags and headed off to Ilha Grande. The bus from Paraty to Angra was amazing because the scenery was SO beautiful. It was just driving along the coast, seeing beach after beach, and it was a lovely sunny day too. Reached Angra which is indeed not very pretty and got on the ferry. Magia had told me to meet her at 8pm in front of "the church" so when I reached the island I had some time to spare and I sat at a cafe on the beach with my mochilao and chilled. Then, when the cafe had kicked me out to close and I had settled on the beach using the mochilao as a sort of bench/pillow, I saw Magia out there on the beach. Her and her mum, and her stepdad were just sitting down to Christmas dinner. So I joined them there, dressed and looking like a traveller, with my huge backpack, and we sat and ate Christmas dinner on the beach with Max, a friend of Magia's, and his dad and his sister too. It was really nice, even though it was a bit random to just land in the middle of all of this! The strangeness does not end though, because of the accomodation arrangements. Magia had told me that in Angra they were planning on renting a house, and the decision to come to Ilha Grande was so last minute I just assumed something was sorted. So I landed, and then it turned out that actually they were staying in a hotel the three of them together, and I had nowhere to stay! So I had to crash their bedroom for the first night. That made me feel a bit bad, but it was nice of them to allow me to crash. Weird! In the end I stayed out with Max until 3am anyway, just roaming about. We met some french guys, well, they were brother and sister and they were really young: 16 and 18. But they were in the mood for partying so we hung out with them for a while, me acting as translator. There was actually quite a lot of people in the street partying for Christmas eve, more than I had expected to see anyway, and a whole group of hippies sitting on the pier singing songs and playing guitar: Weird!

The next day we all went on a boat trip. Rory (Magia's stepdad) had bought some tickets for a boat trip and luckily there was one for me! I think it was originally meant for Max but he stayed with his father and so I managed to go on the boat ride with them. Didn't feel like Christmas day at all but more just like a regular day in Brazil. We got on the boat and there was a bunch of other people with us too. A british guy called Andrew who was by himself but we decided he was going to be our Christmas friend. Everything was a Christmas thing. Christmas boat trip, Christmas swim, Christmas family spat. ha ha! There were also two Brazilian guys, and three young students: Suve, Maria and Patrik. Suve was Finnish, Maria half Finnish half Venezuelan, and Patrik was Swiss. The boat basically took us around various spots around the island and stopped for us to dive. It was sad that the weather was not very good and occasionally raining, but it was still warm enough for us to swim. There was a lot of snorkeling which involved seeing fish and starfish and sea urchins and stuff like this. At one point we went to a diving point where there is a sunken helicopter and you can go and see it under water. I think the story was that it had crashed somewhere else and then they went and put it there in the sea to attract the fish. I went coz curiosity got the better of me, but when I reached the area where it was I felt suddenly freaked out and uncomfortable. It was really eerie knowing it was there and seeing it. I didn't like it...Then we went to another diving point where there were turtles, and you could swim with them and see them. Sadly, I didn't see one under water, but I still managed to see one from the boat so I guess that was already good. We stopped off for lunch in a small beach restaurant, where we had the most untraditional Christmas lunch. Guarana, caipirinhas, and fried chicken. We ended up having a political debate with Andrew which unfolded into a political debate with everyone else. It was great! When we got back I felt ill though and in the end couldn't join in for dinner except for eating bread and drinking fizzy water.

It's funny because Magia is just so eccentric, this is the only way to describe her: eccentric! It's cool because with her everything is just great, and happy. It's hard to explain but I suppose it's a sort of live the moment philosophy where you don't know what's gonna happen next except that it's going to be cool. It's all an adventure and all's well that ends well. I'm excited about being in Rio with her and discovering Rio in a different light than I reckon I would have otherwise, even though I have no idea where I will be staying there. In the end I managed to sort myself out another room here on the island in a hostel I found not far from where Magia and her family is staying. It's really cool being here, even though sadly the weather has gone back downhill again, but it was so nice to have company for Christmas in the end. And Magia and Max are cool. I feel like the next week or so is just going to be one big adventure. I can't really find the words to describe it. Right now I am sitting on the bed and I still feel like I'm on the boat and so the bed is rocking. It's the weirdest sensation ever....I think this is all I have to say for now, even though I know there is lots more I could say I can't recall it, and not in the way I would like to tell it. The adventure is not over though, and it's going to be amazing!! More soon :-)

PS I think I should mention we all developed a cool friendship with Andrew. It was funny coz it mainly involved Magia bullying him into renouncing his political opinions, and later vaguely threatening to push him into the water. All in good spirit though. Later it happened that Max also hopped on the bandwagon of what can only be described as bantering with Andrew, suggesting that he should adopt a puppy from the island. I have no idea how we reached this point about the puppy but nonetheless it came around. The next day as we were walking down the street what did we see but three lovely puppies! THEN, random thing, we bumped into Andrew! Max ran back to get the puppy but it had gone so instead we bought him a wooden figure of a puppy. Hilarious! I think he loved it. I also kept trying to convince him to do the local bus ride experience but he was not convinced at all. Funny though. I think he thought we were all mad young ones but whatever, the more fun the better it is! Anyway I better leave off now, but I felt that the puppy incident was definitely worth a mention.

Trinidade

Me on Trinidade beach

Trinidade beach

Sun!!!!

