Where does your road lead you to?

Voltando para casa

2005-11-10T12:03:00.000-06:00

Ha poucos dias retornei aos EUA. Entrar num aviao em Delhi e descer em Nova York, certamente, e uma experiencia unica. Dois mundos completamente distintos ha 15 horas de distancia. Foram 30 dias tendo meus sentidos, concepcoes de vida e morte, certo e errado, justo e injusto, limpo e sujo, bombardeados intensamente. Sabe aquela sensacao de estar perdido no escuro de tal maneira que ate receio de andar vc tem? E exatamente desta maneira que me sinto. As imagens sao fortes e marcam. Nao ha como tapar os olhos e fingir que nao ha nada. Na saida do Taj Mahal, um senhor de seus 40 anos nos aguaradava para dar uma carona ate o Hotel. Magro, quase raquitico, dentes vermelhos devido ao fumo vermelho que os indianos mascam, pele marcada pelo sol, cheiro quase insuportavel, ele comeca e pedalar seu rickshaw, debaixo de um sol de 35 graus, morro acima, nos levenado ao Hotel. Cena comun nas cidades indianas, mas algo que fez meu estomago virar. Esta "animalizacao" do homem, em todos os aspectos possiveis, foi um dos primeiros dos muitos curtos que a India causou em meus sentidos...

(Transito em Old Delhi - detalhe: rickshaws)

Atentados em Delhi

2005-11-01T00:35:00.000-06:00

Lu, Mamis e Marcelo!

Fiquei sabendo dos atentados no mesmo dia que eles acontecerem, la em Pokhara - Nepal. Hoje ja escrevo da India novamente, e parece que tudo voltou ao normal. Estou na cidade sagrada de Varanasi, a beira do Rio Ganges e o Festival das Luzes esta acontecendo agora. Internet esta um pouco complicada, mas hoje a noite pego um trem para Delhi, pois amanha e meu voo de volta para os EUA. Mando noticias de Delhi!

beijos!

Celso

PS: Nao se preocupe porque os santos protegem! Isso foi o que o porteiro do meu Hotel disse :-)

Kathmandu

2005-10-22T10:12:00.000-05:00

O que dizer de Kathmandu? A primeira impressao, posso dizer que nao foi das melhores. Chegando ao aeroporto, proximo das 11 da noite, o stress foi grande. Do lado de fora, uma multidao de taxistas brigavam - literalmente - para ver quem ia nos levar ate o Hotel. O Nepal e um dos paises mais pobres do mundo e os dolares do turista sao disputados a tapa.

Ja no caminho para o Hotel, dava para perceber o forte policiamento das ruas. Diversos "checkpoints" no caminho devido a atividade do grupo Maoista de extrema esquerda. Atualmente ha uma certa paz na regiao, mas o Nepal se encontra numa verdadeira guerra civil. Os Maoistas tentam derrubar o atual governo, objetivando implantar um regime semelhante ao da China, quando da revolucao de 49.

Apos instalados e descansados, a manha seguinte foi para explorar os principais pontos turisticos da cidade. O que mais me chamou atencao foram os rituais hindus de cremacao dos corpos. Os Hindus acreditam que este corpo nada mais e do que a roupa usada nesta vida, para cumprir seu "karma". A morte representa a "troca" desta roupa, ja que para eles a reincarnacao e certa. As atitudes da pessoa nesta vida determinara seu proximo karma... Um dos guias aqui no Nepal ate me disse: meu maior sonho e cumprir este karma e reincarnar nos EUA. Chega de sofrer!

E absolutamente chocante ver este ritual. Os corpos sao enrrolados em uma manta, trazidos a beira do rio, onde uma grande fogueira e instalada. La o corpo e deposiado e a cremacao acontece lentamente aos olhos de todos. Turistas fotografam e filmam como filme de terror... A cidade de Varanasi, a beira do Ganges, e considerado o local mais sagrado para os hindus, ja que a morte nesta cidade significa a libertacao deste ciclo de morte e reincarnacao. Pensava que iria ver estes rituais em Varanasi, e me deparar com eles por todos os cantos do Nepal, realmente me chocou.

Fotos do Nepal/ Pics from Nepal!

