Carnivale week in Sao Paulo!

Oy! (That's 'hi' in portuguese).So, we've finally arrived in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It's nuts here! In a very different way! I've been thru Compton only twice in my life but Sao Paulo difinitely beats it ten-fold. Everything, from residential houses, stores, nice bars and restaurants, are behind protective steel bars. Its a bit strange at first. You literally get this caged-bird feel after a while. Anyway, we have been taken under the sweet and loving wing of Nuria and Leoni. They are my friend, Fernando's family. They are half german and spanish Brazilians. So, Leoni (Fernando' mom) is constantly feeding us daily fresh baked breads and cooked foods. Gen and I had lost a substantial amount of weight in Costa Rica (working on the farm and all) but now that we have been in Brazil...we've gained back some weight. Brazilians eat like crazy here. They food is good but has a lot of oils, fats, and tons (and I mean tons) of salt. And tons and tons of sugar is used in foods also. I'm not quite used to it, really. BUT Brazilian bbq (called churraschuria) is AMAZING! Nuria (Fernando' sister) and her husband Mauricio, took us to a really nice churraschuria restaurant this last Friday. Basically there is a buffet style lay out of nothing but different salads and other such things as paella, quail eggs, salmon sashimi, etc...and then there are tons of dressed up waiters running around and offering each table a slice of carne of choice. I ate meat like I've never before. It was almost sickening. The meat was great though. I had choice beef, lamb shanks, pork chops, fish...and more. Anyway, Carnivale lasts from the 1st of Feb. and doesn't stop til the 5th. People don't start partying here until around midnite and they don't stop until 5am and in the case of Carnivale...it's 7am. yikes! So, you have to buy the tickets in advance to attend the parades that you see so famously on TV. However, most Brazilian families just take a long holiday for the week and watch the parade on TV. (It's sorta like watching the Rose Parade in the USA). Except for the fact that you don't get to see boobs in the Rose parade. The carnavale parade is full frontal and backside show with the dancing samba women. But the nakedness is totally not a big deal to the Brazilians. On Tv they don't censor such nudity or even profanity. Kids see and hear the same things and don't even care. So, for the week of carnivale, Gen and I got invited to go to some farmhouse in the jungle by the extended family of Nuria. The house was beautiful and situated 20 minutes away from the city of Sao Paulo. There was jungle surrounding the place....orchids on trees, strange birds, beautiful flowers, etc. There was also a pond where the guys would fish for some big sliver flat fish. However, everything that we did pertained and was contained to the house. We ate, did nothing, ate again, did nothing again, ate again and again and agin for 4 days. Needless to say, I got cabin- fever...bigtime. But now, we are back in Sao Paulo and we are looking today to see about tickets to Buenos Aires. We will mostly likely make our way back norte or south towards Florianopolis, Brazil...depending on weather. We wanted to leave earlier for Florianopolis last weekbut the weather here in Brazil has been shitty. Lots and LOTS of rain. And it's been cold! totally a surprise! Anyway, Florianopolis got flooded, which is why we aren't there right now. oh well. We'll definitely get there sooner or later. Anyhow, that's all for now. I hope all is well with everybody!
ciao! and beijas!