Day 62 - 36...

Of course, in accordance with the buddist concept of 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows, my in-flight joy of yesterday was immediately followed by an after-flight sorrow today. My luggage didn't make it. This has never happened to me before. Luckily, after living in Mexico for 2 months, I have learnt not to pay attention to such insignificant road bumps, and am not going to let this incident spoil my first day in Rio and - oh well - my 36th birthday... I just hope my bags will arrive tomorrow, otherwise I'm royally screwed, as I have to leave to Paraty at 2PM to meet up with THE GROUP! It would be nice to have my own clothes for the week that we are spending there. But one of my friends who frequents Brazil pointed out, that "you don't need any clothes in Rio anyway, you can go naked to a bank, they are all accustomed to it". So I'm sure I'll get by somehow (will just stop posting pictures for a while).

Rio met me with the exceptional friendliness of Renata's parents, with whom I'm staying here. They run a "guest service" business in Brazil, and I decided to take advantage of it. They have several guest houses throughout the country - Rio, Buzios, Petropolis, etc. - and what better way to get to know the country if not by hanging out with and being guided by locals.



Rio is gorgeous. For me there's hardly anything better than looking at the sea and the mountains in the viewfinder at the same time. The weather is gorgeous. People are gorgeous. Streets are gorgeous. It is really the only epithet that comes to mind when you first arrive in this city. We will see what adds to it as the time goes by.

Today is strange. It is the first time I celebrate my birthday without my friends. Many of them are flying over to Brazil as I'm writing these lines, yet they are not here today. Instead, I spend the day with Renata's parents and their friends from Argentina who are also staying with them. Those guys are exceptionally nice, but they don't speak a word of English. So ironically enough, now I have to speak Spanish! All day! And to my amazement, I am totally able to carry a semi-intelligent conversation in my new beloved language! It's funny how I didn't really notice it in Cozumel, because everybody there speaks English, so I always found myself switching to English whenever convenient for me, so I always thought that I couldn't really speak. But I can!!! What a nice birthday present to discover this!

Thought of the day: it occurred to me that every 12 years I seem to be in need of introducing some grand changes into my life. When I was 12, I fell in real love for the first time. When I was 24, I moved to the US. When I am 36, I am doing, well, THIS. The year of tiger - "my" year - seems to awaken something in me that requires movement. And I move... Happy Birthday to me!