Finally we have been blessed with sun here in Paraty. It has been a good week if not for the fact that I have been stuck in terrible rainy weather. I woke up this morning at 6.30 coz of some bloody mosquito biting me, and as I went on the balcony to go and apply repellent, I saw that it was going to be an amazing sunny day! When I eventually got up for good the weather was still nice and so it was a question of what to do on such a lovely day. My first thought was of going round the historic centre and taking some pictures of it in the sun as it looks so much prettier. Then I was thinking of just heading to the local beach and chilling there. But the Australian boys that I had met at the hostel said they were thinking of going to Trinidade. It is a beach near here but a bit more removed in a beautiful location. The beach is bigger, the water purer, and the location a bit calmer I suppose. So I decided to hop on the bandwagon and make the most of it, otherwise I knew I would regret not going. So I followed the Aussies and we went to get the local bus to Trinidade. I love getting the bus with the locals because then it feels like you truly are living the Brazilian adventure, doing things the way they would and just bumping along with everyone else. The bus was crammed full of people and so we had to stand, and it was just one big mess of people with their bags and shopping and surfboards and kids....Then we started driving Brazilian style towards Trinidade. When we finally approached the last stretch of road before Trinidade, then it became a real adventure. It was a tiny little country road, very hilly with sharp turns, but not very broad. The bus went careering up and down it, swinging round the bends with crazy precision, bouncing down the hills and struggling up them. It was almost like being on a funfair ride! Trinidade is indeed beautiful. The setting is stunning, a large-ish beach set between jutting mountains that come all the way down to the ocean. Kind of like Annecy if you can imagine that in ocean jungle sized proportions. The waves were crashing in, some of them quite high, and there were loads of surfer dudes riding the waves. It was lovely and the sun was out, perfect basically! We walked along the beach until we found a convenient spot and then jumped in. The Aussies were well used to swimming with and in the waves but I wasn't so I quickly resorted to standing on the edge getting wet by the big waves but not drowning! Later in the afternoon I went for a walk further along the beach and climbed up on to the rocks. The sound of the ocean is so peaceful, and it is in moments like those that I can totally imagine living by the sea. I also felt weirdly drawn to the sea, almost as if I was ready to throw myself into it and let it do whatever it wanted. Sounds dramatic I know, but it is just this overwhelming feeling when you sit there alone, listening and watching the sea.

All in all the day in Trinidade was a success, although the Aussies only got back JUST in time to catch their bus to Rio, and had to make a mad dash from here to the station and use me as translator to stall the bus driver! The Aussies were a really nice bunch. 5 guys travelling together, all really friendly and easy to get on with. The first night we went out to dinner together and I invited my roommate too because she was all alone. New roommate this time, also a Brazilian girl but called Adriana. So we all went out for dinner and it was hilarious because it revolved around them trying to talk to her in English, her looking confused, me translating and their trying to learn portuguese words. They particularly loved the footcheebaaall! ha ha! But it was a good evening and one of the Aussies, Matthew, made a particular effort in trying to speak to Adriana in a mixture of english, spanish and portuguese! The next day was vaguely sunny so I headed to the beach to just chill for a bit and ended up running into the Aussies again so when it started raining (as usual) we headed for lunch together. In the evening, we all went out for dinner again except this time with Adriana and also 3 Japanese girls who were in the hostel. In fact, they were all three Brazilian Paulistas except of Japanese descent. That was also a fun evening as two of them spoke english so it made it a bit easier. All in all the company the past few days has been great. There has been lots of comings and goings here in the hostel as it is really popular or at least well located and so there is a constant flow of travellers.

In the end I had decided to cancel my trip to Ilha Grande as the hostel was just not replying to me and when I phoned them to ask if there were vacancies they said there were none. Then this morning I got an email from them asking whether or not I was coming: how annoying! Well in any case I figured that staying in Paraty would be better than being homeless on an island of all places, and with bad weather too, so I asked if I could extend my stay here and they said yes. Turns out though, I may be going to Ilha Grande after all tomorrow. I was supposed to be meeting my friend Magia out in Angra dos Reis (village down the road) on the 27th but she wrote to me to say they were in Ilha Grande as of tomorrow. In which case, I may off to join them and therefore still get to see the island, and not spend Christmas alone, hurray!!! Will write more when I remember what I wanted to say. In the meantime, Merry Christmas to you all, ho ho ho! May you eat lots of turkey and get lots of lovely pressies!

Paraty 2

I haven't yet had a chance to upload more photos of Paraty as it's complicated and it takes time too. Don't really want to spend too much time on the internet even though it seems that I am. Paraty continues to be lovely even though the weather is not. Like I said, on the first day my roommate and I walked around the old colonial centre of the city which is full of little shops and cafes and brightly painted houses. My roommate was a girl called Rebeca from SP state and she reminded me a bit of Aline. Anyway it was nice to have company and to walk around chatting in portuguese. I like it when people give me a chance to practice instead of patronising me by talking to me in french or english. So talking to Rebeca was nice. I learnt some new words too, like poça for puddle. Sad I had to learn that one but oh well....I like it anyway...

Yesterday we went on the boat tour that is organised by the hostel. They have a lovely little boat painted blue white and yellow, and they take you out to the ocean. It was me, Rebeca, a Brazilian girl called Luciene and her american boyfriend Brendon (I know!!!! Beverly Hills???). It started out nice, we went to an island and had a chance to swim and snorkel a bit and chill out. Then the boat took us a bit further out to another location where we got another chance to swim and snorkel and there were many more fish to be seen there, and the water was clearer. We saw some sort of giant slug thing, orange with black spots sitting on the bottom of the sea. That was weird but interesting. Then we sailed off to find somewhere to eat, and as we did we could hear thunder in the distance and see a storm coming in. Scary! We stopped off for lunch on this tiny island and made the most of it to warm up because by then we were freezing. Lunch was huge and well worth the few extra R$. As we were sitting there it started raining and the storm came through. I was getting worried coz I hate the idea of being out in the sea whilst there is a storm, for some reason I have horror visions of huge waves and all that, like in the movies, and our boat was quite small. But luckily it went ahead of us so that by the time we got back on the boat it was only drizzling. Such a shame really that the weather is so crap because I can imagine that when it is sunny this place must be truly amazing..... When we got home we were all damp and disgusting and so I went out to buy some tea. HA HA! How english?! It's funny because this is when the english side of me stands out as when it is cold and wet or when I am ill I like to drink tea. Here when I ask for tea people look at me and say tea??? as in, really?? you want tea? I don't think they drink it that much here, they seem to prefer coffee.

