we missed our bus.
no problem.
we try again
Friday, November 27, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
new friends and new feelings
for everyone thats wondering, my toe will be fine. i put some of that orange brazilian goo on it and taped it up with multiple batman bandages and so far so good. i bleed through the bandages a lot throughout the day but i think the flap is mending itself back on my toe so really... i will end up with one whole toe in the end... (or am i in serious denial??)
on another completely different note,
i´ve decided that i will never have a job... or, rather a career. all of my siblings have a family. either they are married and have great jobs or they have kids or both. and then, there is me.....
its just interesting...
because, at points, i almost envy them for leading such a stable life. but most of the time, i cant see myself following that path. I would rather save the little money i make working seasonal and or temporary jobs to have enough for a plane ticket to a foreign country. i dont want to settle down... ever, i dont think. there is too much in this huge world to explore, adventure and to soak in. i want to see every culture. i want to experience every piece of land and the affects they have on me as a soul seeker and an individual. i want to find my place in the world and i think that is by just... well, wandering the world.
Places i NEED to go to:
1. Nazca, Peru
2. Parque Tayrona, Colombia
3. El Bolson, Argentina
4. Salar de Uyuni
5. Machu Pichu
6. The Grand Canyon
7. Merida, Venezuela
8. this list will never end.....
And thats the point really... I learn by doing. I want to know the world but in order for a person like me to know it, i need to experience it. And if that means having nothing but what is in my small pack and just enough money to eat and get by... thats okay with me. I want to learn. I want to find whats most important and I know for sure that money is not it. And i know for sure that money isnt worth revolving my entire life around. Someone once said to me, ´ashley, you need money. you need to have a job and pay for stuff.` and i thought about it. yah... i mean, if i wanted fancy clothes and a fancy car and an expensive cell phone, i would need money. but i have none of that. i have few clothes, a car with no insurance that i gave to someone else and no cell phone. what do i need money for? i can work by doing something that i love, like being outside and showing people my backyard during the alaskan summers and then with the little money i make and save, move onto another country. a new place. a new adventure. THIS, my friends, is how IIII want to live my life. not in one single place. in many places.
you can join me if you want to.
i met this guy at the bar today who only spoke portuese and very very little spanish and he lives on the beach making and selling jewelry to just get by. he made me an ankle bracelet out of wire that says ashley and 4 rings in exchange for 1 beer. i thought that was a smart trade on my part. :)
tomorrow, i am headed up to Arraial D´Ajudo and I will be couchsurfing with someone that lives in Illeús. I´ve been in Vitória for almost 9 days now and i think its about time to leave this place. I am becoming a bit detached from nature and the city is starting to drive me nuts.
on another completely different note,
i´ve decided that i will never have a job... or, rather a career. all of my siblings have a family. either they are married and have great jobs or they have kids or both. and then, there is me.....
its just interesting...
because, at points, i almost envy them for leading such a stable life. but most of the time, i cant see myself following that path. I would rather save the little money i make working seasonal and or temporary jobs to have enough for a plane ticket to a foreign country. i dont want to settle down... ever, i dont think. there is too much in this huge world to explore, adventure and to soak in. i want to see every culture. i want to experience every piece of land and the affects they have on me as a soul seeker and an individual. i want to find my place in the world and i think that is by just... well, wandering the world.
Places i NEED to go to:
1. Nazca, Peru
2. Parque Tayrona, Colombia
3. El Bolson, Argentina
4. Salar de Uyuni
5. Machu Pichu
6. The Grand Canyon
7. Merida, Venezuela
8. this list will never end.....
And thats the point really... I learn by doing. I want to know the world but in order for a person like me to know it, i need to experience it. And if that means having nothing but what is in my small pack and just enough money to eat and get by... thats okay with me. I want to learn. I want to find whats most important and I know for sure that money is not it. And i know for sure that money isnt worth revolving my entire life around. Someone once said to me, ´ashley, you need money. you need to have a job and pay for stuff.` and i thought about it. yah... i mean, if i wanted fancy clothes and a fancy car and an expensive cell phone, i would need money. but i have none of that. i have few clothes, a car with no insurance that i gave to someone else and no cell phone. what do i need money for? i can work by doing something that i love, like being outside and showing people my backyard during the alaskan summers and then with the little money i make and save, move onto another country. a new place. a new adventure. THIS, my friends, is how IIII want to live my life. not in one single place. in many places.
you can join me if you want to.
i met this guy at the bar today who only spoke portuese and very very little spanish and he lives on the beach making and selling jewelry to just get by. he made me an ankle bracelet out of wire that says ashley and 4 rings in exchange for 1 beer. i thought that was a smart trade on my part. :)
tomorrow, i am headed up to Arraial D´Ajudo and I will be couchsurfing with someone that lives in Illeús. I´ve been in Vitória for almost 9 days now and i think its about time to leave this place. I am becoming a bit detached from nature and the city is starting to drive me nuts.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
I may or may not have chopped off my toe with a machete.