2005-10-20T11:03:00.000-05:00

1) Monkey oversees hindu cremation ceremony at the "Pashupatinath Temple", 2)Hindu Temple at Durbar Square in Patan, 3) Nepali men and I, 4) Hindu Temples at Durbar Suquare in Patan, 5)Buying some handicrafts, 6) The Buddha eyes, 7) Nepali boy, 8) Bells at the Stupa

1) Macaco observa ritual hindu de cremacao no "Templo Pashupatinath", 2) Templo Hindu na praca Durbar, 3) Senhor nepales e eu, 4) Templos Hindus na Praca Durbar de Patan, 5) Comprando artesanato, 6) Os Olhos do Buddha, 7) Menino Nepales, 8) Sinos da Stupa Budista.

2005-10-16T13:47:00.000-05:00

Primeira foto, da esquerda para direita: 1) Taj Mahal, 2) Jaipur, 3) Comprando comida "segura", 4) Amber Fort, 5) Bencaos, 6) Elefante na calcada!! 7) Fatehpur Sikri - A "Cidade Fantasma".

First picture, left hand corner: Taj Mahal, 2) Jaipur - The Ghost City, 3) Buying "safe" food, 4) Amber Fort, 5) Blessings, 6) Watch out! Elephant on the way!! 7) Fatehpur Sikri - The "Ghost City".

Em Jaipur

2005-10-16T13:35:00.000-05:00

Jaipur é a famosa “pink city”. Pink porque a parte central da cidade tem uma coloração em tons terracota. Nesta cidade, vc pode observar os grandes castelos e fortes construídos pelos marajás do Império Mughal. Como característica das grandes cidades indianas, o caos impera, só que agora mais personagens dividem o cenário: camelos, elefantes, macacos, porcos, cachorros, vacas convivendo em uma estranha harmonia com os incontáveis turistas e locais. Trata-se de um cenário único, surreal, um caos organizado, já que todos se entendem e as coisas fluem.

A poucos minutos atrás, presenciei umas das cenas mais interessantes da minha vida: andando contra o trafico, um gigantesco elefante pintado subiu no meio fio que dividia a rua em duas mãos, atravessou para o outro lado, fazendo um trafico caótico de ônibus, rickshaws, motos, carros, carroças e camionetes parar repentinamente. Na maior naturalidade ele sobe a calcada – meio que quase entrando em uma lojinha de artesanato – e começa a andar seguindo o fluxo de pessoas. Ninguém faz cara de surpresa e nenhum acidente acontece... Impressionante! So na India mesmo!!

Jaipur e um excelente local para as compras de artesanato. O colorido das bolsas, toalhas, saias, esculturas se espalha por toda a cidade. Amanhã volto a Delhi para me preparar para a parte da viagem que desperta ainda mais adrenalina: terça-feira embarco para Kathmandu no Nepal!!

Em Agra - Visitando o Taj Mahal

2005-10-16T13:26:00.000-05:00

Após 3 dias em Delhi – e já encarando com uma maior naturalidade as vacas nas ruas, o caos e a sujeira – e hora de partir. Destino: Agra, a cidade do Taj Mahal. No caminho passei por Matura, cidade de Krishna. Chegando em Agra, me hospedei em um hotel localizado a menos de 2 km da principal entrada do Taj, aguardando ansiosamente minha visita, no dia seguinte, antes do amanhecer.

Os locais dizem que o melhor horário para visitar o Taj Mahal é ou ao amanhecer, ou ao por do sol, já que, teoricamente, o monumento muda de cor em tons amarelados de acordo com a iluminação do sol. Não sei bem se era sono – já que acordei as 5:30 da manhã – mas não vi troca de cor nenhuma! Posso dizer que minhas expectativas eram enormes e afirmo que realmente não há palavras para descreve-lo. Para se ter uma idéia, a construção do Mausoléu, iniciada em 1631, só terminou em 1653, e mais de 20 mil pessoas participaram dos esforços. A maioria teve as mãos ou dedos amputados, para garantir que a perfeição do Taj jamais fosse repetida.

Após Agra, o próximo destino foi a cidade fantasma de Fatehpur Sikri, capital do Império Mughal na época de um de seus mais grandiosos Imperadores – Akbar, 1571 – 1585. Trata-se de uma cidade fantasma devido ao fato de que ela foi completamente abandonada após a morte do imperador. Motivo: falta de água.

Próximo destino.... Jaipur!!