The hostel is a great place for meeting people. So far I have met: 3 irish people on the first night, two guys and girl as well as a Brazilian and an American guy travelling together. They were all good company and we went out for some drinks together. There was also my roommate Rebecca of course, and then the Brazilian girl and her American boyfriend...On the second night we went out for drinks with two Brazilian sisters from the hostel and 3 Ecuadorian guys they had met. The Ecuadorians were mad and well in the mood for partying. It was fun! This morning I played chess with some Australian guys, oh and there were also some really nice french people too. Well, basically the guys were french/brazilian and there was only one of the guys' girlfriend who was only french and they were here with her, showing her around the country. It was nice chatting to them coz I got to speak french and portuguese, and for a french girl abroad she was nice enough. The french do have a bad reputation for that I suppose, as not being very friendly...Anyway yes this place is great for meeting people, that's for sure. They also have loads of dogs which sounds awful but is not so bad. The dogs are very friendly and look healthy (unlike the ones in the street) and it's nice to have some canine company.

I'm still not sure where to next, because the weather has been so terrible I'm not sure if I want to go and stay on an island when it's raining. The only thing is, there isn't really anywhere else to go in the vicinity that is interesting and I don't want to go to Rio yet. I would stay here but I think the hostel is full so I might just end up on the island anyway. I guess that's all for now as I have to free the computer and besides, enough has been said already. :-)

Pictures

Paraty

Paraty

The ice rink in Curitiba shopping mall

The over the top bush sculptures in the shopping mall

Paraty

To be pronounced: Parachee. Ha ha! Paraty is de -wait for it- lightful. De-lightful! (Insiders joke for anyone who has ever watched how I met your mom). Anyway yes, Paraty is lovely and I highly recommend that if you ever go to Brazil you come and visit this place.

Curitiba continued to be wet and rainy the day I left, so in the end I never got to ride the tourist bus. I got the bus into town and was heading towards the bus station to buy my ticket to SP. I knew there was a shopping centre on the way so I decided to stop off there hoping to find food. It did indeed have loads of restaurants and so I picked the first one that looked good and stuffed myself pretty literally. I was so hungry I just wolffed all the food down, and then I went and had tea and orange juice and desert somewhere else. I ate it all so fast though that I made myself feel really sick, and for a while after that I just had to sit down and let it pass. Silly me! The shopping mall was fun though. It provided shelter from the rain and cold, and it was fun to see all the crazy Christmas decorations, totally excessive, with Father Christmas, and fake snow and all. It even had a skating rink inside it!!! That was totally impressive and was in fact quite entertaining to just stand there and watch the Brazilians try to make their way around it. So random! But I guess they like their tatse of winter too, even when it's technically summer here. Anyway, I got my night bus to SP and made it safe and sound. This was a noisy night bus and people were chatting all the way which I just couldn't understand. I still haven't found the optimum bus seat yet either as sitting right a the front means you can hear the bus driver's conversations. It also means you get to see just how erratically they drive. Still, I reached SP safe and sound early in the morning which is when I wrote the previous post. Funnily enough after having said all that about the bus loo, the next bus loo I got was quite the contrary. For a start it was grim, but also I couldn't open the door. When I finally made it in, I got stuck in it and had to knock on the door and get the french tourists to let me out. HA HA! How embarassing!!!! The bus ride was long and slow, mainly because to get from SP to Paraty the bus has to take small country roads. I am amazed at how jungly the Brazilian vegetation is. I had expected it to be sort of normal trees and grass like in Europe but actually all the vegetation I have seen until now has been jungly and tropical and amazing. Also it has been much more mountaineous than I expected too.

The Brazilian coast is truly beautiful. This incredible jungly tropical surroundings, with mountains and ocean all together makes it impressive. It's just such a shame that it's so grey and rainy: AAAAAAAARGH!!! On our way over the bus got stopped and pulled over by the military police. Just a routine check for drugs apparently, though they didn't bother with my passport or my bag or anything. And apparently they have dogs to sniff the bags down in the hold. Interesting anyway...Then I reached Paraty and walked to my hostel with my backpack (henceforth reffered to as the muchilao). The hostel is truly lovely, right by the river it has a little tropical indoor garden with benches, hammocks and a pool (really the size of a rather large bath tub) and it's just so quaint. I will poste pictures soon. The only downside to it are the cockroaches which my roommate told me she had seen in the bathroom (eek!) and I actually saw one myself too. I'm scared the damn things are going to crawl on me and even more so now I know they can fly. GROSS!! but oh well....it's nice other than that. Today my roommate and I walked around the old colonial centre which is truly lovely, and just discovered the boutiques, the waterfront and all the rest. I promise pictures will come soon! Anyway I think that is all for now but stay tuned to the delights of Paraty. Only problem being the rain or the cloudy weather......

Funny/ Stupid

It is still relatively early here in SP, and I am a bit tired from my bus ride from Curitiba. So as I was sitting in the cafe I started thinking of funny silly things about Brazil and thought that instead of laughing about them by myself like a weirdo, I would come and write a post. I felt inspired! Anyway, forgive me if this is silly but maybe at least a few of you who have already been to Brazil (Nicola) might get a kick out of this.

