Time Out!

Haha, well, there is a price for everything, isn´t there? You can´t expect to romp around Carnaval for 5 days and then romp around Morro for four days with minimal sleep, minimal nourishing food, and people constantly sweating on you/breathing on you/sipping your drink/trying to kiss you/actually kissing you without maybe paying for it. Oh yes. I caught a terrible cold. I think a major part of the problem was that I was not eating well at all. Here´s the conundrum - I am picky about meat and dairy. I don´t really like dairy most of the time. Sometimes it can be delicious, but usually it grosses me out. When you combine hot hot weather with strange foreign dairy tastes, it´s even worse. But the problem is that everything in most countries I have traveled to, including Brazil, contains dairy. Cheese. Everywhere. And if it doesn´t have cheese, it has meat. Meat meat meat. Everywhere. None of these things are especially easy to digest, or healthy, and therefore are completely unappetizing. I am seriously considering being a Skinny Bitch in the Kitch convert when I get home. (And remember I´m a Brown grad - there are environmental reasons as well - check it out.)

But veganism is impossible here. So I am trying to get by. But it´s not easy. Now - here´s where it gets tougher. The usual alternative to all of these cooked dishes containing meat and dairy is to order a salad. Or some fruit. Oh how I long for a delicious crunchy salad with a yummy olive oil based dressing. But, all of the uncooked fruits and vegetables in Brazil have been making me sick. Especially in remote areas like Jericoacoara and Morro de São Paulo. The produce has been in contact with the water, and the water is not good for the American stomach. HUGE problem. I have been so malnourished - Mom, I know you hate to hear it, but it´s true. So, when you combine the lack of strength with all of the saliva swapping, you end up with a very sniffly, congested, coughy, weak little chicken.

Oh, hahaha, and, I forgot to insert an important part of the story that I told two entries ago about my amazing beach run in Morro with wet sneakers. Well - I was so high on life after my run/sunset swim that you can imagine my excitement upon returning to beach 2 when I saw a capoeira gathering in full force. So amazing. The energy and excitement and sheer skill and talent is so beautiful. I watched for a moment, and then I saw my friend Isaac who said "You should have your camera, you need to tape this stuff!" and I said "You´re right!" So - I ran across the beach to my pousada and I ran down the tiled path past the pool, and as I neared the stairs...I slid into home base. Yeah. I totally and completely wiped out. So gracefully, it´s true, but I WIPED OUT. I landed right on my left hip and then right on my left elbow. I am so lucky - thank you God -that I did not break any bones because my trip would have been over. I definitely learned a lesson (that I will probably have to keep learning, but still) - pictures are not that important. Don´t run on wet tile. All of those things.

So by Sunday morning I have an achy body from my cold and an achy body from my fall and bags that are all together too heavy, and I hurt my back...poor Katie. Don´t feel too badly for me. What goes up must come down and then back up again - that´s what makes this whole thing real and the great moments so awesome! And, I have been recovering over the past few days in a lovely, adorable, charming historic town called Ouro Preto, which is in the hills of the state of Minas Gerais. It is darling. I am staying in a lovely restored pousada in a room with a view of the bustling street...there are at least ten gorgeous churches, treasures from the Baroque period, visible on every hilltop...the art inside of the churches is divine, lavished in the gold and other riches that were mined from this region in the colonial era...it is pretty fantastic. I am loving my book - an incredible collection of travelers´ tales from all over Brazil - highly recommended for anyone who has been to this special country or wants to know it. The internet cafe is closing - I must depart. I will be one with the night again tomorrow while barhopping in Belo Horizonte, and then I´m off to São Paulo to visit new friends for the weekend. Life is grand. Talk to you soon, bjs, K