So...where is Barak???

Hey all, it is the night of the 15th... i made my early morning flight yesterday and arrived in phoenix by 1:30pm and met nathan and adina at the rental car... i saw phoenix from the road, the scenery here is amazing! anywho... we made our way to sedona, where we were directed to the local airport and hiked up a small mount to see the sunset. we met up later with johnny who at the last minute decided to buy a ticket to phoenix and took a shuttle out to sedona. the next day, we made it out bright and early to wilson's mountain for a short morning hike... which ended up taking us around four and a half hours... once again, stunning views... and there was snow atop the peak... geez... anyways.. so after that long trek, we looked at a couple art shops, and then took an awesome ride in a pink jeep... i was pretty sure we were going to tip over on some of the ups and downs the driver did, and his story that another company's jeep flipped earlier that day was not too reassuring.. but it was definitely worth the experience... the photos speak for themselves... too bad i'm too lazy to put most of them up... anyways.. we're on our way to the grand canyon now, hopefully we'll be hiking down tomorrow, stay the night in the basin and make our way back up wednesday... we'll see how it pans out...

us in our costumes hyped and ready to go... our costumes restricted us from anything but that weird handshake	tudo bom!	peace!
michelly and i with a couple frankensteins an interesting costume another less interesting the sherlock holmes ala and behind it, DNA... look at the masses of people in the back...	Well, I set out from ouro preto at night, and by morning made it back to rio... i waited a bit for the sun to rise and then ventured out to try my luck wiht the inner city bus system. I made it back to Alfredo's apartment in time to read the morning paper and have my cafe de manha. I filled everybody in on my wild adventures in ouro preto and went to make up some long lost sleep. After resting we went to the forest of tijuca and i had the chance to admire a "relatively small" waterfall, practically in their backyard. We came back, freshened up and went to a nearby "chopperia" (chopp meaning beer...) The next day (saturday the 21st for those who lost track already) I woke up early and went to a nearby shul. It was a nice experience in the middle of rio de janeiro to see a nice sized orthodox community. Besides having trouble the rabbi's speech and not knowing the tunes, it was much the same as i've always known. I came back and had lunch (always eating!!!)... I was drawn out by the sound of carnaval some time in the afternoon. The local neighborhood was parading the streets with a band and a street car blasting the music away...Leading the procession was the porta bandeira. She's (as i'm told) the girl from the neighborhood voted the prettiest. She leads carrying the band flag. I managed to get a picture, but unfortunately the lighting wasn't that great. Oh well... later that night, i met my cousins michelly and vannino who took me out for a night on the town. the streets were crazy because that day flamengo beat fluminense in rio's futebol championship... that plus carnaval makes one big happy party. They took me to see the flamengistos celebrating downtown, by ipanema and leblon, and also walking about copacabana where we admired the kitschifkes made for the many tourists which flock that beach. I also learned the brazilian slang for tourist is gringo... i don't know... afterwards, we went to sambodromo, and watched the early (less impressive schools) go by. The fireworks were nice but a bit too close for comfort.--much too loud--i believe i still retain some of my hearing though. Sunday was an interesting day to say the least. I went with alfredo to the beach where we met up with giovanni's family and some friends. I tried my luck at some beach volleyball only to realize how much practice i need. After that straining workout (it looks so easy from afar!) a dip in the cool water was just the thing.... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I miss the beach! Later, after quenching my thirst with a coconut, i was ready to return home. We quickly made plans, called to check for bus availability to curitiba and foz de iguacu only to cancel those travel plans... when all was ready, my bags packed and about to step out the door, the phone rang. It was michelly, having found costumes for carnaval for 200R$. I quickly put down my things and we went to check out the costume. albeit not the most glamorous costumes seen in sambodromo, this was the right price for the right awesome activity... after seeing some of giovanni's family videos (including avi's visit in '88... he seems to have avi to be a suitable nickname for me... hmmm....) we suited up, ogt on the metro, and went downtown! Parading down sambodromo... sigh! and i was thinking about getting tickets to sit in the bleachers! So many stunning costumes (or lack thereof if you know what i mean!) We took a couple shots :-)... look at me and michelle in our costumes! it was so muc fun.. i really recommend it and plan on coming back... we got on at 12:27am and were parading down for about 40 minutes or so.. my feet were dead by the end but it was well worth it... I was part of the unidos da tijuca escola da samba... my ala was entitled sherlock holmes.... I was on TV!... well sorta.. i think i was visible, but i'm not too sure.. its very hard to tell in the recording.... no matter--i know i was there and it was awesome! next year again! after that, i was dead tired. we came home, watched the video, i returned to alfredo's, saw some more samba on tv and the went to sleep until this afternoon....	carla and i one of my favorite costumes.... and on their float such pretty eyes, lots of glitter not much costume... :-)

