Fortaleza and around

LETS GET EXHAUSTED #134

I left the house in BH at 4h15 am in the morning to go take two buses... During that night I had been half sleeping and half watching a hockey game... Slovakia against Russia... I think... I arrived at the airport at 6h20 am went on my plane and arrive in Fortaleza at 10h50 am (it was actually 11h50 in BH time...) It had been almost 9 hours since I had kind of slept and the day was just starting - once again I expected great moments to come!

I met Amanda and we went to a beach - it was great to be back in a city close to a beach! We had some coconut water - that we drink in the coconut itself - which makes it the heaviest drink in the world... Later this night, I was Amanda's victim to acompany her to go see a dance performance... Until then, I really trusted her, but this proved me wrong - I luckily slept for some parts of the show - it was just... too strange for me (and for her) to enjoy it...
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HOMMAGE A UN CHIEN #2

Capito (Amanda's dog) looks really cute on a photo but in real it is a whole different story - I tried to play with her the first day but now I do everything in my power to stay away from her - she jumps on me, bites me, she even hit me with her head once - Zidane's style!
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BEACH PARK or Huge Slides in a Small World

On Friday we went together to the water park called... Beach Park. Everytime we saw one slide (?) we had no other choice than using the super famous Caro's (Campos) WwoooaAAaooowW! It was great even though the water was kind of warm... The slides were just great! There was one called INSANO that is 41 meter high - the we wanted to keep for the end... Meanwhile, we tried some others - among which some were also really high... Before trying one, we tried to read the expression on the face of the people that had just tried it - but there was not much to read and we didn't really know why... It was only after we had tried it that we could understand why the people seemed to feel nothing - they were - just like us - traumatized! The things are super high and they go at some really high speeds!

We took a break - I had actually survived to the first sun attack in Ouro Preto - and it was trying to kill me for the second time... so I needed this break... Amanda and I shared different stories about the fact that we lived in a small world... So it was not a coincidence when - as we were walking - I recognized a face - and at the same time, this same girl recognized Amanda first and then me! It was just crazy - it was another student that had studied in the same language school - but who was not even from this city... and even if she had been... what would have been the odds to meet her? I was totally shocked - and probably made a face that would have given me the two points that I needed to get the same score than Andree in the final Quebec Sign Language exam!

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The SUN revenge in a HIPPIE city (with two identical syllabs)

On the Saturday morning, we left for a city called Jericoacoara! I love the name before getting there - but I also loved the city at first sight! Even the way to get there was really fun - shared between a bus and a Jardinheira - which was a kind of 4x4 bus with no window that drove us to the small citycenter... or city... actually, it is a city with just a center... so no city... just a center... and no suburbs...

We arrived in the afternoon - rested for a while - went to get some food in a resto by the beach... The center by day was amazing - the ground naturally covered with sand - only young and beautiful people - some shops selling stuff for the beach and the sports that come with it and some cute little restaurants... No cars, only boggeys, horses, donkeys and dogs... and a lot of music coming from everywhere! After eating, we went in the water - in the waves waiting for the sunset...

We had been told that we had to go watch the sunset from the top of a sand dune... So had everybody else... While we were standing by the beach - waiting for the wind to finish drying us - we could see that tens of people were already climbing the dune to get the best seats to watch the sunset... So we went to join them - there were maybe 200 people waiting for the sunset - from where it was supposed to be the most beautiful - it was kind of funny - as if we were all part of the same sect - and attracted on the top of the dune by some extraterrestrial force - but it was great! At the end everybody went down the -very steep - dune together - each of them with a unique technique... Soleil Gratuit - Daniel Belanger

After the sunset, we went on the beach - and drank a few drinks - all made of fresh fruits - and condensed milk (I LOVE CONDENSED MILK) and finished this perfect day eating pasteis and listening to some classic songs sang by another hippie brasilian guy... The center by night is totally different and the atmosphere couldn't be more peaceful and relaxing... Music, water, cachaca, sand, the same young and beautiful people, everything...

