your way

The train took off slowly and we were still puttin our bags on the top shelf. Good thing this shelves were big enough to put all our belongings. As we moved forward the agents asked us to pay, after making some additions and multiplications I was in charge of collecting the money and pay the agent. I made a little table to remember who I owed and who owed me since we all didn´t have the exact change for the 138 Bolivianos (6 bolivianos per 1 US$). The agent joked with us as to where we were all from and he meticulously wrote our names and passport numbers on the ticket. We were about 15 minutes on the road and we had our first stop, I was still being the perfect tourist filming my friends, as well as the vegetation outside and dogs walking outside by the railroads when suddenly a whole army of food, fruits, water and bread vendors showed up...It was a parade of unexpected visitors calling their products to atract the attention of their potential customers. I must said I was caught by surprise. The chicken, rice and salad looked very good so we decided to get them. 3 bolivianos each. That was the first of several stops this train was to make for the 22 hours ahead of us so after this one we knew what was coming and we managed to control our apetite for the following stops. We knew we will have wagon services on all our stops.
It rained on and off for the next three hours which made the agents run to close the windows everytime. The seats didn´t get wet but the wagon rapidly got hot and we started to sweat. Then the rain would stop again and everything was back to normal. Guy managed to fall sleep, Rebeca was writing her journal, I was taking some pictures and trying to see any weird animals through the windows. Butterflies, woodpeckers, that I only could hear, bee nests, some skinny birds, Bryony decided to go to the last wagons to check them out. HOurs later she told me to go to see some of the people she had met there. We got to those wagons and the experience was so different. There kids sleeping right on the alley. We had to be careful no to step on them, the seats were just one big bench on each side. They were used by some of the travellers as beds. I couldn´t believe how people could travel under those conditions. I felt like I was in a luxury section when I saw all this. I don´t know how much they paid for them but I labeled it as inhuman. But I guess this is the best they know, or it is all they can afford but I imagine there has to be a way to improve that. I guess time will tell.
I have to admit though that I had a mixed feelings about these passengers. Three of the friends Bryony met were Peruvians. They were travelling on the very last wagon. After talking to them for a while Bryony told them to come to where we were to visit. One of them showed up after a couple of hours. He and Bryony talked for a while but then I thought he really wanted to spend the night on our cart. It was then when I had this ´capitalist´ outburst. I am paying more to travel here. And it was not that I care if he stayed or not but I thought he was using the connection with us, and more with Bryony, to stay. I have been wrong many times and perhaps I was reading this the wrong way again. Bryony was not too happy with my comment and attitude. It was then when I realized that I sometimes can have noble ideas and want better treatment for people but this episode was a little disturbing. I always think I should get for what I pay.

That was the reason...maybe

Taking the last Caipirinhas and Caipiroscas in Corumbá was satisfying. After that long ride it was better to take a shower, get some beers and good dinner. 4 bucks for 5 big pieces of grill meat, rice, salad and yuca. This last is really good. It is kind of a potato but white and it grows long. You have to boil it to eat. You can always fried after you boil it if you wish and can add some garlic and salt. Good stuff. Next morning after getting frustrated at my luck, I was the first one up of the group and the last one ready, only because I decided to go to the bathroom downstairs and the lady who worked there took the longest bath ever. I, sometimes, run to the second floor to see if it was available but anytime I got there it was someone using it. I couldn´t time properly. After venting with my trip partners we walked the 8 blocks to the immigration office, got our passports stamped with no problems and came back to town to wrap things up and go to the border. We were ready at 9:45 am and we wanted to take the 7pm train. There is one at noon but it has no AC and gets to Santa Cruz - Bolivia next day at 9 am. We also knew the tickers for the one 7 sold fast so we wanted to pick our stuff and go the Bolivia as soon as possible and make time over there.
We missed the 9:45am bus to the border so we stayed at the bus stop until 10:30, for the next one. To our surprise the 10:30 bus showed up,dropped to passengers and took off right on our faces. I run, screamed, whistled and banged the bus rear. Nada. I still don´t know why the driver didn´t take us. I used again the portuguese i was studying in Salvador for the whole month of February and got a taxi to take us to the border. 15 reais compare to 7 that all would have paid if taking the bus. But of course a lot faster by taxi. Our surprise was even bigger when we got to the train station and our relief sensation turned into desperation and a little bit of preocupation when we found out there were no more tickets to the 7pm train. We rapidly run to the second floor after being told that the noon train, the Expreso del Oriente, was about to take off. We had no choice, we didn´t want to wait another day so we gave our passports for identification and were conducted to a wagon. We were about to take the so called ´Train of Death´ they say people used to travel on the roof of this train and many would fall dying on the ground with the impact.
The fact is that we were about to ride this train for 21 hours,with no AC, something that I am already very use to when I travel for more that two ours, unless I am driving. But considering the temperatures here, AC is quasi a must. At least we were on our way to SAnta Cruz, perhaps that was the reason the bus to the border didn´t pick us up. If we took it, we wouldn´t have been able to depart that day from Corumbá