I am now a little bit less toey than i was this morning. The skin flap is huge and Margaret almost passed out. My foot now has some orange goo all over it due to some strange Brasilian concoction and Margaret wont stop singing about turtles. I put 6 batman bandages over it and still bled through all of them. Thats okay thought because there is a whole box full of batman bandages at the Penthouse Im staying at in the richest part of the city in Vitória.
It hurts. But I think Im going to make it. I have already hiked a mountain today to this church that was built in the 1500s. And gone to a chocolate factory. Chocolate always seems to make the world a much brighter place.
Looking forward to a party tomorrow at the top floor of this building. All glass windows up there and we have a 360 degree view of all the entire city. Only 25 reales to get in to the party where there is an open bar at the other side. The college students are celebrating the last day of the school year with booze and more delicious food like sushi and brazilian appetizers.
Margaret and I have been trying to leave Vitória for a few days now but keep getting ourselves sucked into the festivities of the city and postpone our trip another day. So, we´ll try and go tomorrow to this little coastal town north of here called Arraial D´Ajudo which is near a larger city called Porto Seguro (a more touristy town). We´ve connected with some couch surfing hosts and pretty much have free places to stay all the way up the coast.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in Alaska and its my favorite holiday.... I´m going to miss my family so much. Hopefully, Margaret will keep her promise to me. She assured me that she would somehow make me a turkey for my favorite holiday to celebrate. I told her they dont have turkeys here and she said, `then i will just have to mold you a turkey out of cheese balls.´
Loving it.
It hurts. But I think Im going to make it. I have already hiked a mountain today to this church that was built in the 1500s. And gone to a chocolate factory. Chocolate always seems to make the world a much brighter place.
Looking forward to a party tomorrow at the top floor of this building. All glass windows up there and we have a 360 degree view of all the entire city. Only 25 reales to get in to the party where there is an open bar at the other side. The college students are celebrating the last day of the school year with booze and more delicious food like sushi and brazilian appetizers.
Margaret and I have been trying to leave Vitória for a few days now but keep getting ourselves sucked into the festivities of the city and postpone our trip another day. So, we´ll try and go tomorrow to this little coastal town north of here called Arraial D´Ajudo which is near a larger city called Porto Seguro (a more touristy town). We´ve connected with some couch surfing hosts and pretty much have free places to stay all the way up the coast.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in Alaska and its my favorite holiday.... I´m going to miss my family so much. Hopefully, Margaret will keep her promise to me. She assured me that she would somehow make me a turkey for my favorite holiday to celebrate. I told her they dont have turkeys here and she said, `then i will just have to mold you a turkey out of cheese balls.´
Loving it.
A night on the town
We said our goodbyes to Flavia´s parents and got picked up by Aline, a friend of Flavia´s that we met at her graduation party a couple nights before. We moved base camp. Aline showed us around her place which is on the 11th floor of this incredibly rich apartment building. Aline´s folks live in Sao Paulo so her and her brother (and us) get the house to ourselves (beside the maids). Aline had an appointment with her personal trainer, then german class, and then an english class so she left us and said we would see each other around 10.
margaret and i want to explore the city around her building so off we go. i think we made it no more than a couple blocks when we see this sweet outdoor restaraunt with bright yellow chairs and big signs that say BRAHMA. We casually look at each other, smile, and both take seats in these happy little bright yellow chairs and order ourselves a brahma.
at this restraunt, they put down this huge white sheet of paper (wasteful, i know) over the table so we decided to draw our favorite animals over a beer or two.
ashley´s favorite animals include: (in this order)
#1. the Barnacle
#2. the Marmot
#3. the Arctic Turn
#4. the Javalina
After drawing detailed pictures of each of our favorite animals, we´ve pretty much had 4 Brahmas at this point and are seriously cracking ourselves up with crazy animal planet stories. And then, Margaret says,`Ashley, when I get home, Im changing my Facebook status to that.` And then, it hit me. We both have a Facebook addiction. (Although Im not going to lie, better Facebook addiction than crack. Right?)
Right then, this was the conversation that ensued:
Ashley: Margaret, I think we should seriously limit our FB time.
Margaret: (as her eyes bulged out of her head a bit) Uh hem... yes, agreed.
Ashley: Im thinking about....
and then at the EXACT same time we said:
Ashley: 30 minutes a day
Margaret: once a week.
We´re laughing so hard at this point and I know for a fact we arent being the most quiet of tables at this outdoor restaraunt because this atrevido man says to us, `hey ladies, where ya´ll from?` I was shocking and said to Margaret as if this atrevido couldnt hear me, ´this man speaks the english!´ we invited him over to our table for some brahmas and french fries.
His name was Johnny Hall (which is my neighbors brothers name so that was wierd) from Mississippi and he works on an oil tanker off the coast of Brazil for 4 weeks at a time and then heads back home to the southern US. He also worked on oil rigs in Venezuala during the time that Chavez tried to overthrow the government in 1992. I picked his brain about oil rigs and the oil corporations and the life of living on an oil tanker and being away from home every other 4 weeks for the past 35 years of his life. If you want to know ANYTHING at all about the big oil industry, ask me. I probably know it now.
