thats right, i am now back home safe and sound and have finally begun loading my photos up onto the internet for all you people to see, so check them out at
http://picasaweb.google.com/Tomlin.an
they're all in a bit of a jumble but if you vaguely follow them in number order (for some reason i didnt make a gallery number three) and ill try and get them all up real soon!
hope you enjoy
Saturday, 16 June 2007
Thursday, 7 June 2007
swamps and cowboys!
really sorry everyone for not posting for a while, at first there was nothing to post about and then john and i went to the middle of a big old swamp (roughly the size of switzerland and france combined (i think) ) in the middle of cowboy country in brazil!
the big old swamp is actually called the pantanal, which, after another failed atempt to learn to surf , is where we decided to go. we caught an overnight bus to campo grande (translates as big field ?) from curitiba and spent the day wandering around looking at all the comedy cowboy shops and indeed almost purchasing the highly compical rodeo cologne aftershave (but not having the guts)! the next day (a friday i think) we set off with our tour group to the heart of the pantanl (stopping for lunch on the way and sharing some banter with some brazilians about the game). we arrived late that night and all found a spare hamock then after dinner sat round the camp fire accompanied by a pet calf and a kitten!
the next morning we were awakened early by some exotic birds (i didnt care to find out which ones that early in the morning) sining outside, once up we stumbled to breakfast and then had a cold shower before going of on our wildlife walk around the swamp!
that first day we had a walk and boat ride and saw a boa constrictor, some funnby monkey rakoon things, capibaras, aligators and lots of pretty birds! the next day, a sunday, we were supposed to go horse riding, but after an hour wait our guide came back dripping wet and saying that he couldnt find the horses. instead we went piranha fishing, although for some reason none of our group caught piranhas, just cat fish, also got to stroke a baby capibarah which had been orphaned and taken care of by a lodge nearbye.
monday, our final day we finally went horse riding which was awesome! saw an oselot (wierd pretyy cat thing) and an armadilo and just rode about prettending to be cowboys! also found out that i am a rubbish rider, couldnt get my horse to do anything but trot, so i was very sore by the end of the ride! on the drive back to the camp we spotted a giant ant eater in a field and went running beside it for a bit, was absoloutely amazing!
so yeah, that was the pantanal, from there we have come back to sao paulo and next tuesday we fly back to england! strange to think that im finally comming home, it hasnt sunk in at all yet, and i dont think it will until im on the plane. i think im going to miss speaking portuguese and im going to miss seeing strange exotic places and things, but im really looking forward to seeing all you guys again and having some english home comforts!
stay safe until i come home and ill see you all soon
ate mais!
God bless!!
andrew
the big old swamp is actually called the pantanal, which, after another failed atempt to learn to surf , is where we decided to go. we caught an overnight bus to campo grande (translates as big field ?) from curitiba and spent the day wandering around looking at all the comedy cowboy shops and indeed almost purchasing the highly compical rodeo cologne aftershave (but not having the guts)! the next day (a friday i think) we set off with our tour group to the heart of the pantanl (stopping for lunch on the way and sharing some banter with some brazilians about the game). we arrived late that night and all found a spare hamock then after dinner sat round the camp fire accompanied by a pet calf and a kitten!
the next morning we were awakened early by some exotic birds (i didnt care to find out which ones that early in the morning) sining outside, once up we stumbled to breakfast and then had a cold shower before going of on our wildlife walk around the swamp!
that first day we had a walk and boat ride and saw a boa constrictor, some funnby monkey rakoon things, capibaras, aligators and lots of pretty birds! the next day, a sunday, we were supposed to go horse riding, but after an hour wait our guide came back dripping wet and saying that he couldnt find the horses. instead we went piranha fishing, although for some reason none of our group caught piranhas, just cat fish, also got to stroke a baby capibarah which had been orphaned and taken care of by a lodge nearbye.
monday, our final day we finally went horse riding which was awesome! saw an oselot (wierd pretyy cat thing) and an armadilo and just rode about prettending to be cowboys! also found out that i am a rubbish rider, couldnt get my horse to do anything but trot, so i was very sore by the end of the ride! on the drive back to the camp we spotted a giant ant eater in a field and went running beside it for a bit, was absoloutely amazing!
so yeah, that was the pantanal, from there we have come back to sao paulo and next tuesday we fly back to england! strange to think that im finally comming home, it hasnt sunk in at all yet, and i dont think it will until im on the plane. i think im going to miss speaking portuguese and im going to miss seeing strange exotic places and things, but im really looking forward to seeing all you guys again and having some english home comforts!
stay safe until i come home and ill see you all soon
ate mais!
God bless!!
andrew
Friday, 25 May 2007
pratting around in the ocean
yeah so wednesday one of the surf schools here were supposed to ring us up so we could go for a lesson, but the idiots musty have forgotten or something and didnt bother ringing. no matter though, because it was a flipping freezing day. instead john and i spent it in true english style and wrapped up warm and went for a walk on the beach, with a random dog that decided to adopt us. appart from that wednesday was a pretty mundane day, the evening was spent chatting to a brazilian waiter at a pizzaria before getting our pizza and eating it on the beach, then going back to the hostel and watching `blood diamonds`which is a flipping awesome film!!
yesterday however was a completely different action packed kettle of fish, and it was some kettle i can tell you! we met up with this irish guy called mark, borrowed the hostels surfboards and went to rip up the local surf! im not sure how, but somehow this never happened, perhaps my skills just wernt up to scratch that day, but the status of ripping was never achivied, it was rather more a floundering!
at the first beach after trying furiously to get out to the waves, and after 10 minutes succeeding i realised i was very far out, the waves were big and the people around me were clearly pros, so i nonchalantly paddled back to shore, 15 minutes later id made land, warmed up and was headed, byu bus, to the next beach with great hopes of surfing prowess! 1 hour later i was huddled on the beach having just been trashed around by the waves, and john with his extreme sports prowess had gained a black eye, a bashed head and a slightly compressed spine from a gigantic 2 foot wave!
thiniking that the waves just probably wern´t right or something (obviously it was nothing to do with us) john, mark and i went dune boarding (an obviously superior sport!) several mouthfuls of sand, a hurt wrist, and on johns part and bashed in shoulder, later we dicided it was time to call it a day! however this time round none of the buses would take us and our surf boards, so once again we had to walk about 1hr back to the hostel!
so yeah things are going well, as im sure you can tell my surfing is a flyig success!
leaving ilha da santa catarina today and heading for ilha do mel again (the walks are shorter)
missing you all lots!
god bless!!!
andrew
ps oh and at the beach some brazilian though i was a brazilian surfer, sadly i had to tell him i was infact neither, just a gringo pratting around in the ocean
yesterday however was a completely different action packed kettle of fish, and it was some kettle i can tell you! we met up with this irish guy called mark, borrowed the hostels surfboards and went to rip up the local surf! im not sure how, but somehow this never happened, perhaps my skills just wernt up to scratch that day, but the status of ripping was never achivied, it was rather more a floundering!
at the first beach after trying furiously to get out to the waves, and after 10 minutes succeeding i realised i was very far out, the waves were big and the people around me were clearly pros, so i nonchalantly paddled back to shore, 15 minutes later id made land, warmed up and was headed, byu bus, to the next beach with great hopes of surfing prowess! 1 hour later i was huddled on the beach having just been trashed around by the waves, and john with his extreme sports prowess had gained a black eye, a bashed head and a slightly compressed spine from a gigantic 2 foot wave!
thiniking that the waves just probably wern´t right or something (obviously it was nothing to do with us) john, mark and i went dune boarding (an obviously superior sport!) several mouthfuls of sand, a hurt wrist, and on johns part and bashed in shoulder, later we dicided it was time to call it a day! however this time round none of the buses would take us and our surf boards, so once again we had to walk about 1hr back to the hostel!
so yeah things are going well, as im sure you can tell my surfing is a flyig success!
leaving ilha da santa catarina today and heading for ilha do mel again (the walks are shorter)
missing you all lots!
god bless!!!
andrew
ps oh and at the beach some brazilian though i was a brazilian surfer, sadly i had to tell him i was infact neither, just a gringo pratting around in the ocean
Tuesday, 22 May 2007
the bolivian salt plains!
is where we should be right now, however instead sunday night we got a bus to florianopolis in the south of brazil with the intent of learning to surf. from florianopolis bus station we took two local buses to prior de joaquin where we were going to stay but on arrival decided to stay in campech a town (acording to the guide book) just down the beach. so as it started to rain, and whilst getting wierd looks from surfers and people in resteraunts (ok it did look ike i was feeling john up when i was actually putting the waterproof cover of his bag on!) we set of for our stroll down the beach. an hour and a half later, completely soaked we turned up at the ecolodge which the guidebook suggested only to find it was 80 reis a night!!! the person who wrote the chapter on the southern region of brazil in the lonely planet guide is a bad bad bad person!!!! so completely exhausted we resigned ourselves to a night in the overly priced lodge and the next day were going to get a bus to barra de lagoa and stay in an international back packers lodge.
