rebel against the box

so today i leave this beautiful country for a bit....i hope only for a bit. this is the first place i have missed like this....i havent even left yet. ha ha. so im off to pack and head off through sao paulo one last time. its cold here at the moment...seriously cold...so the one thing that is getting me excited about the other side of the flight is that it is probably hotter there than here currently. oh and seeing friends of course.

upon arrival i will mainly spend a week running, processing the last 3 months, and looking for work...again.
oh and posting more photos...there is really so much i still have to blog about but havent had the chance properly....
ate logo my brasil....until next time!

my day today was quite a mixture of things.....i woke up without the headache finally...nice, instead it seems this medicine im taking is giving me heart palpatations, shakes, and a general flu-like effect. so not sure which is the lesser of 2 evils.

after breakfast with andrea, her aunt and two kids, we set off for the salon...ha ha...was cool to sit there with the ladies listening to them chat away in portuguese and getting my feet pedicured. only 4 bucks!!! after that i wandered down to a friends house who then took me to the federal police centre...where i spent the majority of the afternoon trying to get my visa extended. mission accomplished. so now i can stay another 3 months this year at some stage. not now however, need to get back to whistler. not sure why but thats normal.

then went to the church where me mate was working and she connected me with a woman here who runs several language schools here in sao paulo....the future looks promising if i choose to teach here for a few months in the new year.

then took the bus back to where i currently am...the lan house near my place.

the next few days will be me lying as low as the cash-flow....so pretty much just hangin....

....and matt, the answer is no...ha ha....not looking for comments. merely an account of the passing time her ein sao paulo....its a comedy act being asked out in a completely foreign language....very very funny. at least i think im going out tomorrow....then again you never know....how is a girl supposed to dress?!

rio-sao paulo-rio preto-sao paulo........been travelling a lot this week. thats been cool. whats not cool is... dana has gone back to canada now, i am on day 5 of the worst headaches ive ever had, and i am leaving my brasil on monday. so things are a little shitty right now. i am trying to extend my visa so that i can potentially return here soon, but for the moment im feeling like god is saying to go bak to whistler for a bit...some potentially incredible opportunities there....learning that god does give up the desires of our hearts...but sometimes that requires some difficult choices. would love to stay here forever and never leave...but feel like i need to go back for right now....maybe hopefully not long, but nao sei!
so im in my last few days here....they are proving to be packed with friends, meeting up with a potential future teaching job here in sao paulo, potential 24-7 explosion amoungst the surfers, and a date on saturday. ha ha. why do i have to go again? im starting to forget...oh yeah...no cash and god said. doh.

is where i am.

its beautiful...the rumours and fotos are true.

the last few days have been pretty crazy...involving, an off road buggy/bus thing down the beach in order to leave jeriquaquara...transfered to another bus...dropped off at the airport....tried to find a flight out to rio...3 flights later we spent the night in sao paulo....random but good...saw friends...hung out...played pick-up-sticks on a cat...talked a lot of portuguese....caught the evening flight to rio...arrived to a big beautiful red moon riding over the city...had a bit of a moment in the taxi...loved this city from the moment i set my foot down on the pavement....its got its one vibe i havent experienced anywhere else.
by midnight we were snug in our beds in our hostel in ipanema.

spent the day on the beach freaking out everytime i looked over and saw sugar loaf mountain...realised later after a bit of a walk that that in fact wasnt sugarloaf mountain...the real thing was one beach over....ha ha. i like my sugar loaf better.

i still miss slavador....

i have managed to find the one place in brasil which is exactly like whistler....only covered in sand instead of snow. even sandboarding. jack johnson playing in the bars, same party chill out vibe...mixture of locals and tourists, travellers...people just passing through and those that have moved here to set up a business or extreme sports.

it soooo hot here....im currently nursing a burnt arse....not so fun, but surprised that the rest of me didnt burn as much as it could have. im actually the most tanned ive ever been. aahhhh. happiness. cate, im catching up...:)

on the first night here myself, dana, and derica sat on the beach, then walked up the nearest sand dune to watch the sunset...incredible...watched some capoeira on the beach..they sang about salvador and bahia...wimper wimper i miss it...went for caipirinhas and off to bed in the heat....

