2009 is here!!!!

My Christmas Family, Rory, Bev and Jess/Magia

2009 is here! Happy New Year!!!

So, after the last post, what happened? The day after my treck all over Rio I took it easy and stayed in by the pool side most of the day just trying to recover from the previous lack of sleep. I was lucky though because the weather was relatively nice. In the late afternoon Magia and I went on a small mission in order for her to sort out some last minute stuff before she left for New York the next day. So we got on the bonde and rode it again all the way down. It's so much fun riding the bonde, hanging on (or off) the sides of it, dodging close cars and lamposts and looking at the view as you go down or up. I think riding the bonde most definitely tops riding the bus as the ultimate public transport experience! :-) It is amazing. I haven't yet been over the arches but I plan to do this before I leave. We then went to a friend of Magia's in Lapa and from her appartment there was the most amazing view over the bay and the Sugar Loaf mountain. On the way back from hers we went for a walk in Lapa where we went to look for the really famous Santa Teresa mosaic stairs. They are really beautiful, and were definitely worth a visit. The man who made them, or rather the artist who works on them was such an odd figure. A little old man in a tiny room surrounded by paintings, trying to sell his work to you the second you stepped through the door. He was going on about how famous he was and how his fame was different to that of Picasso's because he was famous via the internet and TV and worldwide media. Then he started pulling out all these photos of famous people who had been there like Edward Norton, or Snoop Dog, or how it had featured in fashion photoshoots. He was very eccentric and funny. Once we had done that we walked back up to Santa Teresa to join Rory and Bev for a fancy dinner for our last night in Rio. Rory had found this amazing restaurant which had a fantastic view over Rio from the heights of Santa Teresa and one could see all the lights twinkling in the distance. The food was fantastic as was the location. We sat and played the game "top 3" as suggested by Bev, which I thought was a really good end of the year game to play. The idea is to list top 3 things of the year so for example: top 3 meals, top 3 people you have met, top 3 places you've been...It was a fun game and a good one because it makes you think about the past year and what you have done and enjoyed the most. After that very dignified dinner, we all went home and ended up swimming the pool late a night. Such a hilarious experience! And so, on New Year's eve I left my lovely Christmas family behind and headed onwards to my new destination: Veronica's aunt's. Magia was flying to New York, and Rory and Bev were flying back to Portugual, so all of them spent New Year's eve in a plane. Still, I would like to say how lovely it was to spend Christmas with them and what a great time I had, and that I really do consider them as my Christmas family.

New Year's eve I went to meet Veronica's aunt in the morning and we all went to the airport to pick her up. It was really cool to meet Veronica and see her here in Rio, which in a sense is quite surreal. But it is nice to think that now is the start of our journey together in Brazil. After a quick nap and a catch up we started getting ready for the New Year's eve party down on Copacabana beach as we had to catch the last metro at 6pm. After that, the metro closes down and only opens to people who have bought special New Year's eve metro tickets. These had all ran out by the time we got there so our only option was to get the metro before 6. We were lucky as we literally made it JUST in time, and arrived on Copacabana beach early. We walked down to Ipanema to meet some family friends of mine, the Luraschis, to say hello an Happy New Year. We ended up being so lucky as to find a place to eat for all of us in the Garota de Ipanema. I had really not expected to find anywhere to eat on such a busy night so that was a good surprise. After that we left the parents to stay in Ipanema and the four of us girls walked back to Copacabana. As we were walking back it started to rain, just a drizzle at first, but when we reached Copacabana beach it actually started pouring! At first I made a vague attempt at trying to protect myself but then I just gave up and stood there in the rain getting wet along with everybody else. Then it just felt like it was part of the New Year's eve experience to get wet in our white clothes. It was kind of refreshing too since it was so hot. Shortly after that the countdown started and then the fireworks went off and it was just incredible. It was such an amazing feeling to think that I had just counted down and seen in the New Year in Copacabana beach in Rio in Brazil. Unbelievable!!! I was just so excited to be there on the beach, with so many other people, and in particular to be there with Veronica Stefi and Bea. It was awesome!

After that we went and sat on the beach and watched people go by, then went to listen to the band that was playing and had a walk around. Just as we were about to go home, Bea's friend Joao found a party for them to go to, and miracles of miracles I managed to find the Aussies!! Or should I say, they found me. We had planned to meet up by medical point number 2 earlier on in the evening but just never found each other, and then, incredibly, we did manage to find each other. How cool!! So the Aussies, Veronica and I all went off in search of a beach party. We somehow ended up in the gay part of the beach, though as they say, they gays know how to party and theirs was the only party still on. There was a tranny there that was totally out of control and dancing around to the music in a very dramatic way, clearing a circle for him/herself and had a whole crowd watching her. It was mad! Eventually though we decided we had had enough and went to find some chairs to sit on the beach. There we sat and watched the people go by, mainly drunken people and LOADS of men pissing in the sea. Disgusting, I know. The state of the beach was just awful. So many bottles, and cans, and trash, all getting occasionally washed into the waves by the tide...so sad! But they just hadn't provided any bins anywhere, so it was normal that people were just dropping their trash. We sat and watched the sun rise, sadly unspectacular, and then finally decided to head home. Really, the reason we were waiting was so as to not have to take a cab, so we went to the metro and go the first metro home. So cool! I have done that only a few times in my life. All in all it was a very successful night, spending New Year's eve on Copacabana was just an incredible experience, and I would say probably the best New Year's eve ever!

I keep thinking how lucky I am to be able to be here, and what an amazing experience this is. I am seeing places that people all over the world have heard of, that are famous and beautiful, and some people will never get to see these places, will never even get to leave their own country. And I can't help but think how unbelievable it is to be here and how lucky I am. Since I have now been here for a month, I think I would like to share some thoughts I have about the whole experience, thought I might save those for another post. I would like to say though, that throughout my whole time here I have felt completely safe. I find it hard to explain exactly why it is I feel safe and comfortable here, but I feel that the whole dangerous thing is completely overrated. Of course you have to be wise and exercise normal precautions, you can't go around advertising the fact that you are a tourist. But I also think that if you use a minimum amount of common sense you can get around fine without having to worry all the time about your safety. I just feel comfortable here, and I think that it helps to feel as if you are at home rather than in a big dangerous city. I don't like the way we are made to be afraid and feel that instead we should go with precaution, of course, and common sense. Anyway enough for today's entry I think.

Happy New Year, and all the best for 2009. I hope this year goes well for everyone

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