I’m in Rio now for my last couple days. Its geographically wild. Like Yosimite meets Wikiki: these monstrous buttes and spires jut up around the dense urban beach city. Also bloody hot so it reminds me of nyc in the summer. Where I’m staying in Ipanema feels like Madisson Ave with all the super spendy shops. Unlike Madisson Ave though the beach here is a block away.

Honestly I’m a bit over the solo travel thing, at least until I get a better handle on Portuguese. I usually have no trouble making friends and pluggingin, but this feels like work. Its been a good experiment. Can’t remember the last time I was this tan. Yikes.

Ok some things really Brazilian…

I’ve seen lots of butt floss, and its a full moon soon, so there’s some cosmic symetry there. And this is of course the home of the Brazilian Wax, though a good wax goes unnoticed.

Right now the air in this internet shop is super stagnant. It started raining outside, and they only have one door open. It smells like some of these guys need a shower more than just another dip in the ocean.

As I said, it was pouring a moment ago. Its pretty reliable that every afternoon it gets stormy. Kinda nice really. Although my scooter helmet is now full of water.

Porto Allegre, another city up the coast, won a soccer game today. So a crew of eight or 10 Allegrans in blue soccer jerseys are outside beating drums and singing. Periodically cars honk in fan kinship. When the Brazilian national team won a match a few days ago everyone went nuts, driving around yelling out their cars, waving flags, lighting off fireworks.

Slightly sunburned eyeballs and that punchy water logged feeling today.

Met some English folks who’re staying at my hotel. They talk funny (one called me a “git”), and get hammered often. The girls keep finding themselves taken advantage of by Brazilian men. Oops.

I was at a nightclub last night, and it felt almost like Walnut Creek, girly-girls and thug-fabulous guys; only dif was the band playing Ameri-pop covers and the entire crowd singing along, all with bad accents.

I'm now in Florianopolis in the south.
Its an island with lakes and beaches
and surfing and an affluent summer vacation crowd.
Talk about contrast from
Bahia.  Wow.
The first day the surf was so big I couldn't even make it  out.
I've been riding around the island on a scooter.
Brazilians drive like they're on fire.
Still not a lot of English spoken, and only a little Spanish.
So when I get an English conversation its like a delicacy.

Oh and the sun is so strong it stings.
People here are tanning here like
its 1983.  Not this Norwegian.
I have yet to figure out the club scene.
Supposed to be pretty huge, but it
changes venues so I need some local input.
I switched to a bungalow on Praia Mole.
Its much nicer than the cell I had at Praia Joaquina.
A week left here in Floripa.
We'll see if I can find some english or spanish speakers
to befriend.

Its high summer here so the sun doesn't set here until 9pm or so.
The day just goes on and on
and on...

I made it here without a hitch (except for leaving my mp3 player on one of my flights in a daze). With layovers it took me about a day and a half. The hostel I´m in is in the old part of Salvador. Cobblestone streets, narrow alleys, large gringo population. When I arrived the smell alone put me on my heels, though now I can´t smell a thing. Maybe its because they wash down the streets every morning.

Salvador is a pretty big city – 17 million people. And there´s poverty here. Deep poverty. I wander off the beaten track and its suddenly beyond sketchy. But I haven´t even seen a true favela yet.

Faces are so different. Often the eyes are really wide apart, an indian trait I think. The skin here in the North more dark than caramel. The men have this big teddy bear aspect, brawny, warm, loud, lethal. The women occassionally give me a look so predatory I´m not sure if its flirtatious or just hungry. The lower socioeconomic strata, most of the population, is so varied I can only barely catch whats going on. There´s an entire economy of scams, like home I suppose only here its clad in filth, not starch.

Carnaval ended last night. 3 days of it was enough for this gringo. I went out with a group of friends from my hostel. We took a bus to Barro, where the major party took place. Fatboy Slim headlined. He was up on this massive float. We followed it for hours dancing and thumping. (FYI: “Tunt, tunt, tunt” is the Brazilian onomateopoeia for techno bass). My body was slick with sweat, mine and everyone elses. Had several people try to pick my pocket, but that was the worst of it.

Another two days here in Bahia. Should be interesting to see how/if Brazil sleeps off the last weeks revelry.