On Feb the 18th, i made my way back to rio. I had planned on taking an organized tour to see the local park reserve, waterfalls, cachaça distilleries from the 18th century, and whatnot, but it had been cancelled.... turns out nobody was interested besides me and so they had no one signed up... hmm.... so i made a few purchases and dashed for the bus station to take an earlier bus back
to rio.... on the trip i met a girl from israel, orli... it was fun to talk to someone in hebrew again... made the 4 hour bus ride pass a lot faster.... she was on her way to ouro preto that night
, in rio only to pick up some stuff... we arrived in rio and parted ways... i made it back to my cousins apartment, and quickly tried to arrange all my future plans.... i rescheduled my return to the us a week earlier, bought a ticket to baltimore for the weekend of the 5th, and my ticket to phoenix for the week of the 14th...... i quickly made up my mind, had a bit to eat, packed my bags and set off to ouro preto that same night... it turns out that so many people wanted to make that same ride, that the bus company opened up two more busses
for that same route. i made it to the bus station, bought a ticket and met up with orli (to her surprise)... the bus ride there was 7 hours long... from midnight until 7 am, althouhg tired, i slept on and off because of the sharp turns and bumpy roads at parts... sigh... the next day was a tour of ouro preto... orli and i parted ways as i started to look for a place to stay.

While inquiring as to nearby places to live, i was approached by a brazilian girl who offered to help me find a republica as she was doing the same, only waiting for a friend.. i accepted, but soon went to look around, and partnered up with a couple of israelis... we put our things with a few of their friends, and started to look around for a place to stay.. it soon became apparent that i would not be able to find a place for 3 nights.. it was either for that night, or for the duration of carnaval... since i was leaving on the 26th, that was not really an option, nor did i want to be in ouro preto for the duration of carnaval... so i opted to go back that same night and sleep on the bus... in my search, i jumped into a republica to see what it had to offer.... a bit of a crash, but i am not exagerrating when i say that they had two rooms stocked full of beer... wow... they wanted 400R$ for the duration of carnaval... yea, no... well, i had a fun day, spent the day with the people i'd met... two happened to be from my high school, just a grade above me... i bought a bus ticket for that night, and then we hopped on a bus to take us to the start of a hike where we would be able to see the city from far above... as luck wouldl have it of course, it started to rain as soon as we got on the bus... arghhh... we took the same bus back to the center of town and made our way to a lunchonette trying not to get wet... the rest of the day was rather uneventful... we walked around a bit in town, took soom scenic shots worth of being postcards (i think)... and then it was about time for me to go and await my bus back to rio.... gotta get goin now.. more to come... :-)

So today was comparatively uneventful... but first two remarks... you can feel carnaval in the air... upon returning to my pousada for the night, i passed by a samba school beating away in the night.. much to the gathering crowds delight. also, i noticed the wide use of the "thumbs-up" sign. Maybe every fifth word is replaced with a thumbs up... reflectin with some argentinians i met today, we came tot he conclusion that its because of the no worries attitude in the country... anyways... so today, I woke up at 8, got out of bed by 9 and made my way to town.. i sat down in a lunchonette, had a simple yet enjoyable breakfast and relaxed. after that, i continued onwards to stroll about town, until around 10:45 when i went to the tourist center for my day's excursion to trinidade.. a small beach village about 30km away. i was the only english speaker to my disappointment, but we all got along rather welll... there were two native brazilians, an argentinian family, and an argentinian couple recently married... The latter i got to know well despite the language barrier. By the end of the day, I was thoroughly confused between their spanish and my lacking portuguese. We made our way to the beach lovers paradise... admired the view, the rocks, the water.. and then continued on to another nearby beach where we would later lunch...our group split up on two different paths to our final destination.. a natural pool enclosed by many huge rocks... some crossed the bay by boat, while the couple and i hiked through the hills and forests to get there... After a bit of swimming and resting, we went back to dine, i tried some manioc root fries.... interesting.. good, but gets old quickly... not like french fries that you can eat nonstop!... we made it back to paraty by dark, i took a shower, checked my email, and went back to rest since yet again, it was raining....
beach	me on a rock
more trinidade	pablo, laura (congratulations!) and i after a filling meal