The next day, in the morning, we met the guy that we had contracted to take us on a boggey to different places... At the first stop, Amanda asked me (using english words - because she didn't know them in french) if I wanted to see seahorses... this was the activity... but I thought that she was asking if I wanted to see horses... so I asked her if we were going to ride horses and she said yes... there was a misunderstanding... because we went in a big canoe and I was still thinking about horses - so I thought we would cross the river - but we didn't... So I asked Amanda what was going on and she said that we were going to see some seahorses... and then my expectations got much smaller... after half an hour the guy who controlled the boat found one seahorse that he put in a bowl for us... some people took some pictures of a seahorse in a bowl... then he found a second one that he put in a bottle and some people took some pictures of a seahorse in a bottle - and then he put the two seahorses in the same bottle and some people took some pictures of two seahorses in a bottle... a yellowinsh one and a pregnant male... I didn't... Later, the guy tried to show something to us in the water and everybody went on the same side of the boat - I think that Amanda and I only noticed that we had almost fallen in the water... the other people stood on the same side until they could see grey crabs on grey rocks... and they took pictures of the grey crabs on the grey rocks... and I didn't...

The next stop was to get some drinks... There was a small shack, some donkeys and a family of pigs... and a dog that clearly thought that he was part of the pig family...

Later, we stopped somewhere... a city called Old Tatajuba... or maybe just Tatajuba... a city that we couldn't see because the sand had completely covered it... I think I saw some people taking some pictures of Tatajuba but I didn't... There was absolutely nothing... Then we went to the New Tatajuba where there were a few houses, a church and a park in center of which there was supposed to be a big TV for the people of the village but they never installed the big TV... they would have watched Viver a Vida - my favorite brasilian soap opera - some people asked me if it was for the actresses - who knows - and BBB - Big Brother Brasil - I knew that Elenita would be eliminated... I didn't call though...

Then there were a few boggeys behind us - ours stopped - but all the other ones continued their way - I thought of Turistas - Charlie and my kidney - but our guide only wanted to take some cool funky pictures of us... the kind when you hold the sun in your hand or you drink the Niagara Falls or you have a finger on the Eiffel Tower or you pretend to be the Cristo Redentor with your arms wide open... So we were supposed to be in a place with giant rocks with super cool shapes... Ask me for the pictures! You will laugh for sure!

We finally arrived at a lake where we could rest and eat and drink and swim and where the Sun tried to take his revenge on me... So we ate, we drank and we swam... I also rested in a hammock (called jelajoli in amharic - isn't it a pretty word?) and the Sun started his revenge...

On our way back, we were both sitting at the back of the boggey - the face and the hair in the wind (and in the killing sun) wearing our sunglasses because we were still either on the beach or on the dunes - both made of sand - the mouth closed - because sand is not the best type of food for humans... The thing is that the feeling was extremely great - but the consequences on me were not as good... We arrived in our pousada - I fell asleep in a matter of a few seconds - and woke up a couple of hours later...

The last activities of the day were looking at our sunburns - I (still) have some on the knees - feeling dizzy - trying to control my headache - and trying to go to the Pedra Fudrada - another attraction that if we don't see it - it is as if we had not been to Jericoacoara... We half succeeded since we arrived there when everything was dark and the tide was very high so we couldn't really see it well... so we went back to the village - ordered a pizza from pizza banana and watched a horrible hockey game - Canada vs USA during which the best moments were the comments from the... commentator... Acorda meu filho... Wake up son (talking obviously to a player of the sleeping team)... It didn't work though...

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Others...

I was EXTREMELY suprised and happy to see that Charlie the Unicorn was famous in Brasil!

I also took some very important decisions - I decided that my favorite brasilian beer was Skol and that my favorite dessert was Tapioca de brigadeiro!

We watched the movie Once once but I'd watch it twice... it is really good!

Belo Horizonte

I got off the bus after what seemed to last for one million hours.... I arrived in a bus station and called Camila - the first thing she asked me was totally legitimate but it was also the hardest question for me to answer clearly... Where exactly are you?

We met about half an hour later - spent some time together but I had to go meet a couchsurfer for my first night in this huge city... It was the kind of situation in which I was too tired to remember that sleeping was my best option - so after we arrived at her place, we went on the balcony to chat a little bit - enjoying the beautiful view! What confirmed me that my couchsurfer was really a good person is that she had lived in Portugal and that we had had the same favorite supermarket! Pingo Doce! And in second place, Mini Preco!

