Ticket is booked!!!

Just booked my ticket for the move to Buenos Aires... It's really happening!!!

Depart Los Angeles International Apt, US (LAX)
01-Oct-10 (Fri) 11:30a
Arrive Bogota, CO (BOG)
01-Oct-10 (Fri) 08:45p
Flight Time 06hr 15min | Economy
Aircraft Boeing 767-200
Stops nonstop

Avianca Flight AV87
Depart Bogota, CO (BOG)
01-Oct-10 (Fri) 10:10p
Arrive Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini, AR (EZE)
02-Oct-10 (Sat) 06:25a
Flight Time 06hr 15min | Economy
Aircraft Airbus A330-200/300
Stops nonstop

Paparazzo Vandria

It started raining last week in Rio which left Mads and I with little to do. Most of the sites are outdoors and the malls have very little to offer as we had had already been to all of the same stores in Salvador. We made the best of it by doing a little shopping, a little inside sightseeing and a lot of lounging around the apartment. On Wednesday night we decided to brave the rain and go out to Lapa 40 Graus to see Grupo Revelação in their weekly appearance. We did not have high expectations as the week before was hard to beat (with our Ronaldinho sighting) slash we didn't know if there would be a good crowd as it was raining quite hard, but we had not gone out in 3 nights and we were starting to get cabin fever!

The night started out like any other night, i.e. drinking cheap beer outside the night club followed by "expensive" (~$2USD) beer inside. We were pleasantly surprised with the crowd as we mingled and danced a little to the DJ music while waiting for the samba band to begin playing. The the band began its set with no special introduction of guests, etc... The week before they had pointed to the VIP section where soccer, movie, and musical starts were sitting.

While the weather gods were not smiling down upon us, the music and sports gods sure were! All of a sudden in the middle of one song Ronaldinho appeared on the stage again!! Unlike last week we had NO clue he was there. But this time I had my camera to capture it! I became HARD CORE paparazzo. No joke I think I took over 50 pictures and 10 videos. I was on a mission (slash I was drunk)... Once he started playing I glued myself to the front of the stage to get the perfect shot. Not going to lie I think I did quite well! In addition to being an AMAZING soccer player the man can sure get down on the pandeiro (see video). So now Mads and I are spoiled as we have now seen him two weeks in a row. I don't know if we try our luck again next week or just leave it as is. All I can say is in Rio (esp. Lapa) you can always have an awesome night even when it rains. Enjoy the pics!! ( these are just the highlights... I wasn't kidding when I said I went a lil crazy).

UPDATE: After 6 days the rain finally stopped and (fingers crossed) it is supposed to maybe be beach weather again tomorrow!!!

Weekends in Lapa

Lapa (the neighborhood where Mads' dad lives) is the center of a vibrant bohemian scene in Rio, with dozens of music clubs, bars and restaurants scattered along its streets. On weekends the

neighborhood becomes packed, with people spilling out of samba clubs, onto the streets and plaza in fornt of the Arcos da Lapa. Kiosks in the middle of the streets sell beer for like $1. Mads and I managed to go out both Friday and Saturday nights and only spend around R$6-10 each night (equivalent to $3-5 USD). Friday night we hit up a local samaba house where Mads tore up the floor and got some unwanted attention from a sapatão (brazilian for lesbian- literally a big shoe). We then walked around what Mads affectionately calls "pee alley" a back street full of hole in the wall bars with live music playing in every spot and people hanging in the street drinking and dancing. On our walk home we stopped to listen to some samba musicians as they jammed under the arches we finally got home at 6am exhausted fro msuch a fun night.

Saturday night we decided to go out in Lapa again. It was so cheap and there is so much energy in the streets that you don't really need a plan to have a good night. We met up with Brad (a four degrees of separation connection through Anna). We went to dinner for us to get to know each other. It was pretty crazy how much Brad's life paralleled ours. Like Mads he is half American and half Brazilian and like both of us he recently quit his job and is thinking of moving down here. After some good conversation and amazing pizza we decided to hit the streets and see where the night took us. We started out at a little pe sujo (literally dirty foot) a hole in the wall bar. Mads' new found friend from the night before was playing samba there. (Sidenote: he is identical to Blair Underwood! and even though we know his real name Rafael I now only call him Blair).

