The bus broke down right before the Venezuelan border, in a small town called Pacaraima where I am now (it is also called "BV8" - a lady next to my PC in internet cafe' just told me). We have to wait three hours for a replacement bus and I suppose three hours means at least four hours.
Yesterday I left Manaus at 10 am and it took 16 hours to get to Boa Vista from where I had a bus to Puerto la Cruz in Venezuela. The road was really bad, with big holes, no asphalt and it was very dangerous as there were steep slopes on both sides and the bus was swinging all the time (because of the holes). I was really tired because of this. However, the vegetation and animals I saw from the bus were fantastic (no anacondas though!!...). There were swamps everywhere and huge palm trees as well. There is no reception in the Amazon forest so I was wondering - if an accident happens, what do people do??... I was the only backpacker on the bus from Manaus but today there are four of us: a guy from Canada and a Japanese couple. It is nice to meet other backpackers after months of meeting local people only :)
We arrived in Boa Vista at 2 am and my plan was to wait for my bus in the station until 7.30 am but I met a man on the bus, his family came to pick him up and they invited me home to have a short sleep. They also gave me lift to the station in the mornig. Amazing... it would not happen in England or Poland... but in Sicily for sure!! :)
Boa Vista is another isolated from the world town (well, Manaus is a big city), surrounded by the jungle. But people live there, they work and they organised their lives in the best way they could.
The man told me about INPA, an institute in Manaus which carries on a lot of research in the Amazon forest. I would like to visit it in the future.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Amazonian_Research

I am getting a bus to Venezuela tomorrow, I can't believe I am leaving Brazil (3 months of my trip are gone!!). The trip began very badly (hospitals) and finished in the best possible way - dancing a lot in Fortaleza and visiting the amazing Amazon forest.
My thoughts and conclusions about Brazil and places I visited:
1. A very beautiful country however dirty and smelly which in a big part distroys its beauty.
2. An unimmaginably dangerous country, especially Rio, Salvador and Recife, but all others as well. It seems to be much safer in Manaus.
3. I didn't like Rio. Although beautiful, majority of people don't have time for you and they are a little bit snob (and I met a lot of people in Rio). They are too busy drinking and going to parties and they are not into a good conversation.
4. In all other cities/towns I met very nice, intelligent, very hard-working (mentally as well as physically) and interesting people.
5. There are too many very poor and uneducated people in Brazil (there is no birth control in favelas at all. It's very scary and if it's going to carry on, I think the level of Brazilian economy will not improve at all).
6. People don't dance as much as I thought they would.
7. Health and safety are not existent in the country (you can see a proof of it every day: on buses, streets, in the buildings or if you have to go to a hospital because a television fells on your head).
8. There are many very good and cheap doctors/dentists in Brazil. There are a lot of excellent plastic surgeons (much needed here for breast and bottoms implants, as well as liposuction).
9. Unlike in London, you always have to pay an entrance fee when you go to clubs/bars.
10. Majority of Brazilian men are not my cup of tea (I know you would ask about it :)). Why? They are beautiful and handsome and I wish I could see so many good looking men in London (good looking not because they were born like this but because they look after themselves). However, beauty is not everything....
11. Will I come back to Brazil? Yes!! - to Porto Seguro, which I love because of the lambada zouk tradition, to Salvador because although dangerous, it is a very beautiful city with good cultural vibe, and definitely to the Amazon forest.
12. Could I live in Brazil? No. Although maybe I could be able to live in Manaus, if I had a good job and good friends in the city (I am actually surprised myself that I am saying this...).
13. I have done 2805 kilometers by land (Rio - Fortaleza), 1,801 km by plane (Fortaleza - Santarem), 739 km by boat on the Amazon river (Santarem - Manaus), 1000 km by bus from Manaus to the Venezuelan border = 6345 km in total = 3943 miles.
14. I have spent 1,600 pounds in three months in Brazil. It includes bus from Brazil to Venezuela, Caracas (110 pounds), flight from Fortaleza to Santarem (105 pounds), boat ride from Santarem to Manaus (35 pounds), travelling by executive (little more expensive and comfortable than normal) buses between cities (218 pounds), food, drinks, entrance fees to dancing clubs, internet cafes and tourist attractions. It doesn't include cost of accomodation (because there is none) and it doesn't include 400 pounds I spent in the hospital in Recife as I will get the money back from my insurance company.
It looks like the biggest cost is transport, if you stay in one place in Brazil you save a lot of money. However, I am very happy to have seen so many places.
In the picture: getting to grips with Tecaca' (traditional Amazon soup with weird weeds :))