Belo Horizonte - the name talks by itself - is a big city surrounded by mountains and the first thing I noticed were the views we could get from almost anywhere! Before coming to Brasil, I imagined that I could borrow or buy a bike and ride it in the big cities - some people told me it would be impossible because of the topography - I thought they were exagerating - but they were not... In six days in this city, I didn't see a single bike - it would have not even been heroic, but maybe funny... in the best case!

The next day was about visiting the city - the hippie market in the morning - and then a park on a hill - from where, once again, we could see the city! The temperature was above 35 degrees but I already talked about it...

Later, I was back with Camila and her family - a big family - 3 enthusiastic and entertaining generations living together - with a pool in which we can not swim, but we can at least get wet! It was the weekend preceding the Carnaval - so we ate barbecued meat and drank brasilian beer until late at night...

The next day we had planned to go to Ouro Preto - eveybody that I knew was caring more than me about me having a real carnaval experience - I did care a little bit but I hadn't made my itinerary according to it. Ouro Preto is a small city built on a few hills and if it had not been for gold, I don't think anyone would have built a city in this place... As I said, it would be really hard to ride a bike in Belo Horizonte - it was hard to simply WALK in the streets of Ouro Preto... but once more, the views were amazing! So as the sun was trying to kill me, I was trying to enjoy the place, the people, the music and the decorations that were all around us... In the end, the sun got the first round - but didn't kill me... We left and returned to BH!

The next two days were about getting my energy back - visiting a few more places in the city - talking and listening to some people - on a more personal level - saying goodbye to my super friendly brasilian couchsurfer and her family - and Camila's also extremely welcoming family and getting ready for another transition!

Brasilians are HOT!

In English, it can mean many different things... Entao, en francais, les Bresiliens ont chaud! And to my big surprise, even Brasilians get sunburns! Today, it was 42 degrees in Rio... It was also the official Carnaval day! Fortunately, I was in a colder place - about 37 refreshing little cute degrees - in Belo Horizonte! :)

So, last time you got some great and life changing news, I had just finished writing about my weird experience on the bus to Campo Grande... 22 hours... Actually, it was something that I really enjoyed - since I was going to a city where I had never thought I would go... such unpredicted thing is maybe what I like the most in traveling... This and all that comes with it! This is exactly when I can feel and touch the present moment - seize the day - carpe the diem... a great feeling - that I am very thankful for to the people that I met in this cool city!

I felt really lucky that it happened - and thought of all the small details - that, put together, made it become reality - and at the same time, I thought that if any of those details had not happened, I would have had a different itinerary... But in the end, it couldnt have been different because it did happen! I am being very vague, but it is about meeting someone that had given me a very good impression in Montreal - and it proved to be more than just an impression!

So I finally arrived in Campo Grande - I have been picked up at the bus station - had a rest and then been introduced to a group of people - a band called DELAY (many people have their sticker on their car) that plays both in english and portuguese - covers and original songs. The rest of my time in this city has been about relaxation and simplicity... and fans... the kind that pushes air in your face...

FOOD - There is something great about the food in Brasil - it is obviously really good - but it never stops coming to me... It is always time to eat - and not just snacks, but ALLYOUCANEAT meals... as a guest in some peoples place or in restaurants... ALLYOUCANEAT sushi - since there are many people who immigrated from Japan to Brasil in the 20th century - they also make dessert sushis... worth the try!

I also had ALLYOUCANEAT meat in a CHURRASCARIA... this thing was crazy and it didnt take me long to realise that there was something missing - a way to tell the garcons that I couldnt eat as fast as they were coming... There were about 50 different things to try... I have no idea how many I tried or I didnt try because things were going too fast - and I couldnt learn nor repeat the words of the things I tried - nor remember what I had tried or not - since my mouth was always full... so the mountain of meat on my plate got higher and higher... But the tornado of garcons kept turning - I could have felt dizzy - concentrating on my chewing - cutting - tasting - not saying the word with my mouth full - swallowing - enjoying the taste - explaining to my stomach what was going on - organizing the food in my plate and in my waiting plate... and so on... ALLYOUCANMEAT! MEAT! MEAT!