While watching the band I was intrigued by this percussion instrument called the cuica. It is the weirdest instrument I've ever seen! By watching the musician play, it looks as if the man was fisting the drum. That alone makes it look very sexual/dirty- but it gets worse... The way the music is made is by rubbing a wooden rod inside the drum with a damp cloth (see video to see what I am talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqh2wWIMDAA).

Sexual no?!?

Later that night we ran into the cuica player

from earlier and I asked him to show me how to play it. He then handed it to me and right off the bat I rocked! Everyone around me started laughing and jamming along with me. It was def beginner's luck though, because I stopped and tried to start again but was very unsuccessful on the second try.

After the jam sesh we were looking for something to do that didn't include cover as it was close to 4am. Blair and his friend had their instruments and suggested making our own party on the nearest street corner. So I requested the first song be Madalena, a gem that everybody knows and everyone always sings to Mads when they first meet her. I get a kick out of it every time! So they started playing and walking and ended up in front of a bar on the corner of Mem de Sa and Rua do Lavaro. The pagode started attracting more and more people it was great! Next thing we knew there were like 30 people spilling into the street around us singing and dancing. (See videos below) As time went on the restaurant had to ask us to leave so they could shut down the place as it was now 6am. We walked home as the sun was rising, it was a great end to a memorable night!

Beach Prayer

MEU SANTO ANJO PRAIA PERFEITA

ILUMINA MEU FINAL DE DEMANA
GUARDA UM LUGARZUNHO PRA MIN NA AREIA
PROTEJA-ME DOS RAIOS DO SOL
SEM ESQUECER O MEU BRONZEADO,
O SORVETE DE FRUTA E O MATE GELATO

DAI-ME UM MERGULHO DE LAVAR A ALMA
NUM MAR TRANSPARENTE, DE ÁGUAS CALMAS,
DE BRISA LEVE
AO VENTO QUE PENTEIE MEUS CABELOS
QUE EU PROMETO CUIDAR DOS DOMÍNIOS
SEUS COMO SE FOSSEM MEUS
ATÉ O FIM DE TARDE
AMÉMI

Translation:
MY ANGEL SAINT OF THE PERFECT BEACH
ILLUMINATE MY WEEKEND
SAVE A SPOT FOR ME ON THE SAND
PROTECT ME FROM THE SUN'S RAYS
WITHOUT FORGETTING MY TAN,
THE FRUIT SORBET AND THE ICED TEA

GIVE ME A DIP TO WASH MY SOUL
IN A CALM, TRANSPARENT OCEAN.
WITH A LIGHT BREEZE
AND WIND THAT BRUSHES MY HAIR
I PROMISE TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR DOMAINS
AS IF THEY WERE MINE
UNTIL THE END OF THE AFTERNOON
AMEN!

Ronaldinho!!!!!!!

Our fist night in Rio we went to a local night club in Lapa (right around the corner from Mads' dad's place) to watch Grupo Revelação - a samba band that Mads loves. A few songs into their performance they called out to Ronaldinho Gaucho who was watching from the VIP area above. EEEEKKKK!!!! Mads and I both almost died (she actually came super close to crying... no joke!). He then came down on stage and started playing the pandeiro (a sort of tambourine drum thing) literally 2 feet in front of us! We were so sad we didn't have our cameras with us- but decided if we had this probably would not have happened.

What an AH-MAZING first night in Rio!!!!

When It Rains It Pours...Literally

**Salvador as told by Vandria**

It rained all 7 days we were in Salvador, which was such a buzz kill coming off of a 5 day stint in paradise. We arrived in Salvador wanting to keep the beach vacay going and had planned two side trips to Morro de Sao Paulo and Porto Seguro (islands and another beach town). Those will have to be saved for a return trip in the summer as who wants to visit beautiful beaches in the rain?! So instead our first three days in Salvador were spent in the shopping malls. We "toured" three very nice and huge malls, with some damage on the credit cards. We were stuck in Salvador for the time being as I was waiting for a FedEx package with my new bank card, luckily we were staying for free at one of Mads' friend's mom's apartment as we would not have wanted to pay to stay a week in the rain.

