I felt like I was going to faint in the last week. Last night I woke up and I went to the loo. When I was by the toilet door, I lost consciousness for about three seconds and I strongly banged my head on the door frame. Now I have a wound on my forehead... It might be that my body is reacting to the climate change or maybe the fact that I don't eat enough, although what I eat is very healthy food.

Yesterday I went with Geraldo to Santo Antonio, to a weekend house of his flatmate Junior. Junior works for the police; he has a very good relationship with a very important judge in Porto Seguro and can do "things" for people, if they need them... So socialising is necessary. I had a good time in Santo Antonio with all the people I met. In the evening somebody threw an idea of going to Belmonte, a town located 35 km from Santo Antonio. I met some other (all Portugese speaking) people, including the Mayor of Belmonte. The guys got drunk and a very drunk Mayor of Belmonte gave us lift back. At one point I thought: no other way of travelling would give me this great opportunity to have insight into the real life of Brazilian people, poor and rich, just me and them all the time.... amazing. In the picture with Jakeline, Junior's girlfriend who decided to dump him after five years together because he doesn't give her enough attention any more. I was surprised that she was talking so openly about it at the table, in front of everyone... including Junior.

My days in Porto Seguro are very similar. I wake up at 1 pm, go to the internet cafe' and the beach, then in the late evening I go dancing or use the swimming pool and sauna in Geraldo's posh housing estate (yes, actually it's nice to go to sauna in the evening, after spending hours on the beach). I go to bed at about 5 am.
Sometimes we watch films, two days ago we saw "Veronica decides to die" - very good.
I feel at Geraldo's house very good, he and his flatmates are so nice. People here are different than those in Rio, they are up for a chat, interested in what you do and also talk about themselves.
Finally I managed to organise my pictures from Rio:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37219358@N07/sets/72157623508577824/detail/

Although what happened in Arraia d'Ajuda shook me, I am enjoying my stay in Porto Seguro a lot. I decided not to think about the shooting and just carry on my travelling. There is nothing really I can do about it and I don't see how I can be more careful, it just can happen anytime and anywhere. Since I arrived here I haven't seen a single police patrol as the police is apparently resting after the carnival. This is the hardest thing to understand.
I dance a lot in PS, it's a great town for lambada zouk. I went to the famous Oasis club of which I heard so much in London (in the picture).
Yesterday I finally found a laundry place. It was an experience as well. They don't have self-service washing machines like in London, you leave your clothes with the people and they wash and iron them for you. Which is ok, just that when I brought my dirty clothes in a plastic bag, the laundry man started taking them out in front of Geraldo and everyone in the que - my stinky pigamas, smelly dresses, dirty bras and knickers. I shouted: no!!! - as I was sooo embarrassed. I asked Geraldo to tell the man not to take my clothes out in front of everyone. But they both started laughing and told me to relax as this was absolutely normal for them. Well... never again laundry in Brazil... not only embarrassing but also very expensive - I paid 7 pounds. From now on it is going to be hand washing.

In Porto Seguro

Something very very nice and very very scary happened to me yesterday.
In the afternoon I told my host João that I am leaving for Porto Seguro. I took the bus, then ferry and I phoned Geraldo who I met at the lambada party. We were going to just have a drink. He picked me up in a car with a lambada zouk teacher (a real teacher, not like the one I met two days before) and he said that instead of staying in a hostel I could stay in his flat. He is not a Couch Surfer so it was very nice of him... he lives with three other people in a very beautiful and secure house with swimming pool and sauna (who uses sauna here??). We were watching DVDs of lambada zouk for an hour and then we went to a lambada street party in Arraial d'Ajuda, a nearby town.
We arrived there on a motorbike, I put on my dancing shoes and started dancing with one guy. Ten minutes later people started shouting and running in one direction, breaking glasses and everything what was on their way... I got confused, the lambada music suddenly stopped. Then I understood - I saw a motorcycle with two men on it, the second man had a gun. He shot one man and was trying to shoot another one in a white t-shirt, running in front of me. He didn't manage to shoot him and drove away. Geraldo told me to get on the motorbike immediately, as all other people did. He said that it was very possible that some gang members return home, take guns and would come back to the scene to shoot more.
There was no trace of the police... I couldn't believe it. Geraldo told me that the police was sent to a different parts of the region during the carnival so now they don't work at all and rest after the carnival.
Somebody stole Geraldo's watch during the escape.
When we went to a 24-hour shop to buy something, it was closed because there was no police and it was too dangerous to open the shop all the night.
I am so sorry for the people living here, they just got used to situations like this as you can get used to a war for example or anything else, if you don't have any choice.
The whole shooting situation was like a slap in my face, I finally understood that I don't live in Anna's beautiful house in Crystal Palace in London any more, I live in a jungle now.