For starters, I have realised that really the hard thing about using the bus loo is not that it's gross (though it can be), but mainly the driving of the bus driver! The bus shakes around and bounces about so violently that it's about all you can do to stay standing/sitting. You are therefore overcome by a fear of the door suddenly swinging wide open and you being flung out of the loo with your pants around your ankles, into the lap of the poor person sitting accross from the loo (bad choice of seat!). This is in any case how I feel...Therefore it is a case of desperately hanging on to the door of the loo to make sure it won't fling open, and also to stabilise yourself. ha ha! I am making myself laugh already...Speaking of loos, there was a funny sign on the door of the loo in the last hostel I was in that said "please keep the door closed". I wondered why it was that they had ended up putting the sign on the door. Had someone maybe decided to go to the loo one day and leave all the doors open for any passer by to see? No idea! But I felt that in order for there to be a sign, something must have happened. Also, in the bathroom in the hostel in Foz it said "please do not throw the toilet paper into the vase, throw it on the trash can" (in Brazil you can't throw toilet paper down the loo, coz of the drain system). I had this funny image in my head of people carefully putting it ON the bin instead of in it. It's silly I know, but these translations you encounter whilst travelling are really funny and people even sell books with these in them!

Another funny thing about Brazil is the pronounciation of english words. Well, of any word for that matter but in particular the english ones. A hot dog becomes the hotchee doggeeeee, the red bull a hedgee boule, hip hop: heepee hopee, and as it said in the guide book the pic nic is the pikee nikee! ha ha! In fact I'm sure there are loads more of these I just can't remember right now. Even Brazilian words are sometimes hard to pronounce. For example Tim, the country's biggest network provider for mobile phones to be pronounced chim or even ching, so trying to tell people you want a tim chip is next to impossible: a ching cheepee! A lot of things like that make me laugh here. Don't get me wrong I'm not making fun, it's just that it's amusing to observe, especially as foreigner who speaks several languages. Oh and I nearly forgot: the borracharias!! On my various bus trips I had seen loads of signs for Borracharias everywhere. Well, as far as I know in spanish borracha means drunk so I thought a borracharia was like a bar I suppose. Except all of these places were empty and didn't much look like bars at all. Well, call me ignorant because maybe you already know this but it turns out these are not bars but places where they make tyres. I thought that was kind of funny, or at least my mistake was. Anyway, I guess that is all for now but if I come up with any more I will be sure to write them down. I'm happy to see a few people are reading, especially people other than my family! :-) Nothing against the family of course, this is intended for you, but it's nice that other people are interested.

Curitiba

Here in Curitiba the weather continues to be awful. Today it is pouring with rain, almost as bad as english weather. I was going to try and get the tourist bus today, which is kind of like those ones you get in London you know? It takes you all over the main tourist attractions in town and you can get on and off it several times. The weather is so awful though that I doubt it is worth it. I don't even dare adventure into town because I am going to get wet. I can't picture myself then getting the bus to Paraty via Sao Paulo with soggy socks and trainers: gross! Luckily I still have the bin bag rain coat I bought in Foz so I think I am going to have to wear that. I am going to look like a right hobo/tourist with that on, but I don't have much choice. I came totally unprepared for rain and/or cold weather so.... ARGH!! Today I am going to have to spend my day being bored either on the internet, in front of the TV (thank god there is one) or reading. Not sleeping as I have decided to get the last bus out to Sao Paulo and I will need to sleep on that. I had a bit of a debate about what to do next. When I arrived in Curitiba it was cold and grey already. I decided to give the weather a chance though and stay on a bit. Then I couldn't decide whether or not I should go to Guaratingueta which is where Mestre Ze Antonio's academy is in order to train capoeira, or whether I should go straight to Paraty and spend more time there than planned, or whether I should go back to Sao Paulo. I was really keen on going back to capoeira especially since I haven't done much these last few days and training would be good. In the end though, I decided to go straight to Paraty as going to Guara would just mean more time, more money, more buses....Sad decision I know but I will maybe go there later on. I wanted to go back to Sao Paulo too but didn't want to disturb Flavia and Margaret again, especially as we are getting closer to Christmas and Flavia has come home. So straight to Paraty it is! I hope that there the weather will be better, or in any case warmer than it is here. I have to say, I am well disappointed by this weather! I left Europe for sun not for this, otherwise I could be skiing right now!!

Curitiba is ok in itself. The place where I am staying is right out of town so it's nice because it's quiet and removed and it's in a nice setting, but it's not so good for going into town especially at night as there is nothing to do. It also means there is no food nearby... The bus ride into town is quite a laugh though because this little yellow bus goes bounding up and down the road quite literally and it is such a bouncy ride that you really have to hold on! It's not very comfortable but it's funny! The town is supposed to be the most "European" but I can't really see it. Ok, I suppose it does have more big green spaces and squares, and it does feel a bit wealthier I suppose than other places I have been yet (all of 2). And also the transport system is pretty good. But really, that is all that is European about it. It is relatively nice though and feels safe and easy to walk around. The first day I just walked around the centre actually looking for the Rua das Flores that I never found, but I did get to see a bit of the centre. At the hostel I met two people: Irene and Venetius. Irene was an american girl who had been living in Salvador for the past 3 months and Venetius was a Brazilian guy from Sao Paulo. They were quite nice and so we just hung out together in the evenings seeing as there was not much to do. The next day we all went into the city together, and decided to go for another walk around. We found the historic part of the city but it was practically deserted so we went on a hunt for food. We found a total bargain place with an all you can eat buffet for 5.50 reais!! Then we continued walking around and went to see a park but it was closed coz it was Monday. They are almost as bad as the french for this: such an annoying habit! Anyway we didn't really get that much done but I guess it was nice to have some company to see the city with. Oh, I forgot to say that we happened upon a little Christmas crafts market down on one of the squares in the city. That was nice.

