I've conquered the city of Recife

So far i've drivien 3 cars, a ferry from Arraial D´Ajuda to Porto Seguro, i´ve stolen a motorcycle, and i rode a horse.
Ashley: 6 ..... Brasilian Modes of Transportion: 0

A met Paula and Fransisco who are nothing less than a big deal.
I've been living in a penthouse.
I drink free Pitú Casaça every day.
I had my first "clubbin" experience which was WAY beyond extravagant in every single aspect.
I had VIP passes to the Requebra Brasil Music Festival where I could touch the stage and get free drinks all night. I did just this.
At the festival I got to see Chiclete Com Banana who is the MOST famous brasilian band.

The concert was killer. I have NEVER been to such a huge event in my life. Or have ever seen something so intense even on TV. There were thousands upon thousands of people there. About 50,000 heads. We had to get tickets to go and when you showed up at the door with your ticket, they would give you a t-shirt. the VIP shirts were white. so we go inside and there is a booth there that customizes your shirt if you want. So they cut mine all up and made it fit me WAY better and made my v neck into a c neck and now its a tank-top instead of a t-shirt. that was rad. get this. they also had a plethra of badazzles there so i hot glued the 8 stars of gold on the front right on top of the yellow country of brasil that was already on the shirt when i got it and rocked some Alaskan pride.

I was up next to the stage and I just want to make one thing clear. I touched the lead singers hand. Well.... really, he touched my hand. But I just really want to rub that in Chicão's face because he just happens to be in love with the lead singer.

there was so much trash at the festival. it was everywhere. i was appauled. also, everyone was making out. seriously. brasilians LOVE to freaking make out. they make out under trees, on benches, leaning up against the railing, in the middle of a crowd, in the middle of DANCE FLOOR, in front of the line to get free booze, seriously. everywhere. and if you werent making out, they were peeing. anywhere and everywhere. they would just whip their naughties out and potty right next to you for all they cared. it was gross. i mean, think if 1983 people peed in the middle of the street at the festival. that street would smell like a dirty toilet.

anyway. so we danced the night away at the festival with beers on our heads and in our hands. We ALWAYS made sure we were packing at least two beers at every moment of the concert.

Moving on to some other incredible Recife moments in time:
I've eaten crab in every single shape and form you could possibly imagine eating it. Its true. Ask Margaret. She knows about the 84934723847 different ways to taste those tasty morsels who gave their lives for the suppression of my appetite.

So we spent an afternoon meeting and mingling with Chicão's family in the country. A couple hours go by and all of a sudden we happen to find out that his uncle has a horse around the corner. And he didnt tell us this 4 days ago because....? (right, we havent figured that one out either). Needless to say, I rode that horse like its never been ridden before and me and the horse bonded. We had multiple moments. Seriously. The pasture was huge and the sun was setting and the smell of the wildflowers, and the sound of the calm wind blowing through the mango and banana trees. The way the horse gallopped across the fields with such pride and finess. .... I love horses. We spent the rest of the afternoon eating homecooked meals, sipping on whiskey, and laughing with one of the most adorable grandmas I've ever met. Shes my new amighina.

I went to jail today. its true. they have this place called Casa Cultura which is a super super old jail that is now a market and every cell is a different little store you walk into and buy touristy trinkets. I imagined what type of people were locked away in those same cells many years ago.

Then, we went to the pier and hopped in a tiny skiff and cruised around the Atlantic Ocean for a couple hours. We went across the channel at one point and got out and walked on this island type thing that holds 33 monuments for the same guy. The sun was setting when we were out there and then as soon as it began to get dark, all of the monuments were lit up with all different colors!! One thing about Brasil is they definetly like lights. EVERYTHING is lit up at night! Its incredible!

So, this is my partial story of why I have conquered the town.

Now, for those of you who have expressed concern about our health, I want to show you a little something Margaret calls the food pyramid:
6-11 servings of grains: beer
2-4 servings of fruit: wine, limes in caipirinhas, and exotic fruity caipivoshkas
3-5 servings of veggies: vodka is made of potatoes
2-3 servings of proteins: the little ants that crawl into my kool-aid-vodkas
2-3 servings of dairy: capetas have cream in them
use sparingly-fats and sweets: caipirinhas have sugar in them, but let's face it, this category isn't healthy, so let's not worry about it.