Saturday September 22, 1012

I gave myself the pleasure of sleeping in till about 8 am this morning and after a quick bowl of Granola, I hit the streets, walking two to three miles to the western outskirts of town. It was hot enough to slather on suntan lotion and stop for shopping stops along the way. 

I came up empty handed on my quest for a soccer shirt or a beach towel in the National Brazilian colours but I was able to compare prices on bikes. They range between $419 and $550 Reals.  One Real is worth about .50 Canadian so a new bike will cost me about $210 which won't be bad if I sell it to a local at the end of the job.

When I got back to my room I enjoyed the traditional siesta around noon and when I woke up a storm had blown in with strong wind gusts, dust devils and by late afternooon the rains hit.

Dinner was chunks of salty pork and soggy mixed vegetables with the standard plate of salad. The cool thing was sitting with the Portuguese interpreters and Edjuarma brought out his guitar and serenaded us guys with his sultry latin voice, singing love songs with a samba beat.  The story going around the table was about a bar they went to last night and the bouncer asked them upon entering if they had weapons. When they said no, he handed them a knife and said "Here, use this."  Sounds funny but is likely true.