I forgot to mention that on the way to Campo Grande - I had millions of hours to enjoy the landscape - called Cerrado - looking very much like the arican savana - like in the warm places where I traveled in Ethiopia... with a bit of Saskatchewan - huge living skies (in a land)!

My backpack had already suffered quite a lot from my departure from Montreal - my maple butter had already explosed in it - and what I found out in CG was that my clothes had got a sticky and sweet taste - so I chewed and sucked on them for a few hours before it dried up - from a broken maple syrup bottle... Then I learned a lesson - called MOCOTO... Mocoto is what people should always use carrying breakable things in Brasil... It is 100% guaranteed - and lasts for at least a week - I bought some a week ago and it is still working... So what is mocoto? It is a sweet - that is made from animal fat - to which a lot of sugar is added - so the texture is kind of funny - hard to describe - but it is softy - spongy - I could sleep well on a big piece of it! It tastes like the crunchy part of the Crunchie chocolate bar! So this is what I use now to protect my last bottle of maple syrup... Hopefully, it is not going to melt and disappoint me...

Before I decided not to plan too much my trip to Brasil (I actually had not planned anything before I made this decision - so I never really made it to be honest) - someone had told me to go to Bonito - this was one of millions of recommandations that I had received from too many too generous and enthusiastic hot :) brasilians... Before I decided that their country was too big to go everywhere and I could not really afford seeing all of it in one trip and that I should kind of stop discussing it... Before I found out that I was really close to it (Bonito) when I arrived in Campo Grande - still about 22 hours by bus from where my original itinerary was supposed to take me... So in those simple and super efficient few days - accompanied by great people (even if one of them actually thought I was crazy - or coming from another planet - he obviously hadnt met CA) we took one day to go to this Bonito place...

We had picked two of the numerous activities they offer - I would have counted 3 : the ALLYOUCANEATBREAKFAST would have been the 3rd one - the first activity being a walk in the Gruta do Lago Azul... If youve seen the movie Turistas, you understand very fast what this place is about - If you have never seen it, you think youre going in a beautiful place - that youre going to make great blue pictures - see some stalagmites and stalagtites (it took me some time to understand this word in portuguese - even though it is almost the same - but its pronounced Shtalaktshitshi or something like that)... If you have not seen the movie Turistas, you think that the place is relatively dangerous but that nothing bad should happen... And you might enjoy it...

BUT if you ve seen the movie, you know that there are some crazy doctors in Brasil - with a good conscience - catching fallenfromthepaths tourists - and giving them some drugs so they can steal their organs and sell them... This is what this place was about... Starting on the top of a cliff - with a beautiful view of what was below - and then - trying to get down - on some things that can not really be called steps - but wet rocks... there is a rope that marks a line that shouldnt be crossed - that could make you feel safer - but if you pay attention, this rope is tied to some super small rocks that wouldnt even support the weight of my baby camera if it was falling (if it was alive and falling and intelligent enough to catch something...)! So they expect us to fall and there might be some people at the bottow catching us to take our kidneys... Like it happened to Charlie... (Charlie is a unicorn... with 2 friends... with long tongues... and that make weird noises... how sad...) Anyway, our whole group survived - luckily...

Then we went to the balneario municipal - to dive and swim with the fishes - actually big - probably fed with the parts that the doctors from the movie cant reuse...

Back to Campo Grande - the last day, after I had stopped the rain - I had to use one of my special powers - we went to see the Capivaras... They are super cool animals - apparently the biggest animal in the same family than the rats - maybe not so cool after all... So I dressed as a tree - beige shorts and green shirt - that I have actually wore the 4 following days - due to a notsoperfect organisation - I was a tree - and even more convincing with my arms above my head... So I walked closer to the capivaras - at first they were not sure I was a tree - but then they had to accept the truth - trust me (everybody should trust trees) and come out of the woods - with their many friends... To be honest - they were on the line to become creepy - there were so many! And they are the size of a pig - brown shiny hair - a mix of a huge new york rat, a pig, a beaver and a dog... Now close your eyes... What do you see? Capivaras! Easy!