Decisions

The idea, once getting to Corumbá, was to get a train ticket to Santa Cruz-Bolivia at 7Pm to get there Wednesday at 8 am. The immigration office was closed when we arrived to the station. They told us, you can leave the country without the éxit´stamp on your passport but chances are the next time you come to Brasil you may be sent back. So since we all wanted to be in good standards with this nation, and we knew, since we found out from two Bolivians, that the train departs on tuesdays and Thursdays at 4pm not at 7pm as it does on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, that we couldn´t leave town, we decided to stay and spend our last night on this small, very clean town of Brasil as the last city of our time on this country. It was a little difficult to make the decision of where to stay. Close to the immigration office or near downtown. The Bolivians suggested to go to the border in Bolivia, where everything was a lot cheaper and then come back to the office for the stamp. The guy from Bolivia was waving his hand from the bus and told us to come up, his face showed a little bit of annoyance that we were taking so long on decide something that shouldn´t be a brainer. Go for the cheapest. This option of course meant to cross to Bolivia and then come back to Brasil. So, wasn´t that already leaving Brasil without an exit stamp? This unclear situation made us change our minds and ask the driver of this bus to take our back-packs from the bus. The Bolivian guy, moved his head like in disagreement when I took a quick glance to the bus. We all thought too that maybe we wouldn´t saved that much since paying for taxis to come back to Corumbá would have made the total amount spent maybe equal. But the most meaningful reason was that pshycologically we wanted to ´leave´Brasil for good, at least for this trip, so coming back the next day just to get a stamp was not to good of a feeling. A guy, of many, offered us to come to his hostel. These hostel workers are like bees, as soon as you get off the bus they are looking at you and want you to come with them to their hotels or hostels. Others offer you trips to the Pantanal or other touristic places. So you have to diplomatically, or sometimes, abruptly tell them to stay back or to wait a couple of minutes. I guess we took a lot of time deciding so many of them got tired an left, only one stayed so we went with him. Persistance of this young fellow I guess. He had a van parked on the parking lot a few feet from where we were. We got in and drove us about 8 blocks to the hostel. 10 reais ($5 US)per night, breakfast included. Sold!

