Cachça, cachaça, cachaça....

So let's seee...... I last left off right before we headed to Vila Velha- the next town over, that you have to cross an extremely cool bridge to get to... we packed up 6 people in a rather small car and made our way to meet about 10 of the old men relatives that apparently had been drinking for hours without our knowledge.... so we quickly caught up with the help of some Brahma and cachaça and some good old fashioned Brasilian drinking songs. There was one huge old fat man that didn't belong to us, but due to the fact that he was wearing a tiny speedo and had a t-shirt wrapped around his head like a Sultan and was also sporting some David Hasselhoff-cool Baywatch shades, we made him come hang with our group in order to make an awesome music video. They tried to make us eat yucky-looking sausage stuff, as they said it would calm the taste of the cachaça. Whatever happened to a lime? A big hunk of blood sausage just isn't quite the same as a lime.... So, then Ashley and I walked across the alley to the praiha (beach) and walked around these cute little booths, looking at neat stuff. Many earrings made of nuts and feathers, but a bit pricey. The beach is soooooo pretty. In all aspects. When we headed back to the group, it was time to go home to get ready for the party. This time, we rode with a different bunch- one of them being a little old man with the biggest smile you have ever seen in your life. We sang "Twist and Shout" the entire way home, as he had a Beatles cd, and right when we were almost home, we passed all the old female relatives, who looked over and almost had a million simultaneous heart attacks. The little old man was hanging out the window, screaming a Beatles song at the top of his lungs and so they made him get out and walk with them..... hahahahahahaha we could not stop laughing.... that was hilarious!! So, not long after his departure, Ashley and I hopped out and went to the Saturday night open air market on the beach that is relatively close to Flav's house. This one guy gave us some free deep-fried coconut chunks, which were really, really, really good!! There was lots of cool stuff there, but pretty expensive again, so we made our way back home. When we got home, Celline was already there, so the three of us started to get ready for the party. We all put on our best dresses and did our hair and then Elline (Flav's friend) picked us up and we headed over to one of their friend's house for some pregaming action. We got to the party around 11:30 (yes it started at 11) and whoa. I have never in my life been to such a huge, crazy, fancy party!!!! I don't even know if I can describe it, but one of our goals is to start using more adjectives and better nouns, so I will try. There were 27 graduates. Every single one of them brought their entire extended families and all of their friends. Hundreds upon hundreds of people. They were all dressed like they were going to prom or getting married. There was an open bar. Yes, an open bar for that many people. You could order whatever you liked, and they would make you fancy drinks with fresh fruit- (the squished strawberries with vodka was to die for). There was a great live band, and different people dressed up for every song in crazy costumes. (For example, during a 70s song, they put on huge afros..) There was fancy sushi and every kind of food that you could possibly ask for. And waiters that were all dressed up and looked like they came straight out of GQ that kept bringing ashley and I flowers and cotton candy. It was CRAZY!!!!!!!! It also just so happened to be Flavia's brithday, so after we sang to her (the whole entire 100s of people) and took a million pictures (professional) and threw ballons and cake and whatnot, the dance party was ON. Of all the dance partys I have been to in my life, this is one was by far the most EXTREME. Brasilians know how to party, that is for SURE!! crazy lights, crazy neon headbands and glasses and sparkly things everyhwere. alcohol flowing, limbs flying, people screaming, shot glasses tilting, feet moving, dresses sacheting, high heels being ditched, hands clapping, things being spilled.... (ok, so I am not so good with the adjectives yet, but I am working on it.) Anyways, we danced the night away until 6am and were forced to leave. Then Celline, Ashley, 2 other girls, and I went to the beach to watch the sunrise. It was gorgeous. Epic if you will. Then, we got dropped off back at Flav's house....... and we didn't want to stop having fun. So, I performed the "Thriller" dance for Ashley while she apparently took a video of it on the balcony and then when I couldn't find my contact lens case, decided it was a good idea to just throw them off the balcony as a grand finale. Don't worry, I brought more, and it was time to replace those ones anyways. The next morning.................... lets just say I went back to sleep and woke up at about 3....... we pretty much just hung out at Flavs and said goodbye to all of the relatives for the rest of the day. All 2873492 of them left on buses and planes and trains, until we were the last ones standing. I willl miss the amiguinhas. Last night, her brother took us to the beach for some mohoaca, and we looked for the southern cross in the sky. A nice calm evening compared to the previous one. Then, we came back, got some delicoius food, and watched a movie about Gustave, the man-eating croc...... Now it is noon, I just finished updating this blog, and Ashley just woke up. (The noise that likes to wake us up in the morning can only be described as a giant cyclopse ogre smashing boulders next to our ears.) Oh, and Pinche. He is also that loud. The dog is the size of a rat and has the vocal chords of a banchee. And it's name is seriously Pinche, so enough said. We are going to make somewhat of a plan today so we know what we are doing for the next month. We might stay here a few more days with Flav's friend Elline, as she said she would show us around and whatnot. So, now we sit here with Pinche, now the only ones in the house (except for the housekeepers, who speak not one word of english, but are very nice) drinking our coffee that tastes as if an entire sugar cane were just thrown right into the pot. Saude. P.S. Thanksgiving may or may not be in 2 days and it is Ashley's favorite holiday, so I am going to have to make her a turkey out of stinky ham and cheese. I think it is maleable enough to mold into quite a good one.