so this morning rolled round and just as we were about to leave we found out that the buses had gone on strike! thus we had to hike 20km with our backpacks on!!!! 2.5 hours later we finally arrived and chilled on the beach!! looks like tommorow we will finally get to learn to surf. we are in an absoloutely stunning area, and the sunset today was amazing but my legs are killing me!
hope you guys are all well!
god bless you billions
andrew
so this morning rolled round and just as we were about to leave we found out that the buses had gone on strike! thus we had to hike 20km with our backpacks on!!!! 2.5 hours later we finally arrived and chilled on the beach!! looks like tommorow we will finally get to learn to surf. we are in an absoloutely stunning area, and the sunset today was amazing but my legs are killing me!
hope you guys are all well!
god bless you billions
andrew
Sunday, 20 May 2007
argentina is nice
well so ive heard. today john and i got as far as the brazilian border, brackpacks packed, our heads full of dreams of seeing lake titicaca and the rest of south america only to be told that if we leave brazil we cant return until after the 10th of july (our flight is from sao paulo on the 5th!) great!
well apart from that, we also went and saw the brazilian side of the falls yesterday, and with the sunshine it was stunning, full of butterflys and rainbows and funny monkey things! was really cool!
hmm i here the pantanal is good this time fo year!
take care!
god bless
andrew
well apart from that, we also went and saw the brazilian side of the falls yesterday, and with the sunshine it was stunning, full of butterflys and rainbows and funny monkey things! was really cool!
hmm i here the pantanal is good this time fo year!
take care!
god bless
andrew
Saturday, 19 May 2007
iguacu falls
yeah so i have now left sao paulo and am at the iguacu falls one of the seven wonders of the world!
at the border of argentina, paruguay and brazil, just south of the itaipu damn are a load of big waterfalls (one of them being the most powefull in the world, i think) called the iguacu falls and theyre pretty spectacular!
we arrived in the brazilian border town of foz thursday lunchtime, met some irish people, and with them got a bus into town (were staying just out of town on the way to the falls) foz itself is a bit of a dump, but we still had a wonder around and just killed time.
friday was much more interesting as lots of things happend which havent happened before or at least in a long time. the first thing of which was i got cold! how unfair is that?! im in brazil and it was overcast all day and i got properly cold for the first time in i dont know how long! the second thing is i left brazil for the first time since comming here. thats right i went to see the argentine side of the falls which despite the weather were absoloutely stunning (im not sure if they were better then vic falls), you got absoloutely soaked by the spray from the falls and at times could even see the river bellow, just a white cloud of mist! i think the third thing to happen was i had to try to speak spanish which is flipping annoying as i am just getting to the stage where everything is comfortable with my portuguese! (silly other languages!)
so yeah, yesterday was really fun, and ended with a meal in town with a couple of germans (they get everywhere!) who are currently on a trip around the worl, funny guys.
today we are off to see the brazilian suide of the falls and maybe an avary, then sunday we are going to get a bus to salta in argentina then hop over to bolivia and maybe meet up with a bulgarian we met yesterday.
anyways having lots of fun, missing everyone at home lots.
god bless!
andrew
at the border of argentina, paruguay and brazil, just south of the itaipu damn are a load of big waterfalls (one of them being the most powefull in the world, i think) called the iguacu falls and theyre pretty spectacular!
we arrived in the brazilian border town of foz thursday lunchtime, met some irish people, and with them got a bus into town (were staying just out of town on the way to the falls) foz itself is a bit of a dump, but we still had a wonder around and just killed time.
friday was much more interesting as lots of things happend which havent happened before or at least in a long time. the first thing of which was i got cold! how unfair is that?! im in brazil and it was overcast all day and i got properly cold for the first time in i dont know how long! the second thing is i left brazil for the first time since comming here. thats right i went to see the argentine side of the falls which despite the weather were absoloutely stunning (im not sure if they were better then vic falls), you got absoloutely soaked by the spray from the falls and at times could even see the river bellow, just a white cloud of mist! i think the third thing to happen was i had to try to speak spanish which is flipping annoying as i am just getting to the stage where everything is comfortable with my portuguese! (silly other languages!)
so yeah, yesterday was really fun, and ended with a meal in town with a couple of germans (they get everywhere!) who are currently on a trip around the worl, funny guys.
today we are off to see the brazilian suide of the falls and maybe an avary, then sunday we are going to get a bus to salta in argentina then hop over to bolivia and maybe meet up with a bulgarian we met yesterday.
anyways having lots of fun, missing everyone at home lots.
god bless!
andrew
Tuesday, 15 May 2007
because nem kept whining
havent blogged in a while because i havent had much to write, but since my lovely sister kept complaining i decided i would be nice and post.
i am currently back in sao paulo, having had a week in rio training capoeira. rio was a lot colder then we where last there (which means it was still hot) and had a nice end of summer feel with big golden sunsets. went and visited the beach lots and watched the surfers surf as the sun set, was pretty stunning. pretty funny watching the brazilians buying hats and scarfs, they are crazy!
hmm what else, oh the bus journey down was horrific, 29 hours in an economy bus, without blankets and tv! at night they left the air conditioning on so i froze and 2 hours into the journey my ipod ran out of battery =O so being the clever person i am i tried to sleep the remaining 27 hours! i woke up at 3 in the morning my body clock a complete mess!
anyways i am here for one more day then off to see the iguacu falls! cannot wait!
ps nem didnt vote how shameful is that! what would emily pankhurst say?
god bless!
andrew
i am currently back in sao paulo, having had a week in rio training capoeira. rio was a lot colder then we where last there (which means it was still hot) and had a nice end of summer feel with big golden sunsets. went and visited the beach lots and watched the surfers surf as the sun set, was pretty stunning. pretty funny watching the brazilians buying hats and scarfs, they are crazy!
hmm what else, oh the bus journey down was horrific, 29 hours in an economy bus, without blankets and tv! at night they left the air conditioning on so i froze and 2 hours into the journey my ipod ran out of battery =O so being the clever person i am i tried to sleep the remaining 27 hours! i woke up at 3 in the morning my body clock a complete mess!
anyways i am here for one more day then off to see the iguacu falls! cannot wait!
ps nem didnt vote how shameful is that! what would emily pankhurst say?
god bless!
andrew
Friday, 4 May 2007
park chapada
i am now back in salvador bus station (man i spend too much time here!) waiting to catch a 26 hour long bus to rio having just had a lovely couple of days in park chapada da diamantina.
we arrived at the park 5am monday morning and after being harrassed by hundreds of tour guides managed to find a really cool pousada and ended up sharing a room with 2 cool americans. so after chatting to them for a while (which was quite nice of them considering we woke them up at 6 in the morning!) we got some breakfast had a shower (oh how i needed it!) then went of exploring, mainly spending the day by the river above the town. was really nice and had some crazy rock formations! in the evening we went to a pizza resteraunt and got told by a brazilian gentlemen, that we spoke english as if we were italian! it was a bit strange, but he was pretty cool, apparently the head of technology in recife (whatever that means) his parting words ìf you need anything just give me a call´made me come to the logical conclusion that he was obviously part of the recife mafia.
tuesday we headed of on a hike up to a really high waterfall and saw some stunning views of the park, unfortunately the camera ran out of battery so we dont have any photos! made friends with a german guy two friench women. in the evening went out to dinner with a funny brazilian guy and the german and french peole the chilled out in the square over rubbish brazilian beer and good tapioca! the tapioca lady asked for our picture.
then wednesday we made friends with an american called dan and all of us went on a wiked tour of the part, starting with swimming in an amazing waterfall and endling with watching a stunning sunset from the top of a massive piece of rock! was incredible!
yesterday we slept in and then went and slept some more by the river and then got our bus.
so we have been keeping busy!
thinking of all you guys lots though!
god bless!
andrew
we arrived at the park 5am monday morning and after being harrassed by hundreds of tour guides managed to find a really cool pousada and ended up sharing a room with 2 cool americans. so after chatting to them for a while (which was quite nice of them considering we woke them up at 6 in the morning!) we got some breakfast had a shower (oh how i needed it!) then went of exploring, mainly spending the day by the river above the town. was really nice and had some crazy rock formations! in the evening we went to a pizza resteraunt and got told by a brazilian gentlemen, that we spoke english as if we were italian! it was a bit strange, but he was pretty cool, apparently the head of technology in recife (whatever that means) his parting words ìf you need anything just give me a call´made me come to the logical conclusion that he was obviously part of the recife mafia.
tuesday we headed of on a hike up to a really high waterfall and saw some stunning views of the park, unfortunately the camera ran out of battery so we dont have any photos! made friends with a german guy two friench women. in the evening went out to dinner with a funny brazilian guy and the german and french peole the chilled out in the square over rubbish brazilian beer and good tapioca! the tapioca lady asked for our picture.
