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Well we have finally made it to Brazil after some very uncomfortable flights (stupid small seats). Gabbys mother & sister pick us up from the airport (neither of them speak any English) and take us back to Gabbys mums apartment. Now this was one of the most interesting drives I have ever been on. Gabbys sister gets a call warning here of car jackings up a ahead and a tunnel thats collapsing! I am just a tad worried now. Anayway we make it back to the apartment ok and pretty much crash out straight away.
The sleep last night was horrible due to crossing a 15 hour time zone. We get up early due to a busy schedule ahead of us. I had this awsome breakfast with heaps of strange fruit. We head over to Gabbys sister's apartment which was very tiny. Gabbys sisters boyfriend gives me a tour of the city (speaks basic English which helped) and this was amazing. First of all pepole think that NZ have crazy drivers, though I would consider NZ drivers being very safe after what I experienced. We had one lady back into us, a near miss on the highway and scraped along the curbe (this was all in a time span of 1 hour). There's a lot of motorcycles and bikes around and pedestrian crossing's have no purpose whatsoever. There is a lot of slums in this city mixed with flash apartments, stray dogs and young kids rummaging through rubbish. The beaches however are amazing along with the tropical heat (will load some pics sometime). Approximatly 70% of the cars on the road are quite small & compact (probably cause of the narrow roads).
After the grand tour we go for lunch and let me say the food is plentaful and scrumptious over here. For 38 Reals (about 25 NZ dollars) you can feed 4 people with steak, rice, beans, bread, salads and dips. It was high quality food thats for sure.
We head out to the car and Gabbys mum gave me the keys to the car. Gabby said she wanted me to get used to driving so we can take the car, though she had no insurance. First of all the sterring plus the driving is all opposite sides and the road rules roads were different to. Well I took up the challenege (amazingly) and statred driving. Some guy was trying to help me reverse for a tip though he wasnt getting nothing. Driving on the opposite side wasn't so much of an issue as I thought, it was all the vechiles, pedestrians and narrow streets which made it difficult. I made it to our destination ok though I dont think I will be doing a lot of driving in Brazil (thankfully).
After a bit more touring around I started feeling pretty run down, sore stomach and the mean runs. I googled it and I was suffering from some bad Jet Lag with the change of food, climate, time zone etc. It makes you feel very un-motivational and tired. Apparently it can take up to 12 days to recover from! Fingers crossed it won't.
Its amazing how everything here is so BIG! Especially their fruit. Imagine a watermelon close to the size of a small tire, avacadoes double the size and the range of different fruit is also amazing. It must be the lovely tropical weather.
So that was all yesterday and today is just a relaxing day trying to overcome this stupid Jet Lag.
ALl the best everyone - Its great to be a KIWI
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