Good bye Rio

I went to stadium Maracana Monday morning of March 20. They have pictures of the most current and old football (soccer)players of this nation which is the only one in the world with 5 World Championships of this sport, the most popular sport on this planet. They already have shirts rooting for the sixth title this year in Germany. They have a replica of the ´Walk of stars´in Hollywood but with the foot prints of Pele, Zico, Didi, Bebeto and many more. I assume Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos will print theirs when they retire. This stadium for 180,000+ people is one of the most known in the world. It is the witness of Brazil loosing to Uruguay on the 1950 World Cup final and it was also in 1971, I believe, where Pele scored his goal number 1,000 on the last game he played for retirement but wearing the shirt of Santos, the club he started as a 16 year old professional player years before. I decided to go the Maracana since I like football and also I couldn´t make it to the game the day before between Vasco and Flamengo. I missed the game because I thought the game was at 6pm but it was at 4pm. I didn´t mind too much since I was hanging out with Bryony on the Copacabana beach since 2pm. We decided to go to Copacabana after getting our bus tickets to Corumba, the border between Bolivia and Brasil. I was buying my ticket and she recognized me from the hostel. I was half awake since I had decided to go to the beach after partying the whole night. I was afraid of sleeping too late at the hostel so when I made it back at 7:30 am Sunday morning I had breakfast, put my shorts and took the bus to the beach Leblon. After being at the beach for 3 hours, sleeping, I went to the station and it was then when I run into Bryony, who is from England, and was also debating where to go next. I decided to leave Brasil since my other option was to go to Falls of Iguaçu but they say the best view of the falls is from Argentina so I thought, for my next trip, when I go to Argentina I will go to the falls. She then decided to go to Corumba as well.Then we took another bus back to Ipanema, the so well know beach in Rio de Janeiro. Big beaches, tiny bikinis, big buildings along the shore, small rocky islands on the ocean. No wonder it is so famous and popular for tourists. Being there was a feeling of relaxation. A beach is a beach but being in Ipanema is something more because the name is so heard of. Relaxed is the best word I can pick, getting a beer from one of the vendors, checking other vendors and whatever they sell, towels, earings, necklaces, ice-cream, water,hammocks, I saw one guy fainted too. It was around 33 celsius (98-100 F) but some of these guys work the whole day setting up umbrellas for customers so they get heat exhaustion.
This monday then, after returning from the Maracana, where I stepped on the field and visited the showers and lockers of this great players was my last day in Rio. Bryony was in a hostel two doors from mine so we shared the cab. Once at the rodoviaria (the bus station) we met two other guys, Rebeca from Switzerland and Guy from Israel. We became friends right away, and we all had a good connection among us. It was a blessed since riding from 28 hours, from 1pm to 5pm the next day,to Corumba could have been a little ´long´. You meet people from different countries, different backgrounds, different ideas, different cultures and physically differences too. All this make these types of trips so interesting for me. But I want to believe the common factor is they are also travelling cause they are taking a break from their routines and they want to spend time go to place the hear of once. Some have already a plan, work, volunteer, language. Others are just travelling, like me. The bus ride was not bad at all, air conditioned buses,new drivers each six hours, and about 6 or 7 stops for quick snacks. The prices a little high though for the type of food we were getting. I believe these buses fix or coordinate the places where they go, like an arrangement, almost like a monopoly. So whenever we saw another restaurant around the corner we would choose that one to save some reais. We scored really good in Miranda, a stop 4 hours before Corumba. So we ate a lot of meat for almost a third of the price we were paying.

Christ and Jehova

I and three more guys I became friends with in Sao Paulo arrived to Rio by the morning of this past tueday after taking the overnight bus. I got to use my coat, the one I have been carrying around since I left Seattle. I knew I had to use it at one point. So it was great defense against the full blast air conditioning of the bus. Today I decided I will continue with my original idea of getting to Peru by crossing through Bolivia. So the Iguaçu Falls will have to wait for a next trip. Although I change my mind often so tomorrow I may change my idea again. For now, I am feeling a little tired of walking for so long. Rio is know for their beaches and the small bikinis men and women use. I am spending sometime in the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana but I decided to do some tour also. Trying to get pictures of the sunset from the Corcovado was not an easy task since I decided to hike all the way up to the top. It is a good two-and-half hour walking, which covers about 9 km, and sweating. I thought I was going to see more people hiking but apparently there is another route to go by foot. I went to the wrong side of the mountain so I used the vehicles' road. Getting to the top was a feeling of accomplishment.One that I felt on my own. I don't know if anybody would feel it just bu doing the hiking itself. It is not that bad actually, but at the end of the hike you wish there was a pool. I have always seen this Christ (Corcovado)on turism magazines since I was a kid. When I got to the end I just did what everybody else does, take out my camera and go to the floor to see if my lense can capture the whole figure of this statue. It got dark pretty soon after my arrival, so pictures on the night were not possible since I don't have a flash on my camera. As I saw the rest of the 'photographers' wrapping up their duties I established a conversation with two Brazilian couples. After talking about our backgrounds and deciding that Brazil will take this next World Cup, they offered me a ride on their car down to the city. On the way back I told them I was visiting Brasil because I am taking a break from work. I also told them I went to fabela Rocinha. They thought I was on the fabela walking and taking pictures by myself. I explained them it was part of a tour group I signed up through the hotel. Fabelas are considered very poor and, at the same time, very dangerous to live. They are usually houses built around some hills, where the electricity are usually taken, as a manner of 'saving', from the public poles; the ones that are suppossed to iluminate the streets. As poor as the Fabelas are, I saw also a litle kid playing in the internet with the computer in the store her family had acommodated to sell water and groceries. It meant nothing to me but I took it as a contrast for this neighborhood. There were some really bad parts, like poor sewage draining, kids selling things they either stole or found. I was a happy when the guide told me part of the money we paid for the Fabela tour was sent to the day-care they sponsor. The guide had already made friends with all the vendors, for safety, business and good relationship of course. They were some kids also communicating via fireworks with other drug dealers to warn them the police was near.
At least that was the tour guide told us. I had a beach break, between the Fabela and the Christ visits, at Ipanema where I run into some guys staying at the same hostel I am staying. I used the beach time to play some 'paletas'. Kind of tennis but on the sand, without net and without score. It was a good thing then, going back to the sunset hike, that these four Brasilians were also visiting and offered me a ride back to town. They gave me a bible as a gift since they are 'Jehova witness'. A gift is a gift I think so I will keep it for a while.

