xmas sting

Well, I am away from the farm now... but I have to back track a bit. I had a wonderful time there, a truly peaceful Christmas which I suppose is appropriate. We had a lovely meal on Christmas Eve. For you foodie´s out there we had a traditional cod dish cooked with potatoes, onions and peppers. A little salty for my taste, but filled with flavor. We also had a lot of processed foods wich seem to be more popular here. They don´t eat very healthy here. We had a chicken salad, a canned ham thing I was not a fan of, and to be honest with you a lot of other unmemorable foods. I´ve decided the food here is like domestic prosciutto- just not as good as Parma but not bad either... it´s just okay. But my time at the farm was wonderful despite my BEE STING on Christmas day. Uh huh... a bee stung me as I was tanning poolside... but the guinnea in me ran and got some fresh basil, rubbed it on it and the pain went away in minutes.

I had a very interesting conversation with Leo about relationships and the dynamic between and the mentality of men and women. Wow... all I could do was picture Amber in the car, she would have gone off on him! Basically men cheat on women with prositutes and it doens´t count because there is no emmotional attachement. Women also cause the men a lot of stress and that leads to them cheating. Basically all the blame is put on the woman and the man takes no responsibility for his actions at all. It was very interesting to hear, though I must remember this is only one persons perspective. He was scared I might have a negative view of him and not like him anymore... I told him I liked him just the same but I could never marry him. Lesson learned I will NOT find the man of my dreams in Brazil!

He was also telling me about the court system here. Only four types of crimes go before a jury all the rest just get a judge. The four all have to do with murder, at least in their eyes. Abortion, murder, killing your baby due to post pardem depression and aiding a suicide. Clearly abortion is illegal here- another difference with Argentina.

I met up with Angela another one of Paula´s friends. We drove to Rio together today. Last night her mom got me drunk. Kids, it only took 3 cans of beer, I barely drink these days though I think that is gonna change this week in Rio! Her mom and I stayed up till 3am talking about everything. She is a very progressive, spiritual woman. She explained the differences between Rio and SP. SP is more stuffy, business oriented and Rio is truly for free spirits where the young, old, rich and poor all mix together. SP is much more elitest and narrow minded. I am excited to see Rio.

The drive over was beautiful, but it looked just like Costa Rica- again. I really think all tropical land looks the same... but it´s still equally as impressive. I can´t wait to see the beaches here- that is what will make this place really stand out. During the drive Angela showed me some favela´s. A Favela is a very poor neighborhood that are filled with crime. It was very sad to see the conditions in which people live here. It is very depressing. Their is a vast difference between teh poor and the rich here. Soem interesting stats:

Less than 5% of the Brazilian population go tto college.

Over 50% of Brazilians are illeterate.

Well this is it for now...