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A River Runs Through It
Clearly, the island felt she had something to say to us before we left. If I had to describe, in one word, the weather conditions during our departure from Ilha Grande yesterday - and you weren't going to let me make up any words - I think that word would be
monsoon-tastic.
Ilha Grande had shown us everything she was prepared to show us and no more. Luckily, those things had turned out to be pretty sweet... the amazing beach that transcended matter, the swell leper colony/prison ruins, the waterfalls, the redheaded Israelis, et al. Now she was showing us the door (and by "door" I mean "ferry" but you knew that), and she was showing it to us
hard. Very effective, too. It gives me an idea to install a firehose for the next time I have guests who overstay their welcome.
So we parted ways with Jonathan and headed to Paraty, where Jonathan had just been. This then allowed Jonathan to recommend a hostel there, which we took seriously despite his following that up with a recommendation for a R$35 puppet show. We pursued the hostel first, since it was the cheaper option and it was still raining like a mother in Paraty.
There turned out to be a substantial
The Old-Timey Streets of Paraty
Much of the architecture of the city has not changed for 250 years or more. Except maybe those utility poles and transformers... I'll have to get back to you on those. German contingent among the guests at Casa do Rio. Sasi and Henje, medical students on their way to residency in Bolivia, and Peter, a marketing executive currently living in Miami, all hailed from the same part of Germany - but Peter seemed to be the only one still holding a grudge against me and my "countrymen" over the destruction of Dresden. Finally, the power went out and Peter gave me his copy of the book
South America on a Shoestring (2001 edition), a gesture which led me to believe he didn't
really blame me for Dresden, and thus I was able to sleep last night.
Serious laundry needed to be done on my part, so I spent today wearing swim trunks and a hoodie. Wearing swim trunks and a hoodie made the following random activites much, much sexier:
- Dropping off laundry
- Buying shrimp at a fish market with Henje and Sasi
- Watching an artist carve the negative space out of US Quarters with a jigsaw (and stupidly not taking any pictures)
- Cooking shrimp from a fish market with Henje and Sasi
- Donating my currently underused collection of US Quarters to the artist with the jigsaw (and stupidly still relentlessly not taking any pictures)
- Accepting a math challenge* from an old Danish man and quickly relegating it to Eden's better-equipped intellect
- Picking up laundry
And if you think that's random: a guy staying Casa do Rio sat down next to me like I was his buddy. As if I'd be friends with a guy from Holland! AS IF! This guy, whose name I would find out moments later was Roy and whose country I would also find out moments later was Holland, looks at me like I'm his buddy - as
IF! - and he says, "I have some news and I feel like I should tell somebody but I also think I should know your name first." So I tell him "Kyle," and then he tells me he's Roy from Holland, and I say "Well, Roy from Holland, what's the news?" And Roy looks me square in the face and says, "I just found out that I am going to be a father!"
We share an awkward silence before I ask, "Is this
good news?"
Turns out it is. And it also turns out Roy hasn't been in Brazil away from his girlfriend for like six months which would bring his paternity into question. So I congratulate Roy from Holland like he's my buddy -
Whatever, dude! - and we drink well into the night. Like, until eleven or so.
Tomorrow, we go on a boat ride (and possibly a R$35 puppet show). No more of this random weirdness! A real adventure is in store!
*Math problem: A boy is travelling and runs out of money. So he writes home to his parents "Send More Money." They agree to send him money so long as he can figure out how much. The equation, SEND+MORE=MONEY, looks a little something like this:
+ SEND
+MORE
MONEY
Each letter represents a number between 0 and 9. And remember, if the E in SEND represents a number, the E in MORE and the E in MONEY have to be that same number. Let's keep it consistent, kids! The winner gets to continue reading our blog undisturbed.
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drae j namaste-rose
non-member comment
oh, that's easy..
i'll get back to you on the money problem..