Bye, Bye Brazil
This blog entry about the events of Friday, February 27, 2004 was originally posted on February 29, 2004.
DAY 132: Lara was up all set for her last opportunity for our daily morning cheese, Gilmore Girls and Touched By An Angel. It being Saturday, The Warner Channel on our satellite TV was running cartoons instead, and so the only thing to do was pack our bags and clean out the apartment. Lara was still pretty angry that Luis yelled at us the morning before with false accusations instead of approaching it professionally — especially after all the problems we had with them that we let slide — and didn’t want Angramar Turismo to get any more satisfaction out of us. She made sure she packed the fairly heavy bottle of tomato sauce in her bag instead of just leaving it behind for the owner to have.
“I know it’s childish, but fuck them, I’m going to be childish.”
OUR BAGS WERE PACKED BY NOON and we just hung around watching TV until Lara decided to gather her things and leave for the bus station. She didn’t have a ticket to her destination of Campo Grande, near the Pantanal, but went off to see what she could find. This was the final goodbye for us, at least in South America, and I gave her a going-away gift: a signed and personalized copy of the travel anthology that I’m in, which she thanked me for. I walked her outside where, for a change, the weather was bright and sunny instead of the gray and rainy days of the past week.
“It’s finally sunny and we’re leaving,” she said.
Knowing Murphy’s Law, I said, “Yeah, it wouldn’t happen any other way.”
I escorted her to a taxi on the corner where we said our goodbyes. I helped her communicate to the driver where it was exactly she wanted to go so there would be no confusion.
“I’ll talk to you on The Blog,” Lara told me. The taxi door closed.
The last I saw of Lara, my South American partner-in-crime, was her hand waving back as she rode off. And thus ended her appearance on “The Trinidad Show” — at least in South America.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE NICE WEATHER, I rented a bike for a short ride along the beach. The sands weren’t nearly as crowded as just a few days before when the influx of tourists were in town, and Rio had returned to a state of normalcy. No more spontaneous samba street parades, no more spray party foam. I went back to the apartment to clean up. In the end, the person who checked me out of the residence was Carlos’ sister. Luis and/or Carlos were probably too ashamed with their false accusations to us that they didn’t want to confront either of us one last time.
ORIGINALLY I WAS GOING TO TAKE A BUS OUT OF RIO and stop at destinations along the way to Buenos Aires, Argentina. When I applied for a visa to get into Brazil, I had to buy a proof-of-exit, so I had a ticket from Rio to Buenos Aires anyway that I intended on canceling. However, realizing that my visa was about to expire, I didn’t have time for a 2-3 day journey overland, and just ate the money for the mere three hour flight. If I had gone the direct bus route, I would have been on a 45-hour journey, and that prospect wasn’t too appealing to me.
A taxi took me to the international airport and I looked around for the check-in of my airline, Aerolineas Argentina. I asked an information desk for directions, only to be given one final test in Brazil.
“Voc falla ingles?” I asked in Portuguese to the man to see if he spoke English.
He reversed it with “Voce falla portugues?”
I managed to ask the simple question in his native tongue and he directed me down the hall to the red check-in section. I paid my airport tax, checked in my bag, went through security before waiting and waiting and waiting in the waiting room for my gate to be announced. I passed the time at the duty free shop and by continuing to catch up with “Blog.”
Soon I was in my aisle seat on the 747 (picture above), still writing away, next to a guy that wasn’t much for words. When he saw me look up a hostel in my Lonely Planet for my immigration form, it dawned on him that I wasn’t latino and struck up a conversation with me. His name was David and was a Melbourne-native working in London as an engineer. “Working” was an understatement, because he bragged about the loads of time he had off to travel — nine months here, seven months there, “I like to take my time.” He had been in Buenos Aires before and talked up its nightlife.
“Buenos Aires shits on Rio.”
He talked up this one party hostel called the Milhouse in Buenos Aires that I should definitely check out — he had been there before for two weeks — but told me he heard they were booked solid for the weekend. When we arrived in Buenos Aires, we made some calls to find another hostel since it was near midnight already. I found space at St. Nicholas, an Hostelling International hostel in the central city and so — after confusion and running around looking for the correct one — we hopped on a bus for the city. We split a cab from the bus station to the hostel about a mile away and checked in. I was rather impressed with the hostel — TV lounge, roof terrace, beers, and a nice mix of people — but David who was so convinced that the Milhouse was so much better, hated it. “You should definitely move out of this dump.”