Yesterday I ventured out into town again, determined to do some sort of sightseeing before I left otherwise it would be embarassing! Made it to the bus station to try and buy a bus ticket but then realised I didn't have enough money. Enquired about the tourist bus but then decided I didn't have enough time to do it and I didn't want to be rushed. So I got the regular bus to the TV tower and went up that for a panoramic view of the city. The one sight seeing thing I did that day! Now I wish I had got on the tourist bus anyway as today the weather is so terrible I don't think it is worth it. I guess I could get on it and stay in just to go around the city...So I will leave Curitiba tonight and hopefully head on to a better place. Now I need to put on the bin bag raincoat and head into town, if anything for some lunch. Eating cheap here means eating badly:fatty and greasy! Probably why I am feeling the need to do some exercise and having cravings for sushi! Anyway, guess that's all for now. Today is my graduation day but I won't be at the ceremony. Happy Graduation to all other LSE people though. :-)

Waterfall pictures

Garganto del Diablo Argentinian side

Foz Brazilian side

Me on Argentinian side

Foz Argentinian side

Also, from this link you can access a map of where I have been so far (hope it works) http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=pt-BR&msa=0&ll=-23.445609,-46.639709&spn=1.16918,1.757813&z=9&msid=105661255573151792609.00045e05919b2d465d5de

Foz do Iguaçu

Warning! This is going to be a long post!! (since I have not written for nearly a week)

I am currently in Curitiba, where it is colder than it has been in the rest of the country until now. I also have a cold now due to the ruthless air conditioning in buses and shops, and in fact I am freezing in this bloody internet cafe!! You need to take a jumper for being indoors and summer clothes for the rest it's mad. Anyway...Now for the update. I didn't write until now because not only am I back on PCs (some of you will now I am now a Mac fan) but some of them are also old and slow.

I left Sao Paulo Tuesday evening to head over to Foz do Iguaçu in order to see the waterfalls. I took a 15 hour night bus hoping to sleep most of the way. The bus was better than I had imagined with good reclinable seats. I forced myself to stay awake until our first stop and dinner thinking that if not I would wake up half way through the night. The only problem was that once we had stopped for dinner and I tried to sleep I could not for the life of me fall asleep. It was so annoying! My brain just wouldn't switch off and all these stupid thoughts that had nothing to do with the present situation kept flowing through my head. So it was a rather tiring trip all in all. The bus also alternated between too cold and too hot so it was hard to keep track of how to dress...I managed to survive the bus loo and in fact then only went to loos when we made stops. The buses here do not follow the reglementary two hour stops we have in Europe but instead just drive on through the night pretty much as fast as possible and only stop ocasionnaly. There were two drivers sharing the job but I still can't help but think about my drive back from Calais and how tiring that was! It turned out later that the company I went with (Pluma), is apparently the worst bus company and not worth travelling with. So I will remember this for next time. Anyway I made it to Foz safe and sound and found my way to the hostel. When I arrived in Foz it was pouring with rain and in fact it had also been raining through the night. I was a bit worried about the weather as the weather forecast had been bad but just hoped it would hold out. I had planned to do nothing the first day anyway in order to have enough time to spend in the parks. I reached the Paudimar hostel that Nicola had recommended where the people were lovely and promptly fell asleep. Later on in the afternoon I had a quick walk around Foz looking for a padlock (to use on lockers hostels provide) and just see the city. I also decided to go for a manicure. Having heard how notoriously cheap Brazilian manicures were and since I had nothing else to do I decided to go. As I was in there I felt bad, starting to worry that in fact it would be really expensive and how I shouldn't have gone. So I was very surprised and relieved when the lady announced the price of R$7! (3 Euros or 2 quid more or less...) After that I went back to the hostel and got to know a few of the other people staying there. There were mainly two very British guys from the south of England who were nice enough though they had the most awful accents!

The hostel was in fact very confusing language wise. My brain is now fully switched on to portuguese which is a good thing because it means I sometimes think in portugues and I try as much as possible to speak portuguese to other people even when I know they speak english. The hostel became confusing because first I spoke portuguese to the receptionnist. Then, another member of staff patronised me by speaking french to me and offering to speak french. Later on I also met some french people so spoke french to them. Then, there was a Colombian/Swedish girl staying in my room with me and so I had to speak spanish to her! My spanish was VERY rusty because of the portuguese and at this point my whole brain just collapsed and decided it couldn't deal with this anymore! I got very confused. Eventually though my brain got itself into gear and by the next day I had managed to switch on to spanish which was even more confusing coz then I would speak spanish words instead of portuguese ones! All is good and back to normal now though. The Colombian girl was an avid party animal and was really desperate to go out. So I followed her to the local bar where she managed to find out the name of a place to go dancing. We went with some Brazilian guys she had met on the way to a dancehall called Quinta de Bamba. It was nice enough and there was a live band playing music similar to forro and loads of people dancing. It turned out to be quite a successful night!

The next day was my first day in the national park of the waterfalls. I started with the Brazilian side as that is what pretty much everyone recommends you do first. I was really lucky because the weather had brightened up by then and it was getting sunny. I went to the brazilian side and met an american girl on the bus which was nice because we walked the trail together. The waterfalls were indeed impressive and it is so amazing to see the first time you take it in. Also surrounding us were loads of trees, butterflies, lizards and birds. It has a distinct jungle feel to it! The trail only takes about 3 hours though so once we were done we took the local bus back to the village. I made the most of it and jumped into the pool at the hostel because in Foz not only was it hot but very humid too! On Friday I went to the Argentinian side of the waterfalls. I went with some other people from the hostel so had a bit of company. The Argentinian side is HUGE and it takes all day to see it. It is also the most impressive side which is why it is best to do it second of all. We started off by going to the top of the Garganto del Diablo, the most impressive chute of all. Then we did the upper and lower circuits, stopping off for lunch somewhere in the middle. The views and sights are just amazing, and one really cannot imagine how huge and impressive it is until you are there. I think it is the second most amazing and incredible feat of nature I have ever seen after the glaciers down in Patagonia. It is just incredible and totally worth the visit! The walk took us all day and I calculated we had walked about 3.5km so by the end of it I was exhausted!

