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It took me around nineteen hours to get to Florianopolis. The ride was a bit bumpy and sitting at the back next to the toilet wasn´t a pleasant experience, in particular towards the end of the trip. I remember I was a bit paranoid about being robbed when a rough looking woman sat next to me half way through the trip, so I decided to transfer all my valuables into my money belt. I´m sure this was an overreaction, probably triggered by the memory of another woman offering her help when I was withdrawing cash in Igazu.<br />

Florianopolis

George Csaszi
2006-02-27 19:12:04

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trying to explain to her that this might be a means to an end, but then I figured it´s probably better (for both of us) to leave her in blissful ignorance. It´s not that I thought she was silly, in fact all the girls were really intelligent with great jobs (I remember two of them were lawyers, and one an architect), it´s just I though it was better to keep my moth shut (knowing men and women think very differently), so i don´t jeopardise my privileges.
On New Year´s eve everyone at the hostel joined the locals and other holiday makers at the beach to jump the waves (it´s a tradition for people in Brazil at midnight to jump New Years Eve, beach partyseven waves and make a wish during each jump), drink champagne, and dance (there was a DJ on the beach!). All the girls were wearing white (I think the guys were also meant to, but usually don´t bother), and danced really well to Samba. In the mean time fireworks were going off, adding to the atmosphere. It was probably the best New Year´s party of my life, I wish my family and friends were there!

Towards the end of my time at the hostel I either managed to annoy some of the girls or they just decided to go through this difficult period of their lives without my help. As a consequence I found myself getting slightly bored. Fortunately Tsiago again came to my rescue by asking me to go to JOAQUINA beach (one of the best places to surf on the island), with him and a few of the others. After a bit of sunbathing and swimming (and staring at beautiful women), we came across a guy who was selling handcrafts. He also had a Capoiera instruments called the Berimbau. After showing us how it is played, he told us about the history of Capoiera. Later in the evening New Years Eve, beach party 2we went to a bar called 'John Bull', although we were tired and the music was bad (they were playing old rock music), we all managed to have a good time.

I´m still surprised just how friendly and welcoming all the Brazilians were at the hostel. They were really trying (particularly Tsiago and the girls) to make every foreigner feel part of their group, and help them as much as they could. On the last day they even gave me a lift to the bus station in town.

Before I left I had a nice conversation with Jerry, a retired teacher from Canada, and 'confidant' to the Brazilian girls. I haven´t seen them for a while, so it was happy to learn they managed to sort themselves out. When they were leaving they were very emotional, particularly Claudia, who was too tired to even speak English.
One of the funniest moments at the hostel was when Lena, an eccentric fashion college lecturer started hitting a cheeky 21 year old English guy called Graham, who looked as though he enjoyed it as he kept on teasing her.

I get the impression people in Brazil really know how to party, and though life may not New Years Eve, beach party 3always easy, in general they are very cheerful. Also, everyone I talked to seemed to be very hard working, some spending on average 14 hours a day at work.