Yesterday I had a very nice and relaxing day. Hilder's friend Pedro is staying with us now; Hilder sleeps in his bed, I sleep on a very comfortable matress on the floor and Pedro sleeps in a hammock, all of us in the same room :)
In the morning we had very interesting conversations about Brazilian people and their lifestyles, then I went with Hilder to Ponta Negra for a walk (we tried to get to the ZOO but it is closed on Mondays) and then to the sport club where he does jujitsu. I met his mates and I was watching them fighting. I used to do some martial arts in Poland years ago so I really enjoyed watching the guys. I like the fact that all kinds of martial arts are very popular in Brazil.
I also tried the most disgusting soup I have ever eaten in my life. It is a traditional Amazon soup called Tecaca'. It is very sour and it contains salty prawns and some green plants which you chew forever.
Manaus is a safe city, comparing to the level of crime in other cities. Interestingly, I was told that there are not many car thefts here as it is not possible for the thieves to take the car away - there is jungle everywhere ha ha ha..... The only route out is the one to Venezuela so when a car is stolen, the police know where to look for it.
 
On Sunday I cancelled my flight to Caracas. It cost me 372 pounds and it would take 22 hours: Manaus - Sao Paolo (12 hours waiting in SP) - Caracas. I went to the bus station and found out that there is a bus from Manaus to Caracas. The trip takes three days but I don't mind as apparently there are beautiful views from the bus (it goes through the Amazon forest and the high mountains in south part of Venezuela). I paid 300 reais = 110 pounds for the bus. I am going to pay 60 pounds cancellation fee for the flight but it doesn't matter as I am still gaining 262 pounds in the whole process. 
I bought the flight ticket Manaus - Caracas on my last day in London. I heard from many people and I read on the Brazilian consulate website that you have to have a proof that you are leaving the visiting country within three month (you get a stamp with a date on it when you arrive). Otherwise the airlines will not let you on the board as they pay penalty fees for letting immigrants into Brazil. I had phoned Iberia airlines two weeks before I flew to Brazil and they confirmed that it is obligatory to have an onward ticket (I bought just one way ticket to Rio a couple of months before my trip). Well... nobody checked it neither in Heathrow nor in Rio de Janeiro. Maybe in some cases they check but I think it is rare (as it is rare that people buy a one-way ticket I suppose). Do not make the same mistake I made.

In Manaus

Hilder picked me up from the port in Manaus yesterday in the morning, I live in his flat now. He is not a Couch Surfer, he is friend of a friend of Heber from Fortaleza :)
This morning I woke up early, at 8.30 am as I was invited to a trip in the forest, 120 kilometers outside of Manaus. We went to see two beautiful waterfalls: Cachoeira da Pedra Furada and Cachoeira da Suframa. I had a great time with three of Hilder's friends: Mariana, Eduardo and Leandro. Hilder could not come with us as he had jujitsu competition and he had to fight :)
I absolutely love the Amazon forest, there is so much water in the Amazon Basin, lakes and swamps everywhere so it is a fantastic environment for many species of plants to grow. Great place for hikes too, it was the first thing that came to my mind when we arrived to the first waterfall. Manaus is the only place in  Brazil where I could live I think, just because of the forest (I am not going to call it jungle any more - the name "forest" seems to be more beautiful and respectful :)). I asked guys if they don't feel isolated as the city is situated right in the middle of the Amazon (Amazonas state) and there is nothing around... it is amazing to me that people live here, have their businesses and the most reliable mean of transport is boat on the river. The Guys replied that they felt isolated, especially at the beginning (they came to work here about three years ago) but now they have friends in Manaus so it is different and they also got used to living here.
Last night they took me to Ponta Negra in Manaus, Rio Negro's beach. Rio Negro meets Rio Solimoes, it is a fantastic phenomenon which I saw from the boat yesterday.
http://www.destination360.com/south-america/brazil/meeting-waters
Ponta Negra was very nice and relaxing, I think it is because of a lot of insects which you can hear in the bushes (which don't bite or disturb you). It reminded me of lakes in Poland, sooo relaxing...