Em Nova Delhi

2005-10-15T12:08:00.000-05:00

Antes de escrever sobre minhas primeiras impressos da India, devo confessor que entrar no aviao para vir para ca foi uma das decisoes mais dificeis da minha vida. Digo isso, principalmente, devido algumas experiencias pelas quais tive que passar nao muito tempo atras no Marrocos...

De qualquer maneira, depois de consultar minha conciencia, entrei no aviao, ainda nao acreditando que eu realmente estava indo para Nova Delhi. Na sala de embarque ao lado da minha, as pessoas se enfileiravam para o embarque a Chicago e na minha cabeca logo passou: que diabos eu estou indo fazer na India?

Faltando uma hora para a aterrizagem, posso dizer que eu me encontrava em estado de absoluto pavor. Demorei para perceber, mas nao muito longe de mim, sentava um brasileiro o qual eu facilmente indentifiquei no momento que ele sacou o passaporte para preencher a ficha da imigracao. Quando vi aquilo, na minha cabeca logo passou: Ufa! Nao estou sozinho! Marcelo vinha para um esquema parecido com o meu, a unica diferenca e que ele vai ficar so 2 semanas. Conversamos por alguns minutos e como eu nao tinha reserva em hotel algum, resolvi tentar conseguir alguma coisa no Hotel dele.

A India da as boas vindas de uma maneira muito peculiar, a qual muitas vezes faz as pessoas voltarem imadiatamente para o aeroporto e esperar o proximo voo de volta: a poluicao e sufocante, o barulho ensurdecedor, a pobreza chocante. Nova Delhi apesar de ser uma cidade do porte de Sao Paulo, de cima, vista do aviao, parece muito menor. Isso porque a falta de luz e generalizada. Quando a noite comeca a cair, vc percebe que menos de 50% da cidade possui iluminacao publica.

Ja na cidade, Marcelo, eu e uma francesa - que se juntou a nos pelos mesmos motivos -decidimos dividir um taxi ate o hotel. Eram 11:30 da noite e o caos era inacreditavel: pessoas dormindo nas ruas, muita buzina e pobreza por todos os lados... Nas primeiras noites decidi ficar num hotel com confortos "Ocidentais" - ar, tv a cabo, internet - para poder assimilar as coisas da maneira menos traumatica possivel.

Dormi muito pouco aquela noite. No dia seguinte acordei bem cedo para me aventurar pelas ruas de Delhi. No cafe da manha torradas com uma geleia meio esquisita de framboesa e cafe com leite. 30 minutos depois estava em um rickshaw indo em direcao a area central de Delhi chamada Connaught Place. La encontrei um mercado de artesanato com produtos tipicos. Tudo muito colorido e de uma beleza inacreditavel.

Como ainda estou com medo de entrar de cabeca na comida tipica – ja que os casos de intoxicacao alimentar nao sao raros nem poucos – almocei no McDonald’s o pior sanduiche da minha vida!!! Era a versao hindu do Big Mac, com frango e muuuiito molho curry. ARGH!! O cardapio deles e basicamennte composto de sanduiches vegetarianos e frango. Minha amiga Roberta que ia gostar!! Certo Ro? :-) Ja estou prevendo que vou acabar perdendo uns kilinhos por estes lados...

In New Delhi

2005-10-14T11:30:00.000-05:00

Here I am, in New Delhi, India. I had several months to get ready for this trip, yet I had no reservation in any Hotel a couple of hours prior to my departure. That was driving me crazy! Every guide says that it is pretty important to have that done upfront, once the arrival in India is always described as overwhelming to any person. Indeed it is. Every single sense is tested. The pollution is suffocating, the noise is deafening and the poverty is unbelievable. India says welcome in a very peculiar way, a way that sometimes makes people fly back home right away. It is not easy.

20 min before landing in New Delhi, I realized that the person who was sitting in front of me was speaking English with one accent that took me no longer than 2 min to figure out. I met Marcelo, a Brazilian guy who will stay in India for 2 weeks. I can not describe how relieved I was to find out that somebody else, speaking the same language and even coming from the very same city in Brazil, would be in the same situation that I was. We talked for a couple of minutes and I decided to try to get a room in the Hotel where he had made his reservation. For the first night I got a very nice Hotel room, to try to get used with the city in a very careful way.

