Mele Kalíkímaka!

So yeah....I was lucky enough to get a little preview of a tropical climate this past week on Kaua'i...wasn't half bad..I'm sure alot of y'all know that Kaua'i is referred to as the "Garden Isle" and being as such...it recieves quite a bit of rain especially in December. We got hit pretty good the first few days. Roads were flooded...beaches receded etc. The highlight of the trip was visiting Waiemea Canyon on the west side. I found it more visually appealing than the Grand Canyon as it has more diverse colors with waterfalls. I made sure to head up there at daybreak and had some fun going double the speed limit in our rented Mazda 3 around many curves. I also gave another crack at surfing when I took a lesson the second to last day. My surf instructor, Sparky, was a pretty laid back dude. He kinda showed up late and then sorta half assed the lesson it seemed. Getting up on a foam long board at the beginner's beach in Poipu was a good enough takeaway though. Surfing is definetly tough. It's going to take a lot of discipline and patience as 80% of it is paddling your ass off for a reward of a short ride..especially for beginners! I'll be curious to see what conditions are like at various points in Brasil. Before I leave there, I want to be good enough to actually be able to have good control on my lines w/ turning and definitely experience being inside of a tube. That would be spectacular. Oh yes also w/ Kauai you can be sure to ditch your alarm clock (as if you'd want to use it there!) because the huge population of Roosters will certainly do the job for you! Apparently there was a hurricane back in '92 that sprung loose a bunch of cocks....and they've sorta multiplied... Anyhoo I wish everybody an awesome Christmas! It's too bad that the inclement weather has nixed some last opportunities to do so personally, but have a happy new years (you can be sure that I'll be going nuts in Copacabana!) One week and counting down..... Tchau!

Getting down to the nitty gritty

www.step1.com.br/portuguese/

Link to my school

www.nexussurf.com/

Not going to this camp but gives you a look at the City (Floripa) where I'll be for 6 weeks socializing/swimming/surfing/sunning/sandboarding... oh yeah studying!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMRQHOWnUdE&feature=related

Grade A Brasilian video production highlighting the touristic experience of Floripa (maybe let it load first so you can scan through the in between).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mQHr8bAojU

Remember this one?

http://www.allbrazilianmusic.com/en/home/home.asp
www.slipcue.com/music/brazil/brazillist.html

The Brasilian music industry is nearly as big as ours in the US. In case you want to mix in some "world" w/ your usual flow..these sites are a good reference. In 2006 I bought Tropicália: A Brazilian Revolution in Sound. Obviously it was a bit of a life changer for me ;) Os Mutantes 60's stuff is really good. Tim Maia plays American style funk/soul . His best albums are Imunização Racional vol. 1 & 2 (or something like that). It was made when he was in a cult and he would spend rehearsal breaks outside watching for spaceships. Jorge Ben is the James Brown of Musica Popular Brasileira (MPB). Will.I.am from Black Eyed Peas regularly plundered his catalog. Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil were so groundbreaking that the Military Government in the 70's had them exiled. Marisa Monte and Gal Costa have amazing voices, Tom Zé is a kooky genious, Nação Zumbi funk out to Afro-Brasilian rhythms ... and obviously I could go on forever..... oh yes Os Tribalistas were a one-off collaboration of some very influential artists (Marisa Monte among them). Their one self-titled album has a very "christmassy" vibe, so a good place to start this season. Hit up soulseek or maybe iTunes..you won't find these in stores!

SOMENTE TRêS SEMANAS MAIS!!

Consegui!!

So SF went quite well. I stayed long enough to have 3 or 4 great weather days before heading home to a typical Seattle dose of Chinese water torture.