The lambada zouk party was great, great, great!! When I arrived to the bar I started dancing with three men at the same time (you can do it in lambada) and then it was just madness, so much dancing. The highlight of the night for me was when an 11-year old boy asked me for a dance and I didn't know what to say really as I have never danced with a boy before. But once we started I understood that he was very good at lambada - he looks lucky in the picture, because of his height... :))
A guy I met at the bar walked me home and he tried to convince me that I should give up my travelling, stay in Trancoso, marry him and have two children with him. As it was his birthday I had to be diplomatic and not to upset him so I said I would think about the idea.
I am moving to Porto Seguro today. They dance lambada zouk on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in a club called Oasis so I am going to have a great week ahead. So far, all the people I met speak only Portugese so I have a lot of conversations in Portugese nowadays :)
It's a nightmare to communicate with my next host in PS, he says welcome and asks me when I am coming, then I say when I am coming and he doesn't respond for a while, then I ask if he can't host me any more, then he says that he is waiting for me and I am very welcome, then he doesn't reply or replies without his telephone number. I am getting annoyed so I decided to stay in a hotel in the next few days.

I did sooo much dancing yesterday, 5-hour forro' marathon with some great Brazilian dancers. Smile never disappeared from my face while dancing and I was the last one to leave the floor. What's more, today is a big lambada zouk party in Trancoso and people I met yesterday will come to the party today. I am so happy!!
Rio is great for visiting and also very beautiful but it didn't cater for what I desperately needed - lambada and forro', they dance just funky samba and drink a lot in Rio. I hope that now on I will be doing what I came to South America for - dancing!!  (mainly at weekends I suppose).
Although it said on the leaflets that the club would open at 10 pm, it was closed until 11.00 so I started chatting to a guy in a street. He said he was a lambada zouk teacher from Porto Seguro. I didn't believe him so he asked me for a dance and we were dancing in the middle of the street :) Then we went for a walk to a very dark place where he tried to kiss me so I got annoyed and started walking back to the club, leaving him in the dark. Maybe I will meet him today again. Why didn't I kiss him? - I just can't stand men who smoke and you can smell cigarettes right from the beginning of the conversation... not to mention dancing.
When I got to the club, there were about five people sitting at the tables. Two guys offered me beer (in a plastic cup, and just when I finished drinking it I remembered so many people telling me not to accept any drinks in cups as they might be spiked). Then we played pool for an hour and when I saw few couples dancing on the floor I asked one guy for a dance. In London I know everyone in the club so they ask me for a dance, here I have to ask guys first so people know I can dance, and after a while a lot of guys ask me for a dance.
There are two things I don't like very much. Firstly, there is no recycling system in Trancoso and I feel sooo guilty when I put paper in the kitchen bin. I had an idea of carrying the paper with me until I find a special bin for paper but then I realised I could carry it for a year so I gave up the idea.
Secondly, I started killing. I killed two gigantic ants and a huge cockroach yesterday, which I thought was going to jump on me. I hate killing but it was my first reaction when I saw them (and the ants' bite is so strong and painful...). I am scared to even think what I will have to kill in the jungle: spiders, snakes etc.
On the positive side, Brazilians gained a big point from me for loving dogs. There are many dogs in the streets, people take them for a walk, talk to them and they seem to be very happy dogs :)