Air on, cable TV, internet downstairs and I could have the feeling that I was still in London. I know that I can't afford that the entire trip, but doing that for a couple of days is essential to get used with the "Indian way of life".

I could not sleep more then 4 hours that night. The next day, I started my adventure in Delhi. I ended up in a very interesting street market in an area called Connaught Place – main commercial area in Delhi. I had McDonald’s for lunch and I swear to God, it is awful! The only sandwich that I was familiar with was the Mc Chicken. All other options were vegetarian burgers and chicken sandwich with lots of curry. I guess I will lose some pounds here...

In New Delhi and alive!!!

2005-10-12T03:24:00.000-05:00

I arrived in New Delhi - India, yesterday safe and sound. My Hotel has free of charge internet so I will post some updates soon!!!!!!

Cheguei em Nova Delhi sao e salvo! Ja atualizo com noticias!!!!

Beijos!!!

Celso

The Last Day

2005-09-30T13:31:00.000-05:00

Our last day in Morocco was a truly example on how the Murphy Law works. It started in Fez, place where we could not find a place to crash. We ended up in a not very clean Berebe home with a bathroom that we refused to shower in.

Here was the scenario: We were in Fez at 12:30pm. The last ferry to Spain would leave Tangier at 12:30am. From Fez to Tangier we had a 6 hour bus ride. We were comfortably on schedule. The ferry would arrive in Spain at 4 am and on the same day, from Seville, we would fly to Barcelona.

We arrived at the Tangier Port at 10:30pm - 2 hours prior to the ferry's departure. Before boarding we needed the required Moroccan stamp on our passport and that was the beginning of our nightmare.

After 1 hour waiting for the police to show up, I decided to knock on the window of a booth where the only two people at that port were. With my poor French and using signs language I asked about the stamps. For my surprise he replied putting both hands together close to his head, hinting that the officer responsible for that was already asleep. Our ferry to Spain was leaving in 45 min and we were stuck in the port.

I was trying my best to explain something obvious: our ferry was at 12:30pm, therefore someone needed to stamp our passports before that!!!!! The Moroccan authorities took a while to realize that and when the officer was finally awake, it was too late. The ferry was gone.

Summing up: Due to the absolute lack of competence of the Moroccan police we missed our ferry, our flight the next day to Barcelona and we had to spend the night at the port. If you think that it can't get worse, let me tell you that it does.

We were flying to Barcelona with “Vueling” - a Spanish low cost airline company -which rules and penalties for our fare were pretty simple: no show = no refund and a new ticket has to be purchased. We ended up spending half of the budget of the entire trip in Morocco to buy the damn ticket! At that point the only thing that I wanted was a cold shower and a bed to crash. Price paid and we were back in Barcelona the next day in the morning.

The Sahara Expedition

2005-09-29T14:20:00.000-05:00

900 dirhams (90 euros) was the price tag for this expedition departing from Marrakesh. Considering that we were in the Mecca of tourism in Morocco and that buses are really cheap, we decided to go to Merzuga by ourselves. 3 buses to get there and approximately 16 hours. We crossed the Moroccan Atlas - a chain of mountains with permanent snow on the top - an amazing landscape.

Getting to Merzuga was not that hard, yet very tiring. Merzuga is the Moroccan city where the " Erg Chebbi" is located - an amazing set of high sand dunes on the boarder of Argelia. To get there, we drove 15km thru the black desert, which colour is due to the volcanoes that once existed over there. Our "aberge" was located right in front of a huge sand dune in the beginning of the Sahara.

On that night we left towards the Desert in a group of 12 people, each one riding a camel. 2 hours later, we arrived at the camping site, place where we would spend the night. The full moon allowed us to wander around for a while, hiking huge sand dunes. Sahara is a berebe word which means " place of nothing" and there the temperature ranges from steaming hot during the day to freezing cold at night.
The next day in the morning we left to Fes. This time we took what locals call " chicken taxi" - a regular cab, but with 6 people inside - 2 in the front and 4 in the back. It wasn't the most pleasant experience, for sure, mainly when you add 90 degrees and lack of deodorant.

In Essaouria beach

2005-09-26T15:02:00.000-05:00

Right after visiting Marrakesh, we decided to go to Essaouria, on the Moroccan coast. There we had the best meal in Morocco. Roberta had "harira" - traditional soup - and "couscous legume" - dish which I first tasted with some Tunisian friends in St. Louis. I had "tangine poulet" - chicken cooked with orange sauce in a special terracotta dish and "salad marocaine" - a salad with tomato sauce and slices of pepper.... very odd, btw.

