Friday 18th March- today at work i started to make a chess board and prepare a music lesson in portuguese for next week!Had fab capoeira lesson- did flip and cartwheel practise. At the end of a lesson the maestro and caju asked us to go to another capoeira class at the University nearby. Noone else wanted to go, but i was not going to turn it down! Im so glad i went- it was amazing- everyone was so good; i had a go at jenga but was too mesmorised by watching everyone else- it was fantastic watching the maestro play with the man who had taught him!! The atmosphere was amazing too- there is so much more to capoeira than any other marshal art- there were 3 birambaus, 3 drums and loads of tambourines. Caju kindly introduced me to the group and told everyone i was from Australia!The guys then took me back in their car, and on the way back, they got me to sing some of the capoeira songs, including one about a NIGER! In the eveing, we met up with Gabi, her brother and some of her friends. We went to a great bar which later had live music. Saturday 19th March- in the afternoon we went to the capoeira place to watch a video all about the history of capoeira- it was great. We then sat and had drinks with everyone at the random bar that was opposite the gym. We then got a lift back to Trindage where Faith and Charlotte live, we went to one of the capoeria guys house's and had wine caparinha- very good! We then went to a random samba club- it was like someone's living room- it was full of old men who attempted to show Sun and I how to samba- it was such an awesome night! Sunday 20th March- Don't know how i managed it, but i managed to get to Sun's house for 8 o'clock- after gabing had 5 hours sleep over two days. We finally were off to the Lagoinha treck. Took about an hour in the car then Just as we were about to start the treck we met one of the older guys from capoeira. he would not stop talking to us and telling us where to go- It was kinda funny but a bit annoying!We then headed off for lots of uphill walking- i had flip-flops on- bad idea!It was quite difficult- especially in the heat, but the views were amazing! We finally got to the beach, and who did we see- the crazy capoeira man, who must have followed us all the way down to the beach!! As it turned out, what he had been trying to say was that he had a beach house in the bushes..Me, sunny, George and Roberta followed him to his house and were met by about 15 other Brazilians. It was more of a hut in the middle of a forest clearing than a house- it was like going back in time- was awesome! We helped our self to some of their freshly prepared food- had some lovely fish. After much chatting with various people, and a tour of the few rooms that made up the guy's house, we headed down to the beach. We did some surfiing and Sun and i went for a really long swim in the gorgeous lake right by the sea- it was heaven! Instead of walking all the way back to the car, we got a boat back to the coast. Tuesday 22nd March- taught a music lesson today, was a bit difficult to control the children as they do not even listen to the other professor who speaks Portuguese, let alone me! The afternoon class really liked the conducting though! We also had a meeting with our coordinator, Meiro. It was sad hearing about the history of all of the children, but made us appreciate that what we have to offer really does make a difference to the lives of the children. In the evening, me and Sun cooked a delicious (?!?!?!) Tuna pasta bake for George and Roberta. Wednesday 23rd March- went to the park with the older children today, we then came back to hear some awful news. There had just been a huge drug raid on 3 of the girl's houses. The mother of one of the 8 year old girls, has been sent to jail for 8 years. The atmosphere at the project was not nice... the girl seemed, understandably, destraught, especially as her dad had been shot the year before. Charlotte and I later saw the raid on the TV- we saw the children, the mothers, and the awful amount of drugs that had been stashed away in the houses. I then went back to Faith and Charlotte's house after Capoeira, and we went to Botequim bar. We then headed to El Divino Lounge.. was a good night but the music was pretty bad. I don't really like hip-hop, and when it is mixed with a load of Brazilian hipe-hope its not great! but we had a good dance though!Got back at 5! Thursday 24th March- It was the birthday of Floripa today so no work!! Went back to Charlotte's and had a great lunch!Dozed off for a few hours, went for great run, then we went to an amazing pizza buffet restaurant for dinner. We all ate way too much and went to Botequim after but none of us even bought a drink!