Trancoso's beach is the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. I am sure I will be amazed by other ones in South America but this one is fantastic - long, wide, clean sand and water (in contrary to Rio's beaches), high palm trees by the beach, quiet music coming out from a very few bars/restaurants and not crowded at all. Just a paradise.
João works in a local school as a Maths teacher. He told me about his work, family, Couch Surfing guests he had and of course a lot about lambada. All this in Portugese and suprisingly I understand 80 per cent of what he is saying.
I haven't washed my clothes for almost three weeks now and they start to smell. Especially my pigamas which I put on every night and I sweat a lot when I wake up. It becomes stiff. I am trying to ignore this but sooner or later somebody is going to notice it (hopefully not a nice man :)) so I have to do washing very soon. So far I have been using a washing replacement method - airing the clothes outdoors, it works for a while.
The most important things to survive are good sleep and some food. I can't complaint about sleep but I eat very little as it's too hot.

In Trancoso

The bus I took from Rio was extremely comfortable, I was really surprised. I read in a guide that the long distance buses are very good in this country but this exeeded my expectatations (20 hours, 65 pounds). There was a lot of space between seats and in five seconds you could transform the seat into a very comfortable bed. Nobody was sitting next to me. People told me that it is very cold on the buses so I took out all my winter clothes but instead the temperature was perfect and I slept like a baby. I just woke up once at night and I noticed a 10-year old boy sleeping next to me, we looked at each other, smiled and when I woke up in the morning he wasn't on the bus any more. I also met two girls from England (Devon) and we hung out in Porto Seguro for a while, when we arrived.
It appeared that my host João lives in Trancoso, 50 minutes by bus from Porto Seguro (37 km) so I took another bus and arrived here. He is a very nice guy but he doesn't speak any English!! (we exchanged few emails in English and I knew that his English was not good but when I arrived he decided to speak Portugese only) so I have to use my Spanish to communicate :) Luckily I started learning it a year ago :))
João's brother is dancing in the most famous in the world lambada kaoma video, so popular in the late 80s and early 90s, in the video dancing with a Japanese girl, Paola. Incredibile, first I met a guy from "City of God", now a dancer from the lambada kaoma video... :))
Apparently kaoma originated right here, in Trancoso and Porto Seguro (wow!!! - João told me the story how it all started, in Portugese of course :)) and then the group dancing kaoma moved to France and became popular in the whole world. So good to know the story....

Today is the last day of the Rio de Janeiro carnival, thanks god :) - in the picture my friend Jaime is enjoying the last bloco.
I am going to Porto Seguro tomorrow: 1,120 km north from Rio, I mean I hope I am going as I could not find the timetable anywhere on the internet (the links are not working) and the people at Brendzia's hotel know nothing about buses from Rio (usual answer: "I don't know").
My conclusions about Rio de Janeiro:
Did I enjoy my stay in Rio? yes, very much
Why? very beautiful city, I met nice local people, very good public transport (even at night), beautiful beaches, meeting Brendzia and her gang, meeting Enrico and Giovanni
Did I enjoy the most famous in the world carnival of Rio de Janeiro? no
Why? too many drunk people, too much urine on the streets, crowds everywhere - I am just not patient enough. The parade was beautiful but how long can you watch it for?...
Could I live in Rio de Janeiro? I don't think so
Why? big city with too much mess happening here, too many "I don't know" answers, I have impression that you can't make friendships here as everyone is busy going to parties :)
What do I think about people from Rio? well.... I prefer Italians... :) but I met some very nice people
What did I enjoy the most about Rio? the statue of the Christ
Why? amazing
Bye bye Rio!!...