It was a real feast for less the 6 euros! Dirt cheap, but a time only dinner for budget travellers. The next day, we went back to our daily menu: a big breakfast (milk, bread, coffee, jelly and orange juice) which would cost us 15 dirhams (1.5 euro) and a late lunch.

For our surprise, that night was the last night of a local festival and a Brazilian band was playing. Of course, samba and some semi-naked chicks wearing carnival costumes and thongs were part of the show. On the audience Muslim women covering the entire body were absolutely astonished seeing the Brazilian "art" on stage....

Who knows me, have an idea of how much I enjoy soccer. It was a real surprise to see how famous Ronaldinho is around here. Everywhere we go people would scream: Ronaldinho! and invite us for the famous green tea, which sometimes is no show of hospitality, but just the beginning of a scam. I will write about that later....

In Marrakesh

2005-09-17T17:57:00.000-05:00

2 hours from Barcelona to Seville.
3 hours from Seville to Algeciras - Southern Spain
2 hours by express ferry from Algeciras to Tangier - Northern Morocco
8 hours night train from Tangier to Marrakesh

Counting the waiting time in between flights/ferry/train, 24 hours later we arrived in the former capital of Morocco. On our way we stopped for a walk at the Medina in Tangier and on the train we met Hadish, who invited us for a cup of tea at his house. Easily one can see that Moroccan people are very friendly and they are always willing to help. Most of the times you need to be careful thou. Usually behind a friendly invitation for cup of tea lies a much bigger interest: make you buy for a outrageous price something that you really don't want or simply don't need.

That's what happened yesterday. Invited for the traditional Moroccan tea while we waited for our train, So and I had a great time appreciating some traditional music, trying on typical clothing and hearing stories about how life is in Morocco. All of the sudden, Hadish said that we would have to buy the traditional Moroccan clothing for 350 dirhams (+- 35 euros). For one place where a good meal costs 4 euros, a hotel 5, a cab ride 2, that price was a truly Moroccan rip off. In a matter of seconds our nice friend became this obnoxious person forcing us to pay back his "hospitality".

Morocco is a Muslim country and as such, alcohol is forbidden. You do find liquor, but usually you wont see local people drinking it. I believe that's the reason why hashish is so widely used. No drinking allowed, but no problems in getting stoned. You see people smoking in the streets, in front of children, in the bus, everywhere.

In Barcelona, Moroccans are famous for petty crimes. To hear a friend of mine saying that was a great surprise to me. Here you do see beggars and poor people all over the place, but they will never rob you. It is a completely peaceful environment. Scams are everywhere, but this is different from a violent crime. I haven't seen any violence so far. Even the shadiest corner in the dark Medina is safe. Not sure what lies behind this, but law enforcement is rarely seen on the streets either.

Upon arrival in Marrakesh, a cab driver took us to the main street in the Medina, where we found a very good and clean hotel for 100 dirhams. That was close to the Place Djemaa el-Fna - a huge square in the Medina - which translates to "the Dead's Square", place where centuries ago convicted criminals where killed. Now a very busy and colorful place, full of open air food stalls, snake charmers and magicians. Now the next step is the Sahara expedition. Looking forward to that!

In Barcelona

2005-09-14T15:43:00.000-05:00

Hey there!

After three weeks and two stops - one in Washington and another in New York, here I´m in Barcelona. I’ll try to write a little bit about my trip in the US as soon as I get back from Morocco.

So far the only big challenge has been to keep myself awake. They are 7 hours ahead of the Eastern Standard Time, so every place that I stop for a couple of minutes I fall asleep. I arrived here yesterday and tomorrow morning I leave to Rabat - the capital of Morocco.

Today, Roberta – a Brazilian friend of mine - and I went bike riding to a couple of different places. We visited the famous Sagrada Familia Church and we also went to the beach. For my surprise, topless is a very common practice and the Spaniards seam to be very comfortable with that. Also - and this will surprise my fellow American friends who would not even wear a speedo – the practice of nudism is also encouraged. Yes! There is one beach – in a very busy area here – where people worship their sun absolutely naked! I’ll post some pictures soon.