then wednesday we made friends with an american called dan and all of us went on a wiked tour of the part, starting with swimming in an amazing waterfall and endling with watching a stunning sunset from the top of a massive piece of rock! was incredible!
yesterday we slept in and then went and slept some more by the river and then got our bus.
so we have been keeping busy!
thinking of all you guys lots though!
god bless!
andrew
Sunday, 29 April 2007
i have lost my phone!
yup being really stupid i managed to leave my phone (well it fell out of my pocket without me realising) on a bus in salvaor and only realised once the bus had driven off! .................bugger!!!
so could all you guys´s please give me your mobile numbers so when i get back to england and hopefully get a new one i can contact you all. that would be ace!
so could all you guys´s please give me your mobile numbers so when i get back to england and hopefully get a new one i can contact you all. that would be ace!
on the road again!
after a month of not living out of my rucksack anymore its a bit surreal to now to once again have all my belongings attached to my back! i am now in salvador bus station having just arrived by night bus and am now very smelly and grimey but with no bus until 11 oclock tonight it doesnt look like ill be getting a shower until tommorow morning! great!
this last week at casa do mau pai went alot better then the one before my previous posting, it was by no means perfect (but i dont think it ever would be) but i interacted with the kids alot more had a bit more patience for them and more smiles too. but none of that was down to me, it was all due to your guys´prayers and more little chats with god throughout the day. so thankyou for your thoughts and prayers!
it was a biut heartbreaking sayiong goodbye to the boys and all the otherlovely people in olinda and i am missing it more then i thought i would. the thought of not knowing how those boys are going to turn out or who they will grow into and the fact that i probably will never know that huts a little. but then i suppose (well i know) thats all in gods hand and he´ll be guiding them every step of the way!
in the meantime im waiting for a bus to a place called lencois (which means sheets?!) where im going to find some awesome mountain scenery, then off to rio for another weeks capoeira training then i´ve got 2 months to cram in as much of south america as possible!!
time is short, and yet im sitting around in a bus station! how bizzarre!
off to do some present shopping!
lots of love and prayer!
andrew
this last week at casa do mau pai went alot better then the one before my previous posting, it was by no means perfect (but i dont think it ever would be) but i interacted with the kids alot more had a bit more patience for them and more smiles too. but none of that was down to me, it was all due to your guys´prayers and more little chats with god throughout the day. so thankyou for your thoughts and prayers!
it was a biut heartbreaking sayiong goodbye to the boys and all the otherlovely people in olinda and i am missing it more then i thought i would. the thought of not knowing how those boys are going to turn out or who they will grow into and the fact that i probably will never know that huts a little. but then i suppose (well i know) thats all in gods hand and he´ll be guiding them every step of the way!
in the meantime im waiting for a bus to a place called lencois (which means sheets?!) where im going to find some awesome mountain scenery, then off to rio for another weeks capoeira training then i´ve got 2 months to cram in as much of south america as possible!!
time is short, and yet im sitting around in a bus station! how bizzarre!
off to do some present shopping!
lots of love and prayer!
andrew
Saturday, 21 April 2007
right!
so ive finally got alot of things sorted (well my wonderful mummy has). john and i are both now flying back to england on the 5th of july (hurrah) and because we want to see more of south america we are probably leaving olinda next weekend. the plan is travel south to the iguacu falls hitting park chapada da diamantina, and rio (for a bit more capoeira) on the way down. from here we will then go to the bolivian salt plains, la paz, then travel across lake titicaca to peru, do the inca trail, do some surfing and dune boarding and see the nazca lines and then come home =D!
meanwhile in the present this weeks been hard. appart from a week of rain (which reminded me of home), a little crab living in our shower and war and peace (an awesome book) my weeks been a bit of a struggle. i think its a mixture of tiredness and hunger, but i havent coped at all well with the boys this wee. just been a bit dispondent and unwilling to play, so if you could all pray that i would have more patience eneergy and love for them that would be great! especially if this is my last week here!
oo almost forgot had an american pastor come visit the house, didnt speak a word of portugues but despite this carried on talking to the boys as if they were fluent but was really lovely and full of energy!
also taught how to play a brazilian game of marbles, was pretty cool!
God bless, see you all soon
meanwhile in the present this weeks been hard. appart from a week of rain (which reminded me of home), a little crab living in our shower and war and peace (an awesome book) my weeks been a bit of a struggle. i think its a mixture of tiredness and hunger, but i havent coped at all well with the boys this wee. just been a bit dispondent and unwilling to play, so if you could all pray that i would have more patience eneergy and love for them that would be great! especially if this is my last week here!
oo almost forgot had an american pastor come visit the house, didnt speak a word of portugues but despite this carried on talking to the boys as if they were fluent but was really lovely and full of energy!
also taught how to play a brazilian game of marbles, was pretty cool!
God bless, see you all soon
right!
so ive finally got alot of things sorted (well my wonderful mummy has). john and i are both now flying back to england on the 5th of july (hurrah) and because we want to see more of south america we are probably leaving olinda next weekend. the plan is travel south to the iguacu falls hitting park chapada da diamantina, and rio (for a bit more capoeira) on the way down. from here we will then go to the bolivian salt plains, la paz, then travel across lake titicaca to peru, do the inca trail, do some surfing and dune boarding and see the nazca lines and then come home =D!
meanwhile in the present this weeks been hard. appart from a week of rain (which reminded me of home), a little crab living in our shower and war and peace (an awesome book) my weeks been a bit of a struggle. i think its a mixture of tiredness and hunger, but i havent coped at all well with the boys this wee. just been a bit dispondent and unwilling to play, so if you could all pray that i would have more patience eneergy and love for them that would be great! especially if this is my last week here!
oo almost forgot had an american pastor come visit the house, didnt speak a word of portugues but despite this carried on talking to the boys as if they were fluent but was really lovely and full of energy!
also taught how to play a brazilian game of marbles, was pretty cool!
God bless, see you all soon
meanwhile in the present this weeks been hard. appart from a week of rain (which reminded me of home), a little crab living in our shower and war and peace (an awesome book) my weeks been a bit of a struggle. i think its a mixture of tiredness and hunger, but i havent coped at all well with the boys this wee. just been a bit dispondent and unwilling to play, so if you could all pray that i would have more patience eneergy and love for them that would be great! especially if this is my last week here!
oo almost forgot had an american pastor come visit the house, didnt speak a word of portugues but despite this carried on talking to the boys as if they were fluent but was really lovely and full of energy!
also taught how to play a brazilian game of marbles, was pretty cool!
God bless, see you all soon
Saturday, 14 April 2007
rugby anyone?
so i suppose i should blog again as it has been quite a while since i got to a computer. there was a possibility that i couldnt get to the internet tonight as i managed to break the key in the front gate, but after relising that i was not a locksmith and would therefore be no help john and i hopped the fence and walked here anyway!
the cadet camp went ok, except it turned out it wasnt a cadet camp (that happens later in the year) instead we just went camping at the churches farm, saw some massive tadpols (i dont want to see the frogs those things create!!) got eaten by midges and generally larked around and had fun with the kids. got back late saturday
sunday was easter!!! (hurray!) but in comparison to my usual gigantic famnily easter egg hunt it was a small affair. woke up early and read psalms 22 and 23 then there was a little service in the house with some poeple from the church. john and i then went for a walk on the beach and bought an easter egg each. and that was about it.... until the evening when we went to church and some of the kids from casa do meu pai were getting baptised awesome!!!! admitedly, however, i did spend most of the service playing with my two new friends! they are a couple of little cheeky boys who are both mutes, so speak about as much potuguese as i do, and for some reason are fascinated by my dictionary and keep pretending to read it (all be it uside dow) as if it were a jane austin novel or something =D!
the rest of this week has been pretty busy, the swimming pool has finally been filled (after various hose pipe bans) so alot of time has been spent swimming and trying to teach the boys to swim properly (julia and mum you would have a field day with all the retained reflexes!) which was quite entertaining. also managed to dig a rugby ball out of somewhere and after a long time convincing the boys that it wasnt an american football have been trying to teach them. as you can probably guess the results are interesting, with overarm spin passes and kick ups being a favourite!
so yeah thats about it, the boys are trying as ever, one with strong homosexual tendencies keeps harrassing john which is a bit interresting and the cook constantly shouts at me (or john as she thinks both our names are) in the hope that i will understand, the food is bad.
so keep praying for me, i hope all you guys are well and smiling!
god bless!!