I also discovered a few of new cool portuguese words... I like the ones with two identical syllabs... like terere (which is a drink - made of green mud (actually called erva mate) - but we only drink the water with a bomba de terere - and it gives a buzz after you drank 5 liters... just like chat - you chew on it for 2 hours and then you start to feel something... oh drugs!) tuiuiu (which is a big bird that lives in front of the airport - there are two of them) jacare (it doesnt have two identical syllabs but there is another word that sounds like it - acaraje - jacare is a kind of small crocodile - cocodrile) arara is a bird - and finally soba - which is a japanese meal that we can only eat on wednesday evenings - at the japanese market - where elvis (not the pelvis one from the god of small things) sings... live! Also, there are fans in the market - the kind that pushes some japanese food smelling - and live elvis sweating - smells in your face!

After all this, on Friday, I went back to the bus station - ready for a 25 hours ride... during which I had a smile on my face for almost the whole time - with the beautiful cerrado landscape in front of my eyes... actually before I started (and couldnt stop) noticing the smell of humidity on the bus - before the grids on the ceiling started to shake and make a noise that I couldnt ignore caused by the poor quality of the road - and before I realised that I could not get into horizontal position to sleep... I was missing horizontality so much - what a great invention! this might be why I had mares... morningmares... and afternoonmares... and when I woke up, the last time, I started to have hope... counting down the hours left to the ride... 8 hours... 7 hours... 6 hours... It went pretty fast... 5... 4... 3... I talked to some people on the bus but they got off... 2... 1... It was dark again and I was arriving in a new city - a huge one - with great views though... exhausted but happy of everything that had already happened - and that would come soon!

Un concentre des derniers jours

Donc... Apres ma randonnee matinale de jeudi matin dernier - j'ai decide d'ignorer qu'il faisait environ 50 degres (et ce n'est meme pas une blague) dans les rues de Rio et que mon visage commencait a bruler... Je suis donc aller me promener dans ce qui m'a semble etre un gigantesque marche longe par d'interminables rues pietonnieres - jusqu a ce que je me fasse peur en me voyant dans un miroir au moment d'essayer des lunettes de soleil - pour ensuite me mettre a la recherche d'une entree de station de metro ou je pourrais aller terminer de suer toute la sueur de mon corps confortablement coince entre quelques centaines de personnes... et ce, meme si les wagons sont climatises...

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Ce soir la, je m'etais entendu pour aller dormir chez un Couch Surfer - mais quelques instants avant que je me rende au point de rendez-vous, il m'a contacte pour annuler son offre... Je suis donc parti a la recherche d'une auberge de jeunesse - ou je suis arrive vers 23h pour entendre qu'il n'y avait plus de lit disponible - mais que peut-etre... hum... attends... je vais... oh! ok! - on a un lit, mais la chambre n'est pas climatisee... L'excuse etait plus que suffisante pour que je ne dorme pas - mais c'etait sans compter sur les quelques australiens - a qui j'allais servir d'interprete (anglais - espagnol \ espagnol - anglais) avec une argentine le lendemain - qui entraient et sortaient en parlant et en allumant la lumiere a chaque fois...

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Vendredi apres-midi, je suis aller rejoindre Gabi et son copain pour aller passer la fin de semaine a Teresopolis - un petit coin de paradis dans les montagnes. Absolument hallucinant! *Le paysage avait quelque chose de Debre Sina - la route serpentant les flancs de montagnes, les champs, la verdure, le sentiment d'isolement de la ville - bref, une sensation tres positive!*

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BRUTO - est le chien de Gabi... mais je sais que ce n'est pas la verite... Parce que Bruto est plus gros qu'un chien normal... Si vous avez deja vu des films avec des personnages de chien anormalement gros, eh bien, soit c'est Bruto qui incarnait le role de ce chien - ou soit le chien etait fait d'effets speciaux! J'ai hesite entre les deux options pour conclure que Bruto n'est pas un chien, mais une animation 3D de compagnie! Tellement bien reussie qu'on peut la toucher pour vrai et que quand il secoue la tete, on recoit du liquide tres semblable a de la bave de chien... On n'a encore aucune idee de ce que la technologie peut apporter a nos vies!