Three days on the Amazon River

My trip on the "dodgy boat" was won-der-ful !!! I loved it and I love the Amazon river!!!
But let's start from the beginning... I took a plane from Fortaleza to Santarem. It had two stops: in São Luis and Belem. It all went smoothly and quickly. People arriving at the destination were getting off, new people were getting on and 20 minutes later we were taking off. The pilots fly planes as crazy drivers drive buses - accelerating quickly, taking sharp turns, going up and down quickly in the air, landing from a high speed, breaking unexpectedly... ha ha ha....
The Amazon forest looks amazing from the plane, it is so green, and the rivers shape the environment into beautiful landscapes (in the picture).
Right from the airport in Santarem I took a taxi to the port. It was 4 pm and I was told that the next (and the only one) boat was at 1 pm the next day. At first I was upset that I had to wait so long but as I didn't have any choice I decided to buy the ticket, get on the boat and wait (the port was far from the centre of the city). There was only crew and I on the boat. We had a meal and talked for a while and I went to bed.... errrrrr... to a hammock. I didn't have own hammock so a guy from the crew lent me his. At night another guy came to talk to me. After exchanging names he asked me if I use condoms and if I would like to have sex with him ha ha ha... straight to the point. I said "no thank you" as I could have had some problems if this happened. Then all the crew tried some tricks to get a kiss ha ha ha... but my intuition told me that I was completely safe (and I was indeed).
It reminded me a trip I did 16 years ago: I hitch-hiked all the way from Poland to Morocco. In Spain (Cadiz) I spoke to a capitan of a big ship and asked him if I could work on the ship and get to Casablanca for free. Not only didn't I have to work but I got my own first class cabin and own cook, and I was treated like a princess on a ship full of men only (mainly Arabic men).
I was treated in the same way on the boat to Manaus and I even didn't have to pay for the meals. When I wanted to pay for them, the cooks said that the meals (three a day) were a present for me. I think they liked me very much because nobody else talked to them, they were "just" cooks. Nobody but me. My hammock was on the upper (third) deck and few times a day I was coming down to say hallo to them and to have a chat.

So.... the first night I went to bed... errrrr.... hammock and put earplugs in my ears. I decided to wake up at 6 am and go to an apparently beautiful beach which was one hour away from the port. Well... I woke up at 11 am and I couldn't believe my eyes. There were so many people on the board... so many boxes, bags, motorcycles, hammocks, green bananas and other stuff.... the boat was overloaded in my opinion and I understood why they sink so often... Well, the boat finally moved as planned at 1 pm and I was observing both shores. It was absolutely fantastic, the water and the incredibly rich vegetation. The green was so green!! The Amazon river is very large so it seemed to be on a sea rather than on a river. The boat had four stops: in Obidos, Juruti, Parintins and Itacoatiara. Again, people changing were very quick and efficent. I saw many people working very hard, in Poland people think that South Americans are lazy (and in fact many of them are) but there are also many people working very hard, like those in the ports (and majority of my hosts).
I met some people on the boat, well... when you sleep surrounded by other hammocks it is inevitable to meet people as you either keep your head by their head or your head by their feet... Next to my hammock there was a girl called Dioneia and a men listening to the forro' and axe music all the time. I also met Adriano and another guy whose name I don't remember (typical...). We had really deep conversations, for example about Darwin and evolution of the world, history of some words (for example: Adriatic Sea), life in the jungle. Do I have to say that all of around 200 people on the boat did not speak any English? All the conversations I had were in Portugese. Amazing how people can communicate if they want to. I did not understand some words in Portugese so they made a lot of effort to explain them to me in other words... I really appreciated it, it was wonderful. I understood that I made a big mistake of not buying an English - Portugese dictionary and some books for learning the language. But I never thought that I was going to meet so many local people and have so many conversations in Portugese!!!!
The first night I spoke to Adriano for a long time. He told me that many boats sink indeed and it happens because there are a lot of thick tree trunks floating on the river and they hit boats at night. There is why so many boats did sink and people died in the past. Adriano also told me some stories about anacondas and cobras killing people. When everyone went to bed...errrrr... hammock, I stayed in front of the boat, anxiously looking for tree trunks and anacondas (they can swim). 
My advanture was amazing. I felt very happy, it was the same feeling I had in Petra in Jordan - unlimited happiness and freedom.

Today is my last day in Fortaleza. Tomorrow is my first day in The Jungle.
I am flying Fortaleza - Santarem, distance: 1,801 km, 5 hours on the plane, cost: 105 pounds.
To be honest I am preparing myself for the worst, especially on the boat from Santarem to Manaus.
Plan A: be awake all day and night to make sure that everything is ok with the boat and that it doesn't sink.
Plan B: if the boat starts sinking, make a quick exit to the Amazon river and swim to the shore (should be successful if the crocodiles are not too hungry).
Plan C: if the boat doesn't sink but a snake drops from a tree on your head or crawls into your hammock, be calm and wait until it goes away (hard to do but apparently it is the best option). If a tarantula appeares somewhere near you, again - be calm, calm, calm - don't shout, don't loose your mind, don't jump off the boat.
Plac D: if you see another crazy backpacker on the boat, introduce yourself and be friends during these three days (the more in the group the better).
I am kind of sad leaving Fortaleza, I have been here for the whole three weeks. I made friends, did a lot of dancing (could be more but it was kind of sufficient to keep me contented), went to some events and beaches. I had great time with Adriana, we had a lot of interesting and meaningful conversations.
There is no internet on the boat and apparently the general conditions are not too good either. Lovely.