My first full day there was a Fri. I decided to get the visa stuff done that day:

9a: Consulate opens for biz. there's already a good wait when I arrive 5mins. later
9:25a: My number is called (similar to waiting at the DMV) I nervously greet the "Consular Official" Bom dia!! (good day) She's immediately impressed by my portuguese, although I haven't said any thing really... Upon looking at my registration, she informs me that she cannot approve my 130 day itin. She then proceeds to inform me how I can circumvent this obstacle. I was sent to a nearby Kinko's so that I may create a faulty airline itinerary, allowing me to obtain a 90 day multiple entry tourist visa.
9:30: I arrive at the Kinko's, I decide the best way to do this is to contact Delta, the airline I'm flying to Brasil. Since I've already overpayed them for my ticket they should be complicit in this!
9:40: Navigate my way through Delta's automated bs to a real person. She seems to understand my dilemma but needs to consult w/ her manager to make sure the can help me lie to a Foriegn Consular body.
9:45: Everythings straight w/ Delta (it'd better be!!) I get my temporary (i.e. Fake) 3 month itin. emailed and print it out.
9:50: Return to the consulate, proceed straight to the service window and confirm in portuguese that I was told that I may cut in line..awesome!!
9:55: Tudo bem!! I shoot the shit w/ the consulate girl "hmm 3 months is a long time, do you know anyone there?....you must've saved a lot of money for this yes???" Pois é senhorinha!!

And that's it...my first taste of Brasilian Jeitinho (finding a little way). Brasilians are known for their last minute dramatics/improvisation when dealing w/ beaurocracy and corruption which is intrinsic in their government and other administrative processes...It seems unfortunate that this only amounts to more corruption...oh well my visa's already here so I'm all good! and hey while I was at it..San Fran ain't so bad either I'm honestly thinking of relocating there after my trip...stay tuned
Tchau!
Mike

In português it's spelled with an "S"

Hello all welcome to my travel Blog!

In about 60 days I will embark on a 130 day voyage to Brasil! I'm very excited and it's almost hard to believe (almost) that after 15 months of preparation, my departure is drawing near! The sooner the better, this economy is really adding to the sense of urgency and I hope that I'm able to hold on to my job for just a couple more months. Another huge step in my preparation is attaining my Tourist Visa for Brasil. Without it, I won't be allowed on the plane! This is because Brasilians have to acquire similar permission to travel in the U.S. Pretty lame but at least the consulate is in S.F.I'll be taking advantage of my remaining PTO @ my job to go down to the bay and take care of business. It's also advantageous that I'll be San Fran for Halloween weekend & election night, awesome!!

In spring of '07 I made my first Int'l trip abroad in Europe. I toured through: Greece, Croatia, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. It was an amazing opportunity that I'll always remember and has obviously had a big influence on me ever since. While I was there, I met a lot of other travelers/students who were involved in International studies etc.. and this made me consider trying out study abroad. My interest was a culture/language immersion course and by searching online, I found that there are many academies all around the world for pretty much any language. My solo travel in Europe all and all went well and I proved to myself that I was ready for something more substantial. I've been interested in Brasil since a drum group came to my kindergarten class and ripped shit up so....It all comes together. 16 months of studying português, scrimping and saving and dealing with other obstacles and I'm almost there!!

Here's a brief look at my itin:
Dec26th: Leave for Brasil
27th-Jan.12th2009: Party it up in Rio for my B-day/New Years for 2 weeks
Jan12-26th: Fly Rio-Buenos Aires and spend 2 weeks there (save for 3 nights in Uruguay)
Jan26-Feb2nd: Make my way back to Brasil via Foz de Iguaçu, one of the most spectacular waterfall settings in the world!
Feb2nd-March8th: Study Português for 6 weeks in Florianopolis. By the end of this I intend to be fluent in Português and a capable surfer, among other things!
March8th-May5th: Leave school, travel to the northeast region, make my way back south before having the immigration police drag me back to the plane out of Rio on cinco de mayo.


I must admit that even though I've made some sacrifices and this year's been more of a slog than I would've hoped, I know I am very lucky to entertain the travel bug and I'll be ready to take advantage of this opportunity to the fullest when the time comes. Feel free to bear witness to it all!