what a fabulous country

brazil is.  i can't remember the last time i had so much fun, and met so many cool people.  there are more beautiful countries certainly, but when it comes to the people, barbecue, women - brazil is where it's at.  

anywho, i'm now in blumenau.  previous to this, i was in balneario camboriu, a beach town about an hour outside of florianopolis.  floripa gets all of the press, but balneario is where it's at.  i couchsurfed with a brazilian college student, and she took me partying out every night with her friends.  honestly, i can't remember the last time i partied so hard, and had so much fun

well i'm not going to go on an on about how great this place is.  all i'm going to say is that argentina has nothing on brazil.

a couple of things i don't get about this place though.  the people are obsessed with nike shox.  people - guys and girls - wear them as fashion statements.  i mean they wear them out to clubs, bars, etc.  in the US, i don;t think you'd be caught dead in those things, unless you are at the gym or grocery store or something.  maybe it's because shox are expensive here, and owning a pair indicates that you have money.  well, it certainly doesn't mean you have any style in my book.

as well, the women have taken to wearing enormous heels.  and not just the heels - the toe part too.  i see women walking around with what are like bricks strapped to their shoes.  i know i've been traveling for a while, and i'm not in the loop (never have been, actually) about style.  maybe this is what women are wearing in the US too.  god i hope not

the meat here is incredible, and cheap.  the brazilians really take bbq seriously.  most houses i'm told have a dedicated bbq pit.  they're big into slow roasting.  well they're doing something right.  

food is pretty cheap here.  and rent, i hear.  but everything else is expensive eg shoes, clothes, electronics, cars.  apparently brazil taxes anything that's imported quite heavily.  for example, in the US you'd pay $10k usd for a shitmobile.  that same car in brazil would run you at least 50k reals, which is $25k usd