Later in the day, at the supermarket, I had another cultural experience. I knew that Jamon is a very famous meat here in Spain. The only thing that I didn’t know was that it was so expensive and so nasty looking. A huge piece of pig’s leg is sold for 150 euros!! I have no idea how they prepare that but I´m sure that it should be interesting.

Anyways, here I´ll post some pics and I hope to be back next week with lots of stories from Morocco!

Miami Hurricane

2005-08-28T15:26:00.000-05:00

Day 1 - Miami - Meeting Katrina

2005-08-25T15:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, a couple of hours before leaving St. Louis, I heard that Katrina would be waiting for me in Miami. I didn't have the slightest idea of what was going on and I was completely packed and ready to fly. I couldn't postpone anything now.

Upon arrival, I could have an idea of what was laying ahead. The Fort Lauderdale airport closed 30 min after my arrival and Katrina was already giving us a preview of the damage that she should unfold. The eye of the hurricane would hit Miami around 10 pm that night. I managed to arrive at Tom's apartment in Coral Gables, where I took a hot shower and changed. Late in the afternoon we didn't have power anymore and the storm started to get worse. Inside the apartment everything was ok. We were gathered - around 10 people - playing drinking games and checking the lightnings and the development of the storm.

Without AC and with the temperature getting close to the 100s, we were being steamed up inside our own apartments. We tried to crack the windows just to be able to get some of the breeze that came along with the storm, but that was only possible if you wanted to get soaked wet with the pouring rain.

Now I'm at The University of Miami using one of their computers. I've just heard that power might be back by Tuesday - right when I leave. I'll try to keep you posted with info about my camping weekend in Florida :-)

I'll keep you in my pocket and feed you with peanut butter

2005-08-24T00:49:00.000-05:00

That's what a real good friend mine usually says. lol

I can say that there is nothing worse then say good bye to someone that you would love to keep in your life. During the past couple of days I have been pretty anxious. It seams that I’m on a painful and long walk thru the death row. What lies ahead of me? What should I expect? Do I really need to say good bye?

Farewells are especially sad when deep inside you know that you won’t be able see all your good friends back again. Spectacular people who entered your life without being asked and now are gone, in a split of second. My Mom usually says that’s what makes life something fascinating. I can definitely say that I’m a better person today, and every single person that crossed my life within the last 18 months has a very important contribution.

With a mixture of excitement and sadness I have to say good bye. Excitement mainly because I’m a couple of days to make a very old dream come true: For the next 3 months I’ll be visiting places in the USA, Europe, Morocco, India and Nepal. Adventure ahead!

With all my heart I leave my best wishes to everybody here!

Celso

523 days and a couple of hours

2005-08-04T20:00:00.000-05:00

That's how long I've been living here. Now it's time to pack. Yesterday I start searching luggage to pack all the stuff that I bought. Unbelievable the amount of useless things that one can gather is such a short period of time. I went to a couple of different places and the biggest bag doesn't seam to be big enough. I also sold my car. Challenge ahead on those last days. Unlike back home, car here is an essential tool on your daily life. No car means rely on favors of good hearted people :-)

I also need to find a - cheap - backpack. They all range from USD 150 to USD 300. I can't spend that much! But I'll need one, mainly in India. Don't wanna go bulky.

I just came out of the worst sore throat ever! I knew what I needed since the beginning: Amoxicillin. Wish I had brought some from home. At least it would have saved me a couple of hours on Monday. I waited for 2 hours to see a doctor. Not even in the nightmare of the Brazilian public health system you wait that much. Maybe it was just bad luck. Maybe.

How much does one dream cost?

2005-07-22T03:32:00.000-05:00

"India will sideswipe you with its size, clamour and diversity - but if you enjoy delving into convoluted cosmologies and thrive on sensual overload, then it is one of the most intricate and rewarding dramas unfolding on earth, and you'll quickly develop an abiding passion for it.

Nothing in the country is ever quite predictable; the only thing to expect is the unexpected, which comes in many forms and will always want to sit next to you. India is a litmus test for many travellers - some are only too happy to leave, while others stay for a lifetime.

The country's glorious diversity means there's an astonishing array of sacred sites, from immaculately kept Jain temples to weathered Buddhist stupas; there's history around every corner, with countless monuments, battle-scarred forts, abandoned cities and ancient ruins all having tales to tell; and there are beaches to satiate the most avid sun worshipper. On a personal level, however, India is going to be exactly what you make of it."

