Melia Brasilia

... a big deal at this point). The reason for describing the delightful hotel will become clear when we describe the contrast of the 'not so delightful' place we found the next day...

Another task we needed to accomplish in Brasilia was to extend our entry stamp days. South Africans are allowed 90 days but on entry the lady asked how long we'll be so we said about a month and she wrote 30 days instead. The weather was perfect so we walk the +- 3 km to ...

... condem it completely, the Brasilenses (born in Brasilia, not the migrants from other parts) seem to like it and there is something to be respected about the vision behind the ambitious "50 years in 5" project. But I'm gonna stay by my first impression, I gess the creativity of a single mind, even a genial one, cannot make up for the collective creativity of a people accumulated through hundreds of years of interaction with each other and their environment.

... than likely have joined Helena and Cristina on their trip to Pipa. PHOTO SETS HERE Kite Surfing A few days in I decided to enroll on a kite surfing course - 12hrs spread over 4 days. It´s a truly amazing and pretty dangerous sport and also bloody hard to get the hang of at first, especially when you´re being taught by a 19yr old girl. OK, her English was pretty good but when it came down to the crux of explaining things in detail she ...

... rios. Pude mostrar fotos e materiais que usamos para evangelizar, aproveitei para deixar o meu Boletim de Oração para que a igreja estivesse intercedendo por mim. Após a pregação, uma irmã chamada Cilia, fez uma pergunta para a pastora: Não é a primeira vez que ouço falar sobre este assunto. Se uma pessoa é chamada por Deus, como o Pierre, vive discipulando, evangelizando, ganhando almas para virem para a igreja, então por que há tanta dificuldade ...

... sangria and thinking all was right with the world. Instead of driving up the coast into Brazil, we headed straight north from Montevideo and through the central plains, enjoying the rolling countryside and the obvious prosperity compared to Argentina. There are only 3.2 million people in Uruguay, and the hinterland is ranch country. We saw real gauchos herding cattle, wearing their baggy trousers, high boots and hats that look like fedoras, but have wider brims ...

... impératifs mystiques que fonctionnels : Cuzco ou Arequipa sont situés en plein milieu de montagnes très hautes et difficiles d'accès, mais ces endroits ont des significations précises : Cuzco est pour les Incas « le centre du Monde », et Arequipa fut fondé par un dignitaire qui y trouva l'air bon et dit « Ari, quepay » qui signifie « Restons » (sur le même modèle, Mexico fut fondé à l'endroit ou un roi Aztèque trouva un aigle mangeant un serpent sur un cactus ...

... to sleep as much as possible but in the end, it turned out to be a rough four hours or waking up and falling asleep again. At least the guy next to me passed out and stayed that way for the duration of the flight. Landing in Sao Paulo was interesting although somewhat anti-climactic. Sao Paulo is a city of 20 million and it definitely looks it from the ground but it really isn't anything more than a massive accumulation of 20 storey ...

... schlimm, trotzdem liess ich den geplanten Ausflug in den Stadtpark ausfallen. Dort hatte ich wie frueh** oft joggen od** ein Fahrrad mieten wollen. Stattdessen machte ich am Nachmittag einen laeng**en Spazi**gang im Suedfluegel d** Stadt und besuchte das "Praliné", eine Schweiz** Confis**ie bzw. eine Art Café. Im Jahr 2001 hatte ich das Café zum **sten Mal besucht und dabei mit den Gruend**n, einem Schweiz** Ehepaar (aus d** Ostschweiz ...

... backyard, or driving all of us around on various errands. Patricia is the quiet, solid centre of the family. I had a very difficult time saying goodbye to her at the end of our week. Candido has done very well for himself, the most important being his terrific family. But I cannot forget the two funniest characters in the family, Iky and Toby, the family dogs. During the day Toby the smaller dog is clearly the alpha, top dog! But as soon as the sun sets, Toby's life is in ...

... so we end up going to a Lonely Planet recommended guesthouse - Cury Solar. Really friendly welcome and great family - it would want to be it cost 28 euros a night!!! We did enjoy the rest from travelling though and we had a nice roast chicken we got a the supermarket....yummy....