The three of us drank some more brahmas and then we drank some cachaça and we laughed and ate some delicious fish.
I went on about how I wished the world gave up exporting and importing goods because then each country or state or city, whatever the case may be, could be self sufficient and i could eat a ripe mango or avacado in alaska that was grown in alaska. He said I reminded him of the song Country Boy Cant Survive by Hank Williams Jr.
All of a sudden, Gee (Flavia´s brother) Lucas (a 2nd language english speaking friend), and Aline walked up to the table and just laughed at us. They said it was 11pm and they were worried about us since we failed to leave a note so they decided to come find us. Luckily, we only made it a couple blocks so they didnt have to look too far. They sat down and we all talked about our favorite animals over some beer. It was time for Johnny to go so thanks to him, Chevron paid for the entire tab.
As we´re sitting there, this creeper in this bright pink shirt that looks like a begger wanders over near our table and then all of a sudden his creeper fanny pack just happens to spill open next to Gee and Gee´s wallet just happens to fall out of his pocket at this very moment and Gee just happens to lose all his money, cards, and id. As this point, this pink shirt wearing creeper starts stuffing money into his fanny pack while Gees looking for all of his. This son-of-a-biznitch robbed Gee right there at that very moment and then denied it! For some reason, Gee just sat back down and let this fool walk off with his wallet and there was no WAY i was just going to let that happen so spitfire ashley gets up and runs over to the pink shirt wearing creeper, says something really mean to him in Portugese and then I just held out my hand like, `give me my freaking money you punta.` I didnt get any money out of that confrontation but at least I tried. So, I wandered back to my yellow chair disappointed in humanity.
AND THEN
we got the bill. and this place was about to charge us for 8 beers, a pack of cigs, and french fries. Well, let me fill you in a bit: all we ordered since Mr. McRich Chevron left the table were 4 beers and french fries. Why the heck did we get charged for so much more? So I get back up and go to the register and throw 1/2 my tab at him and explain there is no way i am paying for all of that. He said, ´you have to you ordered it´. long story short, i didnt pay for a thing. the cash register said he didnt want a problem, only happy customers so he ripped up the bill and we left.
then, we headed to this sweet beach spot and i ran around the beach being chased by pinching crabs and then went swimming in the dark.
we got dropped off and i fell asleep outside on the balcony for a good slumber only to wake up to an incredible view from the 11th story to the sunrise.
good morning! its going to be another beautiful day.
margaret and i want to explore the city around her building so off we go. i think we made it no more than a couple blocks when we see this sweet outdoor restaraunt with bright yellow chairs and big signs that say BRAHMA. We casually look at each other, smile, and both take seats in these happy little bright yellow chairs and order ourselves a brahma.
at this restraunt, they put down this huge white sheet of paper (wasteful, i know) over the table so we decided to draw our favorite animals over a beer or two.
ashley´s favorite animals include: (in this order)
#1. the Barnacle
#2. the Marmot
#3. the Arctic Turn
#4. the Javalina
After drawing detailed pictures of each of our favorite animals, we´ve pretty much had 4 Brahmas at this point and are seriously cracking ourselves up with crazy animal planet stories. And then, Margaret says,`Ashley, when I get home, Im changing my Facebook status to that.` And then, it hit me. We both have a Facebook addiction. (Although Im not going to lie, better Facebook addiction than crack. Right?)
Right then, this was the conversation that ensued:
Ashley: Margaret, I think we should seriously limit our FB time.
Margaret: (as her eyes bulged out of her head a bit) Uh hem... yes, agreed.
Ashley: Im thinking about....
and then at the EXACT same time we said:
Ashley: 30 minutes a day
Margaret: once a week.
We´re laughing so hard at this point and I know for a fact we arent being the most quiet of tables at this outdoor restaraunt because this atrevido man says to us, `hey ladies, where ya´ll from?` I was shocking and said to Margaret as if this atrevido couldnt hear me, ´this man speaks the english!´ we invited him over to our table for some brahmas and french fries.
His name was Johnny Hall (which is my neighbors brothers name so that was wierd) from Mississippi and he works on an oil tanker off the coast of Brazil for 4 weeks at a time and then heads back home to the southern US. He also worked on oil rigs in Venezuala during the time that Chavez tried to overthrow the government in 1992. I picked his brain about oil rigs and the oil corporations and the life of living on an oil tanker and being away from home every other 4 weeks for the past 35 years of his life. If you want to know ANYTHING at all about the big oil industry, ask me. I probably know it now.
The three of us drank some more brahmas and then we drank some cachaça and we laughed and ate some delicious fish.
I went on about how I wished the world gave up exporting and importing goods because then each country or state or city, whatever the case may be, could be self sufficient and i could eat a ripe mango or avacado in alaska that was grown in alaska. He said I reminded him of the song Country Boy Cant Survive by Hank Williams Jr.
