Our new racist friend....

We have arrived in Paraty with no problems, unless you count Xss getting briefly stuck in the turnstile on the bus, a problem. There was a comedic moment of me pushing from behind and him pushing the turnstile at the front. The turnstiles are situated just behind the driver and force you to buy a ticket. However they are very tough (which is good when you want strong stomach muscles) and very small (certainly not enough room for a man and a backpack). They don't like fat people here, and indeed there is a sign on the bus telling you that you have to offer a fat person your seat! I guess it is seen as a health problem.

We have been spending the last few days sunbathing on the beach a stones throw (and for once this is actually true) from our hostel. The town of Paraty is also very beautiful and very safe to walk around. There are plenty of evening hours as it gets dark at 5pm. So plenty of wandering - my new sport.

On the beach there are not many people (still to work out why) but plenty of stray dogs whom befriend anyone they see. So for the past two days ´Benji´has been sitting near us, looking after us. Its not uncommon to go for a walk and see a foreign couple walking along with a dog running around their heels as if it is their own. It makes us laugh. The problem with our one, Benji, who has adopted us is that he is racist and encourages others to be so also! Whenever a black person walks past us he barks crazily and runs at the person, stopping a meter away to bark until they leave! This encourages the other dogs and they join in. It is more than a little embarrassing as it is quite a noise and show, and its hard not to look. Like with any difficult friend, it poses the question, how do you say, ´I'm their friend but don't agree with their opinions´ in one look. He honestly doesn't bark at white people, or mixed race, only black men.

Benji is now posing a dilemma, should we move to a different beach to avoid him? We went to a different place on the beach today but he found us and sat with us all day. He is really quite nice, if only he weren't so racist.

Rio in Three Days

Well, we are trying to make the most of Rio, and have done as much as we can in the few days we have, but have fitted it in around sleeping, being lazy and generally doing nothing. On the first day we struggled quite a bit.

After getting up early and taking a walk along the Cococpana and Ipanema beaches (which are beautiful), we visited a market and then decieded to return home to change and go sunbathe. So after a brief nap we emerged from our room at 4.30pm, slightly shiny with suntan cream, armed with books, sunglasses, scanty clothes etc ready to hit the beach. We had already got burnt necks earlier (in my defence- my hair is not normally this short!) so were extra cautious this time around with the lotion. However, our mistake was to not realise that we are in the southern hemisphere, so as we strolled down the road to the beach, in the dark, we felt like idiots. But at least we were shiny idiots so the cars did not hit us.

(Left Copacabana, still buzzing at 2pm)

The last two days we went on the local bus (we feel victorious) to Christ the Redemer and Sugar loaf mountain (photos to follow - i have now found out that we cannot upload pictures here). Both had great views. Nothing that exciting to report, the pictures pretty much speak for themselves (or not as the case is now). Tomorrow we leave for Paraty a 4 hour bus ride south-ish.

Observations on Rio so far.
- everyone has a tiny dog, dressed in an outfit, with bows in their hair, apart from the lady at the beach who had a cockrel in a football jersey on a lead. There are no real dogs.
- the birds at the beach who circle the shore at night are the dead ringers for teridactiles, have i missed the newspaper article about dinosaurs still being alive in South America?
- There are m0re pec implants on Copocabana beach than there are fake boobs. The glamerous string bikini front is a lie! Celulite and wobbly bits are all the rage here.
- You can´t see the Christ the redeemer statue everywhere, and its not that big.
- The tree´s here are massive and very cool.
- Rio´s dont like living in big, beautiful, old houses and they seem to be leaving them to age badly (ie dericlition) in order to live in tower blocks of ugliness.
- The police must have done a good job at shooting all the street kids a few years ago as i havent seen any yet.
- It is ok to do grafitti everywhere here, and not tags, actual good pictures- See below of the one a man did of Xss and I as we were passing through a park.

300 Days of LE!

XSS and I have arrived safely in Rio. It looks the same in the dark as anywhere does so i wont bore you with the details. However, the plane journey- now that was fun.

I did intend to sit down in quiet contemplation and think carefully about what i wanted out of my time away, get some really good questions to think over, etc. But instead i watched the films!! BA have a library of films so there was good choice. I wasted most of my time watching ´Dear John´and ´The Bounty Hunter´both terrible (and not in a good way) romances. I also got to see Invictus which was good but raised loads of questions i wanted to ask my Afrikaans´s friends- what was their old flag like? Do they remember this time? and what are the differences in the national anthems?

I wore my special ´travelling t-shirt´(from the boys section of a Peckham shop, it says Úp, Up and Away!´), which went well with my new haircut lending me to question whether i now look like a 8 year old boy? I can tell you though (seriously), there were many jealous looks in the airport from small children. i saw them looking! It kind of lost its humour airside where everyone was flying somewhere and it seemed like i proudly didn't realise. The general feeling (from Honestly and the Wainwright clan) is that the haircut is ok. At least it will be good on those hot days.
So we will be away for around 300 days, fingers crossed, which for XSS is 300 days of me. Yippee. I think most people who meet XSS after knowing me, have a lot of respect for him automatically as they realise how patient he must be, to be able to tolerate the ADD personailty that i am. Here is a picture of XSS enjoying our 4th conversation around whether i look like a 8 year old boy or not with my new haircut.

We arrived fine and got someone from the hostel to pick us up. The room is fine, in a nice part of town, now to explore. We only have 3 days until we move on to Paraty.

Saying Goodbye

Yesterday i finished work and said goodbye to my colleagues. I don't like hugs or emotional outbursts (except for teenage ones, like 'i hate you all, goodbye!' said as storming through a doorway and slamming it as punctuation (note to self this is unacceptable as a 'goodbye' to adults i know) but as i walked away from work i realised that the folk there aren't so much colleagues or people who tolerate me and my incessant chatter about Jordan, but possibly, actually, really, friends. I will miss Junior, Rowl and N-Man a lot. Its a shame to leave a job with a good team, as really its the people that make the job isn't it. That's why i left my minimum wage job at McDonalds, people just weren't getting me!

I also went to church for the last time the day before, and they were talking about missing me and XSS too. Its weird being the one going away as in many ways i want to implore people to not go, but its me going, and people are making it sad. Its unspoken, but no-one believes that life will be the same when we get back. There is a distinct feeling of mourning, for all that is good in our lives. Not to put a downer on things, but i guess times change, other people will move on, and it will not be the same as now, not worse, just different (that's what people say when really they mean worse).

As i sat on the bus inching away from Peckham past the numerous houses i have been in, and got to know very well. I feel like i am walking away from the responsibility that i have taken on during my time there. I often feel i have to stop ALL the kids stabbing each other and to help each vulnerable unfulfilled one i see. I know a lot of people don't think it is their responsibility to help sort out these kids, it is not popular to suggest that adults interrupt kids with knives fighting, and we can all blame the demise of society for hurting our kids. But as i step away i am renewed with the belief that the primary people who should be working on these issues are the parents of the ones hurt OR hurting (everyone seems to ask why the police don't stop it instead of looking to themselves).Why doesn't every adult who knows a kid take on responsibility for them? It'd only be a few each rather than expecting the police, schools and social services to be responsible for them all once they've reached a threshold of 'mucked-up-ness

Really though, in a very selfish way, i am hoping that by going away i can leave behind the emotional burden of this, and enjoy another countries youth: I bet the luggage will be waiting for me when i get back, but that's ok.

I'm looking forward to going, but also very nervous. Its hard for me to decide quite what i am worried about but here is what i can deduce:

- Will i be too hot?

- Will the toilets be ok for a number 2?

- Will i get bored?

That's it! Humans are so stupid.