Brasil Part 3

Praia do Forte

Hotel rooms had hammocks!

Salvador

Encouraging message

Site of a Michael Jackson music video

Church from Salvador's colonial days

Tiles from Portugal

Brasil Part 2

Fortaleza

World cup stadium

Electric barb wire fence and broken glass - standard home security. Does not prevent graffiti.

Quirky drawing in contemporary art museum

Hotel view

Coconut water vendor

Tourist police

The food was great and healthy. Cooked vegetables, beef, chicken, fish, beans and rice.

Fishing boats

Park in the middle of the city

Brazilians are very good at the beach. They have elaborate set ups with live music and waiters on hand with seafood.

I was not very good at the ocean. I tried body surfing with minimal success and a lot of salt water up my nose.

Brasil!

In January I spent two weeks accompanying a student group in Brazil. It was great! I should have defected. The weather was way better than this ridiculous "polar vortex" seizing the midwest.

The best part was using the Portuguese I learned before going. Mastering at least a few words of the local language before setting foot in a country is one of the most rewarding things you can do in life. People love it when you try to speak their language and then they love you and try to help you. Everyone smiled at me and thought my Portuguese attempts were precious.

Here is an example:

Brazilians: Cuanto tempo voce fica en Brasil? (How long are you in Brazil?)

American (me): Duas semanas. (two weeks)

Brazilians: (breaking into cheers) Ahhh! Muito bem! Voce fala Portuguese!  (Very good! You speak Portuguese!)

We went to four cities in the Northeast: Salvador, Cachoeira, Fortaleza and Praia do Forte. After considering posting an educational snapshot of our itinerary in each city I decided to offer this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil. Here are some pictures.

Cachoeira

Cachoeira. First town to declare independence from Portugal.

Artist's studio

We had lunch at a farm near Cachoeira. It was so gorgeous and perfect in such a simple, healthy way.

Everything about the farm was perfect. For example, this perfect courtyard.

And perfect view.

I spent most of our time there trying to figure out how I could own a farm near Cachoeira.

We went on a boat ride.

And were something of an attraction when we got back (it's smaller town). Which was good because there wasn't a dock. The boat driver gave the rope to a bystander so the boat wouldn't float away while he hauled us, one by one, back onshore.

News Bulletin

North American politicians are all jumping on the get caught with drugs train. Toronto mayor Rob Ford kicked things off by smoking crack and Rep. Trey Radel of FL is the latest scandalous resignation - arrested a while ago buying cocaine from an undercover officer at a restaurant in D.C.'s Dupont Circle neighborhood. Speculators are just imagining the arrest took place at a pretentious coffee shop on a Sunday after a round of golf while the kids were waiting in the car as politicians are clearly not that great at doing drugs.

As pressure mounts for a total removal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, the Afghan government is heightening the sense of drama by releasing a ton of prisoners from a Bagram Air Field facility. Onsite U.S. and Afghan officials emphasize they are pretty sure that is a bad idea. But members of the Afghan panel reviewing detainee files are supposedly an adventurous bunch with great faith in mankind's ability to move beyond violent pasts and live peaceful lives from this day forward.

Life Change

'It's the small things (that make us happy)' is a dumb saying.

If everyone gathered all the 'small' things in life that would make them happier, and did them, they would collectively be a big thing.

The stuff we say isn't a big deal is usually the stuff we deal with and look at on a daily basis. So if we make all that stuff better we improve our day to day lives.

There have been some pretty huge events going on in my life lately!

One: My picture frames are higher. Someone once pointed out they were too low. A claim I vigorously disputed only to later be convicted with the truth, and then no rest came to me until the pictures were raised. So now they are higher and I am happier each time I walk into my room and look at them. I walk into my room at least 20 different times a day, so I am at least 20 times happier than I was during the time of low picture frames.

Two: The Facebook app is off my phone.  I was addicted to Facebook. Half the time I checked it I didn't even want to. And there would be no good status updates so I'd put my phone away having learned absolutely nothing. I'd also be unreasonably annoyed with people who always have boring posts about their dinner and emotional condition. I now have way more free time and have started dozens of new hobbies.

^
FB free zone!

Three: I quit using flavored coffee creamer. Ok, yes, 'quit' is probably a strong word. I'll most likely have flavored creamer again. Actually, I did yesterday. Some of it, like the Almond Joy kind, is so good. But for the most part I'm all plain half and half and maybe just a pinch of sugar. I can taste the delight of actual coffee now without a creamer barrier clouding the experience.