All of a sudden, Gee (Flavia´s brother) Lucas (a 2nd language english speaking friend), and Aline walked up to the table and just laughed at us. They said it was 11pm and they were worried about us since we failed to leave a note so they decided to come find us. Luckily, we only made it a couple blocks so they didnt have to look too far. They sat down and we all talked about our favorite animals over some beer. It was time for Johnny to go so thanks to him, Chevron paid for the entire tab.
As we´re sitting there, this creeper in this bright pink shirt that looks like a begger wanders over near our table and then all of a sudden his creeper fanny pack just happens to spill open next to Gee and Gee´s wallet just happens to fall out of his pocket at this very moment and Gee just happens to lose all his money, cards, and id. As this point, this pink shirt wearing creeper starts stuffing money into his fanny pack while Gees looking for all of his. This son-of-a-biznitch robbed Gee right there at that very moment and then denied it! For some reason, Gee just sat back down and let this fool walk off with his wallet and there was no WAY i was just going to let that happen so spitfire ashley gets up and runs over to the pink shirt wearing creeper, says something really mean to him in Portugese and then I just held out my hand like, `give me my freaking money you punta.` I didnt get any money out of that confrontation but at least I tried. So, I wandered back to my yellow chair disappointed in humanity.
AND THEN
we got the bill. and this place was about to charge us for 8 beers, a pack of cigs, and french fries. Well, let me fill you in a bit: all we ordered since Mr. McRich Chevron left the table were 4 beers and french fries. Why the heck did we get charged for so much more? So I get back up and go to the register and throw 1/2 my tab at him and explain there is no way i am paying for all of that. He said, ´you have to you ordered it´. long story short, i didnt pay for a thing. the cash register said he didnt want a problem, only happy customers so he ripped up the bill and we left.
then, we headed to this sweet beach spot and i ran around the beach being chased by pinching crabs and then went swimming in the dark.
we got dropped off and i fell asleep outside on the balcony for a good slumber only to wake up to an incredible view from the 11th story to the sunrise.
good morning! its going to be another beautiful day.
Monday, November 23, 2009
GET THE EF OFF MY SLEEPING BAG!!!!!!!
TRIP GOAL #1: use better nouns and ajectives
TRIP GOAL #2: absolutely NO laziness
on another note....
The whole reason why I came on this trip is now a memory: Flavia´s Graduation Celebration. And all I have to say is that single night of partying from 11pm-7 in the morning was DEFINELTY worth the entire cost of making my way to south america. when a bunch of us girls walked through the threshhold into the ballroom, i couldnt beleive my eyes. i swear i was walking down THE red carpet with hundreds of hundreds of glamorous people everywhere. there were 27 graduates including Flavia and all of their families and friends were there from 10 years old to 90 years young and all looking their best dressed to the 9s. there was cotton candy being passed around, popsicles, neon glowy things, and a free open bar with any drink you could possibly imagine including capinas with fresh squished strawberries or watermelon, mojitos, non alcoholic smoothies, whiskey, cachaça, beer. whatever, you name it and it was there. for free. We danced well into the night to this live band until we got kicked out at 6AM. then, margaret and i hopped in our new friends car with celline and this girl named Amanda and went to the beach to watch the sunrise, be drunk, and play in the water and sand with our fancy dresses on. After spending an hour or two at the beach, we headed home so Margaret could preform thriller on the patio and then proceed to throw her contacts off a 6 story building because she couldnt find her contact case. this was amusing because she is incredibly vulnurable when she cant see. (i used this to my advantage) I took the BEST video of margaret dancing to the thriller on the patio. I really really want to post it on facebook but after viewing it, i realized i filmed it sideways so you would get a kink in your neck if you watched the whole thing sideways... BUT if you are a diehard margaret and ashley fan (which... well, lets not kid ourselves, who isnt) then you will enjoy it to the end. (*helpful happy hint: turn your computer sideways!*) At one point during the night, I was laying on my sleeping bag and margaret was standing up with her feet on my bag and all i remeber was screeming, `get the fuck off my sleeping bag!!!!!´ like, a million times in a row and neither of us could stop laughing hysterically.
Then, we slept for a couple hours until we were woked up by 784573484 of her relatives back in the apartment laughing and joking about the cachaça americans passed out on the porch. No problem though. I jumped up fuzzy eyed but bushy tailed and had the best coffee of my life while i went along with the relatives making fun of margaret for not being able to handle her booze. hahahahah.
that night, flavias brother took us to this really beautiful secret cliffy beach area to learn about some plants and we looked for the southern cross in the sky. the cliffs there were incredible rock climbing cliffs with super positive holds and cracks that were so climbable i couldnt say no to them even though i may or may not have had too many bramhas at this point. i climbed my heart out. and was so so so happy afterwards.
TRIP GOAL #2: absolutely NO laziness
on another note....