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Dans le dictionnaire que j'ecrirai un jour, il y aura le mot 'journee de relaxation' et sa definition sera celle-ci: Commence par une marche dans le parc Serra dos orgaos - jusqu'a des formations geologiques qui s'appellent Dedos de Deus - Se poursuit par un apres-midi au bord d'une piscine a manger des grillades et a boire de la biere - Se termine par une soiree sans electricite a observer les etoiles.

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Dimanche - 22heures en presence d'un(e) extra-terrestre
Nous sommes revenus de Teresopolis a Rio - voyage de 2 heures en autobus. Je suis alle recuperer mon billet d'autobus que je devais prendre 2 heures plus tard en direction de Campo Grande - qui ne figurait aucunement a mon itineraire, mais vive l'improvisation - qui, je croyais, se trouvait a 21 heures de trajet en autobus de Rio... j'avais oublie qu'a une telle distance, on n'est plus dans le meme fuseau horaire - donc, le trajet durait finalement 22 heures... mini-detail! En attendant, dans la station d'autobus ou il faisait environ 35 degres avec l'aide de la climatisation, j'ai regarde un bulletin de nouvelles internationales au sujet entre autres de Sarah Palin et de Viktor Yanukovitch - la premiere qui reflechit a etre candidate a la presidence des EUA et l'autre qui vient d'atteindre celle de l'Ukraine... J'aurais bien aime avoir une mise a jour sur la situation a Sao Paulo ou il pleut depuis presque 50 jours consecutifs - mais que peut-on ajouter apres 50 jours... Il faudra bien que ca cesse - pour que je puisse y aller...

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Les 22 heures en autobus auraient pu etre sans histoire, mais mon attention s'est portee au moment de l'embarquement sur une personne - et ma premiere question etait de savoir si c'etait un homme ou une femme... mais c'etait un parfait entre-deux... J'ai tout de suite compris qu'un jour, un extra-terrestre etait venu chercher de l'information sur notre espece et s'est cree un corps qui combinait toutes les options possibles... Sans blague! Son comportement etait sans equivoque - (je vais l'appeler 'Ca' - merci d'imaginer la cedille) Ca a mange une banane en une bouchee - Ca est la chose qui se deplacait le plus rapidement que j'ai pu voir dans ma vie - Ca avait l'air d'un animal sauvage - Ca changeait de siege et de position a chaque 2 minutes - Ca bougeait sa tete a la maniere d'un serpent - Quand l'autobus arretait, Ca sortait de son etat d'imitation de sommeil et montait debout sur le siege et regardait autour (de Ca) en tournant sa tete tellement vite que je n'y voyais que du flou - J'ai meme a un moment echange un regard avec Ca... et une autre fois environ une heure plus tard - Normalement croiser le regard de quelqu'un 2 fois en 2 heures ne cause pas de probleme, mais cette fois, ca me semblait abusif... Ca n'a presque jamais arrete de manger et de changer de vetements et de changer l'orientation de sa casquette... Mais la pire chose est que quand Ca marchait, sa bouche avait la forme d'un melange de sourire et de cri - une autre combinaison improbable - et Ca emettait un bruit de sifflement... avec un rythme vraiment trop rapide et impossible a ignorer... Ca se mettait aussi parfois a genou sur son banc pour parler au passager assis derriere... Ca avait parfois la voix d'un homme et parfois la voix d'une femme... Ca est weird, mais Ca existe! Et le pire dans tout ca, c'est que Ca est presentement dans la meme ville que moi...