Without Carlitos...

I went to a classic soccer match in Sao Paulo. Corinthias against Sao Paulo. It is crazy going and leaving from there. I bought 4 tickets since some people on the hostel were also interested. I bought entry for the 'geral' section. You have a ticket but forget about your assigned number. You go early and pick the seat you want. Yep, try to tell somebody he is on your seat. So as they say: "When in Rome, do as the Romans" we picked the first seats we saw available. Good thing we went a little early so we had time to get some beers on the street and walk with them until the gate. After the body search for arms we walked to 'our' section. We decided to be in the middle of the noise fans. So, we were singing and rooting for Corinthians, which in this Stadium, the Mourumbi, are visitors. We watched the whole game standing, we sat during the half time. A couple of times I thought we were having an earthquake, but we shortly realized it was the stadium shaking, literally, because the fans were jumping while rooting for their team. Sao Paulo was the home team and were seating on the other side of the field. We were behind the goal and little by little we started to adopt the side we picked. It is just impossible not to. One thing that was new to me, was the allocation of people on the stadium. The one for Sao Paulo were on one side, the ones for Corinthias on the other. God only knows what would happen if a 'cool' supporter, with a brand new shirt, decides to sit on the wrong side. Well, I kind of know now after watching some fans of the the two teams almost fighting on the middle of the street after the game was over. Good thing the police has a lot of experiences for those cases. They do it every week. Unfortunately we watched `our` team, Corinthians, loosing. Carlitos Teves, Corinthians best player, who is, ironically, Argentinian and was picked the best player of the Brazilian league, was injured....too bad.

stand by

I went to the ticket counter to check-in for my flight to San Francisco - USA and I asked the agent I wanted to pick up my luggage in São Paulo. Without any questions the gentleman weighed my back-pack and put a ticket to Gurulhos, São Paulo airport. As the plane took off I could see down Praia do Flamingo and all its little bars on the beach. Only time will tell me if I will be back. After two hours on the air and the enjoyment of having the seat next to me empty I arrived to São Paulo I picked up my back-pack without any sweat and went out to take the metro. Since this trip is about planning just the 'minimo' I realized I had to take a bus for half hour to the metro station. No problem. Big cities and well structured airports make travelling a lot easier and of course asking around and/or pointing maps or signs are universally understood as 'I am lost. Can you please help me'. I sat in the bus and started wondering if somebody that was on the waiting list to get to San Francisco was given the ok to go that night. If not, somebody else was about to have the enjoyment of having the seat next to her/him empty for 6 hours. It was already dark and the bus made its way through freeways and big signs of 6 famous Brazilian futebol players. This bank is paying some good money, I assume, to these guys to seduce people to open new accounts at the bank. "Be part of the best team of the world".
As arrived to the Metro station I walked up to the terminal and bought my ticket. 2,10 Reais. Again, I was surprised with the organization and speed of getting a ticket and the system itself. I haven't been in a lot of cities that have Metro (subway) system but this one looked exactly the same as the ones I have seen. Maybe, they could use the air conditioning so passengers can forget, for the time of their trip, about the hot weather of this city. But that is just an observation. Thanks to the internet I knew where to get off and change subway lines, so after one hour ride I took again my two back-packs and emerged to the city. I asked a man for the location of the street I was heading to, so I started walking, checking always to my right, my left and behind me. Just to be safe, you never know, but I always believe nothing will happen. I ended up on a residential area, I only run into four people, at different times, and I didn't hesitate to ask them if the street I was looking for was on the direction I was going. One older guy was also travelling so he couldn't tell me, two other girls got scared and just kept walking, and later, one guy with his son confirmed me I was good. As I walked in to the Hostel, people were watching TV, another was using the internet, and a bigger group, which I later went out with were having drinks. I was to sleep there only for one night since they didn't have space for me next day. 'Tudo bom' (It is fine) I said. I paid, went in to the room that I was going to share with 9 more people, boys and girls, and I made my way to the patio where the drinking group were. The neighbors were complaining about midnight because of the noise so we went to a bar close to the hostel.