I had another great evening in the city. I went to the dancing studio where last week I met people who invited me to this private party. There was a lot of dancing going on. As I noticed last week, they do different kind of dances in one night, in contrary to London where usually there in just one type of dance all the night. Initially I thought that the Brazilian system was better (so you know many dances) but yesterday I understood that I prefer the London way much more. The reason was that I love dancing lambada zouk. Yesterday I had to stop dancing many times because they played bolero, tango or samba, which I don't like. I felt frustrated. Later I spoke to a guy who loved tango and he said that they didn't play enough tango. He felt frustrated when they played other kinds of music ha ha ha.... So I think it is better if you dance something you like to dance all the night and you don't have to stop and wait.
Unfortunately for me (unfortunately because I would like to learn other dances), if my heart doesn't beat like crazy and I can catch a breath, I am not satisfied, so I just get bored with tango or bolero. And of course, I have to love the music too.
I met a zouk teacher yesterday, Abdias, and we may meet again in Porto Seguro at the lambada congress in January 2011. He is a great dancer, all the other people didn't really know how to dance lambada zouk (I was observing and comparing with London and Porto Seguro....). There were few couples dancing but they didn't have the special energy you need to dance good lambada. However, they danced a lot of good bolero and tango. There is a strong tradition of these two dances in Fortaleza.
In the picture with all the excellent dancers.

Can I also say here thank you to my best friend in London, Jerome de France, for giving me two extremely good tips:
1. He did read in my blog that I was dizzy very often and that I fainted so he advised me to eat more sugar and salt. I did read on internet months ago that when you sweat a lot or when you have diarrhea, you should drink water with added both salt and sugar. I often ignore what I read but if a friend tells me then I do it. I also realised that in the first two months in Brazil I hardly ate any salt, and I was sweating so much!!
Now I make sure that in all the food I have every day (which is still little because of the heat) I add a lot of salt and sugar to it. The result?... I haven't been dizzy in a week!! huraaaaah!!
2. I met Jerome in Boots in London when I was looking for Johnsons&Johnsons baby bath which I used as a makeup remover. I couldn't find a cheap one so Jer asked me why I didn't use "no more tears" shampoo. I said "shampoo for face? - never!!". Now I use it as a makeup remover, shower gel, soap, washing powder, intimate wash (well, do you really need to know this?...) and...shampoo!! It is probably not the best thing for the skin but it is very gentle for the body, removes dirt very well and I carry just one small bottle instead of five :)

Yesterday I met some of my friends in a bar in Dragao do Mar (the cultural centre of Fortaleza). I had a good time and then Adriana gave me a lift to Kukukaya. There were not many people inside as it was raining a lot, and I thought "oh my god, what I am doing here on my own???". Five minutes later I met a guy who I was dancing with last week. Then I met Carlos, a forro' teacher, and then I met some other people. I start feeling like in London here - when I go to dance clubs I know everyone.. In the picture: in Kukukaya.
In Fortaleza I started regaining trust (which I originally had in London) that some people in Brazil can dance very well and that there are good dance clubs. I am happy for this reason because otherwise I would be very disappointed with Brazil.
I also understood how people deal with the dark reality (observing Adriana's life). If they have good friends around, they don't need anything else, well... maybe a little bit of money. They are happy, even if they can see a lot of poverty and shocking crimes on every step.

I did so much dancing yesterday!! :)) I went to a forro' place called Kangalha with Adriana and her three male friends, two of them great dancers with a lot of good dancing energy. I was disappointed at first because there was little space to dance - it was raining so everyone gathered under not very large roof. However later, although it was still raining a little bit, I took off my sandals and we did a lot of dancing on the pavement in the rain (my feet are so sore now...). I have to say that the guys were great, they knew that dancing was what I wanted and never stopped dancing. In the picture with Paulo.
I registered with Youtube today and posted a short video as well :) It is a little bit dark, I have to learn how to make videos brighter.
Aga in Kangalha

Tomorrow is my birthday, scary 35!!.... :) I invited Couch Surfing people to the Chopp do Bixiga bar where you can order beer mixed with wine, which is lovely... Then I will be dancing of course, in Kukukaya again!! :)
I am not scared of getting older but I am getting very scared of not being able to dance when (if) I am 80 or 90 years old. It is going to be really hard for me to accept that one day I will do a lambada movement and something might crack and get damaged, my neck or back.... brrrrr.... Anyway, I am very happy to spend my birthday in Fortaleza, with a lot of nice people around.
I went for lunch with Adriano today to a nice and cheap restaurant on the beach (I had pancakes with beef, and with cheese sauce) and then we went for a walk. I don't do as much dancing as I would like to in Brazil but I do soooo much walking.... Several miles every day. In the picture with Adriano's dog Lee.
Later in the night I am going to dance forro' with some friends, one of them is apparently a good dancer :)