The people in the hostel were really nice. The staff were lovely and helpful, and it had a nice swimming pool and bar area. Aside from the english guys there was also an English couple who were travelling the world for 6 months. They were quite nice and were enthralled by the brazilian side of the falls. They also went to Ciudad del Este in Paraguay to look for some "genuine fakes" and just see the sights. Ciudad del Este is meant to be a bit grim though and dangerous too. There was also a french couple who were travelling and seeing as much as possible as fast as possible!! They were really sweet and it was their first big trip abroad they told me. There were also four Kiwi girls that turned up on the Thursday night. They were in their early twenties and had been backpacking all over South America and were heading to Rio before going to Europe. They were all really nice too and it was good to meet so many different people whilst I was in Foz. I left Foz yesterday around midday and took the bus to Curitiba. This time I was going with a different bus company so was expecting better than the Pluma bus. The bus to Curitiba was indeed lush. Double decker style with nice reclining seats and in general very nice and comfortable. I also managed to sleep all the way this time! I arrived in Curitiba around 10pm and made my way over to the hostel. I was worried they wouldn't have any vacancies for me. I tried to call them earlier on but my stupid phone won't let me call because I don't have a Brazilian national insurance number. I actually need to resolve this problem...so I sent an email at the last minute hoping they would save a place for me. When I reached the hostel the woman said they had no vacancies and I was desperate because it would have meant going all the way back into town and staying in a Formule 1 hotel. However when she took my name to reserve for the next day she saw there was a reservation in my name and I had a room: thank god!!

The hostel here in Curitiba is very nice. It is huge, much bigger than the one in Foz and it is in the middle of the forest. Well, I exaggerate but it is surrounded by trees and it is very nice and peaceful. When I reached my bedroom there was this MASSIVE spider in it, and I couldn't fall asleep because I was scared it was going to come and walk over my face in the night. The other girl in my room, a Brazilian girl from Sao Paulo said she also didn't like it but she didn't know what to do because she didn't like killing insects. She said she had slept with it the night before and it had been fine. Eventually she was brave and got a cup and a piece of paper to take it and put it outside. It involved a few minutes of both her and me being scared and the bloody spider moving around the wall. Eventually though she got it, and managed to throw it outside! So here I am in Curitiba for a few days and we will see where I go next. Will write more soon, for now are pictures of Foz.

BANESPA

View 3. The green dome is the cathedral that is on Praça da Se

View 2

View 1

I forgot to say that on Sunday Margaret took me to the parque da Ibirapuera, Sao Paulo's bigest park and we went for a walk around it. Also, the weather here has stayed nice and very hot! I reckon at the hottest point during the day it is at least 35 degrees! wooo! the weather forecast for Foz is not so good but hopefully it will hold out during the visit. More soon...

Moving on

Yesterday was a busy day in Sao Paulo as it was my penultimate day there. I have finally decided to leave Sao Paulo and move on. I am beginning to like this city and it's true that I could stay and train. I like the academy here, it is small but feels homey and the classes are good. But I don't want to impose on Margaret much longer and besides there is loads yet for me to see in Brazil. So yesterday I started out on a reconaissance mission in order to find the main bus station from which I will be leaving today. It is right the other side of town!!! Relatively easy to find and get to but I reckon I will take a cab there. Sounds mad I know...The thing is I don't particularly want to face public transport with my huge backpack. The metro maybe, but not the bus. So I might as well just cab the whole ride....The backpack has advantages and disadvantages: it is practical rather than wheeling a suitcase around but it is also a very obvious foreigner sign and, of course, it's on your back. Sounds like stating the obvious but does make it less easy to keep an eye on it...Anyway enough about practicalities. Found the station, found my bus and enquired about times and prices. Also checked out the lockers to see if they would be safe to leave my bag in for a bit. Then, I went and bought a map of Sao Paulo. Silly to buy it on the last day but better than nothing I suppose. At least it will be a souvenir ha ha! I also bought the Sao Paulo equivalent of the oyster card. Once again stupid to leave it til the last day but when I saw the queues there were waiting to buy regular tickets I gave up and decided to go for the oyster card. Besides I had several trips to do and can always use it again if I come back to Sao Paulo. Note to others though, do buy this earlier on as it is useful!!

After the trip to the bus station I went into the centre of town to go up the BANESPA tower. The guide book had said it was worth it for the view. Considering the view we have from Margaret and Flavia's building I was completely nonplussed at the thought of the view from BANESPA and decided the view here was quite good enough. I quickly changed my mind when I arrived on top though. I think this is possibly the only time I managed to just about grasp the immensity of the city, and I do say just about! It has a 360 degree view of the whole of the city centre and outward looking of course. It is a truly incredible view and I will attach pictures of it after. So it was definitely worth the ride, and it is free too so that is even better. After that I wandered off into the centre on a shopping mission as I needed a sun cap and a bag to replace the one I have been borrowing whilst I was here. Found both pretty easily and cheaply and then carried on walking in the direction of some shops where Margaret had said there were capoeira shops. Eventually I found myself on the Praça da Republica and got the metro from there to capoeira. I was early (as always) and found Kibe outisde and got to have a chat with him. That was nice as I have heard so much about him I really wanted to be able to get to know him a bit better. He does indeed seem very nice. The class was good and as I said earlier made me feel a bit disappointed about leaving Sao Paulo and capoeira behind. But then again this is the land of capoeira and I will be training more later on.

I'm excited as it seems that more people will be coming to join us in January for capoeirando and we will all be renting a house together! Can't wait. In the meantime, I am off to Foz do Iguaçu this evening by bus. It's a 15 hour ride and this will be my first long bus trip. Other than that, twice now people from Sao Paulo have told me that Rio is more dangerous than Sao Paulo. Not sure whether to believe them but in any case have decided that even the small St Christopher's pendant I am wearing, which is my only jewellery, shall not be worn. It's a shame but I guess it's better safe than sorry! Anyway I guess this is all for now, no more ramblings on. Will post a picture of view from BANESPA next.