andrew
the cadet camp went ok, except it turned out it wasnt a cadet camp (that happens later in the year) instead we just went camping at the churches farm, saw some massive tadpols (i dont want to see the frogs those things create!!) got eaten by midges and generally larked around and had fun with the kids. got back late saturday
sunday was easter!!! (hurray!) but in comparison to my usual gigantic famnily easter egg hunt it was a small affair. woke up early and read psalms 22 and 23 then there was a little service in the house with some poeple from the church. john and i then went for a walk on the beach and bought an easter egg each. and that was about it.... until the evening when we went to church and some of the kids from casa do meu pai were getting baptised awesome!!!! admitedly, however, i did spend most of the service playing with my two new friends! they are a couple of little cheeky boys who are both mutes, so speak about as much potuguese as i do, and for some reason are fascinated by my dictionary and keep pretending to read it (all be it uside dow) as if it were a jane austin novel or something =D!
the rest of this week has been pretty busy, the swimming pool has finally been filled (after various hose pipe bans) so alot of time has been spent swimming and trying to teach the boys to swim properly (julia and mum you would have a field day with all the retained reflexes!) which was quite entertaining. also managed to dig a rugby ball out of somewhere and after a long time convincing the boys that it wasnt an american football have been trying to teach them. as you can probably guess the results are interesting, with overarm spin passes and kick ups being a favourite!
so yeah thats about it, the boys are trying as ever, one with strong homosexual tendencies keeps harrassing john which is a bit interresting and the cook constantly shouts at me (or john as she thinks both our names are) in the hope that i will understand, the food is bad.
so keep praying for me, i hope all you guys are well and smiling!
god bless!!
andrew
Wednesday, 4 April 2007
olinda
So its been a while since my last post simply because i havent had the time and evenj if i did the nearest computer is about 1/2 a mile walk away in a bit of a ruff part of town (which is where i am now) but its all gravy!
John and i arrived in Olinda the sunday before last, pretty knackered from salvador but (vaguely) ready to work for an anglican church out here. we spent sunday sleeping before going to church and meeting everyone. getting 300 brazilian hugs in the space of about 5 minutes was pretty scary at first but by the end you couldnt help but feel welcome, then monday we had some time to ourselves on the beach front (which we spent playing football with some random brazilians) before the real work began.
so i suppose i should tell you what we are doing. the church out here is situated in one of olindas favelas, right next to a rubbish dump, and one of the projects it does (amoung many) is to take boys who are in dangerous family situations, out of those situations and puts them into a house where they live during the week. so currently john and i are living with 9 boys of varied ages, most who have had drug addictions, had abusive family backgrounds and alot of other rubbish messing up there lives. our job really is just to play with the boys, occupy them and help them believe in themselves. but as easy as it sounds its flipping hard! the boys can be absoloutely lovely, but sometimes you just want to trip them up, you dont get much time to yourself (if any) and you get woken up ridiculously early in the morning nearly every morning after not getting to bed that early the night before.
yet with those and other bad points about the whole thing, when i have time to calm myself down and take a look around sometimes it becomes obviously clear why im here: when i see john playing with two little boys in his lap, or see the smile on a boys face when he completes a jigsaw puzzle (which i agonizingly watched him do wanting to do it for him every piece!), or when youve got a little boy asleep in your arms it makes you realise that these boys deserve and need to be loved and even though i am absoloutely useless at giving it damn am i going to keep trying =p.
besides im learning alot about myself here, how ungrateful i can be, how cranky i get when i dont have enough food and how i need to read my bible every possible moment, its a necessity.
so yeah, tommorow im being taken off to a christian cadet camp for 3 days so i wont be in touch. but i yopu could all pray for john and i because we are hungry, knackered and missing all you guys.
lots of love!
God bless!!
John and i arrived in Olinda the sunday before last, pretty knackered from salvador but (vaguely) ready to work for an anglican church out here. we spent sunday sleeping before going to church and meeting everyone. getting 300 brazilian hugs in the space of about 5 minutes was pretty scary at first but by the end you couldnt help but feel welcome, then monday we had some time to ourselves on the beach front (which we spent playing football with some random brazilians) before the real work began.
so i suppose i should tell you what we are doing. the church out here is situated in one of olindas favelas, right next to a rubbish dump, and one of the projects it does (amoung many) is to take boys who are in dangerous family situations, out of those situations and puts them into a house where they live during the week. so currently john and i are living with 9 boys of varied ages, most who have had drug addictions, had abusive family backgrounds and alot of other rubbish messing up there lives. our job really is just to play with the boys, occupy them and help them believe in themselves. but as easy as it sounds its flipping hard! the boys can be absoloutely lovely, but sometimes you just want to trip them up, you dont get much time to yourself (if any) and you get woken up ridiculously early in the morning nearly every morning after not getting to bed that early the night before.
yet with those and other bad points about the whole thing, when i have time to calm myself down and take a look around sometimes it becomes obviously clear why im here: when i see john playing with two little boys in his lap, or see the smile on a boys face when he completes a jigsaw puzzle (which i agonizingly watched him do wanting to do it for him every piece!), or when youve got a little boy asleep in your arms it makes you realise that these boys deserve and need to be loved and even though i am absoloutely useless at giving it damn am i going to keep trying =p.
besides im learning alot about myself here, how ungrateful i can be, how cranky i get when i dont have enough food and how i need to read my bible every possible moment, its a necessity.
so yeah, tommorow im being taken off to a christian cadet camp for 3 days so i wont be in touch. but i yopu could all pray for john and i because we are hungry, knackered and missing all you guys.
lots of love!
God bless!!
Friday, 23 March 2007
salvador
we´ve been in salvador a few days now and its a funny city. the people are all very melodramatic and commical you cant help but laugh. after our little tour of the churches we went down into a nearby market, chatted/battered with all the little stall owners and generally just enjoyed watching how theatrical it all was. then in the afternoon we had a capoeira lesson which was ok (but not as good as in rio) and then we went and watched the sun set over the port and then got chatting to a brazilian who took us arround the town, eventually ending up in an irish pub that was so lame and clueless that it only sold guiness in a can (foul!!) and they rented the pool table out by the hour!!(obviously no idea!)
the next day (yesterday) we went with an argentine guy to the barra beach, which was gorgeous, really clear water with nice waves! after spending most of the day there we came back got something to eat and then went out to look at what was going on in town. in the main square was an awful rock band playing, so instead we went and watched some busking tap dancers who were incredible!! (made me want to get some ironj soled shoes and stomp around!)
once this bizzare shore was over, john and i managed to get into a huge arguement with a dorrman of a resteraunt! it was crazy; all i said was that the best capoeira id seen was in rio and that the capoeira in salvador was touristy, and he flipped! got really agressive and started calling us crazy so we left.
we met up with some other peaople from our pousada, 1 peruvian, 2 argentinians, 1 german, 1 indian, 1 english and john and i! was a cool night starting off at a bar listening to live music (which then became even better when one of the argentines got up and played!) and finished in a funny african bar. the only down point was when the doorman from earlier came over again to threaten john and i (what a wierdo!).
today was just spent chilling on the beach but was just as lovely.
tommorow we say goodbye to salvador and head up north to olinda!
will try to keep you all updated!
God bless!!
lots of love
the next day (yesterday) we went with an argentine guy to the barra beach, which was gorgeous, really clear water with nice waves! after spending most of the day there we came back got something to eat and then went out to look at what was going on in town. in the main square was an awful rock band playing, so instead we went and watched some busking tap dancers who were incredible!! (made me want to get some ironj soled shoes and stomp around!)
once this bizzare shore was over, john and i managed to get into a huge arguement with a dorrman of a resteraunt! it was crazy; all i said was that the best capoeira id seen was in rio and that the capoeira in salvador was touristy, and he flipped! got really agressive and started calling us crazy so we left.
we met up with some other peaople from our pousada, 1 peruvian, 2 argentinians, 1 german, 1 indian, 1 english and john and i! was a cool night starting off at a bar listening to live music (which then became even better when one of the argentines got up and played!) and finished in a funny african bar. the only down point was when the doorman from earlier came over again to threaten john and i (what a wierdo!).
today was just spent chilling on the beach but was just as lovely.
tommorow we say goodbye to salvador and head up north to olinda!
will try to keep you all updated!
