Lost track of what week we´re on...

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Hi everyone!

Sorry its taken so long, I´ve been so madly busy. Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and that you have a Happy New Year there in the cold.

Right, its going to be brief I´m afraid!

Ever since Madelaine arrived things have been a massive whirl of excitement and bustle. I went to meet her in Salvador - which is a really horrible city and one I´ve been spending too much time in lately what with visas and picking up and dropping off my wonderful sister. Then we came back to Lençois and I itnrduced her to all my friends and showed her all my favourite places. We did a trek to the beautiful, incredibly peaceful waterfall of Sossego and my friends also took us to several of the other beauty spots surrounding Lençois - Cachoeirinha (little waterfall), Poço Halley (a swimming hole) and Salão das Areias Coloridas (Hall of the coloured sands).

On Christmas Eve (that´s when people celebrate here, Christmas eve night), we cooked a big dinner and me, Madelaine, Sarah (an ex volunteer who was spending Christmas here too) and four of my best friends here all celebrated together. On the 25th, my boss Olivia did a big traditional Christmas lunch - roast potatoes and turkey but sadly no sprouts! It was like a little slice of home!

Madelaine left on Tuesday and I´m feeling a little lost without her. The Casa Grande is now feeling very empty again - there was me, Mags and one of the ex volunteers Sarah and now its just me again!

As for New Year, tonight I´m going to my boyfriend´s grandfather´s for their family party (eeek!) and then into town where there will be bands and fireworks etc. Tomorrow will, I expect, involve lying in the sunshine, nursing a hangover...

I leave Lençois on the 8th to go travelling - at once exciting, and literally petrifying. I have just over a month to get to Rio for Carnaval and fly home on the 18th. My first stop is Recife, then on up the coast, then over to the Amazon and down to Iguaçu Falls, then up to Rio.

I´m very much looking forward to coming home for a bit. After such a challenging six months I´m looking forward to some home comforts and getting spoilt a little!

More soon!

x

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