A Hole New World: Part Dois - Bearded in Brasil

Yes - I is back! (with some grammatical terrorism no less).

I trust you've all been well in my blogging absence? I believe I've seen a good number of you in person and in most cases sent a hug your way or shared a darned good chinwag. I gotta say that I had an absoultely brilliant time back in England (and Jersey) and that really was down to the calibre of the company. You're all magnificent people and its a major wrench to leave you again so soon. However, leave I must and leave I did and now here I am... in Rrrrrrrrio!!

Prepare yourselves for a cliché, but the time between landing in Heathrow from San Francisco and finding myself back in Heathrow again yesterday passed in a flash. I mean I know time flies when you're having fun, but come on - this was like x30 fast forward on Sky Plus (now there's an up to the minute analogy for ya!). My two trips to London, mini-excursion to Jersey, New Year's sojourn to Manchester and lengthy homestay in Liverpool now seem but a blur of fantastic festive fun. I was able to catch up with so many people in so many places and talk about so much stuff that it was only about 3pm yesterday that I finally got me head round the fact that I would be buggering off again for the next 5 months. Never did manage to practice much Portuguese, but that was always going to happen (note to self - must be more disciplined with language learning in 2006).

So after a very pleasant final weekend in London that took in some good city walks and some illicit lesbian action (you'll have to ask someone who knows) off I tootled to Brasil yesterday. A journey that promised to be very tricky to negotiate was eased significantly by the gallant Mr Lunterly who assisted me with my baggage and the noble staff of London Underground who precisely timed the commencement of their latest strike to coincide with my arrival at Heathrow Airport. Well done lads. The flight was also safely negotiated with a minimum of fuss and for the first time ever I managed to sleep for the majority of the time. Now the really tricky bits were about to start.

After arriving about 2 hours late (hey, this is Brasil) I was concerned about the following:
1. Getting through customs due to the length of my stay and the value of items I had to declare to bringing in (ie, camera, laptop etc). Obviously shouldn't have wasted precious worry power on this one. It went something like:
Customs man: [studiously inspects form looking very serious and consults colleague]
Me: [looks calm despite thinking "oh bollocks"]
Customs man: Are you a tourist?
Me: Yes.
Customers man: [casually waves me through]
2. Getting to the bog. Due to aforementioned sleeping and being boxed in by elderly couple, I was busting for numbers 1 & 2 when I got through customs. Safely negotiated with appropriately satisfied murmur.
3. Finding my bags. For some reason I just had a sneaky suspicion that someone on our flight was going to fall foul of the stopover at Sao Paulo. Mine were very late coming onto the magic belt, but come they did. Unlucky for the 2 French teenagers and the Belgian backpacker. Safely negoitated.
4. Getting money. In my smugness at arriving at Heathrow on time, I'd forgotten to withdraw cash to exchange for Brazilian reals in the airport. The last time I came this was the only way to get money in the airport. Thankfully things have been modernised since then and I lcoated an HSBC cashpoint. Successfully negotiated.
5. Getting a taxi. I'd had the foresight to arrange a pickup from the airport, but due to the late arrival and the above pseudo-chenanigans, I was very late. Would the taxi driver have waited around? Again, misplaced worry. This is Brasil where time is a relative concept. Very friendly taxi man bundles me into car and delivers me safely to my accomodation. Even had some good banter (in Portuguese) on the way over.

So there you have it. I feel very pleased with myself for taking myself halfway around the world with minimal hitches. I'm now settling into my new home, which is bloody marvellous if I do say so meself. You can have a look at it on www.vilacasanova.com.br - its as good as it looks in the pictures!

I'm gonna leave it there today as I am feeling mozzie bites and need to seek refuge in some chemical spray (always some downsides see) but hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with more insights from sunny Rio.

Til then my good chums, be good to each other and try to find room for a smile. I guarantee it'll make you feel happy :)