We hung out with another one of Mads' friend Carol several nights - she was awesome and offered to let me come visit whenever I wanted so I could see all the beauty/fun that Salvador has to offer in the non-rainy season. Through her we met Felipe - our new found friend and tour guide. Felipe immediately intrigues Mads as he spoke with a British accent. She was convinced he was faking it, but sure enough he wasn't - he had just learned English in England at a fairly young age and the accent stuck. it was pretty funny to hear it coming out of a Brazilian, especially when he transitioned from English to Portuguese, or vice versa. Mads and I enjoyed mimicking his accent/phrases which I think sometimes annoyed him (as he felt we were making fun of him) but it was really just all fun and games and I think he knows we love him!

Felipe took us around town and showed us all the sights from within his dry car. We visited the Igreja de Nosso Senhor do Bonfim where I got my obligatory fita (colored ribbon souvenir). The ribbons have "Lembrança do Senhor do Bonfim da Bahia" printed on them. Translated from Portuguese, the phrase roughly means "In Remembrance of the Savior of Bahia" The tradition is as follows: You tie the fita around your wrist and with each of the three knots you have to make a wish, which should come true by the time the fita naturally disintegrates and falls from the wrist. Cutting it off is inviting doom! I was excited to take part in this necessary tradition that has come to symbolize Bahia itself, however I am a little concerned with how long it will take to come off. We met a guy a few nights ago who is a daily surfer (i.e. his fita gets a lot of wear and tear) and after 4 months his is only half the size of mine... I could be wearing this hot pink ribbon for months (at least it's neon). Let's hope I can even remember what I wished! Felipe also was kind enough to take us out a few nights. Thanks to him we got to see Salvador in a good light (despite the rain).

On our last day in town we were blessed with a few hours of sunshine. We took the bus to the

Pelourinho - a UNESCO-declared World Heritage site of colorful colonial buildings and magnificent churches (btw Salvador has 365 churches!!). There we wandered around the narrow cobblestoned streets going in and out of shops and taking photo opps with the Bahianas (traditional Bahian women - who are simply

there to take money from tourists).

We rode Elevador Lacerda which connects the Citdade Alta (where the Pelourinho is located) with the Comércio down below via four elevators traveling 72km in about 20 seconds. Just as we got to the bottom for my photo op it started raining! I looked like a fool running out into the downpour to take a photo - but you know me I'll do anything to get the picture.

All in all I am glad we visited Salvador, but am definitely sad we did not get to experience it in all its glory. I guess I will just have to take Carol up on her offer!!

rainy season NO JOKE

** Salvador as told by Mads**

Salvador is a city that flourishes in their summer however seems to completely die in winter. It

rains constantly, which is not convenient for all their beautiful outdoor venues. Bars and clubs

seem to end earlier, and excursions to their best beaches become difficult with unpredictable

weather. The locals are forced to stay home or go

to the indoor mall. Luckily we kept it real by hanging out with my friend Carol, going to bars and sushi dinners. Through her we met Felipe, our Brit speaking Baiano, who gave us a taste of axe music and to m

y relief samba. After Brazil's upsetting loss to Holland, we drowned our sorrows at the yacht club with prosciutto and bruschetta and later dancing to forro.

Pelourinho is a short bus ride away where we visited on various occasions. The last time being the most successful because the rain let up and I got to have another chance meeting with my "boyfriend." He is a welcomer at one of the museums...see the pic that I suggested he take with me :-) Let's just call it love at first sight, smell and touch. Unfortunately love is fleeting and it didn't work out because I am shy/overthink everything hahaha.

So as not to piss off any of my friends from Bahia who are reading this blog post I will say in their defense that Salvador is an AMAZING city with beautiful coastlines. I visited in '07 right before Carnaval and the good vibes were palpable and it was extreme fun! All in all I was bummed that I didn't get to catch any amazing drumming for which Salvador is famous. Although Olodum is coming to Los Angeles and I highly recommend their show, I will have to find a way up there. It won't be the same as it would have been in Pelourinho which is where samba-reggae was born but that is the way it will have to be :-(

Fernando de Noronha Pt 2: Partying Like Rockstars with Models, Skaters & Locals

The saying "it's a small world" really came true when Mads ran into Barbara on the beach before snorkeling in Fernando de Noronha. Barbara is a trade show model for Vix (Mads' old company) and they used to share a hotel room together in Miami every year. Barbara hung with a different crop of locals, i.e. really hot boys. After spending Monday morning tanning our bodies while sipping caipirinhas and beer on the beach we all went to watch the Brazil v. Chile game. In addition to Barbara's local hottie boyfriend, Cachorrinho or "little dog" whom by the way owned the Dog Bar which we frequented, we also hung out with a group of pro Volcom and Hurley skaters in town for an exhibition. After the amazing victory we went to a festa de São João where we partied in the streets til the wee hours of the morning.