Caminando pela praia

Caminhando pela praia, a freqüência regular, se presta atenção, um ombro passa, vos ultrapassa. Para muitas pessoas, e a resposta divina – um vão esperado por muito tempo – consumido num momento tão curto. Para outros, e o sentido de ser constantemente seguido – o perigoso potencial de ser assaltado – como já ocorreu a uma menina argentina – senta em frente de mim – porque ela tinha dormido na praia. Mas não é. Esse ombro é o dum coração triste. Por causa dum estrangeiro que ela achava bonito – e que parece com um carioca com as suas bermudas. A mulher havia tentado de falar com ele – charmosa, mas, consciente de que o impacto não era recíproco – lhe havia falado que continuaria a correr – para encontrá-la quando ela fosse mais linda. Então, ela conseguiu correr – sem nunca se cansar, tomando a sua energia na espera que ela conserva de encontrar o que havia mudado a sua rotina matinal. Os dias se foram e, a para quem não outra coisa já tinha importância, comecei a desaparecer aos olhos dos outros – ate que ela perdeu a sua materialidade. Não tem muitas pessoas que crêem nela. Uns falam que ela é a guarda da praia e que ela protege todos os que caminham com confiança. Têm outros falando que ela voltara para o próximo estrangeiro que falara o seu nome à sua passagem. Esperando, nunca bloqueia completamente o caminho porque ela não seria feliz se ela parasse de correr.

36-24-36

Mercredi 3 fevrier - Premieres generalisations - fondees et non-fondees
1) Tout est au moins aussi cher a Rio qu'a Montreal...
2) La chose la plus importante pour une fille ici est un beau bronzage - sans demarcations (ca semble bien - mais ca inclut les filles de toutes les tailles et surtout de tous les ages... eh oui, il y a de vieilles bresiliennes sur les plages!)
3) Tout le monde est toujours pret a laisser sa place a quelqu'un d'autre dans le metro...
4) Personne n'attend que les gens descendent du metro avant d'y monter...
5) Il fait toujours au moins 36 degres depuis que je suis arrive et ce, 24h par jour!
6) Tout le monde semble etre de confiance - sauf ceux qui ont l'air louche...
7) Seuls les profs de langue (ou presque) savent qu'il est mieux de parler lentement a une personne (moi par exemple) qui n'est pas tres a l'aise en portugais...
8) Rio est connue pour le carnaval - mais aviez-vous entendu parler du pre-carnaval et du pre-pre-carnaval?

Overexposure

Mardi 2 fevrier - Premiere journee complete a errer en solitaire dans la ville en quete des plus beaux endroits touristiques. Au premier abord, il est relativement facile de s'orienter a Rio en raison de sa geographie - de ses nombreux reperes visuels. De plus, une personne seule a Rio - ai-je appris - ne reste pas seule tres longtemps, en route vers Cristo Redentor - j'ai rencontre des touristes du nord-est du Bresil. Deux filles accompagnees de leur mere - avec qui j'ai parle sur le chemin de l'aller et du retour - avec qui j'ai ete pris en photo - une des filles m'a montre des photos de mode qu'elle avait faites - bref, nous avions franchi toutes les etapes menant a devenir amis Facebook - toutefois, au moment precis d'echanger l'information cruciale - leur autobus est arrive - et j'ai du surmonter une premiere separation dechirante! J'ai aussi rencontre un Bresilien qui a comme projet d'aller au Canada etudier l'anglais et peut-etre le francais... J'ai evidemment suggere ILSC en pensant a la commission que je recevrais... J'ai ensuite imagine que je pourrais occuper un emploi de recruteur a temps plein - sur les plages de Rio... Une autre rencontre que j'ai faite aura ete moins marquante, mais au moins tres originale - une jeune fille - pas tres lucide en fait - parlant de Madonna et de la reine d'Angleterre - me disant qu'elle etait nouvellement grand-mere - et chantonnant Like a Virgin... on a marche ensemble jusqu'a ce que je reussisse a m'en separer - rien de dechirant cette fois... Bref, journee parfaite - 38 degres a l'ombre, Cristo Redentor (fait), Pao de Acucar (fait), du soleil, du soleil et toujours du soleil... Si mon appareil photo pouvait parler, il crierait OVEREXPOSURE sans arret!