More pics

The food hall

Loads of fresh fruit!!

The first house ever built in Sao Paulo

Praça da Se

Sunset over Sao Paulo as seen from the flat's balcony.

Sampa

I have forgotten where I left off! The last few days in Sao Paulo the weather has been amazing, and that includes today. Friday I was lazy and decided to just stay by the pool all day and tan. This is the life! It was very very hot though and I put on loads of sun cream as a precaution. Still managed to get a pretty decent tan. I went out for lunch which was an expensive one on Friday, but definitely worth it. By expensive I mean 18R$ so about 9euros or less. It was steak with beans and rice and lettuce: yum!!! I had been craving some proper meaty meal for a while as I haven't really been eating in huge portions here. Not very hungry most of the time and also the lanchonete (snack style restaurants) are cheap. Friday evening I went back to capoeira, took a bus which took forever and was stuck in traffic for ages! It took an hour and a half to get there but on the other hand I got a pretty full tour of Sao Paulo, or so it felt. By the time I reached capoeira I realised I may have spent a bit too much time in the sun because I was feeling hot and tired so I didn't really perform my best at the class but it was ok because the class was small and laid back anyway. Kibe is really nice! Some guy with a fifth belt told me I was playing quite well which made me happy. There are loads of fifth belts here! I know they are a bit of a rarity in Europe but here it's just about the same as the number of third belts there are in London. LOL!

A couple of people have also told me that I'm speaking portuguese well, which makes me happy because it's not that easy and also it's just reassuring to think that I'm managing to communicate. After capoeira I left the academy with a woman who had been at the class and as we walked towards the metro the square was full of people sitting outside eating, drinking and being merry, and on the square there was a band playing pagode (a type of samba music). That was awesome and made me so happy. We stayed there and chatted for a bit and then a capoeira group turned up. When the band had finished playing they started a street roda. That was even better. Everyone joined in and started clapping and singing and for once everyone knew the words well, I mean everyone in the public not just the capoeiristas. Anyone can join in too. They played sooo fast it was mental. I wouldn't have ventured in there, I would have gotten my head chopped off. But it was fun to watch. At that moment I really felt that this was the reason why I had come to Brazil, to experience moments like those, and was really happy to be here. Incidentally the woman I was with has found me a new capoeira nickname: ET! We were talking about the nicknames and I told her I didn't like mine because I feel it isn't me. Then she came up with ET coz she noticed that I don't like saying where I'm from which is soooooooooo true! Even in Europe it's the same story. I'm sure some of you will testify to this. LOL! So I actually think ET is quite good. We'll see...

Saturday Margaret was absolutely lovely and offered to take me round Sao Paulo. We set out in the blazing sun and started at Praça da Se, it's the old part of town as it were. Then we walked to the first house ever built in Sao Paulo which is also a museum and stopped off there for lunch and a visit of the museum. As a student this cost me R$2.50, about one euro! Then we continued to walk around the city to many more places. We walked through a street market which was absolute mayhem: people everywhere: on the pavement, on the street, walking by the cars or in the middle of the road. Street vendors on the road, people pulling carts. It was almost reminiscent of the Middle Eastern mayhem. I have no idea how the cars managed to get by in this mess but they did and people were selling stuff everywhere and shouting and of course people like us walking by and shopping. It was crazy but fun! And there are guys in the street selling CDs who have sound systems and are blaring out music. It adds to the madness and also to the fun. Then we reached the more traditional market which was in a hall and was gigantic but filled with the most amazing looking stalls: fruit, meat, spices, everything! It was really impressive and it looked quite nice too. Then we walked around a bit more until going home where there was still time to use the pool! :-)

In the evening we went for a brief tour of the local shopping mall, and then out for a pizza. Apprently this is the most traditional Sao Paulo dish and they are very good here. Margaret was lovely to take me out and do all of this with me! I am actually beginning to like Sao Paulo now and get a bit of a feel for it. It is a bit too big of course and still too many buildings but it's not so bad. I think I might leave to Foz de Iguaçu in a couple of days. Some more pictures after this. That's all for now!

Pictures

Me and Horrivel. I look awful! lol

Roda! with Mestre Suassuna

In the academy they have lots of pictures, including this one!

Outside the academy!

The pool

Margaret and Flavia's building

Sao Paulo

Not much more to say about these past few days. Well, that's a lie I suppose. On Wednesday I finally managed to get my act together and go into town. The guy in the internet cafe was nice and told me where I could buy a sim card, then I went to get it and spoke with the shop assistants, and started picking up more confidence. So I finally got the bus into town to the Av. Paulista. It's a big main street sort of full of shops and banks and stuff like that. I walked up and down it a couple of times, actually looking for a tourist information office which was supposed to be there but that I never saw! The weird thing was that there were some buildings with HUGE Christmas decorations, really over the top out of proportion huge Christmas trees and all sorts. One of them even had a grotto just inside it. I assumed these would be shopping malls but in fact they were banks. Weird! Still the avenue itself was ok, felt safe and made me feel better about the city itself. I didn't stay for very long though because I had to get back home (which is in a neighbourhood called Brooklin and a bit out of the centre of town) and Margaret had told me that the traffic gets bad at rush hour. So I got the bus back. On the way there I had found a nice lady to tell me how to get into town.

The buses are weird in Brazil, or at least I think so. You get in the front or side. In fact, there are loads of doors and on both sides of the bus too, because the bus stops are on either side of the road, it depends. Then you get in and there are a few seats at the front of the bus or you can head to the back. To do that you have to go through a turnstyle and so you have to pay a man your bus fare. The buses are packed and they drive like nutters!!! In the evening Margaret had offered to drive me to capoeira because that was the only way she knew how to get there. That was nice and I got there in time for a class. I finally got to see the Sao Paulo academy of Mestre Suassuna, and take a class there. I met Kibe, who is the main guy who teaches there. People who do capoeira will know who he is... :-) After class I went home on my own, and that was a bit of an adventure. I wasn't sure I liked the thought of going home by night all alone but luckily a guy from class accompanied me to the metro and then showed me how to get to the bus station. There I just waited for the bus. I was wearing capoeira clothes and in general looked pretty inconspicuous I think so I just waited til the bus came and got on it. Was a bit hard making sure I got off at the right stop but all was fine in the end.