I am going to force feed you tiny pigeon eggs.

Sooo...... where to begin. Let's see, we spent our first full day in Sao Paulo as foreign kidnap victims locked in a compound. Our friend Flavia went to work and left us to sleep, but she took her keys with her... unfortunately for us, that meant we were stuck in a tiny concrete box all day because you need the keys to get out of the complex and the gate goes all the way to the roof, so there was no escaping. I know how people in solitary confinement feel now- you really don't know if one hour has passed or 6 months. We entertained ourselves with singing and dancing and cooking up meals out of 3 ingredients. We also facebooked entirely way too much. When Flav got home, we forced her to go out and drink some Brahma with us, and life improved muchly. The next day, we went into work with her at an early hour and left our stuff at her job so we could trek around the city. On the way there, we got stuck on a very crowded bus for over an hour (when it should have taken 20 minutes) because a semi crashed on the road. Ashley had a panic attack/heat exhaustion and passed out on the bus.... thank goodness someone near by had a fan and someone else had water and someone else gave up their seat. They were all very friendly. We walked about 20 miles that day to an awesome park- Imburapeura. There was a beautiful lake and coco juice and black swans with red striped noses. We had lunch at a little place where we were not only the only non-Brasilians, but also the only women and also the only ones drinking beer. We have decided that we are ok with changing the perception of Americans from McDonalds-eating lazy people to alcoholics. After our park adventure, we went back to Flav's work, where we met up with her coworkers (she was on a plane to Vitoria) and they told us a million different inappropriate phrases that we had to memorize. They are coming in quite handy. Renata (pronounced Hey-nata, yes Dad- you were right, Portuguese is not like Spanish at all unfortunatley, but we are learning fast) took us on a tour of the city and we saw the giant gorgeous cathedral, a giant open air market, and Habib's. We scooped up some delicious food at Habib's and then she dropped us off at the bus station. The bus was a 16 hour adventure. We spent the first few hours drinking some cachaça and guarana (delish combo) and speaking of memories past. Unfortunately, that led to my eventual use of the bathroom, and you can only guess how that went. I hate bus toilets, and this one was no exception. Let's just say the toilet threw-up on my leg and I may or may not have almost cried it was so gross. We woke up the next morning to breathtaking scenery. The hills were right out of the Emperors New Groove and so were the llamas. We decided to celebrate this beauty as we like to celebrate everything- you guessed it- our new friend cachaça. What a great word. As you can imagine, this fun led to yet another pickle that is the lives of Margaret and Ashley. Ash looks at me and says, "Did we miss our town?" We had simaltaneous panic attacks and that wasn't pretty. I had to quickly look up how to ask the bus driver where we were in the Portuguese dicitonary (it was my turn) and luckily, we didn't miss it, we were just an hour and a half late. Thank goodness. So, saude to that. We arrived at the bus station in Vitoria and Flavia and her dad picked us up in their car. They brought us back, and were welcomed right into the family. Everyone is so nice and generous and so cute!!!! We are pretty sure that the grandmother (aka amiguinha- which means little friend) makes fun of us continuously throughout the day, so we are quickly trying to learn the language in order to figure out what the shell she is saying. That night we took a little stroll to the beach and watched a beach futbol game, which was pretty cool. We went back to the apartment and rolled out our sleeping bags once again on the comfort of concrete in our own personal bedroom- the little patio. That brings me to yesterday. We woke up rather late, and then Celline got here! She is another one of Ashley's friends that worked up at Eaglecrest. She is also sooo cute and nice and friendly. We went to the beach yesterday and drank some type of Brasilian form of Smirnoff Ice. It as the closest thing the lady with the cart had to a caiparinha..... Let's just say that the scenery at the beach was not too bad. Last night Flavia had her church ceremony at a cathedral and everyone looked like they were going to prom. Brasilians are so super fancy, it makes me feel like a dirty hippie. The service was nice, and we didn't even burst into flames as we entered the doorway, so that was a a good thing. After the church, we came back to the apartment and it was the mom's birthday, so more and more relatives kept on coming, and we had a nice party downstairs with mucho Skol and delicious food of all sorts. This morning we awoke to the sounds of 8374 Brasilians laughing and reuniting as even more relatives showed up. We had a huge breakfast buffet and then Ash, Celline, and I went walking around the town to shop around and stuff. Everything was so expensive, I could not even believe it. No shopping for me. Now we are back at the apartment, eating lunch and resting from the days heat (everyone here thinks I am insane because I dress like a muslim). Tonight is the big party night- I am not sure how the partying can possibly get any fancier or crazier, but apparently it can. I am pretty sure everyone is going to wear princess dresses. Time for lunch now. Sorry this blog wasn't as amusing as it should have been, but I am typing as fast as possible and I am passing the torch on to Ashley now. Love and miss you all.

