The Travel Chronicles

Well I´m still here in the island. What a place to recuparate!! Today I went planta scubbing where they drag you behind a boat and there´s this special board you can use to either go down deeper into the water or go up to the surface. I saw sharks (the ones that don´t bite), sea turtles, hundreds of fish, an old ship wreck site and about 12 dolphins swam around me!!

Even on this island they have a jam session. So later on tonight I´m going to hear some music.

It´s really rustic here. Power is by fuel. Shower water is rain water. And they only have one main road. The other´s are dirt roads. The chickens are my alarm clock!! But it´s really worth it coming here. I can´t wait to show you all the pics I took!!

I´ll post pics Jan 5 or 6th…

Hello all I cn´t uypdate you with images because I´m in Fernando de Noronda. IT´s a remote island 300 something miles off the coast. I´m using the satelite connection and it´s too slow and I have five people waiting to use the computer.

Salvador in New Year´s Eve will ruin all future New Years!! I didn´t stop partying until 10 am the next day and THEN I went to the free concert on the beach Jan 1 until Midnight. AND then I packed and made a 3am flight.

I just want to tell you this island is beatiful!! I´ll try to post pictures later tonight.

Well now I´ve moved to the Barra (it´s said like Baha) neighborhood. My pousada (or Bed and Breakfast) is a block away from the beach and the New Year´s celebrations!! I met some aquantances from the UK last night as well as some Bahians (people from here in Salvador). We went to this free music concert and danced the night away. The taxi didn´t drop us off until 3am.

The people here are really nice. I was at the beach yesterday and this family kinda took me under their wing. We hung out and ate at the beach. You can get anything chilling on the beach. Flip flops, sunscreen, ice cream, hamburgers, cotton candy and my favorite grilled cheese!! They coat it with oregano and grill it right in front of you.

The women who worked at the Pousada even ironed my white skirt for me!!

Brazilians know how to do it!! They have this big stage set up by the beach and the barges loaded with fireworks came in today. Jan 1 they don´t stop!! There´s there´s big concert the next day on the beach as well!!

I just came from the beach now. Some man almost drowned. He got caught up in this current and the police nor lifeguards didn´t even try to save him. The people were cussing in portuguese and yelling for the police.

I might not be able to give any updates for a while…but I wish all of you a Feliz Ano Nove (Happy New Year).

Heres one of the guys we went out with and my grilled cheese being prepared from last night:

Here´s me at the beach in my cover up…guys I´m wearing a bikini (gasp)!! It was cloudy yesterdaybut today it´s full sunshine!! I got my tan lines 🙂

Here´s the stage they where setting up for tonight:

And facing the lighthouse is the beach..imagine this entire area packed with people..don´t worry I´m carrying cash in my bra, wearing no jewlery and taking a disposable camera!!

Well I´m out..taking a nap so I´m rested for tonight

Salvador is a great city. Drums is what I´d associate with this place. I got a late start due to the late night I had . And my hotel DOES have windows 2000 so I have pics to show.

I hung out with these guys that do Capoeira. It´s a mix of african, martial arts, modern dance and some hard pilates moves. They invited me to celebrate New Years Eve with them on the beach. I dont know it depends on how hung over I feel. ´

I decided from now on I drinking beer. Not only is it cheaper than water ($1.25 for 1.5 liters) it gives me a little buzz too. It´s raining now… a little summer shower. So while I´m waiting it for it to clear I´ll give you a quick recap of the Bird Park outside of Iquazo:

My favorite one out of the tropical birds I saw flying about…the Toucano

Here´s what the historical center looks like (which is where I´ll be staying for one more day before I head to the beach):

Heres what Capoeria looks like and the guys too..

This is “Long Legged Eddie” doing his thang

Just me acting silly…

Well folks the rain hasn´t stopped so I about the lay in a hammock and write some postcards!!

Peace…

Okay People…I´m in Salvador. the internet the hostel has windows 98 so I wont be able to post pictures for a couple of days (boooo I know) und Brazil is a culture shock. Just when I got used to the laid back feel of Argentina and the Brazilian side of the Iguazo, I thrown into the party mode of Salvador. I loved Iguazo (sp?) and its people. It´s so small that even though I stayed there a day I knew the bus driver and the people at the airport. Walking around they wave and say say hello or oui´(which is hello) If you come down to Brazil Portuguese is a must!! Even at the airport. Kim, you know I got to the airport ]30 mins before my flight!! But I made it to Salvador. Í´m staying at this hostel thats in the party´ section. The music is constantly going and I dont think I won´t get much sleep tonight. I kinda looking forward to sleepiig in a place which has air conditioning. Well I´m going out…theres music playing and beer to drink!!

Í probably won~t be posting updates for the next few days…maybe in two days. I dont know if it´s weds or thurs.

Check back in a couple of days.

Bon Gia!!

Or should I say Good Morning!!