In Canoa Quebrada

Today  I went to Canoa Quebrada beach (it was a must to visit this very famous beach :)). I booked the tour through Raphael (my previous host who has his own travel company). We left Fortaleza at 7 am (o god, I had to wake up at 6.15 am...) as the beach is far away, 160 km south from Fortaleza. There were only couples on the minibus and I... usual stuff. As soon as we arrived a hundred of waiters from overpriced restaurants jumped towards me to take an order, but I just left my bag in a locker and I went for a very long walk. On the way back I could hear some hissing coming from a bar, meaning that somebody tried to attract my attention. I ignored it but the hissing became louder and louder. So I turned my head and.... I saw my American friend Jaime who I met in Rio de Janeiro. I couldn't believe it... What a great surprise!! The last time I saw him in Rio on the last day of the carnival. He said then: see you somewhere in the north of Brazil. Of course I thought I would never see him again, and he suddenly appeared today in Canoa Quebrada :) I already have his picture in my blog, in Rio de Janeiro section (the guy with the crystal balls :)). I also met Jaime's friend from Israel, Roy, who he met while travelling.
We had lunch and then a walk on the beach. I had a great time with the guys and the beach is amazing indeed, there are red sand dunes and you can have a ride in a buggy, an old car I drove once in Porto Seguro.
In the picture with Jamie, in front of the symbol of Canoa Quebrada (and no, it is not a Turkish flag :)).
Yesterday I had a long conversation with Adriana about the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes in July 2005, right after the terrorist attacks in London. I admitted that it was a horrible mistake and it should not have happened but Adriana (and the whole Brazil I suppose) think that he was killed because he was Brazilian.

Yesterday I went to the dentist again, this time for cleaning and fluorisation. The service was as excellent as a week before and my teeth look really nice now.
In the evening I met Adriano from Couch Surfing and he introduced me to some people, mainy Couch Surfers I haven't met before. There was 284th birthday of Fortaleza on Monday and to celebrate it, yesterday there was a concert on the beach, with some singers performing on the stage. I enjoyed myself a lot but I didn't like the music at all. I called it music for old people, there was no energy in the music and majority of the people attending the event were young people. In my opininon something went wrong there, and my Brazilian friends (and three Italian guys I met!! :)) agreed with me completely.
In the picture with some of the CSurfers I met yesterday.
Unfortunately I drank three caipirinias.... three too many. I got drunk (some people would say: finally!!) and I left the concert at 1 am, about half an hour before it finished, without even saying goodby to the people. Well, it is my birthday on Saturday, for this reason I am organising a meetup so I will see them again. I have been living in Fortaleza for two weeks now and I am already a very active member, I attended some events and I organised three meetings so far :)
Few days ago Adriana made traditional Brazilian sweets for me, called Brigadeiros. When I am back in London, I am going to make them for my friends, it is so easy!!
You need:
a can of condensated milk
good quality cocoa powder
drinking chocolate powder with vitamins (optional)
a little bit of butter
Put milk, cocoa powder and butter in a pan and heat it up until it gets dense. Pour it into small bowls or make balls with a spoon and cover them in chocolate flakes, coconut, icing sugar etc....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigadeiro

I had a very bad morning/afternoon yesterday. I was listening to Polish news and CNN in the late morning and the death of the president and others affected me so much that I suddenly felt deeply unhappy. So unhappy that I didn't remember when I felt like this the last time. It doesn't help that I am on the other side of the world where people don't care what is happening in Europe (well, if it was a war then maybe they would talk about it).
I finished listening to the reports, I went to the beach and I did one hour of chanting. Than I came back home, borrowed some elastic shorts from Adriana, came back to the beach, did one hour of intensive yoga, 15 minutes of running on the sand (I hate running and running on the sand is a nightmare) and an hour of quick walking. I came back home and I felt happy again.

I started taking malaria tablets today. I don't like it hrrrrrr.... I am flying to Santarem (deep in the jungle, I mean in the Amazon Basin :)) next Wednesday and from there I will travel on a boat on the Amazon river to Manaus. Apprently it is not safe to travel on a boat, some of them did sink in the past (with the passengers on the board) but I am taking the risk for the sake of the experience. I met two people who did this trip from Belem to Manaus, five days on the boat, they told me that it was extremely boring and the mosquitos and heat are really bad but that I should do it. So I decided to cut this trip short and do only Santarem - Manaus (three days on the boat).
On the map you can see my route, so far on the coast only: Rio de Janeiro - Porto Seguro (between Rio and Salvador) - Salvador - Recife - Natal - Fortaleza - Santarem (before Manaus, on the river) - Manaus. I will finish my Brazilian adventure in Manaus, in two weeks time.
Yesterday I went dancing forro' to a very nice place called Mercado dos Pinhoes. It is a food market during the week but on Sunday they play forro' for older people. At the beginning I was asked for a dance by two 70-year old men.... then younger people started arriving, thanks god ! :) Although I have to say that older and very old people here are very fit, it is not the same what in Europe, and definitely not the same what in Poland, where most of the people get ready to die when they are 60...
Later on I met Heber in the market and then I went to a kind of dance studio where I was dancing a lot with some very good dancers and dance teachers. It works differently here than in London, back home we do just one dance all the night e.g. lambada or salsa. Here they do different dances a night so everyone knows how to dance salsa, bolero, bachata, samba de gafieira, zouk, forro' etc.

