Brasilia.

The first stop, on my trip to the Amazon, was Brasilia (my second visit). I planned to stay in Brasilia for the weekend, but it ended up being a little longer. I had caught the overnight bus, which was late from Sao Paulo, due to the heavy rains. The bus also arrived late in Brasilia, about 3hrs late. I went and had lunch with Mylana and Maura and then went and settled into Myla's appartment, the same one as before. It was great to reaquaint myself with all the people that I had met from my first trip to Brasilia.

Word quickly spread and a BBQ was arranged with about 3hrs notice and most of the friends that I had made before, came. It was great fun, just chilling out with people. I even danced a little Forro, which was great fun, even though I am not that good at it. Jacki had dubbed the BBQ as "Leigh's Party" and told everyone that it was my birthday. It was a little hard trying to explain to people that it was not the case. I received a few strange looks. I also hung out with a guy called Robson. He is the son of a Pastor and is the church office administrator. He took me to a Churrascaria, one of the all you can eat meat resturants. Ohhh, I think that I ate to much, but when the food is good, what can you do... Later on that day we went to a Sports Club and went swimming in the pool there. Before I could swim, we need to go shopping for some new bathers, as they do not allow people to swim in shorts... Yes, a pair of 'speedos' were purchased. It was a good thing that we went swimming, so I could try and work off some of the food that I had eaten. All the Sports Clubs here a private. When I said that we have public swimming pools in Australia that you pay a few dollars to enter, it was like I was talking another language. It is just not done here in Brasil.

That night, the church was involved in an Artistic Night. Various churches were getting together to dance and praise God through various styles of Dancing. Now I usually don't like this kind of dancing. I never really have. The first people to dance were those from the Church that I go to, here in Brasilia. They were represented by Fernanda and Anderson. They danced with passion and enthousiasm. It was not until Fernanda sat down, that I could see the happiness and joy in her face, that I realised how involved people can be in worship through dance. I think that I am beginning to change my mind on the matter. The wheels move slowly. After the dancing was done, it was off to have Pizza, at an all you can eat Pizza resturant... I think that this is becomming a theme, for returants here in Brasil. I also chilled out a lot during my time here. Going to bed late and getting up late.

I hung out with Jacki and Dany, as Myla was at work. So when the girls went places, I went too. It was great fun to experience their lives. One night, we all went to Pontao and had dinner. I ate way to much ice-cream, but it was hot and I didn't care. I was having fun. One of their friend's Kelly brought her Guitar, so we all sat arround and sung songs, next to the lake. It was great. A very relaxing night and it made me think of all the sings that we normally sing on a Sunday night, back in Oz. I also watched loads of DVD movies. It was a great enjoyable and relaxing time. I really needed the time to stop and rest.

On one of the weekends here, I went on a Church Camp. I have always felt at home here at this church, from the first service I went too during my first visit to Brasilia. Everyone has been just so warm and welcoming, even when they know that there is a language barrier, they still come over, smile and give a hug and say hello. Anyway, the camp cost 20 Reais (about $14 Aussie Dollars). There was some great teaching (if Myla translated correctly) and loads of singing and dancing. I just enjoyed being involved. I got involved in the soccer game that was played and although I didn't score a goal, I gave off a few good passes, which set up a few. I was happy with that. As all the guys were now so hot, it was swim time. They had a pool there, which we swam in for about an hour and then we all walked to a waterfall the swam some more. That night some of us played 'WAR' a great game of luck. I ended up winning, which was a first for me at WAR. All in all the weekend away with the church was great. The only down side was that we orded some bad food and a few people got sick, well most of the girls and a few guys were visiting the toilet often. It was a shame that this happened, but no one really complained about it.

So many more things happened in Brasilia, to many to write about each. It was like the Gringo had arrived and everyone wanted to show me off to their friends and to show others that they knew someone from Australia. I went bowling with Robson and Andre. I went to a family BBQ with Laura's family. Thiago, Gabi and Raphael also came, which was great. As a group from church, we went bowling (at a different location) where the pins were on strings. It was one of the strangest things I have seen. I was also invited to have Fondue at Gabi's house. Fondue is a big thing here in Brasil. It seems that everyone loves it. I also went to Fernanda's house for her Mum's birthday. I was asked 20 questions by various family members and I gave my responses in Portugues. I thought that I was doing well until I heard Fernanda repeat my answers with a few more Poertuguese words thrown in and in a much better accent. It saw the funny side of it, as I guess I have done that with people speaking their broken English here.

My last night in Brasilia was spent at the Tagutinga Shopping mall, as I needed to buy my plane ticket for Manaus. I had been a little lazy in going earlier to purchase it. I didn't care all that much, as I was spending the evening with friends. My farewell dinner was Pizza and red wine... We needed to keep a check on on person, to make sure they didn't have to much, as they were driving me home. Anyway the night was full of great conversation, sharing of moments and statements of how they plan to visit me in Australia. I will miss them all.