Paradise Found

Hi everyone! As you can see I have arrived in the dreamlike setting along the Costa Verde (green coast) which stretches between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. This also means that I have less than one week left :(!! Luckily the weather has been super cooperative...Since my last entry I passed through the state of Minas Gerais (a huge interior state, kind of like the Texas of Brasil). There I stayed in the capital of Belo Horizonte, which I admired for it's presence of good city planning (very unique for Brasil). I was actually able to make it from the downtown area to the hilly area north of town to witness a very "Belo Horizonte (beautiful horizon)" during sunset. This sort of thing would not be possible in São Paulo...

I also made time to stop by again in Florianópolis for one last shot at hiking to a deserted beach in the south of the island....and to of course buy a tee shirt to commerorate my 3 month stay in this wonderful city!! Of course returning there called for a bit of reflection..and I am very grateful to have passed an awesome summer there, and to have made some really great friends. All things come to and end however...and my departure from there only beckons at what is to come on June the 2nd....shoot!

Since then, I have moseyed my way up the Costa Verde. I have passed through the awesome settings of Ubatuba (located in SP state and host to over 70 beaches). While at my hostel, there arrived a group of about 30 biology students from Belo Horizonte. It made for some fun times at night after they finished their studies and I of course passed the daytime (getting shorter and shorter) on the beach. From Ubatuba I made my way to the small "beach hamlet" of Trindade. This place is within the municipality of the better known Paraty but I decided to opt for something a bit more off the beaten path as I am already familiar with the cobble-stoned anitquity for which Paraty is famous. Unfortunately, along this "less beaten path" I ran into an obstacle in the form of a State Police officer of Rio de Janeiro (apparently I had crossed the state border).

This occured as I was waiting for a bus connection on the side of a highway. I was already worried that I had missed the bus when what appeared to be bad news came sauntering down the hill. He asked me if I was foriegn and proceeded to escort me back up the hill to verify my documentation. I was fully cooperative in submitting my passport but apparently that wasn't enough. They continued questioning me about if I was working in Brasil, do I use drugs blah blah blah...and made comments about my nervous demeanor. Well considering that 2 minutes before I was waiting patiently for a bus and suddenly am in Police Custody yeah I guess I was a bit nervous!! Apparently this was enough for them to go through all of my belongings to look for contraband..and of course NOTHING...so I guess there is no such thing as probable cause in Brasil...If you are foreign that is enough to warrent search (luckily no seizure in my case). I realize these guys have a job to do but well they can just f**k off as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway everything is cool besides that. I have arrived safe and sound on the Island of Ilha Grande (big Island..yet another great name!!). There are a lot of other foriengers here...I hope they don't have any contraband!!!

Até mais!!