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! ;-)