The whole reason why I came on this trip is now a memory: Flavia´s Graduation Celebration. And all I have to say is that single night of partying from 11pm-7 in the morning was DEFINELTY worth the entire cost of making my way to south america. when a bunch of us girls walked through the threshhold into the ballroom, i couldnt beleive my eyes. i swear i was walking down THE red carpet with hundreds of hundreds of glamorous people everywhere. there were 27 graduates including Flavia and all of their families and friends were there from 10 years old to 90 years young and all looking their best dressed to the 9s. there was cotton candy being passed around, popsicles, neon glowy things, and a free open bar with any drink you could possibly imagine including capinas with fresh squished strawberries or watermelon, mojitos, non alcoholic smoothies, whiskey, cachaça, beer. whatever, you name it and it was there. for free. We danced well into the night to this live band until we got kicked out at 6AM. then, margaret and i hopped in our new friends car with celline and this girl named Amanda and went to the beach to watch the sunrise, be drunk, and play in the water and sand with our fancy dresses on. After spending an hour or two at the beach, we headed home so Margaret could preform thriller on the patio and then proceed to throw her contacts off a 6 story building because she couldnt find her contact case. this was amusing because she is incredibly vulnurable when she cant see. (i used this to my advantage) I took the BEST video of margaret dancing to the thriller on the patio. I really really want to post it on facebook but after viewing it, i realized i filmed it sideways so you would get a kink in your neck if you watched the whole thing sideways... BUT if you are a diehard margaret and ashley fan (which... well, lets not kid ourselves, who isnt) then you will enjoy it to the end. (*helpful happy hint: turn your computer sideways!*) At one point during the night, I was laying on my sleeping bag and margaret was standing up with her feet on my bag and all i remeber was screeming, `get the fuck off my sleeping bag!!!!!´ like, a million times in a row and neither of us could stop laughing hysterically.
Then, we slept for a couple hours until we were woked up by 784573484 of her relatives back in the apartment laughing and joking about the cachaça americans passed out on the porch. No problem though. I jumped up fuzzy eyed but bushy tailed and had the best coffee of my life while i went along with the relatives making fun of margaret for not being able to handle her booze. hahahahah.
that night, flavias brother took us to this really beautiful secret cliffy beach area to learn about some plants and we looked for the southern cross in the sky. the cliffs there were incredible rock climbing cliffs with super positive holds and cracks that were so climbable i couldnt say no to them even though i may or may not have had too many bramhas at this point. i climbed my heart out. and was so so so happy afterwards.
Cachaça
Vocé pensa que
cachaça é água
cachaça náo é água náo,
cachaça vem do alambique
e água vem do ribeiráo
pode me paltar tudo na vida,
arroz, feijáo e páo,
pode me faltar o amor
isso eu até acho graça
só náo quero que me
falta é a danada
da cachaça.
(this is the cachaça theme song Flavia´s relative taught us)
cachaça é água
cachaça náo é água náo,
cachaça vem do alambique
e água vem do ribeiráo
pode me paltar tudo na vida,
arroz, feijáo e páo,
pode me faltar o amor
isso eu até acho graça
só náo quero que me
falta é a danada
da cachaça.
(this is the cachaça theme song Flavia´s relative taught us)
Saturday, November 21, 2009
and so it went...
this morning was a rightous morning. we awoke to a bus load of about 23 relatives laughing and drinking cafe in the dining room only steps away from mine and margarets bedroom/outdoor deck. we rubbed the eyeball boogers out of the corner of our eyeballs and sat up to more brazilian smiles. after socializing/miming our way through the morning with the family, celline, margaret and i walked around through the laybryth of downtown. the point was to go shopping but aparently, flavia´s family lives on the incredibly rich part of town so all the cute clothes were billions of reales and considering my wallet (which doesnt consist of anything at all) i unfortunately couldnt afford a thing. not even a cheap piece of jewelery.... and so it went. we headed back, ate this dank lunch that im still drooling over and then peaced out to Vila Velha which is a nice town across a very nice bridge.
We met up with a little over 10 of the guy relatives and drank drank drank. they kept buying margaret and i cachaça and brahmas and lord know im a sucker for both of those. i tried my first corn-husk wrapped tobacco cigarret. but we drank.
and we laughed so much! constantly!!! it was hilareous! we were definetly the LIFE of the outdoor bar, no doubt in my mind. they kept making us say horrible things in portugese that Flavia was like, `no! dont say this!`hahaha. but we did... and so it went.... then, once margo margo and i got our fancy fill, we headed south across the street to the praia (beach) and walked through the market doing our best at getting more free stuff. the view was amazing! after that, we hopped in the car with some of the relatives and turning up TWIST AND SHOUT on repeat and danced all the way home with the windows rolled down.
you should have heard the old man sitting next to me in the back seat of this teeny tiny car. he knew ALL the words!!! ahahahahha. and then, margaret and i hopped out early and went to the open air market on the other beach right by flavia´s house and wandered around tasting good food and looking at the market goods that ended up too expensive to buy. we almost paid to ride ponys but the lady that was manning down that fort was really mean so i didnt want to support her cause. 
and so it went.... we slowly wandered home to cafe and showers to get ready for the ball this evening...
MORE TO COME.
cachaça and bus rides
It was that time to head north to Vitoria and get the heck out of the 7th largest city in the world. We took the scenic route to the bus station making a pit stop to this place called Habib´s (which is very fun to say outloud) and scooped up some 17 hour bus ride food. We also scooped up a bottle of Cachaça that was only 9.95 Reales.