Yesterday I went to see the statue of Christ The Redeemer with my Italian friend Enrico from London, who came to Rio from the holiday in Sao Paolo a couple of days ago (this meeting was planned).
The statue is amazing, just amazing... The Christ stands on the hill no matter what - rain, wind or extreme heat and spreads his arms over the city. A fantastic idea (in the picture we are on our knees and trying to be serious :)).
I visited Brendzia in the evening and tomorrow I am moving to the hotel she is staying at. They have one spare bed so I can have it. Santa Tereza where I live now is beautiful and safe during the day. This changes at night and my intuition tells me that I should move out of here. The night minibus stops ten minutes from the flat so I have to walk to get home. I actually run because it seems to me that if I run, a mugger will not mug me as he will think that something else is already going on e.g. another mugger is chasing me. Today I bought cachaca (alcohol) for Eduardo and I hold it in my hand when I was running, and I decided that if somebody was going to rob me, I would smash the bottle on his head... mini tips on how to survive in Rio at night ha ha ha... but in fact it's not funny.
On the bus home I saw a guy I had met in a bar a week ago. He remembered my name, I didn't remember him at all but I pretended that I did, and then I noticed a tatoo on his right calf - a big tatoo of South America, and I remembered that it was a friend of my previous host Rodrigo :)

My dear friends, sorry for the late (but better late than none) wishes: Happy Valentine's Day!! - Lots of Love from Rio!!.... from me!!
I had a very pleasant day yesterday: I woke up at 2 pm... hmmm basta with sleeping until so late now!! and decided to join Brendzia and her gang in Copacabana. On the tube I met Alexandre, a Brazilian guy working at the University as a lecturer in Electronics and Informatics. We went to the beach together and then joined Brendzia at her hotel. Later in the night I met Junior from Couch Surfing for a drink, he works as a flight attendant and just came back from Madrid (on the picture, from the left: Alexandre, Luciana, me and Junior).
On the bus home I met my American friend (he asked me not to mention his name and any details of the story below). He has been travelling in South America for a year now and then he is going to travel to other parts of the world. I asked him where he has the money from for the travels and he told me that he had been sexually harassed at work, back in America. His female manager was asking him to come to work at all possible hours, calling him whenever she wanted, leaving him personal letters on his desk etc. Eventually he went to an employment lawyer for advice. The lawyer came to the company to act as a mediator and decided that her behaviour was sexual harassment. My friend got a good compensation package and as he couldn't work for the company any more, he decided to go travelling....

My host Eduardo (in the picture) parties all the time. He comes back home for 2 - 3 hours at night to rest and when I wake up in the morning he is gone. He tried to convince me to go to great blocos which start at 6 am every day, but he did not succeed... Carnival is madness, so many people in the streets, many different blocos, music everywhere, people peeing in the street (and you step into it all the time), guys grabbing your hand (or bottom) when you try to pass - I got tired and aggressive few times. Well, been here, done this and... never again :)
However I think that everything that brings happiness is good and many people love the carnival, and I actually understand the excitement and joy of people so at the end I think that the carnival does a lot of good and everyone should experience it.
I will be leaving Rio next week and what I feel is that it was a right decision to come here at the beginning of my trip. I also started relaxing properly just now, after two weeks. I go to bed and I don't worry that I have to wake up and go to work the next day, instead I can do whatever I want and I know that each day is going to be different, and this feels sooo good...
Yesterday I met my best friend Brenda from London in Rio (this meeting was planned). She was travelling in Argentina first and then she came to Rio with her daughter Jessica and son George, and some friends. It was great to feel for a second that I am kind of in London again... :)

The carnival of Rio de Janeiro has started today!! But already two weeks before the carnival there were many street parties going on, called blocos. I went to one yesterday and I thought I would hate it, instead I enjoyed it a lot as I met a lot of sober people and we had some great conversations :) - I thought it would not be possible as most of the people were drunk.
I live in Santa Tereza now, with my third host Eduardo. He is the third divorced guy in a row I am hosted by (what is happening here??). He lives in a very small studio flat and there is a fantastic view from the flat over the city and the Sambodrome (in the picture). There are two favelas in the vicinity.
After the bloco, at 2 am I was coming back home on my own (never do it at night in Rio, I am serious) and I met two English girls and a Brazilian guy who was helping them to find their way back to the hostel they stayed at. It appeared that the hostel was close to my flat so they walked me home and then we were talking until late. The guy starred in "City of God" (in the film the boy with the big afro hair) so he was telling us about the favelas and how they shot the film.
Great news - I found two hosts in Porto Seguro, my next stop in Brazil. There are only 18 Couch Surfers in the town, half of them travelling now and some without a good profile but those two guys said "welcome to Porto Seguro!!" :)