Yesterday the weather was not so bad for once, so I decided to stay by the pool as I had to go to capoeira in the evening and had decided to leave early just in case it took a while or I got lost. In the evening it was capoeira again and this time Mestre Suassuna was there, though he didn't give a class, just sat in the corner at the desk. There were lots more people at the class and then there was a roda. The girls here are really good! They're not afraid to play tough either. It's kind of cool to see some women playing really well. The energy of the roda was really nice too and towards the end they did samba de roda. Horrivel was there last night too, so we got to have a chat about capoeirando and all that. (Horrivel is a friend I will be travelling with a bit possibly). Then we all went out for a few drinks and then some nice woman gave me a lift home. So that's all for now! I will post a few pictures after this.

First day in Brazil

I arrived last night after a very very long trip. The trip was fine in itself though, no incidents, not even that much turbulence and no screaming babies either! When I arrived in Sao Paulo airport I went through immigration and bags and all that pretty fast. Then I had to start speaking portuguese right away as I needed to find out where to get the bus to the other airport. Thank God I can already speak a bit of portuguese because it makes life so much easier, and people assume you are Brazilian which I think is helpful. Even if they don't, it is still easier. I got on the bus and we drove through the city. It was pouring with rain, proper english weather and very hot and humid!! Margaret (Flavia's mum) came to meet me at Congonhas airport and then we drove home. The appartment block in which she lives is really nice. There is a pool, tennis courts, gardens, a gym, it even has a churrasca area(that I still have to discover). Their flat is on the 17th floor and so there is a good view of the surrounding buildings, main road, and all that. It gives you a good impression of how huge the city is.

This morning I got up and decided I was going to go into the city centre to have a look around and find an internet cafe. Flavia's mum said she would drive me to capoeira tonight as that is the only way she knows how to get there. That's really nice of her so I decided to not go to the academy during the day and wait. So I decided to go to town. I asked the doorman how to get to the centre and he explained it all, I wrote it down, got to the main road, and then chickened out and decided to turn back. At this point the strap to my bag broke anyway so I went back to the flat to sort that out and get my sunglasses. Attempt number two. I chickened out again. The thought of getting on the bus on my own to the centre freaked me out. What especially freaked me out was the thought of getting back to where I am staying on my own coz I might get lost and have no idea where it is. Attempt number three, I go back to the flat and ask the doorman where there is an internet cafe. And now here I am, in the internet cafe down the road from where I'm staying.

I'm not sure if I made the right choice by arriving directly in Sao Paulo. It is so huge, and very daunting to set out in all alone. Plus of course, you can't help but think about what you've heard about Brazil. Anyway, I think what I really need is to meet some people, so that I feel a bit more at home here and then I'll feel better knowing I'm going to meet people somewhere, people who know the city. That's why I'm glad I can go training here. Also, Horrivel, an Israeli guy from capoeira is also still here so I'll hopefully be able to meet him. That will be cool. I had planned on staying a week here but I might cut it short to go somewhere a bit more peaceful. We'll see.... I will keep you updated anyway. Don't forget to leave me replies and keep me posted on what you're doing back in Europe!

Emma

Addresses

A day and half away from my departure, and I still can't quite believe I am leaving. Everything has happened so fast!!! Anyway, just a quick note to say that if you would like a postcard, a letter, a bit of feijoada or something else, please don't forget to give me your address!!! Post it on here or send me an email. Hope to hear from you soon! 

Itinerary

This is officially my first post on my Brazil trip blog: exciting!!!! (even though I write this from my room in France). I leave in exactly one week and in fact, this time next week I should be flying somewhere over the ocean...

Anyway, I thought I would write up a brief outline of my itinerary or places I hope to see whilst I am there, since a few people have asked me this lately. Like that you can check it out on here and if you're really dedicated or just curious you can go and look some of the places up. (or not...)

So I arrive in Sao Paulo next Tuesday. I plan to stay there for a while training with Mestre Suassuna in his academy. 

After that I plan to go to Foz de Iguaçu, the waterfalls which are on the border with Argentina and Paraguay. 

After that, I plan to head towards Rio de Janeiro, possibly via Sao Paulo again, stopping off on the way in places like Paraty and Ilha Grande. I'm also going to try and stop off in Guaratingueta, a small town in the state of Sao Paulo. This is where some of my capoeira teachers from the UK are from and their families (father, uncle...)  are still out there teaching. It's nice to go and visit them and see what their academy is like.

By the time New Year's eve comes round I hope to be in Rio de Janeiro and to have been there for a few days at least. I will be meeting friends from Europe there, which is a bit weird but cool. A family of friends from Austria will be there, as well as my friend Veronica from Nottingham, and Flavia from London. 

After that I will head to Ilheus in the state of Bahia, for the Capoeirando event. It is a huge capoeira event held every year by Mestre Suassuna and I'm very excited about going there for the first time ever. There will be loads of great capoeiristas and lots of training. Once that's over, I will make towards Salvador, the main spot for all capoeiristas to visit. 

Having spent a while in Salvador I then hope to head up the coast of the North East of Brazil, stopping off in places such as Recife and Olinda, Natal, and Fortaleza. I hope to have enough time left over after that in order to go back down to Rio to visit another friend of mine who lives there and see more of this city. Finally, I hope to be able to spend Carnival in Salvador, once again with Veronica, in order to finish my trip with a blast!!

I will of course write about all this in detail as I go along. Thanks for reading :-)