Back!

Welcome back to our normal routine, dear reader!

The volcano made me stay another week in Rio (I am not complaining) but I managed to get back to Sweden safely.

Rio is mostly the same, purgatory of beauty and chaos, as Fernanda Abreu (famous Brazilian singer born there) used to sing. After being 1,5 year in Sweden without visiting my country, I got to notice some stuff and miss other.

The street population got bigger, for example. Maybe because the rain destroyed many of the poorish houses on the hills (favelas), forcing people to get downtown and beg for money. The thing is that, everywhere I went to in Rio I could easily trip on someone sitting along the sidewalks. Sad but true.

The good thing was to be again in touch with the great Brazilian friendliness. People talk to you, acknowledge you and are very likely to help you if you are in need.

Also, just to wake up, open the window and see blue sky and sunshine most everyday is amazing (you Swedes know what I'm talking about...).

By the way, I went up north to Pernambuco state, to a city called "Porto de Galinhas". I can say now that it was the best beach I have been to so far (and trust me, I am an expert on the beach subject). The place was a paradise... warm and clear sea, the fish come and swim around you. The hotel just some steps away from the beach. It almost felt fake, as if we were in "Truman show" or something.

I finish this post with one pic from there. I totally recommend it!