Back in London, once I found hosts in Rio, I contacted some people and asked them if they would like to meet up for a drink. Yesterday I met two Couch Surfing girls: first Paula and then Eliz. They are absolutely fantastic girls. Paula is very professional and ambitious (in the picture) and sacrifises fun for her studies; she is biologist and studies interior design. Eliz is very bright and parties a lot; she works in a rehabilitation clinic as a physiotherapist.
Before I met them, I went to downtown to have a look around. My Ecuadorian friend from a salsa club in London told me that in the centre of Rio de Janeiro they will steal your knickers and you will not notice that (magic), so I was checking every ten minutes if I had them on ha ha ha... I had a strong feeling that I couldn't take out my camera too often, and when I was taking pictures I was very careful.
In the late evening Eliz's friend joined us, as well as my three American friends I met a night before and we went to the Couch Surfing beach party near Sugar Loaf, which was a lot of fun.
Mission of the day: to find out what you do when the hair starts growing on your legs and your epilator you were using for 15 years broke down in the first week of your trip....

Yesterday (all my posts are going to start from "yesterday" or "last night" as I always write them in the late morning/afternoon, when the temperature outside is unbearable :)) I went for a very long walk along the three beaches: Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon. It was a little bit cooler, only 32 degrees :) and as the beaches are very long I walked for four hours and just had to stop few times to drink water.

I came back home knackered but half an hour later I went out with Giovanni and his friends to a lambada zouk place called Dino's Pub, ten minutes from my home. And yes, yes, yes!! I did a lot of proper dancing there. The style was completely different that the one we do in London. Giovanni has been dancing for 26 years (professionally for the last 15 years), and he said that he had never seen a style like this before. They don't do much head movements and no spinning at all - the two elements in lambada zouk that I love the most. I definitely prefer the London style, however it was interesting once I adopted the steps. The music was different than in London too, it was mixed with some modern beats, and I like the traditional lambada music.
Then, at about 1 am they put a lot of smoke and you couldn't see anyone within one meter... I have never seen anything like this, you just hardly could see who you were dancing with :) I think the solution for this is to stick to somebody before they put the smoke so you don't have the problem of selecting who you want to dance with when you can see nothing. Ha ha ha... it was funny.
I came back home at 3 am and I forgot that yesterday I shared the key with my host Ricardo. He came back from a birthday party at 4 am and he was knocking/banging on the door until I woke up at 5.15 am........

Last night I went to the forro' club in Laranjeiras and... I couldn't believe my eyes!! - I met my lambada zouk teacher from London, Giovanni (from the Holborn club, on the picture with the hat). We looked at each other and both thought "nooo, it's not possible", then we looked again and we started shouting :)) I still can't believe it. He is Brazilian but not from Rio. We never really talked before, just danced, and last night I found out about all his life in one hour.
The forro' place was great - two floors and live band on each floor. Plus men who can dance, it makes a big difference. I met a lot of people as it was actually an official Couch Surfing meeting.
The paying system is different than in Europe. When you come to the club you get a slip with the entrance fee and then whatever you order is put on the slip. You pay the whole amount when you are leaving.
There is just one thing about Brazilian people that drives me nuts. They say "I don't know" too often. For me there is not such an answer. If you really don't know something you try to figure out the best suitable answer or solution, or you say I will find out and you ask around or google it (especially when the question is related to your city). Some Brazilians are just not bothered.
Yesterday I went to the Sugar Loaf, the view from it is amazing, Rio is a very beautiful city. However, there were too many tourists in the place so I had a look around and I quickly run away.
I felt so good yesterday when I was walking on the main street of Copacabana and I wasn't robbed, killed, spoke to few people on my way and didn't get confused with the money when I was buying something in the shops. I felt like the world belongs to me again :)