Ashley just dumped oregano all over the floor and I am titling my blog this so that she won't be able to carry out her plan of blaming it on me!!!! :P

Sooooo here we sit, Ashley in her superwoman costume and me with my giraffe neck, in Flavia's studio apartment somewhere in the middle of the 7th largest city in the world- Sao Paulo. We arrived yesterday morning after spending about 10 hours on a plane drinking vodka in tiny bottles that our new Brasilian flight attendant friend, Marcus, was kind enough to supply us with. (Ashley would give Cath a run for her money in the googly eye department. When we get to Ecuador I am going to make them have a google-off.) Flavia's driver (yes, we are that important....) picked us up at the airport holding a sign that said "Ashley Saupe and Margareth." Why do foreigners insist on adding an H to my name? Anyways, we were welcomed to the sound of AshleyMarie's name being called over the intercom.... awesome..... and yes, it turns out her bags are taking their own little vacation. They may or may not be in Mexico City at this point. We then continued on through this gigantor mega-city until we reached Flavia's place of work- which just so happens to be some kind of Canadian gold mining company- and went out to lunch with her. Of course we had some caipirhinias with our lunch...... Ash tried to season her food with the pepper shaker and a toothpick fell out. Flav had to go back to work, so Ash and I did what we do best- found the nearest juice bar and proceeded to drink 600ml bottles of Brahma until the cows came home. And by cows I mean llamas. 6 hours later and a few juice bars down the road, Flav came and scooped us from the fastly growing crowd of Brasilians that didn't speak a lick of English, which, by the way, we decided was actually much more entertaining for us anyways. We took a train (located next to a river that smelled like it was filled by raw sewage and rotting dead bodies.... and actually it probably was...) and a rather crowded bus, where I proceeded to trip, fall, and break my Barcelonian satchel, which is unfortunate because it was my camera case. Now not only is my camera held together by tape, but so is the satchel. We walked up a 700 mile mountain to get to Flav's, where she cooked us a delicious bass (or something of the sort) and we then proceeded to sleep on the concrete floor- more comfortable than it sounds..... We woke up this morning (or afternoon) to a note from Flav that said we had to stay in her house all day (it is a ten by ten foot square box with one small window and no clear way to dispose of toilet paper) until she got back because she had to bring her keys with her. So, we made an omelette, practiced our samba moves, and ransacked the place for a bottle of something. Since the last mission proved to be unsuccessful, we are blogging away and will probably end up climbing one of the humungous gates that are locking us in this compound in the near future. Flav gave us a cell phone to use while we are down here in case of an emergency, so all you mom's out there need not to worry. We will take a 16 hour bus ride to Vittoria tonight in order to get there by tomorrow because that is when Flavia's graduation celebrations will commence. Hopefully we won't get scabies from the seats this time around. Anyways, we are doing well and are happy- hopefully Ashley will get her bags back today and hopefully I will stop being allergic to her. (I cannot stop sneezing.) I am going to have to pick up a pocket defibulator due to the fact that these spicy Brasilians keep making Ashley's heart skip a beat. They are heart stoppers. Oh the burnt chocolate caramel machiattos.... Delicious. That about wraps it up other than the fact that Ashley can't get the stinky cheese smell out of her nose from the first juice bar, we are hoping that we won't have to maneuver around anymore "interesting" weather like we did on the flight down here, and we are working on a theme song. "Her eyes, her eyes, her eyes are blue, and she wants to chalu-chalu-pa you!!" That is the first verse. Ok, and Ashley just spit out the next hot verse, "Her eyes, her eyes, her eyes are brown, now we are headed straight downtown!!" Nice. Ok, saude and obrigada. Love you, miss you, and that is quite enough salutations.

