Back in the USA

Splice with Pandeiro

Well, I'm back and I brought back a nice chest-cold from South America. Thankfully this isn't one of those flesh-eating kind you always hear about from the movies, so I lucked out this time. The jury is still out on whether any super-spiders or anacondas stowed away, but if Counselor declares me a deadbeat blogger, you know who - or what - to blame.

How was Brasil? How can I begin to describe it? I started to take a travel diary as I did for China last year, but after the first day in Rio de Janeiro, I literally lost track of the days. Brasilians have a preference for partying all night long (at least during Carnaval) and our 'days' did not get going until 11pm at least. One night I found myself at the "Terreraio de Samba", i.e. 'Sambaland' the open air concert-fairground next to the Sambadromo stadium with about 4,000 of my closest friends and we decided to leave at 4am. There were still 3 acts to go and it took us about 30 minutes to completely find our group.

Party-Hardy indeed.

Carnaval was intense. Parading with Estacio Primera de Mangueira Samba School, the first established, was an honor and the parade itself chaotic and full of adrenaline. There's nothing like wearing spandex and gold foil and singing and dancing for 50,0000 people or so and millions more on TV. And apparently, Mr. and Mrs. Splice made it on OGlobo TV! I'm trying to acquire footage of that, so I'll report if so.

After the parade, we collapsed into our beds and slept until 5pm the next day.

That kinda encapsulated my experience in Rio. Lots of amazing people, BEAUTIFUL landscapes, warm rich culture, amazing music and one hell of a Party. Mrs. Splice had spent the prior week in Bahia, so she had more culture than I, but Brasil is a vacation place I highly recommend to anyone. And it has two more things that appeal to the average American: You can drink the water, and EVERYONE takes Mastercard/Visa.

Beijos!