I went to Kukukaya again yesterday. Few days earlier I put a message on the Couch Surfing website and I asked if somebody would like to join me. Two people decided to come, one of them was Duarte. He picked me up on his motorbike and after the party he gave me lift home (in the heavy rain). This forro' club is the best one in Fortaleza, in my opinion. The music is great, it is an open air place and the people who go there are nice too (in the meaning: they are not favela people). It was a special night as it was a concert of a very famous forro' singer. First there was another group playing and then Dorgival Dantas and his group started singing (in the picture). The guy is extremely talented, I couldn't believe how wonderful his concert was!! - the sound was very good and the singer's voice and clothes matched the music and the atmosphere in the club. I felt happy.
You can see him here, singing "Let it be": The Great Dorgival Dantas :)
I hope that the traditional forro' music will never die in Brazil, as lambada did.
While dancing, I had flashes of the tragedy which happened in Poland (every half an hour) but apart from this I enjoyed myself a lot. I met a dance teacher (I was observing him for a while then I asked him for a dance first and then he was asking me) and I was dancing with other guys who were not as good as the teacher but they had the Brazilian rythm and they felt the music in their hearts so it was a great pleasure dancing with them.

I got up this morning, switched on the laptop and.... found out about one of the biggest tragedies in the Polish history, death of many politicians who were flying to Katyn this morning.... I am so shocked.... I called my dad immediately, he was in a big shock too and he couldn't believe it. He said that it was an old Russian plane they were flying on.... well, sometimes old Russian is much better than modern, but not in this case.... I don't really know what to say, it is sooo sad.
I could have been killed too by a television a month ago... (although I am not a politician I consider myself a very valuable person). You never know when it comes and how it comes...
Yesterday I went to a dentist. Before I came to South America I had had a lot of dreams about my teeth falling out as I was nervous that I would have to go to a dentist. Luckily, my teeth are in place but a piece of one tooth broke off, reavilling a beautiful black filling. You could see it when I smiled or laughed and you could see it in some pictures. I am going to take a lot of pictures in South America so I need a nice smile!! When I came to this country I learned that there are excellent doctors/dentists here which was a big surprise to me. The best ones in the world are in the US, then Japan and then Brazil.
My experience yesterday was very good, the only difference (comparing with Europe) was that the dentist was talking to many people during the tooth restoration and that he put his chest on my face several times, when he was grabbing something from the table (unfortunately... it wasn't bare chest as the dentist was bloody handsome :)). Then, when I was leaving, he gave me a big hug, which would not happen in Europe. I am going back next week for cleaning and fluorisation. I paid 40 pounds for the tooth restoration including a new white filling and I will pay 15 pounds for the next visit. I decided that before my return to London I will fix all my teeth in Brazil.
At night I went to a club with live forro' music where a lot of prostitutes go, I didn't have much choice as other places were just discos. I was very upset because the zouk party I was waiting for so much appeared to be in Sao Paolo, not in Fortaleza.
In the picture with Adriana, my host, and her friend who she doesn't like very much. He is German, a friend of Adriana asked her if he could stay with her as she lives in a big flat (but she didn't know that for the whole month!!). He is shy and he doesn't talk much, he doesn't eat much, he just drinks beer and he barely goes out. He lives with two snakes in south Berlin and he feeds them alive mice which he buys in a shop. For me, somebody who does this kind of thing..... well, I couldn't do it.

On Wednesday night I met Adriana from Couch Surfing, I asked her out for a drink some weeks ago. We went to a bar where she said that I can't live so far from the centre and that I should move in with her. She lives in the centre of Fortaleza, ten minutes from the Iracema beach and very close to Dragon do Mar (cultural centre of the city, my favourite spot). "Dragon do Mar" is a name of a man who was one of the first people fighting against slavery and against bringing people from Africa to South American ports.
So... I live with Adriana now. She works as a civil servant for the goverment in a new created department in Brazil - anti corruption department (much needed here). Her work sounds very interesting, she was telling me how they do it - it is not all roses.
Yesterday Heber took me to Praia de Caça e Pesca (in the picture). There is a point where the river meets the sea and the river water is separated from the open sea by rocks. I really liked the place, it is very peaceful and you can swim quietly as there are no waves.
There are not many people on the beach because it is close to a slam (well, women I saw were shaving their pubic hair in the water.... no wonder nobody goes to this astonishing place).

