Rio and Floripa!

We went to Cristo Rei statue on Corcovado.

We saw Jacas on the way.


Leandro, Jay, and I at Armacao beach.

Lagoa de Peri.

Floripa 2

Florianopolis Round II

We rented a Duble ...

And went up a mountain called Uribici 2,000 meters high.
The group on top of Uribici!
We also saw this waterfall called Cachoeiro do Avental.
Rafting on Saturday.

The group!

Our Awesome Excursion Driver

This man was a great driver for the trip. He explained Bahia as "peace." The people we traveled with in the car were also from Sao Paulo. We had a good time together. They even ran into us while we were leaving and told us a meteor hit Utah.

This shows us driving through the big pools of water. It also shows our great driver telling us funny stories of people getting stuck in these waters.

Bahia

This past week was the much anticipated trip to Bahia. I had heard a lot about Bahia and was anxious to get to know it myself. Jay served his mission there and every time he tells someone that they always react with a little laugh and a smile. Everyone seems to know it as an interesting and laid back place.

On the plane ride over there I sat next to a Bahian. He was great- my first experience with a Bahian. He talked and talked as if he really didn't care too much if I was listening; he just wanted someone to talk to and enjoy the ride with. He was fun to talk and listen to.

Bahia is really a peaceful place. Our Land Rover Driver said "Bahia is peace." Another lady (visitor) explained Bahia as having a type of force that brings a great and happy energy.

I really enjoyed our trip. I couldn't talk enough about Itacare either. It is still a small town that received a paved road only 10 years ago. We made a bunch of friends there in the short amount of time we had, along with a lot of great experiences on beaches, lakes, surfboards/body boards, etc.

Here is me at the airport. (Cheap ticket 230 reais round trip ... not too shabby)

Close to the airport. I like the colors of Bahia. Most things are painted either yellow, green, or blue.

There are a lot of Caucau trees here. These produce the fruit cacau, whose seeds produce chocolate.

Resende beach close to the Pousada.

Me at the Pousade we stayed at, Albuergue o Pharol.

We went on a sweet excursion with Land Rovers.


We made it to a nice beach called Taipu de Fora. This place has clear water with coral reefs making natural pools.


Along the journey we also went through big swells of mud water, stopped to relax, saw big plants, ate caju, and even swam in the fresh water lake.

There are so many fruits in Bahia. This is Jay eating Caju in the mirror. Some other fruits I've never heard of here include the following: caju, umbu, jaca, jenipapo, caja, siriguela, cacau (the seed makes chocolate), etc.
It was nice swimming in fresh water.


This is at Tiririca, the 3rd closest beach to our pousada.

Blecaute

An older man walked into our classroom to talk to the teacher. He walked through the presenters and made everyone wonder what was going on. I thought he was just telling the teacher to wrap up because we were already 30 minutes over the class time, but thought it was strange that he went right up to the teacher. Then he left.

"Oi pessoal ... em Sao Paulo acenteceu um mega-blecaute."

That was certainly a quicker way to ending class.

Incredibly 20% of Brazil is powered by a hydroelectric dam in Itaipu (the second largest amount next to China's Three Gorges Dam). A shortage went out and most of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro were left in the dark. Including me.

It was strange to see. Cars and buses were the only lights, aside from small emergency or generator run lights. I saw Jay in the study lounge and we quickly noted down the closest U.S. Embassy's address and telephone number, then went outside with a darker walk back home.

It felt like we had gone camping. We got ready for bed in the dark and enjoyed the short "campout," with no electricity within miles, in our apartment right in the heart of the largest city in South America.



http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120299662

In other news I dyed my hair acaju. My teacher in class yesterday looked for "the American" to ask a question and was a bit surprised when he found me. He smiled and amid chuckles from the class he asked "Daniel o que voce fez?" I replied "Eu sou brazileiro agora."

"Funancial Reporting"

Classes have been going well.
Yeah they're good.
Yeah it's getting busier.
It's been fun.

That is a poem I wrote. It is called "Funancial Reporting." It reminds me of times when you are having new experiences or enjoying what you are doing. And when it comes down to reporting it the bottom line is that for some reason ... it's just ... fun.

Well school has been a little bit busier as the semester winds down. With that (school), preparing for the LSAT, and sight seeing, I've been staying pretty occupied. It's been fun.

Jay and I took a somewhat routine walk to McDonald's tonight to pick up a pair of R$1 cascinhas or ice cream cones. That's like 50 cents in U.S. currency. McDonalds on Avenida Paulista is pretty nice. It's hip and it has 3 floors. We usually go to the top floor and sit right under the air conditioning. It has a cool view and nice pictures on the walls. Tonight we chilled out with our ice cream cones and listed to Britney Spears: "Oops I Did it Again," Nelly: "Ride With Me," and others. It was fun.

It's been getting HOT! That's another reason why we go to McDonalds- it has air conditioning. Our room gets pretty warm and makes it a little hard to sleep sometimes. But it's been fun.

Italian food, Halloween, and the Zoo

Gregory, an Italian exchange student who lives nine floors above us, cooked us Italian chicken pizza style. He said this is so you know that Italians just don't eat pasta. This is the group below. Julian and Chris (Germans), Jay and Roberto (Americans), Mariana (Mexican), Kristi (Romanian), and Gregory the Italian.



Come and get your food.
Jay and I went to a Halloween Party in Vinhedo with a group of friends. We got dressed up like rockstars. Our custumes were great. People at the party took pictures of our group as well.
This is all of us that went to the dance except Thais.


The girls. Carol, Thais, and Samara

On Monday, the Holiday (Dia dos Finados which is Day of the Deceased), Jay and I went to the Sao Paulo Zoo!


Cool Tucans

Really big snake exhibit.

The snakes were hidden in the bushes so you can only partially see them.

They even had a ant colony.





This is called an "anta" in portuguese. It's Brazil's biggest land mammal.




After the zoo we got a snack, a classic Bob's milkshake at the Shopping Paulista.