hi there, how are you? its been a couple of weeks since the last update, so here goes.... i really enjoyed buenos aires, left there more than two weeks ago. our last day, we had a tour inside the casa rosada, which was really interesting. then we took a sea cat to uruguay. the first town we visited was colonia del sacramento, which was a really pretty former portuguese colony. the streets were cobbled and lined with sycamores. really enjoyed it there. we then went to montevideo, where we saw a fantastic football match. there were two red cards (including one goalie), several yellows, two missed penalties and three goals...in the first half alone!!! there were also three more goals in the second half, final score penarol 5 cerro 1. the next day, the weather was pretty bad, for practically the first time on this trip, so we couldnt really do much sightseeing. that was my last day with alex and dave, as that night i took the first of several overnight buses. i woke up in porto alegre, in brazil, after practically the easiest border crossing EVER. i handed over my passport when i got on the bus, and several hours later, it was returned, complete with new stamps, without me ever having left the bus. i actually slept through it. i spent a day in porto alegre, had fun looking round museums. complete culture shock after most chileans and argentinaians speaking fantastic english, or at least understanding my attempts at spanish, NOONE here spoke any english. still i managed, even got my bus ticket, and ended up in the correct place. next stop was curitiba. spent about a day and a half here, did a city tour which was good, enjoyed the botanic gardens. then i took a train, billed in my guide book as the most exciting in brazil. it was really enjoyable, great views, loads of tunnels and bridges with sheer drops. it took me to morretes, a really small village where there wasnt much to do, so i continued on to paranagua, where i saw a really interesting museum. next day was set aside for sightseeing, but i was woken overnight by a really big storm, and it was still bucketing when i left, so i returned to curitiba, and spent the rest of the day shopping!! then my third 12hour bus journey in 5 days. i arrived in rio last saturday, and despite few people here speaking english i managed to get myself to a football match, using public transport. it was ok, though there werent many people there, so the atmosphere wasnt great. still, vasco da gama beat ponta preta 1-0. on monday, ailsa arrived, and since then, weve been up sugarloaf mountain, seen cristo redentor atop corcovado, been to copacabana and ipanema beaches, taken the tram to santa teresa, been on a tour of favelas (otherwise known as slums!), been to the former presidential palace where in 1954, the then president shot himself through the heart (we even saw the pyjama top he was wearing, complete with bullet hole and bloodstain....) and went on a tour of maracana, the worlds largest football stadium. and weve been eating very well, as its pretty cheap here. on tuesday were off to foz do iguacu, which were both really looking forward to. hope you are well.