First Stop

Tomorrow I will be leaving Salvador. I had great times here. Carnaval, the family I lived with for the whole month, friends I made while in this city, friends that visited from San Francisco. I bought a CD to listen to the songs I danced and drunk with while in Carnaval. I still have the option to stay and take care of Diego's bar at Praia de Flamingo but for now I think I will depart. He doesn't need anyone until May anyways so chances are still there for me to come back to Salvador. For now my mind is in Sao Paolo. My Portuguese has definetely gotten better. There are still some Spanish words I use instead but I think the more I speak the better it gets. It is still strange to see people drinking a lot, I drink too, but people that I imagine are working are having a drink or two, or three on a restaurant at all times. Others play domino on a park while at their lunch break, others just sit around and do their daily tasks. A man who fixes shoes, a lady who prepares Acaraje, a type of fried flour loaf that it is cut on the middle and filled up with shrimp, meat, chicken or veggies. It is very heavy on the stomach and it is not recommended to eat more than two at once. The vendors on the beach selling cheese, which they burn a little so one can eat it hot, cold beer, which you can take it as you walk on the beach, streets or even another restaurant. "Sem problema" (with no problem). Those little things that sometimes I am not used to or simply I forgot I saw it when living in Peru. What I like the most is that when needing lunch I had the options of paying 20 reais for a meal in a nice place, with nice tables and music or crossing the street and paying 5.50 reais for the same meal and a coke, of course you give up the music and waiter on a suit and the food is brought by the lady who cooked it.

Letters

I had the courage to read her letter. Apparently I am the one to blame for the end of my last relationship. It is okay. Maybe she is right. But I am not spending more time explaining myself. Maybe one day, before the end of this trip, I have a total decision, and courage, to write more about it. For now, I just want to believe it is not my duty to spell things out when my actions towards people are honest. Perhaps the messages I give with my actions are read in a different way that intended. Well, they can always ask me to confirm, I guess.

Saudade...

Carnaval is over, I have lost about 8 pounds just by walking, dancing and partying. Not bad. My skin has also turned almost black, well, very tanned. Considering all the craziness, I was impressed every single day how the streets were so clean after the 8 hours of celebrations. The blocos were crazy and I like the idea of keeping an Abada as a souvenier. I usually don't buy anything when I travel so these shirts will be a great memory of the days I spent here. There were other days when I went Pipoca. This way you get together with some friends and stand by the sidewalk to watch the parade of blocos passing by. Of course it is not a very comfortable way, although it depends where you stand. If the bloco which is passing is very popular and therefore big, you pretty much see, and feel, how the many strangers with a can of beer on their hands, push against whoever is behind you. Everything is sweating so if you have allergies to, or fobia rather, to having your personal space invaded, then you have to be really patient or really drunk to forgive that. It is all part of the great party anyways. On the pipocas you are also exposed to pickpocketers and be REALLY close to a fight that may break because somebody was making his or her way a little rough on somebody else. But again it is all part of this big party, and that is what I missed already....when Brazilians miss something they have saudade....a word, they say, is only brazilian....