Written 02/19/07 12:57pm by Meli then Leroy Yes, it’s been three days since we finished the last entry. Can anyone really keep up with blogging or even checking e-mail during Carnaval? The city is taken over… we are exhausted from the aerobics of attending blocos and camarotes. We are fully in the mix, and my only regrets are: 1) that you can’t all be here with us, and 2) that we can’t film it all for you. Let’s see, back to Friday… Everybody is Finally Here! The day begins slowly. My first mission is to just be around when Delene gets [View Full Entry]

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02/16/07 4:15pm By Meli *Note: Most of the pictures we will be uploading are from my digital camera, which generally doesn’t leave the apartment for safety reasons. No one wants to get jacked. All the rest are on disposable cameras. Brandee’s Arrival The morning began slowly. I was the first one out of the house because I had a 10am appointment for a French manicure and pedicure. It took forever, and she cut my cuticles so short that I thought I was going to cry from the pain. I usually don’t like that done, but for whatever reason, I just let [View Full Entry]

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Wednesday 2/14/07 11:45pm Brasil! La la la la la la la la…Brasil! Simply said: HOT! As in the vibe, the temperature, the people. Yep, that’s the adjective I’d use to describe the entire country right now. H.O.T. Miami to São Paulo and Risk Our journey from Miami was not that bad, at least not the flying part. It was the parts in between flights that worked on that last nerve. But as long as I repeated to myself, at times aloud, “C’est pas les Etats-Unis!” (this is not the USA), I was able to make it. So as we said in [View Full Entry]

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02/13/07 5:45pm Welcome to Miami! Bienvenidos a Miami! (You'd better be singing it a la Will Smith!) With a 5.5 hour layover in Miami airport, there really isn't much to write about -- not yet at least. Well there has been some drama already. Our friend Brandee, who is working in Chicago, called us to let us know that her flight from Chicago to Miami was cancelled. Not delayed. Cancelled! Instead of meeting us (me, Meli, and Louis) in Miami to head to Sao Paulo and then to Salvador, she'll arrive on Thursday. That sucks for her! Our flight over to [View Full Entry]

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Well, not quite yet. We still have a lot of last-minute stuff to do before we can take off and be on vacation. For example, Melissa has research responsibilities still (this will probably be true for life), and being halfway around the world does not an easy project make. Leroy, in the meantime, is busying himself by stalking the AA.com site and checking to see if we got our free upgrades. Tomorrow will be the typical pre-trip day -- laundry, packing, making lists and checking it twice (and then some more), running around like headless chickens... Just 124 days until graduation. [View Full Entry]

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