I´m having a great time in South America. I´ve done some killer shoe shopping in Sao Paulo and went to Argentina to see the falls. You all should go down there. It~s the most spectactular thing I´ve seen in my whole life. Imagine a “U” shaped valley whose sides are covered with water falls. You can´t take a picture of the whole thing because it~s easily over a mile and a half long. I spent seven hours on the paths through the rainforest and saw lots of animails. Macaws (the fruit loop bird :), Iguanas, thousands of beautiful butterflies, other tropical birds and these cute little furry things called Curitas. They look like racoons they hang on trees.

I´m going back to Brazil today to see the bird park and then fly to Salvador de Bahia.

Pictures can’t capture the falls ´cause you can´´t see the 200 plus falls in one pic.

Me taking a break..a the German who took this told me to “bask in the nature”.

The falls:

The animals:

Well gotta go folks…headin´back to Brazil. HAving a great time 🙂

Okay people!! 2 days and counting..so any replies before then won’t get a postcard. The map below lists the places I’ll be seeings. It’s over 9300 miles that I’ll cover and that’s not counting the flight to and from the counrty. Look below the map for details.

1. Dec 26 (12hrs): Sao Paulo – Think of a city of gargantuan proportions. The largest in South America, it has the most Japanese people outside of Japan and the most Italians outside of Italy. The city is bigger than New York and London. Even though I won’t see much, it least I should find some decent Sushi and pasta while I stretch my legs from the long flight down.

2. Dec 26-28: Igaussu Falls – On the border of Paraguay and Argentina. Think of this as Niagra Falls on drugs.

3. Dec 28 – Jan 2: Salvador – This city boasts the most Churches outside of Rome. It’s also known as the city that has the most parties in Brazil including the biggest Carnival in the country. I’ll be ringing in the New Years here on the beach.

4. Jan 2-5: Fernando De Noronha – An 7 square mile island 200 miles (I think) off the coast. They only let 425 people on the island at a time so I figure it will be a chill place to recuperate from the New Year’s Eve Festivities.

5. Jan 5-10: Rio de Janerio – What can I say since this is the only city most people know about in Brazil

6.Jan 10-13: Manuas – This city is in the middle of the Amazon rainforest. 1000 miles in every direction you’ll run into jungle. In fact, the only way to reach this city of one million is by plane or boat. I’ll stay overnight then go 3 hours into the rainforest for the remainder of this stay.

7. Jan 13: Sao Paulo – I’m heading back to the US baby.
8. Jan 14: Houston – Staying overnight at a friends house
9. Jan 15: Cincinnati

Well that’s my trip in a nutshell. Posts coming after Christmas.

I was riding bitchin’ waves and railing out dudes….

Really I was. Surfing is now my favorite sport!! I love it. I’ve been looking forward to this during the conference. I slept late and chilled out in the room. Then I surfed for an hour and a half and loved it so much that I boogie boarded afterwards. However, surfing is the best!!!

I reccomend all of you to try it some time… Coronada has the best surfing neach in the Continential US. I figure I might has well learn on the best.

It was really grey this morning but by the time we got out of the water it was blue skies. I guess we made god happy with our wailing 🙂 This hotel is the shit. Not only is it right on the beach but they have a live band playing at the pool while you swim or tan whatever…

I had a great time traveling and I hope you had a good read following my adventures….I’m leaving but I’ll def com back to Cali and San Diego specifically. I’m in love with San Diego 🙂 Monday it’s back to the grind in Cincy (booooo!!!!!)

Reality is a bitch. Pictures are below:

Surfs up dude

Our surf coach…he’s been surfing for 37 years:

Me and my trusty board:

Me trying to get the sand out of my ear and the snot out of my nose with this kick ass hotel on the background:

Okay people…I’m hurting,I’m in pain.

I spent yesterday on my feet from 8am to 6pm talking to potential recruits. I even ran into some of my college and high school classmates. Afterwards, we had a happy hour at this chill clud in the gaslight district. Even when we closed shop, we went to see Common perform at an old warehouse. That party was hosted by this company called Diageo and they brand alcohol. What kind of alcohol?? Jose Cuervo, Smirnoff, Jack Daniels, Crown Royal, Bailey’s, Guinness and some others I forgot. So combine our free happy hour with this company and get the picture.

So I’m trying to hydrate now and get my act together…because I have be excited my the candidates for hire. Check out the oics below from the conference…oh yeah and we had the best booth there. Some people who were not even kids were trying to fight me for some soap and toothpaste!!d I also came over the booth….

Here’s a pic of our booth.. to gets around 360 degrees and we had a spinner thing to get peoples attention:

Here’s me at my section of the booth for IT or IDS as we call it:

Me and the bunny!!!

I gotta go shower and get ready to work!!!

Well San Diego is a welcome repite from Las Vegas…It’s very chill here and the hotel is sweet!!! It’s right by the beach. I spent yesterday after geeting her chilling by the beach, swimming in the pool and watching the sun set. Scoll over the pics for a short desc. and look for my legs on the beach pic: