Blogs from Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil, South America - page 2

Link to a photo and video montage on YouTube.com: http://youtube.com/watch?v=82rx3DCObqY For starters, let's just get one thing straight: time is very different in Brazil. Once you get used to this and the fact that when you're travelling in a third world country, you have no cell phones and no internet, then you just might start to get in the mindset I was in for the trip. It started off a bit rough. You just have to plan better when you're with people and you have to do what you said you would do. You can't say one thing and call ahead to change your plans or dissappear and try to meet up with people later. It just doesn't happen! haha. Aright, so from there, you could see how waiting in line in customs at Sao Paulo ... read more

Austria: 13-1 Scottland: 13-3 Switzerland: 8-6 Today we played Austria, Scottland and Switzerland and our cheers were as follows: We tried and tried to think of a Mozart song we could put words to, but we failed, so we did a Bach song and apologized for our short coming within the lyrics, haha. To Scottland, we started with a dramatization of Braveheart. "I heard William Wallace played for the Scotts", etc. Ha. To Switzerland, we did a Sound of Music Montage. Changed the words to "The Hills are alive, with the sound of Ultimate." "The stall count is 7 going on 8." and "How do you solve a problem like heat exhaustion?" Hehe. All fabulous cheers. We played the beers half burried in the sand again and Austria and the USA bonded over staying in the ... read more

Spain: 8-10 Brazil: 18-3 Spain beat us!!! It just might have been the best loss to ever have. We were getting so comfortable being 8 and 10 points ahead of teams, leading the entire game. The mental side of being behind was never challenged up to this point. It was just what we needed in case Germany came out stronger against us in the finals. By this point, we knew we had an automatic bye into the finals because the records of the other teams. Spain didn't have enough permanent residents/citizens of Spain to play in the semis, so Austria and Germany played the semi to meet us in the final as their third game of the day. With our bid to the finals, we were able to watch and support the women's team winning their ... read more

Yeap! Not all travel is about fun. Some are about sorrow and loss, like this one. My father passed away and it wasn't easy not having the chance to say goodbye. In Tibet it takes 3 days from death to burrial and in the US usually 7 or more days. In Brazil, however, it all happens in less than 24 hours, and I did not arrive in time to be there at the end. For those of you who live away from your families, I say this: visit as much as you can and make every minute count. Find ways to make the distance shorter. I am glad to say that this travel blog got me closer to my Dad more than anything else this past year. He was an avid reader and knew a ... read more

This is going to be a quick entry, as I'm writing it while I wait for the bus down to Salvador. I really haven't done much, as I wanted a quiet few days before the madness of Carnival. Maceio seems to be mainly orientated around the beaches, where there is a substantial promenade, with lots of high rise luxury hotels. I was staying in a little hotel off the beach, so no super luxury for me. I did wander into the Ritz Plazamar hotel, wondering how expensive it could be and then walked straight out again. My budget could not stretch to the equivalent of a hundred pounds a night. It seems pretty safe here, I've been walking around with no hassle. The city centre seems quite run down in comparision to the beaches, there is ... read more