The next day was Dia de São Pedro. Mads and I woke up only to do it all over again early morning style. Today there was to be a church procession honoring the fisherman saint, São Pedro ending in a regatta. Barbara's boy had invited us on a private boat to celebrate. Promising he would get us back to shore on time for our 4pm flight. Getting on the boat was quite a challenge. The first dinghy they sent with our friends capsized because it was too heavy. By that time the procession had arrived and the port was super clogged. So Cachorrinho had us scaling rocks on the other side to avoid the traffic jam. When we finally got on the boat it was rad, Mads set her alarm so we could party in peace for our last few hours on Noronha. Everything was flowing, the regatta was awesome, everybody dancing on their boats and even jumping ship to get on ours. Every so often we got to cool off in the pristine coves, life was sooo good. When it finally came time to catch our flight, we said our goodbyes and swam ashore. While Cachorrinho gallantly swam with our bag on his head so it would not get wet. I don't know if this trip can ever be topped but Noronha definitely will always be paradise in my mind.



On the flight home I won a lottery and got to sit in the cockpit with the pilots the whole way!!! It was super cool.

Fernando de Noronha Pt 1: Private Island Tours

If I had to use only one word to describe Fernando de Noronha (FDN) it would be easy- PARADISE. Its crystal clear water and spectacular landscape this island is considered one of the most stunning places in Brazil, if not the entire world. With little more than 200 plane seats per day available to Noronha, the island is never overwhelmed by tourism. We continuously saw many of the same faces on our plane, at dinner, the bars, beach etc... We made "friends" with some people simply by running into them everywhere. We arrived to the island in the late afternoon, after spending a few hours dealing with some bank issues (see prior posting) we were ready to go out and have a fun night! We headed to Bar do Cachorro "Dog Bar" for its nightly forró. Forró is a couples dance to syncopated music centered on the acordian, triangle and the zabumba (a bass drum of sorts). Mads loves dancing forró but due to her injured ankle she was a little weary of hitting the floor, so at first we sat and watched the other couples dance. After a while a man came up to us trying to get her to dance. She explained that she couldn't but that he should teach me how to. I was a little creeped out by this guy and didn't want to go - but Mads insisted saying she had been watching him and he was really good. After a few awkward moments of me stumbling around the dance floor to the fast paced 2 x 2 dance beat I got the hang of it. When we returned to our seats Mads was about to heard to the dance floor herself with a hunky local. So she stuck me with the creepy middle-aged man while she waited for a better option to come along...I saw her ways hehe.

My dance partner, Ze Renato, actually ended up being really nice. Though he barely spoke any English/Spanish and I barely speak Portuguese we managed to have a conversation while Mads danced. He told me he was a local born and raised on the island. He now was a scuba instructor and tomorrow (Sayurday) was his only day off and he wanted to take us on a tour around the island. I told him we had already booked a tour and wasn't sure we could cancel and get a refund. This was part lie as we had booked one but hadn't paid any money. He insisted we cancel and told me he'd be at our pousada at 8:30 am. Mads and I went back and forth deciding if this was a good idea. On the one hadnd it would save us $140 reais on the other we could be stuck with a strange guy who could try to make passes at us all day (this is very common with Brazilian men). Saying "no" to the question "Do you have a boyfriend?" means you're live bait...note to self: lie to creepers and say "yes".