That's what you find at Lonely Planet's web site as a brief description of what India stands for. For a long time I had the desire to go to this distant and mysterious country. This week I can say that my dream has a date to come true. October 11th I fly from London to New Delhi into a journey that has not even started yet, but has already been very inspiring.

Visiting my brother - Vail/Aspen - late April 2005

2005-07-22T02:41:00.000-05:00

Daslu ate no NYtimes

2005-07-17T22:54:00.000-05:00

Click here to visit Daslu at NYtimes

Como vc chegou aqui???

2005-06-15T18:17:00.000-05:00

Sao populares as asneiras que escutamos a respeito de seu pais de origem enquanto se esta fora...

Tem agua encanada onde vc mora?
Vc nao tem medo de morar tao perto da floresta?
Vc e meio branquinho para aquela regiao, nao?
Vcs falam ingles ou espanhol no Brasil? (essa foi quase!)

Quando falo "a respeito de seu pais de origem" me refiro ao fato de que esteriotipos estao presentes em qualquer cultura, em qualquer pais do mundo. Ou seja, a regra vale tambem para um finlandes no Brasil, por exemplo. Recentemente acompanhei um forum de discussoes a respeito de relatos de uma curitibana residindo em Lisboa. Um comentario, em particular, me chamou atencao:

"Humor e um otimo lubrificante cultural"

Nunca tinha pensado nisso, mas uso deste recurso ha um bom tempo. Quando alguem vem com alguma pergunta estupida, primeiramente eu digo que no Brasil, desde os 5 anos, nossas familias nos obrigam a nadar 5 milhas no rio mais proximo, por dia, caso contrario nao ganhamos almoco (normalmente um sabugo de milho).

Os olhos se arregalam e logo em seguida a reacao obvia: Why?!?!

Dai eu respondo: Ue? Como vc acha que cheguei aqui? Nadei 2 dias para cruzar a fronteira!

2005-06-03T20:24:00.000-05:00

Upon requests, here it is. An English post. I know I have to do this more often considering the amount of non-Portuguese speaking friends... We shall see ;-)

My leasing was up at the end of May. One year has passed by and I can tell that it is, indeed, a pattern the fact that foreigners usually stick together. Don't know why, but when you come across a foreign, usually his best friend is his countryman. That's why I have a very important piece of advice if you intend to live abroad and fully enjoy the experience: keep distance from people from your own country! Naturally it's easier to communicate and get along with somebody that has the same roots that you have. Not even same roots. If the person is going through the same situation (language/cultural barriers, food issues...) you have the tendency to stick together. Nobody ever said that going abroad and fully emerging in the foreign culture would be easy. You have to try though.

Anyhow, I decided to move in with an American friend. Not only that, I went out of my security net and I'm leaving far, very far from work. I drive by myself every day around 70 miles roundtrip - just to get to work. In the beginning, I thought it would be insane. But actually this problem was solved a couple of months ago, when I bought my Ipod. Now, I don't care driving whatever the distance is. What an awesome gadget!

It's unreal the amount of junk that one can keep throughout a period of time. I guess we only realize that when we move. Old clothes that you've never worn before, pictures that you've thought you would never see again, all types of letters tossed in different drawers, keys (Oh my God!! Keys!!) I don't know why, but it seams that I have this powerful magic skill to make them disappear when they are needed the most, and appear when copies are already made. It took me three long days to pack everything and I tell you, the outcome was scary: How am I gonna take all this back home?

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Summer has finally arrived. Temperatures now remain around the 80s (+- 30 C) and the heat sometimes is overwhelming. I'm starting to miss those early January days when we had house parties and left our drinks outside to keep them cold... sometimes they would even freeze...

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A couple of weeks ago I underwent the most awkward experience since I got here: I had to visit "the Mystic Tan Headquarters". Yeah, shame on me, but I had to go to the tan bed. It's been roughly one year that I don't tan at all - the closest beach is too far and pools are boring - so I had to go. I had this Scandinavian look (nothing against, just not appealing to me) that I badly needed to get rid of. 4 sections later and my tan lines were back! It's unbelievable how profitable this business is here in the US. Everybody goes to those places and even the whitest human being gets some tan.

Are they serious?

2005-06-01T18:01:00.000-05:00

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