Couleurs

Lundi 1er fevrier - Arrivee a Rio a 11h du matin - C'est avec beaucoup d'espoir que je suis alle rejoindre les autres passagers de mon avion - regarder des sacs et des valises tourner sur un tapis roulant... dans le but de recuperer mon sac a dos - et apres quelques minutes stressantes, il est venu jusqu'a moi! Peu de temps apres, je suis arrive a l'endroit ou habite Tatiana - qui a propose comme premiere activite de prendre un autobus pour voir la ville - pour ensuite arriver a la plus belle plage de Rio - Ipanema! Dans ma culture canadienne, on y trouve du sable qu'on qualifie de blanc... Et meme si avec beaucoup d'effort, j'ai pu apercevoir une demarcation de bronzage en enlevant ma montre - il semble qu'un canadien fraichement sorti de l'hiver soit plus pale que le sable blanc... Neanmoins, la plage est magnifique, l'eau et les vagues sont parfaites - je commence a travailler serieusement sur mon bronzage - presque integral! :)

Nouvelle personne

Dimanche 31 janvier
Il y a en ce monde des categories de gens - du moins propres a chacun... Je suis maintenant de ceux qui ont manque un vol... Ouch! Pourtant, tout le monde sait que ca ne se manque pas un avion! C est cher - ca se planifie des semaines a l avance... Non, il y a une categorie pour ceux qui en ont quand meme deja manque au moins un - tant pis pour eux!
Je viens d arriver a Philadelphie dans un avion d environ 40 places de la largeur de mon garde-robe... Je recommence a penser a mon sac a dos - Je viens aussi de celebrer mon arrivee expeditive a la porte de mon prochain depart avec du chocolat - merci pour le chocolat ***! Ma voisine n avait rien de la joueuse de volleyball attendue - grande deception!
Coincidence - dans la publication de bord de US Airways - la premiere page annonce un article portant sur les 20 meilleures destinations de 2010! Comme c est un magazine americain, il n est pas tellement etonnant de constater qu environ 15 des 20 destinations sont des villes connues et inconnues des Etats-Unis... mais pour rehausser la validite de l enquete, la premiere position appartient a nulle autre que Rio!
Autre point - il est interessant comment - en raison de certaines circonstances - le temps peut devenir completement elastique... dans le sens ou j ai ardemment souhaite le retard du premier avion en allant jusqu a arrondir l heure sur ma montre a mon avantage evidemment - souhait qui ne s est pas realise... mais je me suis aussi concentre a ralentir le temps en attendant le prochain vol pour donner une chance a mon bagage - cette fois, mes efforts ont porte fruit - le vol est reporte de 15 minutes - et backpacke, backpacke mon sac a dos jusqu a une nouvelle soute!

Faire semblant de ne pas avoir chaud

(Premierement, desole pour les accents et les signes de ponctuation!)
Montreal, 31 janvier
I3 - Conditionnel passe
J´aurais du savoir que la securite prendrait plus de temps a etre traversee... Resultat - Avion manque! Vol reporte de 13h26 a 15h51... Ceci apres avoir negocie avec l homme au comptoir car pour lui, ma seule option etait de prendre le meme vol la journee suivante... Partir a 15h51 ne me laissera qu une heure pour faire la connection - et ne laissera qu une heure pour les employes qui transferent les bagages alors que le temps legal est de 70 minutes... Voila le risque que j ai choisi de prendre! Vraiment, vive la securite pour entrer aux Etats-Unis - la ceinture et les souliers enleves - les bagages fouilles en entier - chaque objet passe au peigne fin... un detecteur de metal - une prise d empreinte - il ne manquait que le scanneur corporel...
C est une situation plus embarrassante que stressante en fait... J espere que mon voisin de siege sur le vol precedent etait un bon gros americain qui ne m aurait laisse aucun espace pour respirer et que ma voisine sur le prochain vol sera une membre de l equipe olympique de volleyball de plage... Avec qui je participerai a la competition mixte aux Jeux de 2016... Je dois travailler mon bronzage! Seulement ca!
Mon avion est parti! Le pire est que j ai tellement pris mon temps pour manger et pour parler avec Dom... J etais a l aeroport! My itinerary has been updated... Duh... Je n ai rien dans mon bagage qui me permettra de vivre dignement quelques jours si je dois attendre mon sac... Tout comme il n y a aucun espace supplementaire dans mon bagage a main pour y cacher mon manteau une fois arrive a Rio... L embarrassement supreme! Faire semblant de ne pas avoir chaud...