Crepe or Crap?

Crepes. I'm sure you've eaten them before. And, if you haven't you've probably heard of them. They are thin french pancakes that are eaten with jellies, sugar, and just about anything else you like to stuff your face with.

Now a couple of years ago I was in Brazil and my buddy Mario and I were walking down a street (We did this quite frequently actually). And, on this particular street there was a little shop advertising crepes. However, the pronunciation is a bit different in portuguese. Instead of (cray-pes) it sounds more like (craps). So when Mario asked, "Have you ever eaten a crepe before?" I was taken aback, having not seen the sign and thought that he was messing with me. I answered, "No Mario, I don't eat crap." Then I saw the sign and said, "Oh, crepes, yeah, I've had those, they're pretty good." Then I explained to Mario the very close linguistic nature of the portuguese crepe, to the english crap. We both laughed, and agreed to eat crap after that.

The Brazo-Austra-American Connection

There are three countries that I put in the same category. We're like blood brothers. 

Brazil, Australia, and the United States (Pictures in order - BR, AU, US).

You can agree or disagree, but the people in these places share a lot of similarities, as do their histories. All three were colonized by European powers. All three were exploited by those same powers. All of those countries were made what they are today by waves of immigration from all over the world. All of them also have vast untamed stretches of country. From the Amazon in northern Brazil, to the Yukon in Alaska, to the Northern Territory in Australia. Another cool fact is that all of the countries have great surfing, surfers, and beach communities. All three have vast mineral resources, mining operations, and stable economies. They all have beautiful people. And, another similarity is that all three countries share my love.

Delta Swindlers

Well we're going to have to get a little more regular again on this blog. I can make the excuse that I've been traveling, but that's pretty lame because you can usually use the internet just about anywhere. It comes down to priorities. And this blog was just not one of them as I was in Brazil, and as I am now up in my hometown of Duxbury, Massachusetts. 

I got back friday afternoon and left the airport shortly after noon. It wasn't supposed to happen like that. I had a flight that was supposed to get to DC just after 10am. In Sao Paulo I got into a Delta line that I thought was destined for my connection in New York. After waiting about 10 minutes I asked one of the airline people if it was the line for New York. To that my response was, "No that line closed already." So I said, "What are you saying? I'm still here before the flight has taken off, I was misled to think this line, which is apparently for Atlanta, was for New York, and now you're telling me I can't get on my flight?" Then she said, "Well you can either leave the airport, or go to the Delta desk and see if you can still get on your flight." So I went to the Delta desk. The guy there informed me that I had to be there an hour before take off to check in, and that I missed the plane. Then I said, "First off, I was here prior to the hour, I was misled into thinking I was in the right line, and...the plane that you say I cannot board is still here." Well, that got me nowhere. He said he could re-route me through Atlanta, putting me on stand-by for a $250 flight change fee. Whoopee! Out $250 because of their stupid system and mistakes (All these conversations took place in portuguese - angry, ill-tempered portuguese).

Turns out Delta is pretty sleazy. What they do with this 'lock the flight an hour prior' allows them to have extra space on their plane so they can swindle more people who show up late for an earlier flight into paying more to get to their destination. For instance, I was quote on quote "late" for my flight to NYC, so for another $250 they could put me on standby for Atlanta. Those who missed some other flight prior to NYC, who were on standby got my seat. Those who foolishly didn't know about the hour before lock down with Atlanta lost their seat to me and others like me - for a hefty price.

So I had to do some things before I left DC, and didn't end up leaving until 3:30pm to drive up to Boston. On a friday, that is probably the worst possible time to leave. I got stuck in between DC and Baltimore for 3 1/2 hours. A trip that should take 8 hours took me close to 11 hours. But, two Dr. Peppers, singing along to my new Brazilian CDs, and talking to myself for an hour and a half kept me from driving off the road. Mind you, the flight from Brazil was 9+ hours and then another 2 from Atlanta to DC. I was running on dregs. But, all in all good times. I went to my buddy's wedding on Saturday, and I've been visiting old friends around Massachusetts this weekend.  Good times.

A short brief on my travels

So, for the past couple days...and actually almost 2 weeks, I have been traveling in the beautiful country of Brasil. Notice that I spelled it 'Brasil' and not 'Brazil'. That is because that is the correct way to spell it. However, the anglicized spelling allows for english speakers to get the pronunciation a little more right than otherwise. However, the word sounds more like (Bra-zi-oo) because the 'l' doesn't close in portuguese like is does in english. But, enough with the linguistics lesson.