God bless!!
lots of love
Wednesday, 21 March 2007
northward bound!!
phew a flipping lot has happened since my last blog and i have been trying to post, but havent been anywhere near a computer in ages!!!
so after our stupidly long wait in rio bus station we finally got our sleeper bus to ouro preto, except i didnt manage to sleep, partially because my seat was really uncomfortable and partly because at 3 in the morning some woman decided to give her baby son a language lesson, which consisted of here say `oi meu filhop, e meu filho, que foi meu filho´to anyt babble he aid. at any other time of day this may have been endearing but at that point i just wanted her and her sone to become mute!
we finally arrived in ouro preto at 6 in the morning and as we were walking off to find our pousada a man (who i swear was dressed like a pim or a drug lord) came and asked us if we had a place to say. to which i said to john ´ignore him, letsd keep going´only to find that not only was the man fluent in english, he was also the owner of the pousada we were seeking! (i am an idiot sometimes!) so once that little embarrassment was sorted and we´d had some sleep john and i set of and wandered the towns gorgeous colonial streets before catching a bus to go find some gold!
the gold mine tour itself was pretty commical and there wasnt much to see, but it was well worth the money for the comedy factor and because at the bottom of the mine was a crystal clear warm lake in which you could swim!! it was amazing!!
our next destination was parque national de caracas (or something) where we stayed in a really peaceful ex monastry in the middle of a national park in the mountains! the food was cooked over a wood stove, they had mass in the evenings in a beautiful little chapel, you could go for walks in the evening and watch the sunset and at night wolves would come to the porch and you could watch them being fed!! was amazing!
after this john and i kind of got lost (hence my lack of communication) well we decided to head to a state calle espirito de santos, but once on the bus we looked at the guide book only to realise there was absoloutely nothing there!! so we ended up spending a few days waiting around bus stationsd and traveling, our new destination being corumbau!
corumbau is a tiny little hamlet on a beach in the middle of now where and it is absoloutely stunning! we spent a day or two chilling out on the beach swimming in the calm sea (at night the stars are amazing!) then after that we travelled by canoe, dune buggy, boat and bus and are now in salvador!
so its been quite an adventure and we´ve met lots of people; from tramps who have threatened us at bus stations, to strangers who have asked for our autographs (i never thought that would happen) to christians randomly inviting us to there houses for lunch (we were looking lost in a bus station) to just now where a catholic priest used his ´get into cathedral free card´to take us on a tour of all the churches in the area!
amazing!
so thats where i am now. sorry that was so long ill try to update this more regularly! we are now in salvadore for a couple of days (about to go to a capoeira lesson) then going to catch a bus up to recife!
hope everything back home is just lovely!
God bless!!
andrew
so after our stupidly long wait in rio bus station we finally got our sleeper bus to ouro preto, except i didnt manage to sleep, partially because my seat was really uncomfortable and partly because at 3 in the morning some woman decided to give her baby son a language lesson, which consisted of here say `oi meu filhop, e meu filho, que foi meu filho´to anyt babble he aid. at any other time of day this may have been endearing but at that point i just wanted her and her sone to become mute!
we finally arrived in ouro preto at 6 in the morning and as we were walking off to find our pousada a man (who i swear was dressed like a pim or a drug lord) came and asked us if we had a place to say. to which i said to john ´ignore him, letsd keep going´only to find that not only was the man fluent in english, he was also the owner of the pousada we were seeking! (i am an idiot sometimes!) so once that little embarrassment was sorted and we´d had some sleep john and i set of and wandered the towns gorgeous colonial streets before catching a bus to go find some gold!
the gold mine tour itself was pretty commical and there wasnt much to see, but it was well worth the money for the comedy factor and because at the bottom of the mine was a crystal clear warm lake in which you could swim!! it was amazing!!
our next destination was parque national de caracas (or something) where we stayed in a really peaceful ex monastry in the middle of a national park in the mountains! the food was cooked over a wood stove, they had mass in the evenings in a beautiful little chapel, you could go for walks in the evening and watch the sunset and at night wolves would come to the porch and you could watch them being fed!! was amazing!
after this john and i kind of got lost (hence my lack of communication) well we decided to head to a state calle espirito de santos, but once on the bus we looked at the guide book only to realise there was absoloutely nothing there!! so we ended up spending a few days waiting around bus stationsd and traveling, our new destination being corumbau!
corumbau is a tiny little hamlet on a beach in the middle of now where and it is absoloutely stunning! we spent a day or two chilling out on the beach swimming in the calm sea (at night the stars are amazing!) then after that we travelled by canoe, dune buggy, boat and bus and are now in salvador!
so its been quite an adventure and we´ve met lots of people; from tramps who have threatened us at bus stations, to strangers who have asked for our autographs (i never thought that would happen) to christians randomly inviting us to there houses for lunch (we were looking lost in a bus station) to just now where a catholic priest used his ´get into cathedral free card´to take us on a tour of all the churches in the area!
amazing!
so thats where i am now. sorry that was so long ill try to update this more regularly! we are now in salvadore for a couple of days (about to go to a capoeira lesson) then going to catch a bus up to recife!
hope everything back home is just lovely!
God bless!!
andrew
Sunday, 11 March 2007
visconde de maua!
so weve spent the last few days up in the mountain in a place called visconde de maua. its kind of attempting to be a mini switzerland (which is funny) but really has a beauty of its own, with lots of green fields, bubbling rivers and waterfalls and (for some reason) dogs which follow you everywhere with there tails wagging!
the first day we walked from our pousada to the tourist information centre (5 miles away!) only to find out it was a bit rubbish! however, un dettered we bought a little map with all the waterfalls and went off in search of them! the rest of the day was spent swimming, clumbing around rocks and jumping into big river pools! was absoloutely stunning! in the evening the stars were ridiculously bright, all crowding the sky trying to catch your attention!
saturday we set of in search of cachoeira alcantilado, (a waterfall whci used to be a favourite of mums). we trecked for miles and hours along a little dirt track, getting farther and farther away from civilisation, only to find when we reached the waterfall, that it had been made into a mini theme park with a road leading too it! =D was a bit disheartening but really funny!
right now im sat in rio bus station waiting for a night bus to ouro preto an old mining town where john and i are gonna find our fortune!
we´re having lots of fun, but feeling a bit lonely!
praying for everyone back home!
the first day we walked from our pousada to the tourist information centre (5 miles away!) only to find out it was a bit rubbish! however, un dettered we bought a little map with all the waterfalls and went off in search of them! the rest of the day was spent swimming, clumbing around rocks and jumping into big river pools! was absoloutely stunning! in the evening the stars were ridiculously bright, all crowding the sky trying to catch your attention!
saturday we set of in search of cachoeira alcantilado, (a waterfall whci used to be a favourite of mums). we trecked for miles and hours along a little dirt track, getting farther and farther away from civilisation, only to find when we reached the waterfall, that it had been made into a mini theme park with a road leading too it! =D was a bit disheartening but really funny!
right now im sat in rio bus station waiting for a night bus to ouro preto an old mining town where john and i are gonna find our fortune!
we´re having lots of fun, but feeling a bit lonely!
praying for everyone back home!
Wednesday, 7 March 2007
goodbye will!!
so our work in curitiba came to an end. we finished painting the school on friday and spent the weekend playing with the kids, seeing the parks of curitiba, going to the churchs youth service and to its sunday service and then monday morning we said a sad goodbye and boarded a bus to sao paulo!
monday night being wills last night in brazil we went off to the cinema and watched lettres de musica (i dont know what that is in english) but its the new one with hugh grant in, and we were practically the only ones in the cinema (which was huge!!) so we had an absoloutely wicked time just laughing about was really cool! then tuesday will did some last minute shopping, we worked out how to smuggle his birimbau stick out of the country, played cards then put him on a plane and said goodbye! it was sad!!
so now there is only john and i left in brazil, and were feeling an ickle bit lonely! we went to the police station to extend our visas today, only to find that there good for another month, so were gonna have to worry about that later. and now to keep ourselves distracted, tommorow we are heading off in search of more adventure! up north in olinda there is a charity that works with favela boys in high risk situations. so thats where we are heading, we are gonna take our time seeing the sights on the way. so the plan is tommorow get a bus to visconde de maua and i´ll finally get to see some mountains and waterfalls again!!!
i cant wait!
hope you are all really well!
God bless you all billions
andrew
monday night being wills last night in brazil we went off to the cinema and watched lettres de musica (i dont know what that is in english) but its the new one with hugh grant in, and we were practically the only ones in the cinema (which was huge!!) so we had an absoloutely wicked time just laughing about was really cool! then tuesday will did some last minute shopping, we worked out how to smuggle his birimbau stick out of the country, played cards then put him on a plane and said goodbye! it was sad!!
so now there is only john and i left in brazil, and were feeling an ickle bit lonely! we went to the police station to extend our visas today, only to find that there good for another month, so were gonna have to worry about that later. and now to keep ourselves distracted, tommorow we are heading off in search of more adventure! up north in olinda there is a charity that works with favela boys in high risk situations. so thats where we are heading, we are gonna take our time seeing the sights on the way. so the plan is tommorow get a bus to visconde de maua and i´ll finally get to see some mountains and waterfalls again!!!
i cant wait!
hope you are all really well!
