NUEVAS AMISTADES

Since arriving at the Che Lagarto Copacabana hostel about 8 days ago, I have made many new friends (both Brazilian´s and other tourists from various other countries around the world)... It´s like a family in this hostel, and everyone is sooooooooooo friendly... We have been going out to party together with the other tourists as well as staff members at the hostel... It´s great because the staff know Rio very well, so they know exactly where to go out and just take us under their wing in a way... I think that on Friday one of the Mexican staff members is going to be leaving (back to Mexico or another country), so we are probably going to go out on Thursday to wish him farewell... Continuing to live it up COMPLETELY!!!!!!

Spanish VS. Portuguese

I must be getting a Portuguese accent or something when I speak Spanish because I have had about 3 different people compliment me on how good my Portuguese is... Meanwhile I don´t speak any Portuguese (only a few words) and am speaking Spanish to them the whole time although I am beginning to understand the Portuguese better after being in Brazil for more than 2 weeks now... Maybe it comes from being around a lot of people who speak Portuguese..... Not sure, but very interesting!!!

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL--Favela Tour

Today I went on a tour of the biggest Favela in Rio (about 300,000 people) called Rocinha... The Favelas in Rio are also the most famous in Brazil!!! Now, you might ask, "what is a Favela?" A Favela is basically a slum in a city although they can be anywhere... I didn´t want to tell anyone at home that I was going to see one because I didn´t want to freak anyone out... I was actually scared about going to one when I first got to Rio until I met some people who had been on the tours and said that it´s a "must do" tour... I got picked up from my hostel by the guide who does these tours twice daily and then we hopped on motorcycles to take us up to the top of the Favela and we made our way down by walking... These motorcycle drivers are crazy and I thought that I was going to die at certain moments, but it was really fun... Then the guide gave us some instructions and told us that we could take pictures except of people with guns or people dealing drugs... Also, the kids LOVE getting their picture taken because all foreigners to them are GRINGOS so their idea is that they will later be on television and become famous... SO CUTE!!! We went to a daycare, which is where the kids are able to be cared for while the parents are working or looking for work... It was very dirty and smelled like a sewer!!! The head guy of this Favela is 24 years old and makes about $4 million monthly... Of course he makes this money from dealing drugs... He was made the head guy after the last one was killed when he was 26 years old... They also probably get this status after they have also killed someone... Pretty sad!!! The last section that we walked through was where the drug dealings occur and you could see people smoking marijuana, and I also saw this guy with a gun attached to his belt... And all I have to say is why do bad things happen to good people??? As we were walking back to the car, I noticed that the bracelet that my friend, Yuko´s, mother gave me in Japan had fallen off... It must have gotten caught on something, but it´s a big bummer!!! It´s a crazy way of living, but was an amazing experience for me to take part in!!!

ONLY IN BRAZIL!!!

Last night I went out in Lapa (a part of Rio) with some people that I met at the hostel, and we had LOTS of fun... First of all, I am still getting used to the fact that it seems like all over South America things don´t really get going until after about 2am (I´m used to things CLOSING at 2am...Hehehe), so of course we just hung out and drank at the hostel until about 1:30am and then we got in taxis to go to hit up Lapa... When we got there we first went to this one bar that had live music and it reminded me of what Bob Marley days were probably like... Then we walked back to the main street and heard some music so we started dancing ON THE STREET!!! Eventually the DJ came over and told us to move closer... The thing that I didn´t realize at first was that the DJ was playing out of a garage type place (not a club) and there were women selling beer next to him... So we all continued to dance as a group as well as with other Brazilians who were sooooooooooooo much fun!!!!!!!!!!! The night ended at about 5:30am when we got back to the hostel...... ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS THAT BRAZILIANS DEFINITELY KNOW HOW TO PARTY!!!!!

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL--El Corcovado

Since it is raining today, I decided to take some time to update my blog... Yesterday I went with an American girl from California that I met in the hostel to see the Corcovado which is the Christ statue overlooking RIO!!! It was a cultural experience and something to see in Rio, so we decided to go even though she is Jewish and I am not religious..... :) We had a great time though!!! A driver drove us up to the top and also stopped off on another lookout point which had views of the Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf) and the Maracaná statium (probably the most famous soccer statium in the world)... That landing also had monkeys that would eat pieces of banana out of your hand... My brother definitely knows that I like monkeys a lot after our India trip... Hehehe!!! There was also a monkey sitting on the roof of the snack bar at the bottom when we finished viewing the Corcovado, so one of the guys who worked in the snack bar gave him two bananas..... Very cute!!!!!!

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL--Pão de Açucar

Rio de Janeiro is one of the most BEAUTIFUL places I have ever seen!!!!!!!!! Wow!!! Yet another absolutely amazing place... Today I went to Pão de Açucar with Samantha, the American girl that I met in Foz, and we had a blast... She arrived in Rio on Friday as well and stayed at another hotel for one night and then came to join me at the Aproador Inn on Saturday and left today... The hotel where I am staying is directly on the beach and so amazing that I decided to splurge and stay just one more night, so I will be checking into a hostel tomorrow (Monday)....... Pão de Açucar was awesome!!! You take a cable car to the top of this mountain that looks like a big rock, and the cable car stops at one other landing before arriving to the top of the Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf)... It has such beautiful views of Copacabana Beach (one of the most famous beaches in the world if not THE most famous beach in the world) as well as various other beaches that are like nothing else that you´ve ever seen........ I am loving life right about now!!! Hehehe!!! Things can´t get much better than this and Brazilians are just sooooooooo nice and welcoming!!!