The first thing we did on the bus was drink. After a long nights worth of drinking, we had some shut eye for about 3 hours. Then woke up, and drank to celebrate a new beginning in a different city. We stared out the window for hours and were so captivated by the undenyable beauty of the landscape. The rolling hills, the random huge pointed mountain that would come out of no where. the cows, the llamas, the tiny little mountainous towns, the barefoot locals, the fresh fruit markets, the clouds, and the cliffs. After many more hours past, Margaret and I both realized we were over an hour past the time of arrival!! Thus, we both had panic attacks and I made Margaret ask the driver in Portugese where the heck we were. It took her a while as she had to scan the portugese-english dictionary to figure out what to say. Luckily, we hadnt missed the stop yet.... Few. Saude! We drank to that.
Finally arriving in Vitoria, Flavia and her father scooped us up at the Bus Station and we headed to her house in downtown Vitoria only 3 blocks from the beach. We spend the day meeting lots of family, eating incredible home cooked meals. Margaret and I ended the night with a midnight walk on the beach and then passing out on their patio/deck outside on once again, concrete floor.
The next day, Celline arrived so celline and margaret and I went to the beach where I may or may not have accidentely inhaled some local maconha. (Since im on the subject, I dont think speedos are sexy.....) Then, I went swimming in the ocean which was like bath water and I swear I felt this incredible connection with the ocean and the waves and the way the water felt on my skin and how i was just floating with the current of the ocean. then, i got an ice cream cone from this old man with an ice cream cart which hit the spot 100%.
After all of this, we made our way home and got cleaned up to head to Flavia´s graduating class ceremony at this beautiful church. All 27 that graduated were SO SO SO fancy! Everyone looked like they walked out of a model magazine and that is definetely no eggageration. Post church events, we headed home and had a big party for Flavis´s mother to celebrate her birthday. there was more incredible food that i couldnt stop eating and beer beer beer! The beer they had at Flavias mothers birthay party tasted exactly like Reiner. It was all in all a good ol time with family speaking portugese all around the poor, ignorant americans who cant understand a word their saying. but thats okay with us. we are slowing catching onto the language and using the language barrier to much of our advantage.
Brazilians definelty know how to celebrate life. Tonight, is Flavis´s graduation party which 26 relatives bussed into town today to attend. Its going to be the fancies party i have ever been to or seen in my life. luckily, celline brought me a dress to wear tonight, other wise i would have been pretty embarrassingly out of place. The plan is to Samba our hearts out and drink lots of good wine and cachaça with the family and relatives who have so kindly, welcomed us into their homes and hearts.
Vitoria is an incredible place.
The first thing we did on the bus was drink. After a long nights worth of drinking, we had some shut eye for about 3 hours. Then woke up, and drank to celebrate a new beginning in a different city. We stared out the window for hours and were so captivated by the undenyable beauty of the landscape. The rolling hills, the random huge pointed mountain that would come out of no where. the cows, the llamas, the tiny little mountainous towns, the barefoot locals, the fresh fruit markets, the clouds, and the cliffs. After many more hours past, Margaret and I both realized we were over an hour past the time of arrival!! Thus, we both had panic attacks and I made Margaret ask the driver in Portugese where the heck we were. It took her a while as she had to scan the portugese-english dictionary to figure out what to say. Luckily, we hadnt missed the stop yet.... Few. Saude! We drank to that.
Finally arriving in Vitoria, Flavia and her father scooped us up at the Bus Station and we headed to her house in downtown Vitoria only 3 blocks from the beach. We spend the day meeting lots of family, eating incredible home cooked meals. Margaret and I ended the night with a midnight walk on the beach and then passing out on their patio/deck outside on once again, concrete floor.
The next day, Celline arrived so celline and margaret and I went to the beach where I may or may not have accidentely inhaled some local maconha. (Since im on the subject, I dont think speedos are sexy.....) Then, I went swimming in the ocean which was like bath water and I swear I felt this incredible connection with the ocean and the waves and the way the water felt on my skin and how i was just floating with the current of the ocean. then, i got an ice cream cone from this old man with an ice cream cart which hit the spot 100%.
After all of this, we made our way home and got cleaned up to head to Flavia´s graduating class ceremony at this beautiful church. All 27 that graduated were SO SO SO fancy! Everyone looked like they walked out of a model magazine and that is definetely no eggageration. Post church events, we headed home and had a big party for Flavis´s mother to celebrate her birthday. there was more incredible food that i couldnt stop eating and beer beer beer! The beer they had at Flavias mothers birthay party tasted exactly like Reiner. It was all in all a good ol time with family speaking portugese all around the poor, ignorant americans who cant understand a word their saying. but thats okay with us. we are slowing catching onto the language and using the language barrier to much of our advantage.
