Let's Brush Up On Internet Acronyms

Okay so I have recently discovered that I use "IDEK" quite a bit and that a lot of people don't immediately put together that it means "I don't even know" - and honestly, I'm not quite sure how it became one of those things I use all the time, except that there are quite a few things I really, really don't know here in South America, so it's quite useful.

For instance: SPANISH. Oh my god, I really don't speak Spanish. I joke that when I try it always comes out either at about four words a minute or in Portuguese, but y'all. It's true. I hope people think it's cute rather than offensive.

Oh, and that reminds me - I'm in Uruguay! Montevideo, to be exact, and it's very, uh... generic South American medium sized city? It reminds me of a smaller Rio de Janeiro, or a less depressing Lima, and I'm sure once I get to Buenos Aires it will remind me of that as well. I dunno, I like it, and I'm having a great time, it's just very generic. But the hostel is great, except for the mosquitos that seem to be everywhere in the city (maybe it's the rain they've been having?) and I've gotten myself back to relaxed after the hellish bus ride I had to take to get here, so.

I'm really looking forward to Buenos Aires. I take a ferry across the Rio de la Plata on Monday, should get me into BA at about 5. More from me then.

Hostel Life

So weirdly enough, I really missed staying in a hostel. I love Paulinha's family, I loved staying with her, and it was delightfully cheap (i.e. free), but staying in a hostel you meet so many more people, to the point where you don't tend to get sick of people. Except possibly one of the girls sharing my room right now, who is kind of a... yes. Unpleasant human being.

In any case - I have been back in Florianopolis for almost a week now and I could happily stay for the duration of my trip. Life here is exactly what I wanted out of my trip - laziness in a beautiful setting with plenty of people to hang out with when I want to and places to avoid them (the hammock on the roof) when I don't. I'm wanting to see Foz de Iguacu and Buenos Aires and other places, yeah, but at the moment... all I want to do is sit on my ass on the beach with my book possibly forever.

I could live here. I really could.

Firm And Sexy Plans

Okay, mostly just firm. Actually, not all that firm, except for the plane ticket. But! I have plans: let me tell you them!

Tomorrow's my last day in Recife - I'm flying out at like 2 AM on the morning of the 16th, getting into Florianopolis midmorning. Hopefully my friend that I'm timing the visit so I actually get to see before he leaves will come get me from the airport, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm still not sure whether I'm staying with him or not, but he's promised to find me a hostel if it turns out I can't stay with him. So I guess that's good. There's a huge music festival going on this weekend, so a bunch of us will be hitting that up - other than that, I plan on sticking around Floripa, working on my surfing, and trying to not kill my hair with all the salt and sun. Seriously, I had to do like three hair masks after my week and a half in Porto de Galinhas. Surfer girl hair may look awesome, but it feel terrible.

Um. Anyway.

I'm looking forward to being back down south, where people speak with an accent a little closer to mine and with slang I actually have heard before - Nordestino is a lot different than the Portuguese I'm used to, and I've actually had people ask me if I was a gaucho (a person from Rio Grande do Sul). I'm definitely not carioca (from Rio de Janeiro) but my accent is kind of a southern hodgepodge of all the Brazilian bands I listen to. And American, of course. What it's really not, though, is Northeastern. I'm also looking forward to being back somewhat on my own. I love Paulinha's family a ridiculous amount, but I've been here the longest of any place I've stayed on my trip by FAR. I'm probably gonna come back for Carnaval as well. So it's time, you know?

As well as Brazil type plans I'm trying to figure out post-Brazil stuff. Like for instance: I'm probably going to need to go back to Indiana for a couple days between March 2nd and March 8th, when I fly back out to Europe. But most of all I'm trying to figure out when to come back to the States after Europe, when and how to move to Louisiana. Which is stressful as hell, actually, because I've never done this big a move for this long.

Life is creeping up on me...

homg brazil

I have been offline for the past week. I am far too much of an internet addict to do this very often. But! Porto de Galinhas is gorgeous, I am tanner than I've possibly ever been, and Paulinha's family continues to be wonderful. I'm thinking of leaving to go back to the south of Brazil on the 16th. I'll do my best to keep y'all posted!