Novotel Sao Jose Dos Campos

We went to the market square (like in Chile).... and we also went to see/compare prices at different stores (like Cosco)... just to get an idea of what things cost... it's quite expensive.... eeeeshhhh!!!! Also, even if you buy in large quantities, the price is the same as if you bought them individually, eg. 1 item ...

Yesterday we adventured around the neighbourhood... for me, this place reminds me of a mix between Chile and the Dominican Republic... some places are very modern, big buildings etc... others... not so much... and the cows are not too far away either... :) so far. I'm loving it! - Specially the food!!!! :) Anyone that knows me, knows how much I love food... so as I discover some yummy things I'll post them to share them with you :)

Took a local bus to visit a small town about 30 km south of Paraty. There really is nothing in this town... except 3 beautiful beaches. The 4 of us from the hostel spent the day sunbathing and exploring the beaches. I even took a nice little nap. Wish I can come back tomorrow... Unfortunately, I will be taking an overnight bus to Sao Paulo to catch my flight to Buenos Aires. I guess it is time to say - Goodbye, Brazil. Hello, Argentina!!

... that it needs to be repacked, (which is fine) and she is removing clothes from said bag, but it's not THAT HEAVY.....well I'm off to repack my bag *sigh* I am not saying anything else because I am probably going to eat my words. But I travelled before with a bag the size of a small country and it was quite bad, this bag is considerably smaller and lighter and I really dont have a problem with it's weight, but I guess we should have the same kind of bag weight so off I go. It begins...

... cares (it's doubtful;my own mother hasn't even called me for 3 weeks) because hey, that's what blog's are for. I have managed to get Andy obsessed with the Office TV series: didn't take long, I am in love with Jim Halpert, (if only he was real) and my favourite food here is Pão de Queijo. It's like cheesebread. We are leaving for Europe on Thursday of this week, it's gonna be awesome, we're really excited and we even managed to buy matching ...

... But actually it turned out to be fine, because we were up-graded to business class and flew via Atlanta the next day :-) First time business class - yeah!!! Was awesome :-) and the extra day in SP we spent in a nice hotel with a pool close to the airport. So I finally got some tan as well. Now back in DC mid-terms are here and I should be working on them right now. Enjoy the pics Jessica took throughout our common journey!

... then my pizza arrived out in the most elaborate tray i ever saw....it even had something underneath burning to keep my pizza nice and warm....they´re obviously not used to the speed with which i eat pizzas! I could get a reference from Mr Goodfellas as their best customer as all my ex-flatmates will attest to! After that it was back to the hotel for some brazilian tv and packing for the early journey to rio the thursday morning....

... so hopefully it´ll get delivered there before i leave SP (staying 4 nights). Whilst that is a bit of a pain, I can live with it and its all part of the adventure, I had a slightly hairy time getting to my hotel last night. THANKFULLY I had the good sense to get a taxi (it was prepaid and very official but still quite expensive) to my hotel but as we drove on I noticed us getting into quite a shabby part of town.....and i mean quite shabby! In fairness I didnt ...

... it for another 6 hours, this time in the afternoon. Popcorn So called because if you don´t join a bloco you just bash around in the crowd trying to follow, or just watch them pass, from the outside. This can be fun too, if you have the energy - we did it on our off days from the bloco (only went 2 of 5 nights with Olodum). It involves a constant barrage of hands in your pockets as we each got pickpocketed about 50 times a night (most had SOMETHING stolen, but we were ...

... partners for a little while. São José seems to be a little on the boring side, so I do not think that we will stay here for very long. Lindsey is understanding and not offended. Steve and I toured the local mall last night, and were impressed that there were two McDonald´s inside. Unfortunately, there is not very much to report. I have contracted a head cold and hope that it does not expand into anything else. The beach gave me a sunburn, especially on ...