Alfredo, Bruno, I and Vera as we set out to sail	A view of our beach paradise
bruno and i falling off the top	what angra has to offer from above
angra dos reis by sunset
hello all, I'm writing from parati, sitting in cafe paraty sipping a caipirinha. Its a brazilian drink made from pinga (also known as cachaça). What is pinga, you ask? It is the alcohol distilled from sugar cane. Extremely strong, and weird after-taste.... lets just say i'm not a fan. The caipirinha is an interesting drink... not too bad i think.. I'm here waiting to hear some live bossa nova/mpb (musica populara brasileira). In the meantime.... so yesterday, i woke up early, took a shower and got in the car with alfredo's wife vera and their son bruno. We picked up bruno's girlfriend vivianni and it was off to angra dos reis, where we met up with alfredo on his boat. Some preparations, and we set sail. The experience only strengthened my resolve to buy a boat. Realistically this is far off... if ever... I covered myself from head to foot in sun screen, and sat back satching the waves go by, relaxing in the breeze. Once again I was taken aback from the view brazil has to offer, albeit this time many of my pictures were taken from sea level. I trust you will agree that they are equally beautiful. We sailed our way over to a secluded beach... After a quick dip in the water, I wrappedmy camera in a couple plastic bags and together with bruno and vivianni, we paddled our way over to the island. We walked up the island trail to its summit and of course I brought out my camera and took many more pictures. We returned to the beach afterwards, comed the beach for beautiful shells, and then paddled back to the boat. Unfortunatelythe battery had died and wind there was no more. Someone helped us out and we set sail back to the marina. I even got to control the rudder! Just as we made it to the marina, it started to drizzle--and as you know-- a drizzle here soon becomes a downpour.... We showered and made way for paraty. As our luck would have it--flat tire on the way. Bruno alfredo and I quickly proceeded to put on the spare and we continued on our journey. Upon entereing paraty, we stopped at a gas station and to my surprise, there was the beat of drums in the background. I looked around and there was a crowed gathered around where the music was coming from--- ahh carnaval. We stopped at a couple pousadas, inqired as to availability and price, and then settled on a 50R$ room close to the centro historico. We went to dine supper and parted ways. I remained in paraty and the rest back to rio. I got back to my room, tried to ask a few questions and quickly realized how lacking my portuguese is. i managed however to get the message across that I wanted to be woken up at 8am. Today, I set out to explore paraty. I started with my "café de manhã" -- breakfast -- and worked my way around town. The walking tour seemed quite overprices, so I took the map and guide i got from my pousada (in portuguese of course) and started walking. Along the way, I managed to find a pousada for half the price i'd paid last night. The city is quite a sight to see... the streets are all cobble stone, and set in an angle so facilitate the drainage of rainfall... not very good for walking however... however lovely, the streets are not the friendliest to your feet, especially when it rains (trust me, i know)... sure enough i was found by a local who watned to show me around for a small price... 50r$ / hr... no thanks.. it soon went odwn to 30r$.... but alas as we all know, I don't have any money either... :-/.... i walked around the whole day, making good use of my portuguese... a fun adventure -- with pictures to show for it... the only downside was the rain. i reserved a tour in trinidadefor tomorrow, checked my email, and saw an exhibition --rather disappointing-- on the trail of gold from ouro preto (literally 'black gold') down to port cities.. .paraty.. rio de janeiro... this is actually how paraty became the city as it is known today... so now that my doings are up to date, I'll enjoy the music just a little bit more and head off to sleep.. boa noite!
the tranquilty at my pousada	a view of the water in paraty
the colors and the rain!	a look at the streets and the architecture... pretty