yesterday was spent on the beach and downloading fotos...slow computers. this place is so laid back and relaxed. they only got electicity properly a few years ago...
the stars are amazing...
was sitting in the bar the other night and suddenly this huge stay cow strolled past...bizaare. soon followed by a random donkey. whistler it~s running into a wandering bear at 3 am...here a huge bull with horns the size of my legs....kinda freaked man...

hilarious moment last night with a flying bug...there the three of us were each with a shoe in hand...dana killed it in the end and the world was at peace once again. today derica and i part ways...she goes further north and dana and i will head to rio tomorrow.

this will be quick as im waiting for my bus which will take me, dana, and derica the 6 hours to jeriguaguara...to the sand dunes and the beach. finally left salvador, and missing it like crazy.

so far my short stay here in fortaleza has involved a great caipirinha in a cool bar, hostel on the beach, no electricity in the dorm, early morning run along hte beach with dana....and must go think the bus is leaving.

the last few days....hmmmm...what to say. back in laranjeiras. waiting for dana to arrive. got lost in the hell hole known as iguatemi mall...i hate shopping malls. but they had a cimema and was cool to watch a film...it´d been ages.

finding it hard to think about leaving salvador. i feel like this is where im meant to spend part of my life...really dig deep here, but right now i can´t. i have to move on for the moment. many reasons...the desire to explore and scout out more of the country being one of them. but this place is a part of me now. so i´ll be back.

i feel at the moment that the decisions that i make here in these last few days could be some of the most important ones i will have made in my life so far...sounds dramatic and over-the-top intense...not meant to be, but true nonetheless. feel like life has presented me with a few tests and god has spoken...now i know what i have to do but the task is hard. feeling exhausted with it all. time to rise up and fight a bit harder for the things i really want to see here and in the future, for what i see and know to be true. this may not make sense....but know that salvador has been a bit of a crossroads for me. its good.

why is it when you want to hear from god about an issue he seems quiet...but in those moments you want to do your own thing and hope he doesnt notice he speaks loud and clear...reminding you how real and involved he really is...ha ha. reminding you that its not about you....our actions nad words reflect something so much larger than just our own little worlds.

salvador i have so much to learn from you, its only just begun...this is my city.

so i began project relocation once again...the walk of shame...back to laranjeiras hostel. ha ha. the woman at the desk was hilarious...just laughing.

when we stepped out of the apartment we landed right in the midst of another festival...the day of independence for bahia...huge parade, cameras, everything from big bands marching down the street, dancers, people dressed in indiginous costumes, reenacting slavery times, loads of kids drumming and dancing....tons of people....
good day to decide to move oria. i love bahia...this place is always celebrating something...

we lose our chance at the world cup...but the party doesnt stop. something incredible about people here in bahia.

every street you walk down there is another band marching around the corner...wicked.

back to the apartment for phase 2 of the moving fiasco...frango thinks we are moving so he can have his space....if he only knew.

happy canada day one and all.
ive spent the day wearing a brasil t-shirt.

other news...i think i have picked up some sort of bug...think it was something i ate yesterday....because for the last 24 hours i have been having stomach cramps...thats it...just cramps. so im hoping they go away soon cause its getting a little irritating. thought i was getting a fever...but derica insisted i wasnt and thinks im being mellow dramatic again. what does she know. im not convinced.

in other news....no nada...im still moping.

im seriously in shock...brasil just lost to FRANCE!!! not sure what to do with myself...so ive ordered hot chocolate....dont even think chocolate can consol me now. seriously thought they were going to win this year....or at least make it to the final, but not lose to france! and to make it worse frango the nutball is at home prancing around in his pink see-through sarong gloating about the fact that brasil lost...i cant face him for fear of what i might do.
dericas phrase of the hour is ´ta enchendo saco´...not only did brasil lose but so did england....in the same day. AND she almost had to fly out of brasil today. seriously rough day.