FOZ DO IGUAÇU, BRAZIL--Argentinian Side

The Argentinian side of the waterfalls was even more amazing than the Brazilian side... From the Brazilian side you were able to get a panaromic view of all of them but from the Argentinian side you got more of an upclose and personal look and feel... I also went with three other people from the hostel in a boat that takes you directly under the falls, which was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!!!!!!!! There is said to be over 275 waterfalls and about 80% of them are on the Argentinian side whereas only 20% are on the Brazilian side!!! They are so beautiful, and I would reccommend that anyone who has the chance should go... Now I have to go to see Niagara Falls when I get home to compare, but I´m sure that these ones will blow Niagara out of the water!!! Hehehe!!!

FOZ DO IGUAÇU, BRAZIL--Brazilian Side

WOW!!!!!!!!! Another absolutely amazing place!!! After a 9 hour overnight busride from Curitiba, I arrived in Foz do Iguaçu... The hostel that I was staying at had organized a trip to the Brazilian side of the waterfalls (cataratas), so I went with three other people staying at the hostel which allowed us to capture the moment together... They are huge and sooooooooooo beautiful... After we were done viewing the falls, we went to have lunch, and an animal that looks somewhat like a raccoon decided that it wanted to get up on the table and steal my french fries... Hehehe!!! Then he took the hamburger from these people sitting next to us!!! Bastard!!! Hehehe!!! It was actually pretty funny!!! There is nothing else like these waterfalls!!!!!!!! :)

Un Mundo Entero is Back up and Running

Un Mundo Entero is back up and running as of May 2nd, 2007... As many of you know, my camera was stolen in Buenos Aires, and I was only able to buy a new one on Saturday when I was in Sao Paulo... Take a look below are the 4 new entries that I just posted!!! I just got to Foz do Iguassu (where there are these amazing waterfalls) after a 9 hour overnight busride from Curitiba... I´ll post more pictures as I take them!!! :) ENJOY!!! :)

CURITIBA, BRAZIL

Since Tuesday was a holiday, nobody had work, so Maure, Diogo, and I got up and went to see a few sights around Curitiba in the morning and then met up with Diogo´s parents and brother at an Italian restaurant for lunch and visited some more sights after lunch... Curitiba has a lot of parks so we visited many parks as well as the Botanical Gardens and a university that is for people who study the environment and nature and is in the middle of the woods... It felt like we were walking through a rainforest when we went to see the university... Diogo´s parents were extremely nice to have us and were VERY welcoming and sooooooooooo sweet!!!!!!!!! :)

Flight Drama Getting to Curitiba, Brazil

Diogo had come up to Sao Paulo for the weekend, and Maure, Diogo, and I had spoken about flying back down to Curitiba with Diogo if we were able to find a cheap flight... On Sunday morning Maure called me and told me that she found tickets for us to fly to Curitiba on Sunday night on the same flight as Diogo for about $50USD, so I told her to book them and I would pack my bags... We went to the BBQ and then drove directly to the airport in Sao Paulo since our flight was at about 11pm... As we were waiting in the airport, we heard an announcement saying that the Curitiba airport was closed because it was cloudy so we would have to fly into another airport about 100km or so away from Curitiba and take a bus the rest of the way... It was very frustrating, but we just ended up laughing!!! As we were getting off the plane, Diogo and Maure heard someone talking on the phone to someone who said that a plane had just landed at the airport in Curitiba, so we have NO IDEA what happened... Welcome to South America!!! We eventually made it to Curitiba at about 2am!!!

BBQ Near Sao Paulo

On Sunday morning, Maure and Diogo came to pick me up to go to a BBQ near a beach that was about 1 1/2 hours from Sao Paulo... One of their friends parents has a beach house there, and it is common for Brazilians to have beach houses on top of their regular house in a city... We had a BBQ there since Tuesday was Labor Day and they didn´t have work and many people didn´t have work on Monday either, so that made an excuse for the Brazilians to throw a party... Hehehe!!! It was lots of fun and I met yet more people and two of Maure and Diogo´s bestfriends who have been together for about 9 years and Diogo and Maure have been together for about 8 years... LONG TIME!!! Maure and Diogo are getting married next year!!!!!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!! :)

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

After the awful camera theft, I got to Sao Paulo, Brazil and went on Saturday with my friend, Maure, and her boyfriend, Diogo, to this very cheap place that sells different types of electronics for the most part... It´s said that they don´t pay taxes to sell these items so it´s illegal for them to sell but not for me to buy... :) I got a really good deal, so I bought a new camera which is the beginning to a new stage of my life... On Saturday was also my friend, Alex´s, birthday so we went to a bar near his house to celebrate... Since he goes to that bar all the time they named a sandwich after him... His last name is Xavier so they named the sandwich Xavier... Hehehe!!! Maure, Diogo, and Diogo´s sister, Mariana, left the bar a little earlier but since I was staying at Alex´s apartment, I stayed at the bar with them until about 12:30am or something like that... There were also a lot of Alex´s friends there and his girlfriend, Cinthia. who he lives with... It was a really good time!!!