OK, so now i can continue the stories from yesterday, back in Tijuca the neighborhood in Rio where my cousins live... So yesterday, I went to pão de açúcar.. which apparently gets its name because it is similar in shape to the "loaf shaped" sugar cane chaff mountains made by slaves in colonial brazil. Since i'm not wasting film, I went ahead and took pictures from basically every possible angle... quite an impressive view to see, rio is indeed a marvelous city. depois... after coming back to ground level, I noticed a couple monuments out front.. one looked particularly like a certain monument in dc, albeit a miniature version... the new fruits i tried which i'd never heard of before: cajú, abacaxi, açai, and guarana... but i only tried them in liquid form... that night we went to a concert, or rather a mega concert with i think 5 or 6 different groups performinig.. quite a big production by skol, the local beer... which i found drinkable only because it had a very light taste... almost no flavor...and seeing as how i don't like the flavor of beer, its a perfect alternative to beer when beer is the chosen drink... umm... i think i understood taht... that night, I met my father's; other cousin, alfredo's brother giovanni and his wife celia... it was quite a conversation! amazingly we were able (i think) to understand each other... with outside help of course. that was my most portuguese intensive evening, but i was given a score of 8/10 for a tourist. anywho... the most interesting thing that night was approaching the site and finding parking... it was at the marina, on the rightmost lane as you're approaching the show tons of people are just standing in the street.. they grab on to your car as you pass by and run with you, negotiating a parking spot... these people come early to reserve spots for you in order to earn a couple bucks... our winner was the guy who after running with us for a good 30 or so meters, sat on the hood of the car and directed us where to go. you gotta see it to believe it. they supposedly pay the officers not to ticket the cars they parked on the lawns... everybody wins! the show was packed, good music for the most part, even though i didn't understand much... with the bit of portuguese that i do understand and the amount of noise present... it was all gibberish to me... 6 hours of nonstop music, multiple stages, a cinema, beer stands, couches on the bay... i decided to buy a cd of someone i'd heard that night.... we got back at around 5 am and i went straight to sleep (after checking my email) today i got up at the unseemingly hour of 2pm, and went with my cousins vanessa and natalia to see corcovado and the statue of cristo redentor - christ the redeemer... i feel saved i must say having visited this quite large rendition of jesus... we took a train which ferried us through the forest of tijuca up to corcovado... the insides were decorated wtih ribbons and masks in the spirit of the upcoming carnaval... again, i had the chance to be astounded with an aerial view of the city.. this time more encompassing than before i think... i took a stab at redeeming the people around, but no one seemed to take notice... they must have not recognized my coming... oh well... next time... we went by the beach to check out the waves, unfortunately they were nonexistant so we put off surfing to the next time, and went on to the mall... i found out prices of getting a SIM card for my gsm phone but opted in the end not to... i figure i'll be ok as is, and when i really need something urgent i still have mine from israel... after having a baked potato, we got back home, I took a shower and now I'm organizing my thoughts on the balcony as the chuva (rain) falls in the street.... tomorrow is a big day, waking up early and going to angra dos reis for some sailing (weather permitting) and then onwards i guess to paraty and more... boa noite! doces sonhos!

I realize that most people want to see pictures, unfortunately htat will have to wait, but i will put up a few for your enjoyment:


an amazing view of botafogo (if i'm not mistaken) from atop pão de açúcar

the whole mishpucha

my cousin natalia and i at corcovado

...
até mais!

Hello again, the day continues.... today i went to pão de açúcar... it was a sight to see... you could see all of rio de janeiro from there... well thats what they say, i wouldn't know the difference, but the view was breath-taking i must admit.... as you can see, i decided to make use of my newly purchased 128MB memory card... you go up cable cars to a first mountain, take a few pictures,.... must go now, more to come tomorrow

Hello again, o dia continuo.... today i went to pão de açúcar... it was a sight to see... you could see all of rio de janeiro from there... well thats what they say, i wouldn't know the difference, but the view was breath-taking i must admit.... as you can see, i decided to make use of my newly purchased 128MB memory card... you go up cable cars to a first mountain, take a few pictures,.... must go now, more to come tomorrow

Bom Dia Senhoras e Senhores! Hello from Rio de Janeiro. I flew out of Houston on Feb11, and what a scurry that was, a quick stop by oshmans, on down to the airport for check-in... it was relatively empty, but still... theres no going back after elite access.... only 20,000 more miles to go for this year... we went to chilis after that... had a quick tuna steak,, and then it back to the plane. I arrived just in time to board, I was requested to show my passport/visa before boarding, and the guy says to me, how is it that i didn't catch you with all the other israelis? takes my ticket and bids me "Shalom"... Interesting i must say... well the flight was rather long, I happened to meet an israeli on the plane... he too travelling alone, only he didn't purchase a return ticket... which gives me ideas about not using my return ticket and finding a different flight back whenever, but i do have stuff going on back home so that i should go back as planned... well... I was picked up from the airport by my cousins alfredo and his son bruno, at which point we drove back to their apartment in Tijuca, i set my stuff down, changed into more accomodating attire and had lunch. My cousin natalia joined us and we set out to walk along the beaches of Ipanema and Leblon. Only after arriving did i realize that i should have brought my camera... oh well.. next time... We cracked open --rather someone cracked open-- two coconuts for us, had a refreshing drink and then ate some of the soft cream inside. It was not as sweet as i was expecting it to be. After a couple of hours of walking, we drove back to Tijuca, me spending half the time sleeping, and the other half trying to stay awake.... had dinner, picked up a paper, read some news, tried to concentrate on planning my stay, and then I passed out.... which brings me to this new and beautiful/partly clouded day... I put in some pictures so that you can see my current view from the balcony...