Hey Everyone!! Hope you are all well. Thanks so much for all your emails and messages - its great to hear what you guys have been up too. Had another mad two weeks. I have now finished 56 hours of Portuguese lessons!! I am definately fluent!! But feel lots more confident and past the stage of just saying 'sorry'or 'thank you' to people! Hopefully Cairu will help aswell considering that nobody on the island speaks portugeuse! A little scary - but should really help consolidate what I have begun to learn. Last night had a great night, I was really lucky and was able to see Jamiroqui in concert - it was amazing!! It was a small venue and we managed to get really close. There was a great atmosphere - everyone dancing and singing away! We danced loads and he played a really cool 2 hour set. He also wore a Brazilian top aswell - which went down really well and of course had a wicked hat on aswell! Friday night was another really great night. We went out with the language school teachers to Lapa - one of the big places to go out in Rio. Instead of going to one of the big clubs we just had drinks on the bustling streets - the atmosphere was amazing! Bohemian, crowed and loud! Then a few of us went to this tiny club in a house where they were had a live foho band playing - foho is a north west Brazilian dance. It was really good fun. My dance partner was called Ronaldo and he taught me the moves - it was quite complicated! I kept stepping on his toes to begin with but eventually got the hang of it! The whole night felt really Brazilian. Time seemed to fly by! By the the time we got out of the club it was light and 6 in the morning! We wondered round - still loads of people and music and dancing everywhere!! Was such a good night. The last week has been spent mainly concentraiting on Portuguese and tanning. We have also been going out most nights to clubs round here - quest taking over the dancefloor! So not much sleep - but you have to make the most of Rio! We also got to visit one of Quest's other projects in Manguera, one of Rio's Favela's - they have a big social project there with a really good school and massive sports complex - was really amazing to go. We got to go in to the school and chat to all the kids.They went a little bit mad and we all felt really sorry for the teacher as we left and most of the kids were out of the seats and of the classroom! They also have some guys there with physical and mental special needs and we got to and chat to them which was great - I found that did challenge my portuguese a bit though - but sign language worked well! The project is really well established and has been running for 18 years, anyone from the community can use the facilities, it looks really well funded and we were really lucky to go and look round. Last weekend was fantastic aswell - we ventured out of the Rio routine to Ilha Grande - for some camping and beach buming! We also had our first birthday of the group - Sarah was 19 - we went out to a little street party and danced and chatted to Brazilians trying our best portuguese - but I seem to remember mainly saying'eu gosto morango'which means 'I like strawberries'!! Sarah also managed to end up in the sea fully cothed - pushed by mike! I am worrying that this will become a tradition for all group b-days!! We walked through the jungle to Lopes Mendez, a beach which aparently was ranked the third best in the world - it was beautiful - the photos cannot do it justice - the clarity of the water and the colour of the sea, sand and sky and with the backdrop of jungle was soo amazing! Had such a good trip and it was nice to get away for a few days from the madness of Rio. I have really enjoyed my time in Rio - its been really nice to get to know a city and Ipanema for three weeks - and a really great place to come and get to know everyone to begin with - but I am ready to move on and cant wait for Cairu - I leave tomorrow morning - and I am really excited - it will be such a contrast, but I am definately ready for a change and a more rural, typically Brazilian setting. Looking forward to some tree planting - thanks again everyone who donated money at my fundraiser - the extra money I made will go to help a specific project in Cairu - so I will let you all know what the money has been put towards - and Rich and Fi still cant wait to build the composter! I will only be able to access my email once or maybe twice but I would love to have lots of emails and messages with everything you guys are doing to read when I can get on - so please keep sending them! Hopefully when I can get on I will be able to upload my photos aswell. Hope you are all well. Peace and love! Soph xxxxxxxx