God bless you all billions
andrew
Thursday, 1 March 2007
im blue!
no seriously i actually am! ive been painting the outside of a house in a nearby favella blue for the last few days and i keep finding paint everywhere!!
so heres whats been happening! monday we turned up at one of the houses belonging to the charity and got settled in, we´re currently living here with a loovely family that has 7 lovely children 4 of which are adopted, and all of which are very excitable and energetic! so we sent the morning playing with the kids, teaching them some english games and trying (in vain) to understand the (possibly non existent) rules to their games. in the afternoon they all trooped off to school and will john and i took the oportunity to see the sights of curitiba!
two hoursa later i hated all brazilians! its not that they were malicious its just that they try to be helpful by presuming what you meant, for instance when getting our photos onto disk the lady at the desk burnt two copies of johns phots because we were twins! then after abnout three other suimilar situations of brazilian helpfulness, it absoloutely tipped it down and we got caught in the pouring rain trying to find the correct bus back to our house! eventually (soaking wet!) we caught the correct bus only to find it was going in the wrong direction and we ended up on the opposite side of town and had to wait 1/2 an hour for the next bus!
well i suppose its all character building!! tuesday wednesday and today have been spent in the favella repainting the charities buliding (whilst singing `when the going gets tough´ by ronan keating) there and playing with the kids, the charity runs activities during thew week to keep the kids occupied when they are not at school in either the morning or afternoon, then in the evening we have been keeping 7 energetic children occupied so as a result we are truly cream crackered!! but having a great time!
we even managed to make it to a cell group and although i disagreed with about 2/3 rds of what was being said it was nice to have fellowship.
anyways hope u are all well, im exhausted but smiley!
God bless!!
so heres whats been happening! monday we turned up at one of the houses belonging to the charity and got settled in, we´re currently living here with a loovely family that has 7 lovely children 4 of which are adopted, and all of which are very excitable and energetic! so we sent the morning playing with the kids, teaching them some english games and trying (in vain) to understand the (possibly non existent) rules to their games. in the afternoon they all trooped off to school and will john and i took the oportunity to see the sights of curitiba!
two hoursa later i hated all brazilians! its not that they were malicious its just that they try to be helpful by presuming what you meant, for instance when getting our photos onto disk the lady at the desk burnt two copies of johns phots because we were twins! then after abnout three other suimilar situations of brazilian helpfulness, it absoloutely tipped it down and we got caught in the pouring rain trying to find the correct bus back to our house! eventually (soaking wet!) we caught the correct bus only to find it was going in the wrong direction and we ended up on the opposite side of town and had to wait 1/2 an hour for the next bus!
well i suppose its all character building!! tuesday wednesday and today have been spent in the favella repainting the charities buliding (whilst singing `when the going gets tough´ by ronan keating) there and playing with the kids, the charity runs activities during thew week to keep the kids occupied when they are not at school in either the morning or afternoon, then in the evening we have been keeping 7 energetic children occupied so as a result we are truly cream crackered!! but having a great time!
we even managed to make it to a cell group and although i disagreed with about 2/3 rds of what was being said it was nice to have fellowship.
anyways hope u are all well, im exhausted but smiley!
God bless!!
Saturday, 24 February 2007
wow
so alots happened since my last blog!
last sunday john will and i said goodbye to jo at sao paulo airport, packed him on a plane and then left for gauruja just on the coasst of sao paulo state where we were gonna spend a week learning to surf. but after a couple of days we got bored so on wednesday we managed to find our way to the bus station by walking, asking for directions (and getting laughed at cause we didnt have a car) and eventually catching a bus before eventually buying our bus tickets( and feeling proud to have done sosuccessfully) to curitiba (a city in southern brazil) where we heard there might be a possibility of csome charity work.
the only problem was that the next day when we turned upo to the bus station we found out our bus didnt actuially leave from there it left from santos bus stations (about a 40 minute drive away) so we got a taxi and luckily the driver must have been an ex formula 1 driver because he got us there in no time at all (panic over!)
the bus journey itself was stunning, we passed through a beautiful hilly area with lots of lakes and as the sun was setting there was a golden haze over the scene (it took my breath away).
then yesterday we eventually managed to get in touch with the charity (after being woken up at 5:30 (love you mummy!)) and went along to one of the houses to see some of the kids. after spending sdome time playinmg with them and chatting ( i was impressed with my portuguese i dont know where it all came from!) wefound out that the project starts on monday so from curitiba we got a 2 hour bus ride and a 40 minute ferry to ilha do mel and absoloutely stunning island just off the coast of brazil. there are no roads or street lights here, so you get everywhere by walking along little sand tracks, and the beaches are absoloutely stunning, itsd so peaceful!
so yeah we are on ilha dop mel until monday then we are going to go work for voice for change for 2 weeks and then will flys and itll just be john and i! right now im going for a wlak down to the south of the islands to explore some caves! (im really really sorry to say you wont get any pics of ilha do mell cause my memory card is full and theres nowhere on the island to burn my pics onto disc =/!!)
hope you are all happy and smiley!
praying for all you guys lots!
God bless!
andrew
last sunday john will and i said goodbye to jo at sao paulo airport, packed him on a plane and then left for gauruja just on the coasst of sao paulo state where we were gonna spend a week learning to surf. but after a couple of days we got bored so on wednesday we managed to find our way to the bus station by walking, asking for directions (and getting laughed at cause we didnt have a car) and eventually catching a bus before eventually buying our bus tickets( and feeling proud to have done sosuccessfully) to curitiba (a city in southern brazil) where we heard there might be a possibility of csome charity work.
the only problem was that the next day when we turned upo to the bus station we found out our bus didnt actuially leave from there it left from santos bus stations (about a 40 minute drive away) so we got a taxi and luckily the driver must have been an ex formula 1 driver because he got us there in no time at all (panic over!)
the bus journey itself was stunning, we passed through a beautiful hilly area with lots of lakes and as the sun was setting there was a golden haze over the scene (it took my breath away).
then yesterday we eventually managed to get in touch with the charity (after being woken up at 5:30 (love you mummy!)) and went along to one of the houses to see some of the kids. after spending sdome time playinmg with them and chatting ( i was impressed with my portuguese i dont know where it all came from!) wefound out that the project starts on monday so from curitiba we got a 2 hour bus ride and a 40 minute ferry to ilha do mel and absoloutely stunning island just off the coast of brazil. there are no roads or street lights here, so you get everywhere by walking along little sand tracks, and the beaches are absoloutely stunning, itsd so peaceful!
so yeah we are on ilha dop mel until monday then we are going to go work for voice for change for 2 weeks and then will flys and itll just be john and i! right now im going for a wlak down to the south of the islands to explore some caves! (im really really sorry to say you wont get any pics of ilha do mell cause my memory card is full and theres nowhere on the island to burn my pics onto disc =/!!)
hope you are all happy and smiley!
praying for all you guys lots!
God bless!
andrew
Friday, 16 February 2007
long time no speak
i should really start by apologising for my lack of posting as im sure all of you have been dying to hear how im getting on =p! no, im genuinely sorry as now ive left it so long ive forgotten big chunks of whats gone on this last week or two.
hmm well first things first, im no longer in rio, im now back in sao paulo killing time before jo flys on sunday and after that will, john and i are heading off to guaraja a little surf town where we are gonna lurn to surf and everything! so my last few weeks in rio were pretty good, rio itself id got bored of, its just such a big city and i never felt truly comfortable, although it did have a certain charm. in the last few weeks, i managed to get down to the capoeira academy in copacabana and watch some truly incredible capoeira, ive never seen anyone move like those capoeiristas did! my mouth was wide open the whole time with shock! then there was also lots of street parties dure to the bulid up to carnival, and inbetween these and our capoeira training we tried to do little touristy bits, like visiting a hippy market at ipanema beach. unfortunately the day we chose was also a day of torrential rain and it absoloutely tipped it down on us!! so after wandering around soaking wet for a bit we went back to the hotel and played some cards =D!
oh i also managed to get myself to a church service! we were sitting in a little square in santa teresa one evening when i heard some noise, so went to investigate and what i found absoloutely stunned me. i can only guesse that some pentecostals had stolen a catholic church building, because i never heard of catholics playing what must be a brazilian version of hillsongs! was nice though and everyone was really friendly and smiley. so i joined in.
ive been in sao paulo for 3 days already and its driving me a bit mad, being constantly told i need a definate plan ect from my granma. but as far as i can see im just gonna wing it. so yeah thats kind of vaguelly just about where i am now. tonight is the start of carnival so were off to see the parade which should be pretty incredible.
ive been a bit home sick this past week and im not sure if i´ll get back to england in time for lee abbey this summer. so if you guys could keep praying for me that would be fab!
keep smiling!
god bless!!!
andrew
hmm well first things first, im no longer in rio, im now back in sao paulo killing time before jo flys on sunday and after that will, john and i are heading off to guaraja a little surf town where we are gonna lurn to surf and everything! so my last few weeks in rio were pretty good, rio itself id got bored of, its just such a big city and i never felt truly comfortable, although it did have a certain charm. in the last few weeks, i managed to get down to the capoeira academy in copacabana and watch some truly incredible capoeira, ive never seen anyone move like those capoeiristas did! my mouth was wide open the whole time with shock! then there was also lots of street parties dure to the bulid up to carnival, and inbetween these and our capoeira training we tried to do little touristy bits, like visiting a hippy market at ipanema beach. unfortunately the day we chose was also a day of torrential rain and it absoloutely tipped it down on us!! so after wandering around soaking wet for a bit we went back to the hotel and played some cards =D!