In the picture: Fortaleza Cathedral.
I learnt these interesting facts about Brazil:
1. There are many Italians in Brazil, they have bad reputation as they are associated with trouble - they contribute a lot to the sex tourism and drugs (o my dear Italians in London, I am so sorry for the bad news...)
2. You don't joke about sex in Brazil as this is too delicate subject and a joke may turn into a problem. In fact, when I was told this, I realised that I haven't had a good laugh since I came here and this must be the reason. I miss friends I shared so many dirty jokes with!!
My pictures from Recife:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37219358@N07/sets/72157623776092870/detail/

I moved to the house of my second host in Fortaleza, Raphael, and his wife Samara. The family I lived with was absolutely fantastic, I felt like a part of the family but from the beginning I had an agreement with them that I would stay for one week. Tomorrow they are going to host a guy from Israel. Rorix's mum was feeding me very nice food every day (but I still feel dizzy few times a day) and when I offered to do shopping in a supermarket, she looked offended so I stopped insisting....
My new hosts are not much different to be honest, very very hospitable. They live a little bit far from the centre (40 minutes by bus) and there are not night buses here so I will have to take a mototaxi to come back home from dancing parties. Mototaxi is a great way of travelling, it is like taxi but instead of a car you get on a motorcycle and you pay less.
I think I will stay in Fortaleza for another week. The reason is that there will be a zouk party on Friday (I dance lambada zouk in London which is a mix of lambada and zouk, and on Friday will be zouk only) and forro' party on Saturday. Next Monday Raphael can get us free tickets to an expensive and famous forro' club so I would like to go (everything what is free - I have to go to :)). Raphael is self-employed, he has own tourism company so he can also get me a cheap flight ticket to my next destination (which I don't know yet what is going to be...).
Today I went to Praia do Futuro (beach of the future, nice name...) with Samara, in the picture. Samara is not working at the moment and she doesn't speak any English.
The beach was nice, very long, but the water was polluted.

Well... the club where we wanted to dance yesterday was closed hrrrrrrr.... and Heber could not think about another place which would be open so we went for a four-hour walk instead. We walked alonside the long beach, on the promenade, the sea and the lights were beautiful. Heber is very talkative and I am not quiet either so we had great conversations. I really liked few big beautiful sculptures of Iracema, one of them in the picture above.
http://www.visitfortaleza.com/travel/old-iracema-statue.html

However, I saw a lot of beggers, disabled and poor people on the beach and it really upset me. It distroys the beauty of many places.
I had a very bad (and significant??) dream last night. I was in Poland and my father wanted to talk to me. He used to know some important people (in reality), and in the dream he said that there was going to be a nuclear explosion the next day the latest, but it could happen any minute. He said he found out about it from his important friends, they told him this in confidence and that I couldn't tell anyone about the explosion. My father said that I had to leave my work immediately, take all my savings and go hiding in a flat without furniture and with no windows. I have to buy food, lock myself and I can leave the flat only after a year, when the radiation disappears. When I heard this I was worried sick about my friends....

I had a lot of good quality dancing yesterday!! :))
I was chatting to Heber (the dance teacher) in the morning and then we finally met in the centre of the city to do some visiting. He showed me some interesting places I wouldn't see otherwise. We met an American guy, Jonas, who has been travelling for four years and he is planning to travel one year more. He travells on a small boat, all over the world, on the ocean, on his own... A very interesting individual... He spends little money as he doesn't have to pay for the accomodation (like me...), he doesn't pay for buses or planes (unlike me...), he pays little money for mooring, and he can cook on the boat. Amazing... he said there are many people travelling like him but majority is older, they are already retired.
Here is his blog:
http://www.lucidsalt.blogspot.com/

I met Heber again at night in a forro' place called Kukukaya (name of an Indian tribe). We were dancing all night long... he is a great dancer, he dances salsa, forro', tango and samba de gafieira, and probably other dances as well. I love lambada zouk so I tried to add as many lambada elements to the dance I could..... :) Rorix and his family (my hosts) sighted with relief, they were thinking for the whole week where I could go dancing and be happy with the music and dance. When we came back from the club we went to on Wednesday, I said I didn't like the place so they were upset. Now they are happy because I finally got what I wanted in Fortaleza ha ha ha.... In the picture with Danielle (Rorix's girlfriend who went to the club with me, and with Heber).
I am meeting Heber again today for more dancing :)