Brazilians definelty know how to celebrate life. Tonight, is Flavis´s graduation party which 26 relatives bussed into town today to attend. Its going to be the fancies party i have ever been to or seen in my life. luckily, celline brought me a dress to wear tonight, other wise i would have been pretty embarrassingly out of place. The plan is to Samba our hearts out and drink lots of good wine and cachaça with the family and relatives who have so kindly, welcomed us into their homes and hearts.
Vitoria is an incredible place.
Monday, November 16, 2009
`her eyes are blue and she wants to chaloopa you´
Free drinks on the airplain compliments of Marcus the flight attentand. (Ps. I love screw drivers while flying). Was inspired by the movie UP and therefor decided to inflate 1 million balloons. arrived in sao paulo after a 9 hour flights hearing my name being called over the intercom multiple times. Lo and behold, my backpack slash home is lost somewhere in the route. thanks to Gustavo, hopefully it´ll be on tomorrows flight. we go throuh customs and theres a man standing there with our names printed ever so neatly on a sign. off we go with our taxi driver, Muniz to find my dear friend Flavia. 50 minutes later, we find Flavia and head to lunch where Margaret and I start drinking caipirhnas (its only 2 at this point but we figured we should get a head start since we are in a foreign country). Then, Flavia goes back to work and we head TO THE BAR!!
*Burnt Chocolate caramel mocciato (one of margs favorites)
*5 hours in a juice bar drinking 9, 600mL local beer called Brahma
*The thought of aquiring a pocket defibulator because the guys keep stoping hearts
*Pilot manueavering around `interesting weather`
*took a train and a bus to flavia´s place after she found us at a bar drunk and out of control. so out of control, margaret couldnt maintain her balance with her humongous pack on her back. hahahahahah (she fell over on one of the bus rides and broke her satchel strap)
*cuddling on the tile floor
more will come once day 2 rolls around!
*Burnt Chocolate caramel mocciato (one of margs favorites)
*5 hours in a juice bar drinking 9, 600mL local beer called Brahma
*The thought of aquiring a pocket defibulator because the guys keep stoping hearts
*Pilot manueavering around `interesting weather`
*took a train and a bus to flavia´s place after she found us at a bar drunk and out of control. so out of control, margaret couldnt maintain her balance with her humongous pack on her back. hahahahahah (she fell over on one of the bus rides and broke her satchel strap)
*cuddling on the tile floor
more will come once day 2 rolls around!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Pre Tripping California Coasting
Why, Hello San Fransisco.
Its so nice to meet you on this warm, sunny day. When I got off the airplane, I hopped onto a train that took me to Union Station in downtown San Fran where I then wandered slowly to my hostel. I payed for 3 nights and I figured that would give me a good start to the trip. My flatmates were pretty rad. There was Becky from Canada who was maybe 90 pounds and loved to walk long distances. Then, there was Thea (who has her own card) from Seattle. Thea manages farmers markets in the Seattle area for 6 months out of the year then makes her way to some foreign county for the other 6 months of the year. Shes headed to India in 3 days. She took me to my first ever club.
So my San Fransisco plan was to walk to the embassy to acquire my Brazilian visa. Unfortunately, they changed their regulations only 2 days prior to my arrival and no longer accept walk-ins. The next available date open for appointment wasn't until November 18, 3 days after my departure date. Obviously that doesn't work for me. In a crazy lady frenzy with copious amount of help for Margo in Arizona, I call 20 different 3rd party visa companies to see if any of them can expedite a Brazilian visa for an Alaska within 7 days. (yes, i know... I'm cutting it close but that's how I roll)
First things first, I need a drink. I wander over to Puccini & Pinetti's (an Italian bar/restaurant) and make my evening home at the bar. Hello Happy Hour. $3 glasses of wine!?!?! I'll take 3 please! I smoosh and get some free drinks here and there. Then a British Airways Pilot buys me dinner. Then a couple hours later (yes, I've been at this bar for more than a couple hours) a 67 year young classy woman drinking white wine at the end of the bar tells me I'm too skinny and buys me more wine and another dinner. I didn't decline, I mean, come on, it's free! Janene pays the tab and drags me to another local dive bar with local music playing which completely reminded me of the Alaskan Bar and Hotel in Juneau and there she buys me a 7UP. Then takes me up and down and up and down this elevator that was on the outside of this super fancy hotel called the Sir Frances Drake Hotel 7 times! Before security kicked us out, we powder our noses in the all marble hotel restroom. She then walks me home and assures me she'll call me tomorrow for lunch.
Met a guy named Luke the next morning who approached me with this, " Girl, I want to take you out fo pizza." We walked to Starbucks, he bought me coffee then I split and he wondered why.
I left San Fran and headed north to Point Reyes which is the windiest place in north America and the 2nd foggiest and spent the night in the hostel up there. Explored the town and the beach which is a National Seashore. I saw 10 deer, a raccoon, tons of quail and a vulture on my drive in. A must see when in Cali. Met a homeless guy with a huge white beard and 2 guitars who told me about the food bank and about this town called Bolinas with no signs. The girl I met, Sarah, from the night before in the hostel and I decided to head down to this secret city and explore. Apparently there is free camping on the beach! The legend has it that for the past hundred years or more the locals of Bolinas came together and decided they didn't want their town to become another tourist stop beach town so they took every directional sign down that said Bolinas on it. So no one knows how to get there unless you already know how to get there. I accurately named it the sexy signless secret city. I HIGHLY recommend you hunt this town down if you're into creative artwork, giant peace signs, dirty hippys, surfing and free camping.