oh i also managed to get myself to a church service! we were sitting in a little square in santa teresa one evening when i heard some noise, so went to investigate and what i found absoloutely stunned me. i can only guesse that some pentecostals had stolen a catholic church building, because i never heard of catholics playing what must be a brazilian version of hillsongs! was nice though and everyone was really friendly and smiley. so i joined in.
ive been in sao paulo for 3 days already and its driving me a bit mad, being constantly told i need a definate plan ect from my granma. but as far as i can see im just gonna wing it. so yeah thats kind of vaguelly just about where i am now. tonight is the start of carnival so were off to see the parade which should be pretty incredible.
ive been a bit home sick this past week and im not sure if i´ll get back to england in time for lee abbey this summer. so if you guys could keep praying for me that would be fab!
keep smiling!
god bless!!!
andrew
long time no speak
i should really start by apologising for my lack of posting as im sure all of you have been dying to hear how im getting on =p! no, im genuinely sorry as now ive left it so long ive forgotten big chunks of whats gone on this last week or two.
hmm well first things first, im no longer in rio, im now back in sao paulo killing time before jo flys on sunday and after that will, john and i are heading off to guaraja a little surf town where we are gonna lurn to surf and everything! so my last few weeks in rio were pretty good, rio itself id got bored of, its just such a big city and i never felt truly comfortable, although it did have a certain charm. in the last few weeks, i managed to get down to the capoeira academy in copacabana and watch some truly incredible capoeira, ive never seen anyone move like those capoeiristas did! my mouth was wide open the whole time with shock! then there was also lots of street parties dure to the bulid up to carnival, and inbetween these and our capoeira training we tried to do little touristy bits, like visiting a hippy market at ipanema beach. unfortunately the day we chose was also a day of torrential rain and it absoloutely tipped it down on us!! so after wandering around soaking wet for a bit we went back to the hotel and played some cards =D!
oh i also managed to get myself to a church service! we were sitting in a little square in santa teresa one evening when i heard some noise, so went to investigate and what i found absoloutely stunned me. i can only guesse that some pentecostals had stolen a catholic church building, because i never heard of catholics playing what must be a brazilian version of hillsongs! was nice though and everyone was really friendly and smiley. so i joined in.
ive been in sao paulo for 3 days already and its driving me a bit mad, being constantly told i need a definate plan ect from my granma. but as far as i can see im just gonna wing it. so yeah thats kind of vaguelly just about where i am now. tonight is the start of carnival so were off to see the parade which should be pretty incredible.
ive been a bit home sick this past week and im not sure if i´ll get back to england in time for lee abbey this summer. so if you guys could keep praying for me that would be fab!
keep smiling!
god bless!!!
andrew
hmm well first things first, im no longer in rio, im now back in sao paulo killing time before jo flys on sunday and after that will, john and i are heading off to guaraja a little surf town where we are gonna lurn to surf and everything! so my last few weeks in rio were pretty good, rio itself id got bored of, its just such a big city and i never felt truly comfortable, although it did have a certain charm. in the last few weeks, i managed to get down to the capoeira academy in copacabana and watch some truly incredible capoeira, ive never seen anyone move like those capoeiristas did! my mouth was wide open the whole time with shock! then there was also lots of street parties dure to the bulid up to carnival, and inbetween these and our capoeira training we tried to do little touristy bits, like visiting a hippy market at ipanema beach. unfortunately the day we chose was also a day of torrential rain and it absoloutely tipped it down on us!! so after wandering around soaking wet for a bit we went back to the hotel and played some cards =D!
oh i also managed to get myself to a church service! we were sitting in a little square in santa teresa one evening when i heard some noise, so went to investigate and what i found absoloutely stunned me. i can only guesse that some pentecostals had stolen a catholic church building, because i never heard of catholics playing what must be a brazilian version of hillsongs! was nice though and everyone was really friendly and smiley. so i joined in.
ive been in sao paulo for 3 days already and its driving me a bit mad, being constantly told i need a definate plan ect from my granma. but as far as i can see im just gonna wing it. so yeah thats kind of vaguelly just about where i am now. tonight is the start of carnival so were off to see the parade which should be pretty incredible.
ive been a bit home sick this past week and im not sure if i´ll get back to england in time for lee abbey this summer. so if you guys could keep praying for me that would be fab!
keep smiling!
god bless!!!
andrew
Tuesday, 30 January 2007
two days of adventure!
we knew sunday was going to be an exciting one when we were woken by the sounds of an almighty gun fight going on somewhere (hopefully far off), there was machine guns and petrol bombs the lot! anyway that bit is completely irrelevent, except that it happened and i found it exciting. once we had breakfast, john had a read through his lonely plante guide and we decided we were going to go to an niteroi, an island just off rio and explore one of its secluded beaches. so once wed got everything ready we headed off to the bus stop, only when we were there did we realise that our plan had some flaws; we would have to catch a bus into the centre and then walk to thye ferry dock (the centre is apparently not a safe place to be on a sunday) and then on the way back wed have to be in the centre at night (even worse. so after much discussion we did the sensible thing and went anyway! once the bus dropped us off we set off in stealth mode dashing from cover to cover (ok that bits not true) until we reached the ferry dock. the centre was amazinlgy abandoned i couldnt believe it, it was like something out of 28 days later. anyway we managed to catch teh ferry and set off to niteroi and wide sandy beaches! the ferry journey itself was quite a view, and was even better on the way bac with the sun setting over rio! upon arriving in niteroi we had to catch the no 38 bus to the beach; finding the no 38 bus was easy, catching it however was not. after the 4th time of it passing us we managed to catch it, it was, by this point, ridiculously crowded and for the next 50 minutes we were entagled in a mass of arms legs and bodies. finally we arrived at the beach to find it was absoloutely packed full of people! i suppose a secluded beach near to rio on a sunday is too much to ask for! ah well, we swam and messed around and had fun, before catching the crowded bus back, then the ferry as the sun set over rio, then speed walking into the centre to catch the bus to take us back to our hotel! mission complete!
then yesterday, i stupidly agreed to go on a hike up corcovado (the mountain with the statue of christ on top). the walk was more of a scramble through jungle then a hike! but still the views were pretty amazing! and despite feeling famished and exhausted by the end of it i reckon it was just about worth it!
so yeah, its been a fun couple of days! the weather has turned stupidly humid, so i envy you people back home who can feel the cold!
keep enjoying england for me!
lots of love to you all!
andrew
then yesterday, i stupidly agreed to go on a hike up corcovado (the mountain with the statue of christ on top). the walk was more of a scramble through jungle then a hike! but still the views were pretty amazing! and despite feeling famished and exhausted by the end of it i reckon it was just about worth it!
so yeah, its been a fun couple of days! the weather has turned stupidly humid, so i envy you people back home who can feel the cold!
keep enjoying england for me!
lots of love to you all!
andrew
Wednesday, 24 January 2007
sun sand and samba!
so i havent managed to get to a computer in about a week and boy what a week its been! we set off to arraial do cabbo ( a beach town just north east of rio) last wednesday to partake in a capoeira event called capoeirando! our hostel was situated right on the beach front and as we arrived we could see white sand, big waves and a hint of sun ( which did come out as the week progressed) and i thinkn we all realised we were set for a pretty awesome week!
straight after grabbing some food and dumping our bags we hit the beach and went swimming and boy did we need it after the hot bus journey. in the evening we then had a capoeira lesson until late in the evening after which we wondered roubnd town trying to find some where to eat. we eventually fouind a pizza place but it was closed. to my dismay (we were making quite some noise) a light came on in the resteraunt and a man came out (at this point i hastily crossed to the other side of the road thinking he was going to shout some abuse at us!) as it turned out he said he was going to find the cook to see if we could get something to eat! i was stunned and although the cook couldnt be found i was still pretty impressed!
the rest of the week worked out like this; we wake up train capoeira until the afternoon which we spend on the beach, then inn the evening we would have a capoeira demonstration in the street; it was so much fun but sheer agony. accompanied by hilarious attempts to learn how to surf (i was so so bad) and late nights out with brazilian capoeiristas (it wasnt my fault mum, they literally wouldnt let me leave the bar until the early hours of the morning!) i was pretty releaved to have a rest on the beach on sunday before heading back to rio! unfortunatley in my exhausted state i forgot to reapply sunscreen and have been looking like a lobster ever since!
since being back in rio we´ve rested, trained capoeira (where have i heard that before =p) been to a samba party which was good fun (the thing ive figuired about samba is that there are so many different rhythms that im bound to hit one of them at some point!) and done a big capoeira demo at a university.
