It Finally Stoped Raining!

Well it was raining here for 3 days straight. Crazy stuff. I stayed inside my house for most of it and the one day i ventured down my street i came across a sizable river and got increadibly wet. There must have been at least 1.5 feet of rain. I dont think Cali sees that in 2 years.... Now the sun is out, just in time for Carnaval! I have no idea what Carnaval is like but i hear it is once huge crazy party with a lot of costumes and dancing.

Here is a pic of my house and the view from my house. It is amazing. I am so lucky to be able to live in amazing places and meet amazing people. Everyday I think of how lucky i have been in my travels. I think i am even luckier because i realize how lucky i am and don't take my experiences for granted.

I hope that everyone in the states has a great superbowl sunday... i dont even know who is playing... i am a bad american.....

Tchau for now!

Beleza!

Well I am now in Floripa! I left Sao Paulo after two weeks. Sao Paulo was amazing and I loved catching up with old friends. I have to say i was sad to leave. It is such a big city tho, and I dont think i could live there without a car. I took a 12 hour overnight bus ride to Floripa. It was a bumpy ride but i managed to sleep for most of it. I stayed in a Pousada for a week. A Pousada is somewhere in between a hostel and a bed and breakfast. The first day i was in Floripa a guy from Chile came up to me on the beach and aked if i wanted to hangout with him and his friends. His friends were from Sao Paluo. I said yes, they cooked me dinner and took me to a bon fire. I met a bunch of girls from Argentina. There are tons of Argentinians here! They like to drink their mate (very bitter tasting tea). I also met a nice carioca (girl from Rio) she took me to a beach just south of Floripa, but it was raining. I met some great Brazilian guys, 2 brothers from Brasilia and 2 friends from Sao Paulo. They were always insearch of beautiful people (girls i am sure but they always said ´beautiful people´). They took me to some great clubs with great music and of course beautiful people. I met some Aussies as well. One, Darren (i think), is a host of a show on MTV Australia. He had a bunch of crazy stories. He wanted to stay in Brazil longer so he told his boss that his passport was stolen ans it was in the newspaper the next day that a host on MTV was robbed in Brazil. Haha. I hung out with them for a night which was interesting beacuse they were insearch of what most all Aussies are insearch of at night.....
On Tuesday I moved into what I will call home for the next 5 months. The house is in a part of Floripa called Sambaqui, a nice quiet area. The house near the top of a killer hill. I thought the hill going up to my apartment in Sydney was a killer, this one is 2x worse! The house is kinda in a jungle and there are bugs everywhere! The 2 guys that I live with, Eduardo and João do not speak any english so i should learn portuguese quickly ;-) I think I found a teaching job at an English school called ACE, but school doesnt start until March so i have a month to do nothing.... which is hard for me to do...
My portugues is getting better. I had a semi-conversation with a guy on a bus the other day, i was very proud of myself! I think i will take proper classes in March when the schools start up.
I think i am going to see Fat Boy Slim here next Saturday. Should be crazy! I will stay in Floripa for Carnaval which should be crazy as well.
I will post pictures later, the comp i am on wont let me!
Tchau!

Pictures!

Me and Melissa´s nieces, Luana, Larissa and Natasha with Duda (the dog)


















Tequillas Night (Leto, Me and Tati)

New Year´s Eve, midnight with Glermie, Melissa, Natasha, Augusto, Me and Gustavo

Itaenhen Beach
































More pics to come.... its time for happy hour!

Feliz Ano Novo!!!!!

For thoes of you who dont speak Portuguese.... Happy New Year!!
So I left Cali on Dec 28 and flew to Lima then from Lima to Sao Paulo. I got into Sao Paulo at 9am on the 29 where Augusto and his brother picked me up and we dove for 5 hours (it usually takes 1) to Itanhem, the beach where Melissa and ALL of her family have houses. My schedule for the next 6 days went as follows: Wake up (at 1030), eat, beach (drink beer), eat (drink beer), sleep (no beer), eat, drink beer, bed time (between 12 and 530...) Absolutly amazing! The beach that we were at was not the stereotypical Brazilian beach that you are all thinking of. This was a family beach. Everyday we would go to the beach, just 4 or 5 of us, and by then end of the day there was about 15 of us there, all from Melissa's extended family. Melissa's family enjoyed trying to teach me Portuguese, very funny. Even her 3.5 year old niece could say `What is your name? My name is Larissa´ So cute! Her family is one of my favorite families to be around, always happy, smiling and laughing. I love them!
For New Year's Eve we spent the day on the beach (you all should see my tan now.... still not close to a Brazilian tan tho...). At night we went to Melissa's uncle's house with about 30 of her relatives. We ate a lot of great food, smoked hooka and drank a champange drink with fruit in it. At 11:45 we walked down to the beach with the rest of the town. It really looked like some sort of pilgramage. There were fireworks going off everywhere. Midnight sorta just happened, there wasnt a big count down. We drank champange and wished every one a Feliz Ano Novo. We went to the ocean to jump over 7 waves and make 7 wishes. After that we went back to Melissa's uncle's house and (they) sang kareoke in Portuguese. It was a great New Years Eve, my first in the summer but im sure not my last!
Now I am back in Sao Paulo, staying at Melissas house. Tonight we are going to a Samba preformance and then we learn to Samba! Cant wait! I think i will stay in Sao Paulo for another week and then head to Floripa. Everyone here says I will have a great time there. It is full of beautiful people and beautiful beaches! Cant wait!
My Portugues is coming along. I am understanding a lot but i have no confidence to speak it yet, and it is easy to speak english when almost everyone knows a few words. Sorry for all the spelling errors, when you pick up a new language apparnetly you lose your old one..... (or you cant figure out how Melissas comp works...)
Pictures will come soon!
Much Love!



Portugues lesson of the day:
Camarão: shrimp (prawn); a guy with a great body but ugly face.... you cut off the head and eat the body! ;-)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

So I finally decided to start a blog. I figured it was easier than sending out the mass email. I forgot what I did most of the time and didn't email as much as I wanted to. So here it is. I will update it as much as I can.

I got back from Australia on Dec 17th. I spent my birthday, the 18th, with my friends and went to Indio on the 19th. On the 20th me and my sister's family went to Las Vegas for a couple of day. It was great fun and pretty cold.

My family and I spent the 23rd at my cousin's house celebrating Christmas a little early. I ate my first Turducken. For those of you who don't know it is a chicken stuffed into a duck stuffed into a turkey. It was boneless except for the legs and wings. Very interesting and very tasty!

On the 24th we went to San Diego for the Bronco/Charger football game. It was my nephew Patrick's first Bronco game. He had a blast even tho the Bronco's lost 3-23. Brenda, Roland, Patrick and I spent Christmas Eve in a hotel and went to Redlands to celebrate Christmas with our grandmas on the 25th.

Tomorrow I am going to Costa Mesa and Friday I leave for Brazil! My friend Augusto is picking me up from the airport in Sao Paulo and we are heading to his girlfriend Melissa's beach house for New Years. I am so excited to see my Brazilian friends again. I am a little nervous about the language barrier. I hope that I pick Portuguese up fast! The next time I write I will be writing from Brazil! I wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year!!!!