I have been pretty slack the last week and a bit, spending most days trying to write my blog entries for the previous two weeks away in the Amazon and Copacabana. There really hasn’t been much I could do because im completely over my budget! But I have had some good nights out.

 

We went to a farm for a cousins birthday party one night. The place is purely there for parties, at least thats what it seems like. No one lives there but there is a care taker who mows the soccer pitch and takes care of the rest of the property including the two mammoth sized dogs. =)

Entering into the place it was obvious no one lived there as there were no signs of a usual household. Pictures, paintings, tvs, stereos, dvd players, carpet, linen, books and other miscellaneous items all non existant. The main open space of the house has an extremely long table with two pews either side that could easily sit 20 people each, a small sized pool table, a foozball table and off to the side a poker room with a green velvet topped round table. Ah a party house I thought. But wait there’s more!

 

Walking out the back I was greeted by a few relatives standing playing a game in the middle of what looked like a cricket pitch but with brown sand instead of grass and enclosed within a wooden rectangle that started at ankle hight in the center of the pitch and inclined up to form a wall around either end of the pitch. The game being played was Bocce but with the pitch enclosed adding a Brazilian twist. The game begins by throwing the small white ball down the other end. This forms the first part of the strategy if you care to have one. You can throw the ball with all your strength and have it ricochet off the far wall and roll somewhere close to the center. Or you could roll it and have it stop up against a wall, the choices are yours. I once bowled the ball down the pitch as if playing cricket, I got some weird looks..

 

I was invited to join in, my teammate and I were undefeated for three games and everyone started saying things like, ‘Australian nation bocce champion’ and other things I couldn’t quite understand. Later in the night it turned into ‘Australian nation beer champion’...

Out by the pool was the bar area where the chuhaskoo was being cooked and the keg beer or ‘choppe’was being poured. It was a fun night and I finally got to have a few drinks with the cousins as I wasn’t hungover.

 

I went to Tradicional for the final time on Wednesday. The last time I was there I lost count of my drinks and ended up paying a fortune. So learning from my mistakes I drank up before we left and scammed two drinks while we were there. Gabbi being friends with the owners made it all possible. We intermittently went up to the VIP area and filled our cups with the vodka or whiskey at the table, easy. Turned out to be a great night.

 

It’s time to leave this country and I’m really looking forward to getting to Miami and being free, totally independent. I’m expecting the return of familiar civilization to be a comforting relief. While things in Brasil aren’t terrible they are certainly different. The distinction between poor and rich and the subtle snobbishness associated with it kinda gets on my nerves. Im looking forward to the return of English as the first language and cities where the buildings don’t look like they’re about to collapse...

 

I will miss many things about Brazil such as the good exchange rate that makes everything relatively cheap. Cheap drinks and food is a great thing. Even when the price seems high, after the conversion you think, ah thats ok. Ill certainly miss the food, especially the beans with rice. The other foods ill miss are the tasty meats of the chuhaskoo, fried banana, crazy chicken, and of course all the fruits and juices! My favourite fruits were Maracuja (Passion fruit) and Uva (Grape). Now im hungry! 

  

Ill miss the plethora of excellent nights at parties, pubs and clubs and all the friends that Ive met along the way. Brazilians are awesome people!

 

I will miss Brazil