We decided to risk it anyway (remember- I'm poor for the time being). This ended up being one of the best calls of the trip. Aside from a little arm/back touching to both of us girls Ze was harmless. He picked us up in his buggy and took us to several amazing beaches. He was also so careful with Mads' foot and helped her as we hiked through cliffs and down a really gnarly ladder/rocky path to our favorite beach Baía do Sancho. We would definitely not been able to do this on a big tour. The next day we took a boat tour in the morning and then met up with Ze in the afternoon for more sight seeing. He brought along a co-worker, aptly named, Ze Gustavo (to Mads' dismay). This new addition made our tour even more harmless. The highlight of day 2 was a stop at Cacimba do Padre, this beach is famous as it holds the ASP World Surf tour every March. You could tell this spot gets huge just by the epic womp there at this time of year.


That night Ze Renato invited us to a peixada (fish dinner). I explained that I did not eat fish, but he insisted I would love it the way he prepared it with salt and lime. The two Ze's picked us up and took us to the deserted beach where they set up a table that they had "borrowed" from the closed restaruant next door. Ze Renato grilled the fish wrapped in a bannan leaf and lo and behold he was right, despite how nervous I was to eat it, I thought it was really good!! When it came time to leave the buggy, which he had driven onto the sand, we discovered it was stuck. We could have told him that would happen when he drove in. After about 20 min of the boys trying to handle it on their own, Mads' stick-shift driving skills came in handy. The two boys pushed the front as Mads reversed out of the hole. Success! We did not have to spend the night on the beach. All in all the decision to hang out with the random from the forró was awesome!

Dangers & Annoyances

Every travel book has the section that warns against local risks. I pride myself on being a pretty savvy traveler- however sometimes bad things still happen. The Thursday we arrived in Fernando de Noronha was NOT my day. It all started when we landed and got our luggage. My backpack- though locked- arrived open with some items sticking out of an inside zipper pocket. At first I thought nothing of it assuming the main zipper had just popped open as the lock was still closed and the zipper was open from the middle. Glad to see it wasn't broken, I fixed the zipper and went on my way. As we were sitting on the airport waiting for our ride I realized my blackberry was in that inside pocket that had some clothes sticking out. I also know I had closed that pocket and there was nothing poking out...SHIT. That is what immediately went through my mind. Sure enough I checked and it had been stolen. Sometime between checking in at Recife and picking up in Fernando de Noronha someone had opened my bag and taken my phone. Already upset by that I went online to discover an email from my bank saying I had insufficient funds in my account. I signed on to discover numerous fraudulent withdrawals. I immediately called my bank and canceled my card. So for the time being Mads is my sugar mama until I get my new card. They say bad things happen in 3 so hopefully with Mads ankle we are done with any bad luck for the rest of the trip (knock on wood!)

"Jeri" by Madeline

***Sorry for the delay in posting. We have had very limited internet access, but don't worry we are keeping up-to-date in our journal and will post whenever possible.***

Jericoacoara is a cool bohemian get-away for people in Fortaleza. However I would not call it a must see of Brazil. It is amazing for kite surfers, as there is lots of wind, but in terms of beach going one could probably skip the 6 hr bus ride. The town is very cute with only sand roads, 4x4 access only, (not so handicapped friendly) but I managed. There were some very charming restaurants appropriate for couples honeymooning hahah. We kinda felt as thought the tours they offered were a bit of a stretch as to what was considered "tour worthy." An ecological hike translates into a jaunt over a grassy knoll in flip flops. Not sure a "guide" was necessary. Vast lakes were the highlight of the excursions with hammocks suspended by sticks on the shoreline submerging you in the refreshing water. Vans got to sled down some dunes for $5 reais as I watched jealously from the top.

Jeri is a very over priced lil town and does not have any ATMs- go figure. We met some cool people on the tours, Vans had some Portuguese relief with the American siblings, Sam & Melissa, we met from Ohio. Nightlife exists, and starts around 11pm hitting its peak at 2 am. The club there was fun, I couldn't resist dancing samba even with my boot on. Thank god they only played it for about 10 min or I would have been on my ankle all night! Jeri is full of backpacking tourists from around the world. Pretty much a hippie town selling 35 dollar t-shirts.Vans could not resist a photo opp with an adorable 2 year old at the bar which thus roped us into buying overpriced earrings from her father. All in all the night was more exciting than the day because we got to eat at romantic restaurants and meet interesting foreigners and dance under a beautiful moonlit beach.