To suffice for the crazy, wild nights of the Milhouse, David was all amped to go to Pacha, some big raver club that everyone in our hostel was on their way out to. Refusing to pay the 45 pesos to go with the group, he opted to just call his friend in Buenos Aires to go with him. He made some calls and sent some emails, but in the end, after all his talk, he didn’t go out at all. In fact, he was in bed before I was.
Party hostel or not, I was just glad to have moved on from Rio. After having settled down in one place for so long, I almost forgot was it was like to be a traveller again, and I needed to get back into the swing of things.
Next entry: Flashbacks in Buenos Aires
Previous entry: Reaching the Threshold in Rio
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Comments for “Bye, Bye Brazil”
hehehe…
for old times sake….murtinho nobre
skol skol skol….ok rio can be put to bed.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/29 at 11:10 AM
Erik: So how many stamps on the passport so far on the trip?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/29 at 11:34 AM
back to good ol spanish!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/29 at 12:04 PM
hey hey! I am almost caught up with your insane life…. So you are onto Buenos Airies- eh? I need to look at a map… is that inland? Sounds like you are having a great time. So do you think your money will run out before the 16 mo. ?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/29 at 12:55 PM
bye, bye brazil!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/29 at 01:27 PM
bye bye, brazil….
then sending me to argentina….
it’s this whole other country…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/29 at 03:04 PM
LYNNIKINS: Don’t know about the money just yet… Rio was a total budget killer… but hey, its a once in a lifetime sort of thing…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/29 at 05:12 PM
A Party hostel called “Milhouse?” That’s ironic… It should be called Bart.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/29 at 06:23 PM
TD0T: From what I heard, the nerdy Milhouse does lots of drugs down in BA…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/29 at 06:28 PM
BYE LARA!! I’m sure I speak for all of the Blog hogs, when I say good luck on the rest of your trip and you will be missed.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/29 at 06:36 PM
Erik: That doesn’t look like a 747, it was most likely an Airbus A300/310 or maybe a 737.
NERD ALERT! NERD ALERT!
Posted by Tony on 02/29 at 07:30 PM
ERIK: Bored of Rio & South America! ...Are ya k-KIDDING!! Believe me I know bored and it starts with “Crap” and ends with “Job”. You wanna swap?!
...congrats on the excellent blogs tho man, they’re great for motivating me to do my boring job so I can afford to travel myself!
Posted by SUPER 8 on 02/29 at 09:01 PM
Yeah, Rio, Buenow Aires, or PH…...
Hmmm…what a choice…..
Glad that you’re moving on and not stuck somewhere that you don’t wanna be….
Hlp me please Help me!Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 02/29 at 10:06 PM
Hi. I just thought I’d let you know that I listed your blog at About.com’s Web Logs site under the ‘Travel Blogs’ section - http://weblogs.about.com/cs/travelblogs/
Posted by shai on 03/01 at 02:04 AM
TONY: In the immortal words of Comic Book Nerd on The Simpsons: “Aquaman, you cannot marry a human, you’re from two different worlds!”
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/01 at 07:59 AM
SUPER 8: Ha! When you put it that way, I guess being here IS a just a tad more exciting that being back at The Office. (Just a tad.)
Thanks for the kudos… as TD0T told markyt, “WORK IT!” so you can leave that job and get out there!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/01 at 08:02 AM
MOELICIOUS!: Actually I could probably combine the two and play “Cheese Bee” down here in Buenos Aires!
(I think you might have to explain to the audience just what Cheese Bee is…)
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/01 at 08:06 AM
SHAI: Dude, that’s awesome. Thanks!
Anyone else out there willing to spread the word like that? Actually, markyt mentioned The Blog on Craigslist and got some readers that way…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/01 at 08:09 AM
SIMF2P: Before this trip, my passport was almost full of stamps from previous trips—I had to get the addendum pages inserted in my passport by the US passport office before TGT2004.
As for this trip, the count goes as follows: 2 (entry/exit) for Ecuador, 2 for Peru, 2 for Bolivia. For Brazil there are 2, plus two whole pages taken up by this visa form they taped onto the pages. I got one stamp at the border at Iguazu with a cute little pelican on it. And so far, I just have my entry stamp into Argentina.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/01 at 08:26 AM
bye brazil! bye lara!
you’re almost done w/your first continent! when’s your flight to africa?
(i’m jealous)
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/01 at 08:52 AM
Coo, looks like you’ll have some souvenior when its over ...
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/01 at 09:17 AM
Good-bye everyone.
There is one good reason not to be in the Trinidad Show anymore, there will be no more horrendous photos of me - thanks Erik, especially for that lovely Nurse Croft photo !!!!
Hope all is well mate, by the way the guy from Hostel Internationalling remembers you and says hi and thanks for the recommendation.
