2/4/12

A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. We just had a long weekend, and I didn't have access/ care to have access to my computer at the time. Let me just start out by saying that I just love being disconnected from the real world on some level or another. It is relieving not to be constantly carrying around my iPhone, or always checking my Facebook/email. It gives me time to enjoy the world I live in, in the moment I'm living it. I almost feel bad for the people on this trip who are still just as connected to their iPhones or social media sources. Not that it's a bad thing at all, or that I'm looking down on them, but I just feel that in order to get fully immersed in this new culture, you gotta cut the umbilical cord from home/parents/friends/social media. I have gotten so much out of carrying around a camera instead of a phone.

That being said, time to recap on the long weekend which seemed to even extend into tonight, Monday. I'm going to save a lot of the details for the sake of brevity, so if you have further questions, just ask.

So, Thursday night, I went on my first Brazilian date! A double date nonetheless, but it went great. My date, Patrícia, was just a sweetheart to hang out with again, and the other couple was great company as well. We went out to this great sushi place in the rich district, then after to a bar on the other side of town. Looking back on it, it went great. It is so much fun for me to get thrown into these situations where I am forced to speak Portuguese, especially for prolonged periods of time. Looking forward to another experience like that with that group, Brazilians are awesomely romantic and fun to say the least.

Friday morning, Dallas and I left to go to Torres, a beach town about 2 hours away by car, 3 by bus. It was so much bigger than expected, I loved it. Worked up a solid sunburn chillin on the beach with Dallas Friday. Ruby was there too, and we spent some time with her later that night and a little bit during the day too. For the most part, just had a great day staying on the beach, not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand... haha. Here are some pictures of the city/beach. I took these the next day before a giant rainstorm, but I'll get to that story in a bit. That's just why the pictures are cloudy.

 Just imagine that, but blue skies. I've generally been pretty good about bringing a camera to the right instances, but this time I spaced. I enjoyed myself though, great day.

That night shit got weird though. There is a ceremony that they celebrate every year, that I really don't remember the name of. It's like a mix of African/Brazilian/Catholic rituals put into one ceremony to celebrate the sea goddess or something like that. All I know is that it was one of the most culturally impressive things I had ever seen. Look up Brazilian ritual February 2, maybe that can explain it better than I can. Plus, it was dark, and very hard to take pictures of. In a nutshell, imagine several hundred people watching a very particular, spiritual, and intense ritual conducted by about 12 people on the beach to a candlelit altar and the sea. I would be happy to explain in person if you have questions. All I know is that neither me or Dallas had been so confused in all our lives. And we totally just happened upon it; we thought it was a candlelight vigil or something at first.

Here you can kind of see the group crowded around the semi circle of religious actors, dressed in light blue and white, being led by a blue-dressed woman.

After we got sensory overload from this, Dallas and I dipped to go Bear Grylls it and find a place to camp. We hiked for about an hour down the beach, around a cliff, down another beach, then up a cliff. We hiked around up there, in the moonlight, on the edge of the water, with our uncomfortably heavy backpacks on. Was honestly one of the coolest moments of my life, I love that outdoorsy stuff. We made camp at this perfect location on the cliff, and enjoyed a great conversation until we passed out up there in the tent. Here are some pictures of our campsite taken the morning after when there was some light. I really, really enjoyed myself though. What an incredible experience.

 One of the pictures from the beginning of this entry is from the cliff as well, looking over the city of Torres from the South. That wasn't quite at the campsite, but it was close.

Saturday was pretty fun. Dallas and I roughed it for the first part of the day, got some coffee, hiked, lugged our luggage around, etc. We hung out in Torres for a while, and I caught up on Game of Thrones (the book), which I'm falling in love with. If you haven't gotten on your Game of Thrones game, get on it. We got hit by a massive random storm that afternoon, and stayed in a really cool family's restaurant while we waited out. They were very hospitable, and gave us free dessert and coffee while we waited. And took a few Reals off our bill. Que ótimo! But yeah, as Ollie from Family Guy would say, "it's raining sideways!"

We caught a bus to Xangri-la, where my new homie Luis was staying for the weekend with his family. The bus ride took a really long time, but the bus staff girl was really nice and fun to hang out with for a little while. The bus system is kind of fun to deal with here, it's remarkably easy to catch a reasonably cheap bus anywhere within an 8 hour drive. I might take one to Uruguay next month, we'll see.

While in Xangri-la, Luis introduced us to his really nice family. Dallas can't speak too much Portuguese, so I did my best to be a translator for him while Luis was mine. Funny dynamic, you'd have to have been there. There were a few young-middle-aged couples with kids there, and Luis's aunt. They were so hospitable and nice, and made us an amazing churrasa while we downed some Polars and Heinekens, getting ready to go out that night. I love Gaucho hospitality, reminds me of the South.

 Us before we went out, notice that we're tanner than the brasileiro! Jussayin. Actually though, there are tons of white people down here. That's another subject altogether, but yeah. Throwing that out there

The night was great, and got to be semi blurry for my man Dallas. Got some cool drinks in Capao de Canoa and Atlantida that night, and hung out with some cool people. Luis is becoming a fast friend. Truly exceptional guy who's got his head on straight, and he and I share a lot of life philosophies. Great night though, a lot like the one in Atlantida last weekend except we actually knew what to do this time around. We ended up staying out until about 530 am with this group we met, playing this drinking game until the wee hours of the morning. Excellent times.

I want one of these. Hate to seem like any type of alcoholic, but I think any college kid or beer lover can appreciate that giant dispenser. That would be dangerously popular in America, I fear.

Woke up the next day around 1, had a lunch with Luis' family, then headed back. Had a great convo with Luis about cultural/life differences and such, told him all about fraternities. Never realized how hard the concept of American fraternities is to explain to someone form another country, but I think he gets it/ maybe will make a cameo appearance at some point next year! So he says.

We watched the Super Bowl, streamed live here in Porto Alegre. It was pretty fun, even though no one other than us really appreciated it. Except for Luis, he came to watch it with us as I explained rules of the game to him. Anyway, I was really happy to see Ray Lewis get his title... don't you just love how sports can be romantic? A true athlete can agree. Last night was one of those moments for sure.

Today was a really good day. Refer back to my article on last Monday, and it was basically that. School, food with the boys, worked out with Mitch and Chris, made some dinner, hung out with the crew and drank some wine... now I'm just chillin' out. Having some alone time can be hard to come by when you live in a house with 18 other Americans. Taking advantage of it while it lasts.

Hope all is well back in the states! By the way, my little brother just got accepted to OSU! I'm very proud of him, but I'm still holding out to see if he gets in to UW... Liza, on the other hand, I'm just very excited to see where she chooses. She has some incredible opportunities ahead of her... if you're reading this, Liza, I'm counting on you to become successful billionaire so I could just travel and do life big. Love you two.
~ 2/4/13