Adventure

I am currently reading Into the Wild. For those of you not familiar with the story, see this link. Let me be clear, I don't intend to embark on a reckless journey which puts my life in peril; such an excursion would be selfish. But there is definitely a part of me that yearns for adventure in its rawest form. What is it with males in their early 20s? Lately, drawing upon my roots, I have acquired a renewed interest in the desert. I love the following quote from Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist:

"But the desert is so huge, and the horizon so distant, that they make a person feel small, and as if he should remain silent."

This was the exact feeling I had recently as I looked out over the inspiring contrast of sand and shadows at dusk, near a quiet rest stop somewhere around the Arizona/California border.

I think a camping trip to the little Sahara will do just fine.

The Road Ahead

I am not sure that my blog will ever boast such cool experiences as it did when I was in Brasil, but I am pretty excited about what the next 8 months has to offer. In mid-June I will be moving to Los Angeles for a 6-month internship in corporate finance with Johnson & Johnson. I have been interested in living in southern California for a while now and I think I will fit in well with the rhythm of life in LA. I don't know where I will be living yet, but you all are invited to come and visit if you get the chance.






Yesterday I went with Dan to the Kennecott Copper Mine, the largest open-pit mine in the world. I was amazed by the size of the mine and the fact that I am taking a Geology class right now enhanced the experience. It is supposedly 2 Sears Towers deep (I recognize that some UK insurance company now owns the rights, but it will always be the Sears Tower to me). We humans can engineer some pretty cool things.






Lastly and most importantly it is Mother's Day. For the first time in my 24 years on the earth, I now call home sometimes looking for mom only to find that she is busy at work. I am very happy she has a job that she loves, but more importantly, I am happy and grateful to have a wonderful mom who was never too busy for me while I was growing up, who never put herself first, and who dedicated herself to loving me, teaching me, and providing me with much opportunity in my life. I love you Mom.

The Runway

Dan and I modeled for Thais' final project today...it rocked. We spent hours back stage preparing, but it was cool because you are with all the other models and the anticipation just keeps building as you get closer to showtime. It also didn't hurt to be surrounded by so many amazingly pretty girls.

Her theme for the designs came from a very old Gothic-style German film. Finally, after all the preparation and anticipation, when it was time to shine it was done in just 2 minutes. Congratulations Thais!


Chillin' pre-showtime







Afterward with the star of the night...recently graduated stylist, Thais

Back to Bahia

Last week was my long-awaited return to the area where I served as a missionary. The trip was amazing and reminded me how much I truly love Bahia.

I spent my first day in Salvador visiting friends and members I taught. Unfortunately, I do not feel particularly comfortable walking around Salvador anymore (it is not the most tourist friendly city) so while it was good to see old faces, I was eager to move on to my next destination.

I caught an overnight bus that evening to Vitória da Conquista and spent 4 days at the Guerra's house, good friends of mine and a family I greatly admire. It was a very relaxing atmosphere and I spent most of the time visiting with them and playing with the kids. We also hosted a barbecue as a means of me catching up with everyone in the Morada Real ward (my last area) which was very successful.

After Conquista, I took a bus to Itacaré where Dan met up with me. I could go on forever about Itacaré, but I will just say that I was completely enchanted by the place. It is a very small beach town, about 8,000 inhabitants, nestled on the southern coast of Bahia where the Contas river meets the ocean. It was once the location of many cacau plantations, but it wasn't until 10 years ago that the first paved road to the city was completed. This allowed the city to remain quite untouched from the outside world and much of the natural forest remains intact.

We spent most of our time there enjoying the beautiful beaches and hanging with fellow hostel members. It was very interesting to get to know many of the people and hear about their history and other adventures they had throughout the world.

While in Itacaré we also did an awesome day trip to Taipú de Fora which is basically only accessible by Land Rover. In some respects, I really liked the fact that the region lacks infrastructure like paved roads b/c it makes for much more adventure. The attraction at Taipú de Fora is the natural swimming pools caused by the coral reefs just off the shore.

All the beaches were gorgeous, the water was perfect, and the city was really chill. It is no wonder that many travelers I talked with said they had been in town for quite sometime b/c they just did not want to leave.



Salvador, Bahia




Churrasco in Conquista








Guerra Family, excellent hosts





Resende Beach, Itacaré, Bahia


Costa Beach, Itacaré, Bahia


Our balcony at the hostel


They pulled these out of the river


Boarding the ferry for our trek to Taipú









Taipú de Fora




Returning to Itacaré, the scenic route


Hammocks are part of the seating at this roadside snack shop!




Our guide was a stud


My hostel and the dog that followed us all around town

What Be Happenin'

Life continues to be sweet. This second module is keeping me slightly more busy in terms of schoolwork and I also have projects for Empresa Junior on my slate. That being said, my motto for my stay in Brasil "Work hard and play harder" is still in full swing.

Today is a holiday and some friends came up to São Paulo for the weekend so we could party. Hooray for living in a Catholic-influenced society...lots of holidays in the name of religion!


HUGE caterpillar. I wonder what kinda butterfly it turns into...



We decided to rock it up for Halloween.



The Ninja Cupcakes, minus the lovely Thais.



I guess you know you hit it right when several people at the party ask to have a picture with you.



Just another fun-filled day at Vila Lobos park with the regular posse.