Belo Horizonte

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A 6h+23h bus ride later - a mixture of waking and sleeping and feeling ill going to the putrid bus toilets (don´t worry, it stopped frequently) - and the woman beside me woke me from a violent dream to tell me we had arrived at Belo Horizonte, third largest city in Brazil. Marina came to meet me at the bus stop (she found me after much looking!) with her friend in his car.

Back to her appartment she shares with her sister/s (and their boyfriends sometimes!) and brother. They are all ADORABLE, very welcoming, and great to teach me a little Portuguese (Ah, I have to learn now!!)... It´s so difficult to speak (not so much to understand) because it is so similar to Spanish... Ah, but I have a few more weeks here to practice!

We had SUSHI (!) for dinner, and then went to a club which had a cover band of ACDC!!! Whaddyaknow! We drank Pinga con Sprite (Sprite mixed with Cachaça - yum!) and danced the night away. Sunday we were on our way to the beach (her uncle´s pool) when it rained, so we spent a lovely relaxing day in BED!

The evening, we went to see a play!! Yes - all in Portuguese!!! It made an interesting statement on religion, with two actors - one a white man playing priest/devil, the other, a black native playing god/the confessor/the priest´s concience. It was mocking the fact that the priest lived by so many rules, and felt so much guilt and shame, and was condemning the other man... while the other man just lived what he felt - one scene describing when he passionately kissed a woman all over the body sent the priest wild! One scene had the ´conscience´ gripping onto the preist´s back and not letting go...

It was a fitting follow-up to the Jesuit ruins I saw in Paraguay and Argentina, where the first evangalisation took place... It also paints a vivid picutre of what is Brazil, its social make-up and history of division of thought. Now I have to see it again when I have learn´t Portuguese!!

Oh, and the girls, along with Mariana who accompanied us (she is coming to work for Claudio´s caipirina stall in Geneva summer with Marina and Georgina and I) talked of a one month trip around Eastern Europe following the Fete de Geneve with the money we make from working at Claudio´s - I´m GOING!!!!! ))) Perfect timing, perfect budget, perfect company!!! )))

Today I have spent the morning in the shoe factory where Marina works, taking photos of men´s shoes for her trip to Australia (she´s export manager and managed to delay her flight to Tuesday, not Sunday) and catching up on my emails!! Next, we are off to get our hair cut and nails done (wow, is this Cathy speaking? talk about contrasts - Pantanal lifestyle and now this!!)...

I´m heading down through the mining towns later this week to end up in Rio for the Rolling Stones free concert on the beach on Sat 18th Feb (although how I´d love to then get to the U2 concert the following Tues at Sao Paulo!!!)

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