Bolivia and my body never really came to terms with each other. On more than one occasion over recent weeks I had been lauding myself as being almost invincible to illness, disease, and calling myself 'iron guts atkins' (which I quite liked the sound of) because I barely courted any health problems at all on my 9 month trip. However I was ill on three seperate occasions while in Bolivia and got rather annoyed with not feeling well. I consider only one of those th...

Well I'm still in Rio, but only just. Carrying round 20 Reais in my front pocket to give to potential muggers, leaving my camera in the flat, jogs around the lake and along the beach, going into C&A in Copacabana to cool off on hot days (the iciest air con in Rio), portuguese lessons, and actually having a daily routine will all shortly be things of the past. I'll also be leaving behind in Rio my excellent host 'family' Teresa. Although my portuguese has impr...

Well I'm still in Rio, but only just. Carrying round 20 Reais in my front pocket to give to potential muggers, leaving my camera in the flat, jogs around the lake and along the beach, going into C&A in Copacabana to cool off on hot days (the iciest air con in Rio), portuguese lessons, and actually having a daily routine will all shortly be things of the past. I'll also be leaving behind in Rio my excellent host 'family' Teresa. Although my portuguese has impr...

One of the good things the language school I am at in Rio organises is afternoon excursions to some of the city's more interesting places that aren't necessarily on the main tourist hit-list. 'Professor Rurik' is this old retired guy who runs the trips out to museums and other historic spots; there is very little this bloke doesn't know about Rio and Brazil. He's been able to provide an interesting commentary to visits to the museum of contempory art (designed by...

I'm currently living in an apartment in Rio de Janeiro with a 40 year old Swiss farmer who speaks german, zero english, and knows about 16 portuguese words. We are staying with a middle aged brasilian woman who speaks portuguese, zero german, and knows about 57 english words. With the addition of my english, 112 german words, and 23 portuguese words (around 40% of which are footballers names) it makes for interesting conversation around the dinner table. Interest...