I drove with my friend Mario to Maceió from São Paulo. The trip takes 2 days of straight driving. The roads were precariously formed at best. There are parts that are reasonable, but there are huge stretches that are full of holes, bumps, and cracks. The reason for that is because even if the government sets aside money to resurface or fix the road, it generally ends up in some local construction guy's pocket, or gets signed off by the government as having been done and the governor, mayor, or whoever is responsible puts the money in his account in Zurich. But it was a pretty decent drive, with pit stops for gas, salgados (snacks) and lots of guaraná (an energy soda). I traveled across the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Sergipe, Alagoas, and I even visited Pernambuco when I went to Recife with Mario to do some business and visit the Mormon temple there.

We arrived in Maceió around 3:30 in the morning last monday, slept a little in the car for an hour or so in a town just 30 minutes north called Paripueira. The town sits right on the water and there are beautiful reefs, fish, manitees and local cuisine, but at that hour we were hardly conscious of this. We then drove around Maceió a bit, and eventually got in touch with our mutual friend Meri. She let us stay at her house for the week.

Without going into too much detail, I will say that the beaches in northeastern Brasil, and especially in the state of Alagoas (where Maceió is situated) are some of the most beautiful in the world. I'll have to attach a few photos to this blog post later to show you. While there in Maceió we went to Jatiúca beach, Ponta Verde beach, Francês beach, Paripueira, the Barra de São Miguel and visited old friends, acquaintances, and pretty much gorged ourselves in all the delicacies that Maceió has to offer. We had a cheesy shrimp called bubble gum shrimp, had lots of pizzas, exotic fruit juices, crabs, and every other delicious sea food or land mammal that was available. I did not get to surf because they only took cash at the rental place, and my bank card is without a pin now for weeks because my bank is inept. But next time I won't miss out on it.
I've decided that I'm going to buy a beach house in a town north of Maceió called Maragogi. I had dinner there and asked the waiter how much a beach house would cost. He said R$40,000. In dollars, with the current exchange rate, that's $25,000. Hard to refuse a piece of paradise at that price. Maragogi sits just 2 1/2 hours north of Maceió on the border of Alagoas and Pernambuco. The sand is pearly white, the water a turquoise and emerald color, and it is full of coconut trees, old buildings, churches, and hammocks. Ideal. And the taxes on a house like that would run about $250 a year and utilities wouldn't be much more than that. I could even rent it out while I'm not there and make a profit. Sweet deal.
Now I'm back in São Paulo. I got to visit a beautiful Ibirapuera Park, and I went to the Museum of Art yesterday. Today I'll have lunch with some friends, and as usual, I'll keep it crazy at night. All my best to you. I return friday to the US of A.

Brasil in lieu of a car

A couple of days ago I had a decision to make. It wasn't really all that pressing, but it was important that I make it. I had decided a few months ago that I would save some money to buy a car, then hopefully have enough to cover a trip to Brasil and save a bit in the bank. Well, recently I thought about how stupid buying a car right now would be. The only way I could make the original plan work would be to buy a POS car, which isn't really my cup of tea.


So the new dilemma was between purchasing a car or going to Brasil. On the one hand, a car would be nice to have because I could then go farther distances in a shorter amount of time. However, at the same time, gas is costing on average $4 a gallon and to be honest, I'd rather not have to pay another insurance bill and maintenance on an old clunker. And then I thought, "Wait a minute, I have a bike." Now, the bike is a BMX bike, not the all so popular mountain bike, but if I got it some new tubes, a new chain, cleaned the rust off and got a new comfy seat, it'd be fine for local travel. So that's exactly what I did. So all of a sudden, there was really no reason to get a car. I still have a little bit of school left, so I don't have a high-paying career yet, so the more I can put away the better.


This brings me to Brasil. The cost of my trip to Brasil would be only half that of buying a car, and I could pocket the rest. Not only that, but I've been telling my Brasilian friends for years now (3 as of yesterday) that I would come back down and visit them. So I thought it was about time to unravel the tapestry of excuses, hop on a plane for the first two weeks of August, and say hello. So the game plan is to work out in Provo until the 30th of July, get on a plane to DC (because if I leave from DC it costs me half as much in airfare), then on the 1st of August get on a plane bound for Sao Paulo, switch planes there and head to Maceio for the next two weeks. When I get back, my brother will just be getting back from Haiti, and we can either drive or fly up to Boston for a friend's wedding on the 23rd. Good plan? I think so. But certainly a busy one.