A sia saide.

Well, tomorrow is the big day. Finally- I will be set free in the glorious world that is Brasil. All I know is that I will be meeting Ashley in Dallas and then we will arrive in Sao Paulo with a mission and no game plan. I will be in touch as soon as I stumble upon an internet cafe. And yes if I see an anaconda- I will try to pet it.

Turtles in a half shell.

I thought that you might all enjoy a little flashback to the early 90s. And...... JUST GOT MY BRASILIAN VISA IN THE MAIL!!!! FINALLY- ONE SMALL DISASTER AVERTED!!

How Margo Got Her Groove Back

Alright, I am updating this blog because I am about to embark on another grand adventure and this is how I will assure you all that I have not been sold into white slavery in order to repay a debt aquired during an expedition regarding a helicopter that I managed to crash in Rio or something of the sort (my mom worries about those things). I leave for Sao Paulo with my dear friend Ashley (from Alaska) on November 15. She writes me limericks about animals dressed up as humans and such, so nuff said- we are peas of the same pod. We will first travel up the coast of Brasil learning how to surf and speak Portugese while testing caiparinas from each local village that we pass through. We will also visit Francisco in Recife and buy way too much ice-cream (it still won't be enough), we will stand on the edge of the Iguazu Falls (one of the most spectacular wonders of the natural world), and for all you moms reading this- we will NOT go to Rio simply to engage in the infamous cartel wars that are currently running rampant down there regardless of how charming the drug lords may appear to be. Somehow we will make our way over to Ecuador by December 19, because that is when my mom, dad, and sis will be arriving for the Christmas holiday festivities. Pifo, Pifo it's a hell of a town, the stadium's up and the parking lot's down. (And so we meet again white poodle. This time I am bringing my harpoon gun.) Anywho, it looks as if though my dear prima Ellen will be down there on the 28th of December, which may prove to be the biggest gathering of Gringos that Pifo has ever seen. I hope that the padrinos stock their tienda up with enough bottles of 78 cent rum to make Roman Coke Floats for the whole lot of us to sing "Total Eclipse of the Heart" for 8 hours straight. And then it seems as if there will be some kind of huge beach party for New Years on the Ecuadorian coast. Ceviche, pan de yuca, espondylus, and lots of beer- Jesus Bendito it will be hard to drag me away from that beach.... as long as we stay away from those little pinche blue jellyfish.... they have caused me enough pain for one lifetime. So at the beginning of January Cath, Ash, and I will be heading down to Peru to trek Machu Picchu, another one of those amazing world wonders. It's about time. That's all I have to say about that. I will avoid llama spit, but I may have to start drinking te de coca in order to combat altitude sickness and the cliffs of insanity. We may or may not make a detour to the Peruvian army base in Iquitos. What happens after that? I have no idea. Possibly an Argentine tango. I don't plan on returning to the States until March 6 because of course that is when the Ecuadorian government will once again tell me that I have outworn my welcome. That is all. I refuse to announce any further plans, because I have decided that creating long term plans is one of the absolute stupidest things a person can possibly do, and let's face it- the odds of me not coming back from South America are now greater than ever. We will see. Now I have to go work on my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume. I am going to be Donatello (the purple one).