=D so as you can see its all good, we´ve got exactly 3 weeks left in rio and are starting to settle into it, hopefully this weeken weĺl go see the statue of christ or climb sugar loaf.
hope you guys are enjoying yourselves!
God bless you all lots!
andrew
straight after grabbing some food and dumping our bags we hit the beach and went swimming and boy did we need it after the hot bus journey. in the evening we then had a capoeira lesson until late in the evening after which we wondered roubnd town trying to find some where to eat. we eventually fouind a pizza place but it was closed. to my dismay (we were making quite some noise) a light came on in the resteraunt and a man came out (at this point i hastily crossed to the other side of the road thinking he was going to shout some abuse at us!) as it turned out he said he was going to find the cook to see if we could get something to eat! i was stunned and although the cook couldnt be found i was still pretty impressed!
the rest of the week worked out like this; we wake up train capoeira until the afternoon which we spend on the beach, then inn the evening we would have a capoeira demonstration in the street; it was so much fun but sheer agony. accompanied by hilarious attempts to learn how to surf (i was so so bad) and late nights out with brazilian capoeiristas (it wasnt my fault mum, they literally wouldnt let me leave the bar until the early hours of the morning!) i was pretty releaved to have a rest on the beach on sunday before heading back to rio! unfortunatley in my exhausted state i forgot to reapply sunscreen and have been looking like a lobster ever since!
since being back in rio we´ve rested, trained capoeira (where have i heard that before =p) been to a samba party which was good fun (the thing ive figuired about samba is that there are so many different rhythms that im bound to hit one of them at some point!) and done a big capoeira demo at a university.
=D so as you can see its all good, we´ve got exactly 3 weeks left in rio and are starting to settle into it, hopefully this weeken weĺl go see the statue of christ or climb sugar loaf.
hope you guys are enjoying yourselves!
God bless you all lots!
andrew
Monday, 15 January 2007
welcome to brazil!
so ive been in brazil 4 days now and its been a pretty packed few days! we (jo, will, john and i) flew into sao paulo on the evening of the 11th and spent the 12th in saopaulo, shopping, going to the park before going out in the evening to the cinema then to a little bar with a live band. it was all good, just getting a chance to try some portuguese and get to know a bit of brazilian life. then on the 13th we got on a bus and took a six hour bus journey to rio! the journey itself went without to much fuss, appart from one brakdown, but we were sent a new bus which was far nicer and i ended up sleeping most of the journey! upon arriving in rio we were picked up by mestre gatoś son pedro and taken to our hotel which is situated in santa teresa an old colonial part of rio made up of winding cobbled streets, it has quite a bohemian feel to it. we spent the first few hours sitting in our doprm unpacking worjking out where abouts in rio we were and what we wanted to do during our stay. i think it was our way of trying to feel in control of what was going on. it had struck us just how big rio was and how bad our portuguese was and we were all a little scared. after our action plan was made we met up with a yank call dagan who is also training capoeira here and went and got some food and then headed off to a street party in lapa. the atmosphere was pretty intense and the band (although cnot seen) were certainly heard! that night i realised that not all brazilians have rhythm, its just most of them dont care so just carry on dancing! it gave me a little bit of hope =D! the next morning (sunday) we slept in then went for a wander around santa teresa before traing caopoeira at mestre gatos! the work out was pretty intense and i reckon after the month i could be good *(if it doesnt kill me!!) from there we went to ipenema beach and wandered down the sea front, went swimming and just generally tried to soak everything in.
today wee been training again and tommorow we head off for a big capoeira festival outside of rio!
so yeah =D so far so good! i havent been shot at or mugged or attacked so i think im doing ok! my portuguese is improving slightly and im enjoying myself!
its a bit scary being in such a big city, but its making me depend on god so much more because i realise its all to big for me to even try to cope on my own!
anyways i hope everyone is good and smiling! im praying for you all lots!
emma youre going to have an amazing time in moz, really give it all to jesus iĺl be praying for you loads!
God bless you all!!
andrew
today wee been training again and tommorow we head off for a big capoeira festival outside of rio!
so yeah =D so far so good! i havent been shot at or mugged or attacked so i think im doing ok! my portuguese is improving slightly and im enjoying myself!
its a bit scary being in such a big city, but its making me depend on god so much more because i realise its all to big for me to even try to cope on my own!
anyways i hope everyone is good and smiling! im praying for you all lots!
emma youre going to have an amazing time in moz, really give it all to jesus iĺl be praying for you loads!
God bless you all!!
andrew
Wednesday, 10 January 2007
back home in time for tea!
so im back in england, staying at my aunties house near dorking until tommorow morning when i fly off to brazil! the journey from livingston to lusaka by bus whent surprisingly well breaking down only once and for only 20 mins! we then arrived to the chaos that is lusaka bus station just at it got dark and where instantly swarmed by taxi drivers upon stepping off the coach! not having a clue what was going on, just knowing that we were staying at a backpackers lodge near by i grabbed 2 of the other guys and followed one of the taxi drivers who, thank God, took us to the right place!the next day was spent thousands of miles abouve africa watching the landscape twist and change below; from the sahara desert to the black and somewhat misty mountains on the morrocan coastline, it was truly spectacular, ending with an amazing sunset over the mediterannean. i was then picked up by nem and dad and the airport and since have been out checking out charity shops, eating lots of english food, and doing washing. the sun has now come out so i think we're about to go for a walk (im trying to cram as much of england into this day as possible). this is my last day in england for a while, so make sure you have a good day for me!!
i'll hopefully be putting photos on the internet some time this evening.
God bless!!
i'll hopefully be putting photos on the internet some time this evening.
God bless!!
Sunday, 7 January 2007
last day in livingstone
So tommorow we drive 6 hours (fingures crossed) to Lusaka stay the night in lusaka then fly back to England tuesday morning arriving back in time for tea!!
this means today is my last day in livingstone which is kinda sad =/. its an interesting place, full of back packers out looking for adventure and locals who are out looking for your money! =D no thats not all there is too it, its hard to explain, its been a fun place to be these last few weeks, getting a feel for a different culture, kayaking some big water, riding on the top of trucks under a bright full moon! its all been pretty amazing, but at the same time im not unhappy to be moving on.
so far i've spent my last day going to an african pentecostal church just over the road (you'd be proud mum =p) the service was from 7:30 - 10! so pretty long, but appart from one woman who would end every sentence with AMEN (no matter how random the sentence) i enjoyed the whole thing.
so yeah its been really fun these past 2 weeks, but im really looking forward to the next 7 months in brazil, to see what adventures i can find myself there!
hope you are all smiling!
God bless!!
andrew
this means today is my last day in livingstone which is kinda sad =/. its an interesting place, full of back packers out looking for adventure and locals who are out looking for your money! =D no thats not all there is too it, its hard to explain, its been a fun place to be these last few weeks, getting a feel for a different culture, kayaking some big water, riding on the top of trucks under a bright full moon! its all been pretty amazing, but at the same time im not unhappy to be moving on.
so far i've spent my last day going to an african pentecostal church just over the road (you'd be proud mum =p) the service was from 7:30 - 10! so pretty long, but appart from one woman who would end every sentence with AMEN (no matter how random the sentence) i enjoyed the whole thing.
so yeah its been really fun these past 2 weeks, but im really looking forward to the next 7 months in brazil, to see what adventures i can find myself there!
hope you are all smiling!
God bless!!
andrew
Tuesday, 2 January 2007
happy new year!
so ive just got back from spending 3 days on the river, the last day of 2006 and the first 2 days of 2007! hurrah!! and what a few days theyve been! involving john cracking his head open on the hard zambian rock and having to get 8 stitches (any excuse for a face lift!), caping by crocadile infested water, getting absoloutely rained on every night we camped! (how apt that now we are back in a dorm the sun has come out!) and going out to a local resteraunt where they tried to serve all 14 of us at the same time as a result at least 10 peoples meals had been sitting around for a good 10 minutes and were stone cold!
its all good though, im learning so much that in africa you just cannot predict what is going to happen next and the best thing is to just keep smiling and see how events unfold!
so with only 5 days left in zambia its been really exciting and i have little idea of whats going to happen next! paddling wise, johns out of it for the rest of the trip which is a real bummer cause he was looking pretty smooth! and the river levels are rising so we might only paddle the lover sections of the river. then after all that its back to blighty for just over a day then brin on brazil!!!
Hope you are all taking care of yourselves and are having an amazing start to the new year!!
God bless!!
its all good though, im learning so much that in africa you just cannot predict what is going to happen next and the best thing is to just keep smiling and see how events unfold!
so with only 5 days left in zambia its been really exciting and i have little idea of whats going to happen next! paddling wise, johns out of it for the rest of the trip which is a real bummer cause he was looking pretty smooth! and the river levels are rising so we might only paddle the lover sections of the river. then after all that its back to blighty for just over a day then brin on brazil!!!
Hope you are all taking care of yourselves and are having an amazing start to the new year!!
God bless!!
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