I had a very interesting day yesterday. Firstly, I had a Good Friday's dinner with the whole family (some of the family members in the picture). By the way, Happy Easter to all my friends!! - I hope you are having a great time hiking, sleeping, watching TV, dancing or doing nothing :)
Secondly, I chatted for a long time to a tango teacher who found my profile on the Couch Surfing website several weeks ago (my dance curriculum was what attracted his attention of course). He contacted me and invited out so we are meeting today. There is a big forro' party and the tango teacher (Heber) is very good at dancing so there is a hope that I am going to have a good exercise this night.
Thirdly, Rorix invited me to an Easter party outside of the city. When we arrived there I understood that everyone was drunk, there were many children running around and I was generally disappointed as it was more a family meeting than a party. However, the people were wonderful, nobody spoke English but we managed to communicate ("no, I don't want more beer" is what I speak in Portugese best as I have to repeat it constantly and insistently on many occasions). Rorix drank too much beer and cachaça and he was not able to drive so he gave me his car keys and I drove all the way back. There were many police patrols on the road so it was too risky for him to drive. I didn't have my driving licence on me but he said that this was not a problem, the police would ignore it but if they found a drunk driver then this would be a big problem. So I drove... I love driving so much and I miss it so much!! And I miss my yellow Matiz I had sold a week before I left to South America.... I can't wait when I am back in London and I can buy a new car :)
After the "party" we went to see Rorix's friends. They live in a very poor and dangerous part of the city (in a favela) but if you have a friend in this district, nobody will touch you. You can see immediately the poverty - there are dirty children running everywhere without any supervision. O my god, Brazil needs so much education!! - so people don't have millions of children, the country is not overpopulated, there are jobs for everyone and less crime.... Rorix's friends were wonderful and they even spoke some English. They were very interested to know about my dancing, especially lambada, so my eyes were shining when I was talking about the lambada club I go to in London and about Porto Seguro.
One of the guys went to A-HA concert (the group has its final concerts in many Brazilian cities now, before retiring) and he recorded it, so we watched the concert. I always loved A-HA.

I had another wonderful day yesterday. Some days are wonderful, some are great, some are good and some were very bad (for example when I had to go to hospitals). In the early afternoon I noticed a message on the Couch Surfing website about a meeting in the centre of Fortaleza, in Dragon Dumar. I decided to go there so Rorix gave me a lift, few hours before the meeting. I had a lot of time on my hand so I called Raphael from Couch Surfing and I asked him if he would like to meet up. He said he would arrive in an hour so I was waiting on a bench in front of the cinema. A girl sitting next to me started talking to me, she seemed to be very friendly. Then her boyfriend came and we carried on talking (Aline and Bruno - they are both medicine students). Then Raphael came and we went to a cafe' to carry on talking... :) I had a great time, we talked about life in South America and in Europe and about many other things in life (all of us in the picture). I drank a very strange drink, they call it wine but it is actually wine mixed with beer, very sweet (tastes like beer with concentrated juice, commonly drinken in Poland). I loved it but it gets you drunk fast :) Then Geraldo from Porto Seguro phoned me, he is already in London, unfortunately I couldn't understand what he was saying as there were disruptions on the line. Then we went to meet Couch Surfers in a bar. They seemed to be very nice but I didn't spend much time with them as they went to another bar. I went to see this bar (called Orbita Bar) but the music was absolutely not my cup of tea (rock music) so I phoned Rorix and I asked him to pick me up. I am so lucky with him and his family!! - his mum cooks for me every day and he is my personal chauffeur in Fortaleza :) Rorix came with Danielle and we went to eat acaraje' (traditional food of the Bahia region). The acaraje' was not as good as the one in Salvador, well, Salvador is famous for its acaraje' - the best one you can find in the Itapua' district.

Yesterday evening we went out for a drink to a very nice bar with famous Brazilian singers painted on the walls (in the picture). Then we went to a forro' place called Engarrafamento.
As soon as I saw the place I knew that the forro' was not going to be good. The place was too modern and I was right - they played electronic forro', not the traditional one I like. I had few dances but I wasn't satisfied. I am wondering how my heart is coping with a lack of few-hours intensive dance - in London I had a good workout three times a week for several hours, to the point that my heart was beating like crazy and I couldn't catch breath any more. Now I dance and sweat a little bit but my body is not tired at all. After Easter, which I am spending in Fortaleza, I will check flight tickets and if I find a cheap one I will go back to Porto Seguro and then straight to Manaus. I don't care about the Amazon Jungle any more, I don't need to see any more of Brazil, I just want to dance lambada and Porto Seguro is the only place in the country where people dance very well. If the prices are high, then I am stuck and I will go to the jungle... :) Anyway, I am both disappointed with the lack of professional dancing here (which was the main reason why I came to South America) and I am also happy that I came here and now I know!!! Never again to Brazil if you want a good dance, with exception of Porto Seguro of course.