AY AY AY!!

Sweet Jesus!! What a long time since I have written! So sorry, my greatest apologies. I live quite a busy life these days. I have not had a day off in who knows how long. Not only do I have my AmeriCorps position and my extra community service committments, I now have a new weekend helipcopter job. Yes I am flying helicopters, it only took 2 days to learn. No, just kidding, I am a tour attendant, so I get to push people into the helicopters. It is cool because now I get to do all the touristy stuff in Juneau for free- helicopter up to the glacier and go dog sledding and whale watching and whatnot. The question is, if I work everyday, when will I do these fun things? Good question, if you figure it out, please let me know. I actually finally have a day off on Monday since it is Memorial Day. Don't tell the helicopter people that I don't have to be at my AmeriCorps site that day, or I am sure that will change. We plan on going up the tram (we did a huge service project for them and got free tram tickets in exchange). I also want to go ziplining. I did that in Whistler once and it was a swimmingly good time. I am moving into a new apartment this weekend. The crazy old bastard we were living with is kicking us out because his daughter is coming back from Europe and wants her room back. Although we will have to pay slightly higher rent, it is actually a blessing in disguise because we will be living in a sanitary place where rats and dog poop aren't covering the floor. A small price to pay for not getting the swine flu or something of the such. I organized a high ropes course for the AmeriCorps kids to do tomorrow- that should be fun. We will see. The weather better stay nice!!!! I am actually pretty famous in Juneau now. I organized Global Youth Service Day and got over 250 volunteers to go around town on April 22 and serve at various non-profits and parks. I was in the paper like a million times last week for AmeriCorps week. I had all the AmeriCorps people around AK send in quilt squares representing their service sites. Then, I put the whole dang thing together. Who knew I knew how to quilt? I guess Catho is my sister. http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/051009/nei_438341204.shtml That is the link to see my front page pic! So, anywho, what else has happened- well I guess I haven't updated anyone on anything in a while because I don't think that I wrote about when Cath and Mike and Elvia came for a visit! What a glorious time! It was so nice to have some visitors! It was still snowy and cold though, the ice has since melted. Now if you come visit me I will not live in squalor either, so doesn't that make it all the more enticing? Well, I have a salsa class tonight. I am learning how to move like a latina. (So is Daniel- even though he is Dominican Republican, he can't dance even the tiniest bit hahahahaha!!) We are coming down to WA/OR/DR in July. So, mark your calendars! Time for family/friend reunions galore! (You all know how I love those!!) And what am I going to do when my term ends in August you ask? Well, I would like to know as well. hahahahha what else is new. Acutally I have decided to stay until December at least because that is when Daniel's term ends and let's face it, we'll get married someday. So, I have applied to be a substitute teacher so that I can make some quick cash in the fall (I don't want to commit to a long term position because I want to get the heck out of here after XMas...) They are actually hurting for subs here, so they are paying pretty good money. Then, I will save that and try not to buy plane tickets until.. well lets face it... not happening, I plan on going to Ecuador with Cath and Daniel after XMas, and actually the entire Novak family might end up going in December, we are still figuring that out. Then, Daniel and I will trek down to Machu Picchu (finally!) and that is as far as I got. So, love you all miss you all and see some of you relatively soon.
xoxo Gossip Girl
hahahahahahhahahahahhaha why did I just admit to watching that show?
Margomargo :)