Brazil

February 21 - Porto Seguro, Brazil

Well, we made it!!!!! We survived our two full travel days and are thoroughly enjoying the sun and beaches in Brazil. We spent the night in Buenos Aires instead of sleeping in the airport because we were exhausted. We were only there for about 8 hours but the owner of the hostel picked us up at one airport at one in the morning and dropped us off at another airport at eight in the morning - so incredibly nice and proud of his city. Buenos Aires looked really beautiful and I hope to make it there at the end of this trip or maybe another trip to South America.

Brazil is completely different from all the other countries we have seen. It is laid-back and tropical and warm. The easy mix of races has created wonderful food, music and dance.

Porto Seguro is a small beach town with brightly colored stores and restaurants. The beach is a ferry ride away and is beautiful with white, white sand and warm turquoise water. Everyone here is unbelievably tan. The woman wear the smallest bathing suits I have ever seen whether they are fit or not. Looking good is a national pasttime in Brazil along with soccer and music. The music is excellent and everyone loves to dance and sing. At night, the streets fill up with tourists and locals and there are stalls selling exquisite handicrafts. Flirting is part of the local flavour and the simple task of walking down the street becomes an adventure.

The only problem is the language. I actually want people to talk Spanish so I can converse with them, but none of them do and no one speaks English either. So, basically, we are stuck. While the Brazilians can understand my Spanish, I do not understand their Portugese answer. The languages are almost annoyingly similiar. Portugese is rounder and has more vowel sounds. Perhaps if I were fluent I would be able to understand them. My Spanish improved tremendously in 5 months but I am not anywhere near fluent. I just started to dream in Spanish and I hear that is a breakthrough. It all depends on how fast people talk and where they are from in South America. But now of course that is all a moot point. I now need to learn Portugese and will probably forget all the Spanish that I have learned.

Carnaval starts in two days and the town is getting ready. There are stages being built and more concession stands being set up. It should be a blast. The weather at night is perfect - balmy and warm but not too hot. The daytime sun is a killer and being near water is a must. I did not go to the beach today because I felt sick this morning with a fever and a sore throat. Cannot remember the last time I was truly sick. But Kate went to the pharmacy and got me antibiotics. All you have to do here (and elsewhere in South America) at the pharmacy is tell them what is wrong and they give you the correct drugs - no doctor needed. I just hope that I am at 100 percent tomorrow - still feel tired and a bit out of it but I had to get out of the room for a while.

Only two days till Carnaval. Very happy to be here and am psyched we are spending four months here!

March 2 - Porto Seguro

Obviously, if you are reading this you have seen my new web page which is incredible. Many thanks to my friend Mike who did the entire thing for me! It looks better than ever!!!!! I added pictures for Chile. They are pictures of hiking the volcano, hiking in Torres del Paine (one of Kate's foot during the 17 mile torturous hike), and the Moreno Glacier.

It is the last day of Carnaval here in Porto Seguro. Carnaval ended on Wednesday in Rio and Salvador but continues here until tomorrow. At least that is what we think. It could go until Monday. It all started last Saturday and has been complete madness ever since - over 100,000 people dancing in the streets until 5am every night!! There are about 20 popular Brazilian songs that they play over and over. One, believe it or not, is ´Who Let the Dogs Out´ in Portuguese! Each song has a coordinating dance and everyone knows all the moves, which are very sexy and not easy. They start playing the songs and learning the dances in September. We hear the songs about 20 times a day but that does not stop all the Brazilians from going crazy when it comes on and they scream and dance around like they have not heard it for weeks. One song is called Tapa Nakada, which is about a woman asking a man to hit her. Allegedly it was a bit controversial and the moves to it are very interesting to say the least. Most Brazilians could be professional dancers. I cannot believe how many different directions they can move their hips. The girls that dance on the top of the trucks with the bands are incredible. The two fun Australian guys we have been hanging out with have a difficult time keeping their tongues in their mouth. Pretty funny.

It all kicked off last Saturday at 10pm. We were sitting having a beer when a huge truck rolled down the street blasting one of the songs. Two dancers were on top and the band was in the middle. At that point, everyone just went mad and started running around with their hands in the air, shaking their hips, and singing with abandon. It continued until 5 AM and has been the same for the past seven nights... There are four or five of the trucks that carry the bands and they just cruise up and down the main street all night so no one on the whole strip is without music. The energy here is incredible - people are friendly, not any fights, and very safe. The sight of a 2-mile long street filled with happy people celebrating by dancing and laughing is something that has to be seen to fully understand. The second night it rained buckets but did not stop the festivities from continuing as usual. We just danced like maniacs in the tropical, warm rain and had a blast.

Walking down the street is an adventure in itself. All you have to do is make eye contact with a guy and he is next to you trying to kiss you. It is funny but can be annoying when you cannot walk for five feet without being mauled by a gorgeous Brazilian man.... not for the faint-hearted. If a guy did this at home he would probably be arrested for assault. However, here it is all just part of the fun and the Brazilian men can be very charming...

So, exhausted but ready for another night out on the town... Actually will not know what to do with myself when Carnaval eventually ends.

My Portuguese is killing me and I am struggling along. It is a good thing I am enjoying the fun part of Brazil or I would go mad at being frustrated by the banking and postal systems. It took me an hour and a half to cash traveler's checks at the bank yesterday and not because there were lots of people in front of me. I could have taken out a mortgage for the amount of papers I had to sign and the time I had to wait. Kate and I are both having problems using the ATM´s. Apparently we are not the only ones, other travelers are also having problems. Thank god I had traveler's checks to fall back on. This is a tourist town and there is not one place other than the bank that changes money or traveler's checks - nightmare. We ended up taking out lots of money because we do not want to be in a situation where we cannot get money out. The post office is equally frustrating. I mailed a box home today of cold weather clothing. Because it was over 2 kilograms I had to send it airmail - ridiculous and cost me 100 dollars - well Kate and I split it. Just stupid bureaucratic b....sh..t.

Ok, off to nap before tonight's festivities kick in....AGAIN!!!!!