Renato gave me a lift to the house of my second host in Rio, Ricardo. On the way he showed me the largest favela in South America, called Rocinha.
So... I live in Copacabana now. Yesterday I realised that this is my life for the next year: different house each week and different host each week, which seems a little bit scary...
Ricardo lives between two best beaches in Rio - Ipanema (in the picture) and Copacabana. From his 11th floor's flat you can see Rodrigo de Freitas Lake and the Copacabana beach. The statue of Christ The Redeemer is very close as well.
Yesterday we went out to a club with Ricardo's six friends. It was a nice club with only Brazilian music but... there was not much dancing going on. I danced a little bit forro' with some guys but I was not satisfied. I was told that there is a good forro' place open today and a good lambada zouk place tomorrow (for professionals apparently) so my expectations are high :)
Going to the Sugar Loaf now!!

Yesterday I met Renato's good friend Paulo, his wife Patricia and her friends Fernanda and Vanessa. Patricia took me to the girls' night out with her friends - they are wonderful girls!! We went to a samba school which is close to the centre of Rio, in Salgueiro. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it... For me it was a samba disco with fat men shouting in the microphones on the stage and drunk men trying to have a dance (dance in their definition). I don't dance with drunk men so I was standing there, dancing samba a little bit but it was too crowded and loud to really enjoy the experience. So at least I know now, samba schools are not for me!! Apparently it was a very good one, it won last year's carnival competition. The girls told me that samba schools are like football teams, they compete at the carnival and have their fans who support them, just like in football. Right after the carnival, schools start preparing for the next year's carnival.
We had some interesting conversations in the car, for example the girls explained to me what motel in Brazil is. I believed it was a cheaper version of hotel, but how wrong I was... Motel is for couples who look for intimacy and as they are not married and live with families, they can't really meet anywhere else. The girls admitted they all went to motels.
The average time is 6 hours in a motel and there are different standards. Some rooms are with jacuzzi, some with mirrors on the walls, some are cheap and basic. In Brasilia, which is a region where the capital of Brasil is, there are some motels with machines instead of receptionists - so if a politician wants to go there, there is no embarassment, you just speak to the machine and it gives you a ticket and room number for the selected hours. Hmmmm...

My host Renato is sleeping on the floor in front of TV so I decided to write a little bit more here.
I went to the beach today again and I was watching the Brazilian children braving the waves on their own... no European child would survive the waves, wave management skills is what they learn as babies I think. And from my experience I can say that no gym will give you as much exercise as battling with the huge waves...
Most of the Brazilian women expose their (not always perfect) bottoms on the beach so I decided to swap my costium knickers for my strings and not to feel like grandma any more. Feels good :)

It's 35 - 40 degrees. Although I love this temperature, it makes me tired very quickly. I haven't done any visiting yet. I went to Barra Shopping Center yesterday to buy a sim card but I forgot my passport so they couldn't sell it to me. The shop assistants didn't speak any English but we understood each other perfectly :)
The shops were very expensive, generally everything is more expensive that I thought/hoped (and here my friends who know me well smile) :)

BRAZIL, In Rio de Janeiro

I arrived in Rio 2 days ago. The flight was very good and the change in Madrid very quick and well orgnised. Neither the airline nor the Brazilian customs asked me for a proof of an onward trip which I was told and read on the Brazilian consulate website was a requirement to enter the country.
I took a bus from the airport and arrived in Terminal Alvorada where I met Renato, my first host in Rio and in South America. He lives in a nice appartment 10 minutes away from the beach, a little bit outside of Rio, in a district called Recreiro.
Of course, on my first day I run to the beach and stayed there for hours, burning my feet and almost drawning under two huge waves. In the evening I taught Renato dance lambada, we were also dancing forro' and then Renato played guitar and sang some songs in Portugese.
How I am feeling about being in Rio at the beginning of my 1-year trip? Still stressed after work, confused and not really fully aware where I am :)