"Muitas vezes a diferença entre o veneno eo remédio é o tamanho da dose."
Aos meus amigos de língua portuguesa: use o Google Translate:
http://translate.google.com.br/Man, it's been some time since I've posted anything. I like the internet because it's a source of freedom--people of all walks of life can share things. No matter what your political philosophy, you can get your ideas out there. Only the worst governments want control over the internet.
At the same time, I like to keep things simple. So far, I don't have a phone, but I have a small, really shitty (poor quality, very slow, broken physically in many places) laptop. I use paper maps and when I need to make a call I go to a shop and beg to use a phone. Brasil is a modern place in many respects. Lots of people have cellular phone and smart phones. Many people wonder why I don't use GPS. As the days go by, I want to get a phone here and use all these things. On other days, I want to keep things simple. But this is a big, big place. I wonder if I will get one of those phones and use google maps to navigate my journey here, or keep things simple and use maps and signs. Rodrigo, my good friend from Bombinhas, had to use a bicycle computer in Patagonia because there were no signs indicating distance. I want to be smart, not stubborn.
My journey here in Brasil began very lonely. I would ride all day and find a place to sleep and have little contact with people. I wondered, to myself, what was the point of this journey if I was to be so isolated? I would listen to my Portuguese lessons on my MP3 player, but I already realized these lesson were not helpful--the rhythms and phrases of a language can't be taught--you have to go to the source and be changed. I rode for some days after Porto Alegre and wondered if I would ever make friends in Brasil.
About 30 kilometers from Florianopolis, the capital of Santa Catarina, I saw a man on a bike who was clearly a cyclo-tourist. He was entering the road, and I began to start conversation with him. Rodrigo ended up being my crash-course spiritual Jedi-master-ninja-guide to Brasil and cyclo-touring in Brasil. Rodrigo ha just finished 10,000 kilometers in South America, through Bolivia and Patagonia and other countries. He was an expert in cycling and carrying weight and dealing with solitude and the joys and miseries of riding a cycling over long distances. Plus, he has spent many years in the city I wanted to explore. We rode to the city, instantly recognizing each other as fellow cycling brothers, and sought out Florianopolis.
Rodrigo knew the city better than most. His energy and friendliness was addictive. Over the course of the days we would ride together, he would encounter hundreds of his friends. I have never met a man with so many friends, but Rodrigo is a rare man.
Over the next three days we explored the island of Florianopolis, a paradise of beaches and forests and incredible people. We spent one night in an empty spot of old friends of Rodrigo and cooked a great feast of pasta. We then spent two nights camping on the property of Ricardo, a brilliant man of German blood who passed the nights speaking to us on matters of God, liberty, and matters of the soul and spirit. Ricardo built two homes with his own hands. One home he built with heavy granite stone by heavy granite stone. He knew much about blues, jazz, and American rock music from the 70s. I grateful to Rodrigo for introducing me to Ricardo, who sets an example for independence and intellectual brilliance.
Rodrigo and I explored the island and on the weekend drank good beer and cane juice spirits and ate excellent local fish and sea food. One night, after a spirited night of celebration, we ascended an old dirt road up a mountain in the pitch dark and descended back to the city. It was a road most don't know about and a feat I didn't think I could accomplish.
We then road to Porto Belo and Bombinhas. We spend the first night above an excellent Argentinean restaurant, spend the next day camping, and the next day with an Argentinean family, Daniel and Dasey, who own a bakery in Bombinhas. I met about 100 of Rodrigo's friends. He knows everyone because he is a rare soul and a great person. I miss him greatly already, but I must continue to explore.
It was a sad goodbye to my new friends in Bombinhas but Rodrigo understood the qualities of liberty and solitude that strangely accompany the many friends a cyclist makes. That morning, as I drank coffee with Rodrigo, I med Edson, a friend of Eduardo, who lived in Barra Velha. It was puroing rain that morning and Rodrigo knew I could not make it to Garuva (where, incidentally, he recommended I spend the night at a drug treatment facility. This is not a strange suggestion: my hero, Dennis Coelho, spent his youth sleeping in prisons on his cycling trips--drug treatment facilities also seemed to make sense).
I rode that day in the rain and made it to Barra Velha. It was cold and I was soaked and my chain hated the salt and the sand and water. I didn't have a cell phone so I went to a stationary shop to buy a card to use the public phone. The mother and daughter that worked there thought my attempt to buy a card was hilarious, and the mother called Eduardo for me and I told him I was waiting in the center. Soon Eduardo came on his motorcycle.
For the next two day,s Eduardo and Flavia (his elegant, gracious, and beautiful wife), would host me and show me their extraordinarily beautiful town.
Eduardo is a man of many talents who works in construction and scuba diving. He has two awesome chindren, a boy of two and a girl of 7. We spent the night discussing philosophy and drinking beer and cane juice spirits. The next day, a holiday, we explored the beach, where the lagoon, the river, and the ocean met, and made the rounds of the town with his good friend Batata.
We went to a foot bridge at the intersection of a lagoon, a river, and the ocean and watched the waves. We then drank great beer and a local spot and picked up fish, vegetables, charcoal, and beer for the night's party. It was a holiday.
We grilled seafood and drank beer throughout the night. I met many of Eduardo's friends. Eduardo and Flavia are a rare couple and their happiness and generosity affected me greatly. I made many friends that day.
Again it was sad to leave Eduardo and Flavia, but I made it on to Joinville, where I rested for a few days due to a sore throat from riding in the rain.
So far, Brasil feels like home. I am fascinated by the friends I make here. I am reverent about Brasil's history and traditions. Its beauty is incredible. Its food is extraordinary. Its people inspire me to improve myself.
Man, I hope I got a lot more to say later.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh44QPT1mPE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=221mohEolWc&feature=related
I have photos I will post later....
