More Brasília

Apologies for not having written for ages - no excuse but laziness on my part.

Recently the search for flats has begun. There aren't many available in the residential districts so we're mainly looking in the commercial districts at what they call "Quitinetes" here. One big room with a shower room off. We did see a really beautiful flat, but it was a bit away from the University and it was quite a lot too... still if it's still in the paper on Thursday I'm going to ring up and try to haggle again I think.

There are several really cool thinks about being here. One is the weather obviously, which is not too hot and not ever really cold, although it can sometimes get about as cold as a hot summer's night in scotland during the early hours of the morning, which is when you see all the scarves and jumpers come out. Another is the way cars are fixed. I had a problem with the alarm on the car which I didn't understand despite my best efforts (involving virtually dismantling the dashboard). I went to the big road where all the garages are, parked the car in front of some place, a bloke walked out with a mean looking screwdriver and an ambitious pair of hands and with very little grace had it all working in about 3 minutes.. bit of insulation tape here... undo that... take that off... hit that bit... 20 Reais and I was off. Been fine since. I quite enjoyed that.

I particularly enjoy the self-service lunch bars here. You pay by the kilo and have what you want. It normally works out at the equivalent of a quid fifty for an enormous plate of food. The best thing though is the variety - there's usually loads of salad (if you go to a decent place), and always loads of different meats from the Churasco (bbq). Also of note are the really cheap bars. I think my favourite so far is "Bar Por do Sol" from which you'd have to be about 50m tall to witness the setting of the sun, but disengenuousness aside it's unpretentious and has a good lively atmosphere. People normally come round and sell peanuts for virtually nothing. I haven't yet overindulged on the beer as it tends to give you a hangover before you get drunk, but I have certainly overindulged on the peanuts. Worthy of Special mention is the one next door, which is quieter but open more often - "Meu Bar" is run by Ze, who is normally drunk and to be found playing pool in the room next door. I haven't yet had the courage to follow the protocol at this bar, but in general it seems that if you want a drink you go and get it yourself and leave the money when you leave. I quite like it here as there are lots of wobbly old regulars, so it reminds me of the good Edinburgh pubs.

Pirénopolis 2 - Rhea's Birthday

It was Rhea's birthday on the 10th June, and we went off on the evening of the 9th (with the permission of my boss) to Pirénopolis again. We stayed at a really posh pousada with pool and palm trees and crazy lizards, and headed off the next day for the most incredible waterfall we have yet seen. As it was a Friday and not the weekend, the place was virtually deserted. There was a real sandy beach and the clearest water you could imagine. You can see a picture of Rhea on her birthday standing in front of the amazing Santa Maria waterfall here. We were joined by a huge group of screaming kids a few hours after arriving, but it didn't matter as there was another waterfall a mile down stream... not as good for swimming in or pretending you're in a Timotei advert but none the less pretty amazing. On the way back we saw a cool spider. We got quite drunk that night, nestled into a bar drinking Caipirinhas and listening to some cool music.

We went to another Cachoeira the next day - Bom Sucesso, where we spent a while in the sun and jumped in and out of the water, which I particularly enjoyed. On the way back we saw a cow which looked a bit like jaja binks - or so I thought. I liked the cow.

Needless to say we got quite drunk that night too and ended up staying on until Sunday. You can see the rest of the pictures from that weekend here.

Rio Quente and Caldas Novas.

We made the mistake of going camping on a bank holiday weekend. It was packed with people having car stereo contests with the worst music they could find in their Dad´s collection - or so it seemed. First we went to Lagoa Quente - a place which offered a campsite with access to 5 swimming pools, including one which had water directly from the lake, so was quite hot. Very pleasant indeed for lazing about in. I wouldn´t necessarily describe these pools of water as swimming pools, as they were designed with people lazing about in mind. The furthest you could swim at a depth of more than about a meter was probably 4 meters, so a real swim was out of the question. We realised at this point just how ill-prepared for camping we were in comparison to other people. We had no television, 4 piece dining set, stereo, fridge etc.... In the morning we left, much to the amazement of the staff there, but the "entertainment" was just beginning and I think it would have just been too much fun for me to take.

We went on to Rio Quente where there is a huge water park which I liked the look of.... until I saw the price. So we went to a cheaper version down stream, and camped at a place which was right next to the river. It was fun to swim about there, and we felt proud for having chosen somewhere which clearly was upmarket. I have to admit that it wasn´t the tranquil image I had perceived, but good to experience none the less.

On the way back we went to a place called Piracánjuba, which was a pretty little town which sold all sorts of Artesenato from around the place. It wasn´t from there exactly so I decided to leave my shopping until we go somewhere nearer to the point of manufacture. Also I have to figure out a way of not looking and sounding so foreign so that I can try and bargain myself a reasonable price.

It was a long hot drive and probably not the most relaxing weekend ever, but nonetheless it was good to travel about a bit and get to see some more of Brazil. You can see the only picture that was taken that weekend here.