Tchau
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/01 at 11:09 AM
LARA: Hey there… hope you got to the correct Campo Grande straight away… If you can, try and request Akuna as your guide; he’s the one that lasso’d a caiman and pounced on a puma.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/01 at 11:17 AM
LARA: Horrendous photos are the best part of the show!!!!
Be Safe, and don’t forget to give us a holler over in NYC if you want that drink!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/01 at 11:41 AM
Lara: what r u sayin’? your a hottie !!! Us blog hogs are gonna miss you!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/01 at 12:15 PM
Hey Erik,
Just got the postcard from Brazil…thank you, thank you, thank you. I loved it…..and yes, I am the envy of fam/ friends…who else gets postcards from Brazil????? cool…...
Too bad you had to say goodbye to Lara, she seems like a great travel partner.
I’m way behind on reading the blog, I’ve got to catch up. On to bigger and better adventures!
Cheers.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/01 at 06:27 PM
LARA: Sorry and sad to see you go!!! The show want be the same without you. You and Erik make a great travel team and COUPLE. Hope you two keep in touch and get back together after your travels. Good Luck and keep us posted on your travels.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/01 at 11:06 PM
Lara, you are so much easier on the eyes than Erik! And I second the COUPLE comment. Seriously, we Blog Hogs are happy to count you among our own now that you’re no longer silent. You’ll have to keep us posted on your whereabouts.
Milhouse is a stud! That blue hair, those thick-framed glasses, hehe… don’t bash the dude, he’s the inner nerd in all of us!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/02 at 10:57 PM
Erik!
This is so great to read after meeting you in Rio - I hope you don’t miss Lara too much.
Think of us here in rainy and foggy Guernsey, back in our offices with travels a distant memory.
Good luck with the rest of your travels.
Jilly
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/03 at 02:28 PM
JILLY: HEY! Glad you’re reading along now… Lara told me she passed the website to you.
Sorry I didn’t have time to say goodbye to you and Kate, but perhaps I’ll drop a hello if I ever make it up to Guersney—in the summer of course, when it’s not so cold!
Welcome to the Fellowship of The Blog and pass the word along!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/04 at 10:00 AM
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This blog post is one of over 500 travel dispatches from the trip blog, "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World (Or Until Money Runs Out, Whichever Comes First)," originally hosted by BootsnAll.com. It chronicled a trip around the world from October 2003 to March 2005, which encompassed travel through thirty-seven countries in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. It was this blog that "started it all," where Erik evolved and honed his style of travel blogging — it starts to come into focus around the time he arrives in Africa.
Praised and recommended by USA Today, RickSteves.com, and readers of BootsnAll and Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree, The Global Trip blog was selected by the editors of PC Magazine for the "Top 100 Sites You Didn't Know You Couldn't Live Without" (in the travel category) in 2005.
Next entry:
Flashbacks in Buenos Aires
Previous entry:
Reaching the Threshold in Rio
THE GLOBAL TRIP GLOSSARY
Confused at some of the jargon that's developed with this blog and its readers over the years? Here's what they mean:
BFFN: acronym for "Best Friend For Now"; a friend made on the road, who will share travel experiences for the time being, only to part ways and lose touch withThe Big Trip: the original sixteen month around-the-world trip that started it all, spanning 37 countries in 5 continents over 503 days (October 2003–March 2005)
NIZ: acronym for "No Internet Zone"; a place where there is little to no Internet access, thus preventing dispatches from being posted.
SBR: acronym for "Silent Blog Reader"; a person who has regularly followed The Global Trip blog for years without ever commenting or making his/her presence known to the rest of the reading community. (Breaking this silence by commenting is encouraged.)
Stupid o'clock: any time of the early morning that you have to wake up to catch a train, bus, plane, or tour. Usually any time before 6 a.m. is automatically “stupid o’clock.”
The Trinidad Show: a nickname of The Global Trip blog, used particularly by travelers that have been written about, who are self-aware that they have become "characters" in a long-running story — like characters in the Jim Carrey movie, The Truman Show.
WHMMR: acronym for "Western Hemisphere Monday Morning Rush"; an unofficial deadline to get new content up by a Monday morning, in time for readers in the western hemisphere (i.e. the majority North American audience) heading back to their computers.
1981ers: people born after 1981. Originally, this was to designate groups of young backpackers fresh out of school, many of which were loud, boorish and/or annoying. However, time has passed and 1981ers have matured and have been quite pleasant to travel with. The term still refers to young annoying backpackers, regardless of year — I guess you could call them "1991ers" in 2013 — young, entitled millennials on the road these days, essentially.
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