I get word that my friend Ry from Juneau is in Laguna Beach. I start heading that way and get there very late crashing on his grandma's beach condo couch (which is incredibly comfortable) after a solo dance dance party on the deck. Here, i got stung by 2 bees on the bottom of the foot which led me to meeting a girl who's getting married looking for beach glass on the beach as I'm screaming about the bee stings she gives me a cig, tells me to put the tobacco on the stink and it'll suck the sting out. Oddly enough, it worked. 3 days in Laguna was enough so I jump on a train and head to San Diego to stay with family.
Let me just say, I love San Diego. Lots happened here. I mean, lots.
Now, I'm in Long Beach. Charging my ipod and my camera because tomorrow is THE BIG DAY where I leave on a jet plane to Brazil.
This is the start of my adventure.
Stay tuned friends.
Its so nice to meet you on this warm, sunny day. When I got off the airplane, I hopped onto a train that took me to Union Station in downtown San Fran where I then wandered slowly to my hostel. I payed for 3 nights and I figured that would give me a good start to the trip. My flatmates were pretty rad. There was Becky from Canada who was maybe 90 pounds and loved to walk long distances. Then, there was Thea (who has her own card) from Seattle. Thea manages farmers markets in the Seattle area for 6 months out of the year then makes her way to some foreign county for the other 6 months of the year. Shes headed to India in 3 days. She took me to my first ever club.
So my San Fransisco plan was to walk to the embassy to acquire my Brazilian visa. Unfortunately, they changed their regulations only 2 days prior to my arrival and no longer accept walk-ins. The next available date open for appointment wasn't until November 18, 3 days after my departure date. Obviously that doesn't work for me. In a crazy lady frenzy with copious amount of help for Margo in Arizona, I call 20 different 3rd party visa companies to see if any of them can expedite a Brazilian visa for an Alaska within 7 days. (yes, i know... I'm cutting it close but that's how I roll)
First things first, I need a drink. I wander over to Puccini & Pinetti's (an Italian bar/restaurant) and make my evening home at the bar. Hello Happy Hour. $3 glasses of wine!?!?! I'll take 3 please! I smoosh and get some free drinks here and there. Then a British Airways Pilot buys me dinner. Then a couple hours later (yes, I've been at this bar for more than a couple hours) a 67 year young classy woman drinking white wine at the end of the bar tells me I'm too skinny and buys me more wine and another dinner. I didn't decline, I mean, come on, it's free! Janene pays the tab and drags me to another local dive bar with local music playing which completely reminded me of the Alaskan Bar and Hotel in Juneau and there she buys me a 7UP. Then takes me up and down and up and down this elevator that was on the outside of this super fancy hotel called the Sir Frances Drake Hotel 7 times! Before security kicked us out, we powder our noses in the all marble hotel restroom. She then walks me home and assures me she'll call me tomorrow for lunch.
Met a guy named Luke the next morning who approached me with this, " Girl, I want to take you out fo pizza." We walked to Starbucks, he bought me coffee then I split and he wondered why.
I left San Fran and headed north to Point Reyes which is the windiest place in north America and the 2nd foggiest and spent the night in the hostel up there. Explored the town and the beach which is a National Seashore. I saw 10 deer, a raccoon, tons of quail and a vulture on my drive in. A must see when in Cali. Met a homeless guy with a huge white beard and 2 guitars who told me about the food bank and about this town called Bolinas with no signs. The girl I met, Sarah, from the night before in the hostel and I decided to head down to this secret city and explore. Apparently there is free camping on the beach! The legend has it that for the past hundred years or more the locals of Bolinas came together and decided they didn't want their town to become another tourist stop beach town so they took every directional sign down that said Bolinas on it. So no one knows how to get there unless you already know how to get there. I accurately named it the sexy signless secret city. I HIGHLY recommend you hunt this town down if you're into creative artwork, giant peace signs, dirty hippys, surfing and free camping.
I get word that my friend Ry from Juneau is in Laguna Beach. I start heading that way and get there very late crashing on his grandma's beach condo couch (which is incredibly comfortable) after a solo dance dance party on the deck. Here, i got stung by 2 bees on the bottom of the foot which led me to meeting a girl who's getting married looking for beach glass on the beach as I'm screaming about the bee stings she gives me a cig, tells me to put the tobacco on the stink and it'll suck the sting out. Oddly enough, it worked. 3 days in Laguna was enough so I jump on a train and head to San Diego to stay with family.
Let me just say, I love San Diego. Lots happened here. I mean, lots.
Now, I'm in Long Beach. Charging my ipod and my camera because tomorrow is THE BIG DAY where I leave on a jet plane to Brazil.
This is the start of my adventure.
Stay tuned friends.
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