Ok I better write about this in the moment otherwise later I'll feel better and feel it unnecessary. But I wanna look back and remember the hard times too...

I'm still loving Brazil and had another great day with Ana. She took me 2 hours (3 in her car) up to the mountains where there's a nice touristy town which is having a film festival right now, called Gramado. This place is also known for their chocolate :-). Then also nearby is Canela, a small town in the mountains that has a park with a pretty waterfall. So the day was great, lots of fun but I'm still not feeling well- congested head, sneezing and stuffy. Basically after the rickety 3-hour drive back (with a strong smell of gasoline roaming in the car) I was tired, getting hungry and really wanted to find wifi so I could call my mom for her birthday. So at around 9pm we went to the mall and I got wifi in the foodcourt but it was a bust, my mom couldn't hear me well, skype wasn't working for either of us and I just broke down crying ( so unlike me). I know I'm just sick which makes me homesick but it's also the frustration of not being able to communicate. I know I put myself in a foreign country and I'm trying to learn Portuguese but it's still difficult right now. I understand some things perfect then I don't understand a word. My head hurts of congestion and trying to squeeze 100 new Portuguese words a day in it. All day I'm so focused on every word I see and constantly looking up words in my dictionary and studying the past present and future of each verb... I think I need to just slow it down. But it's hard also not having Internet, not being able to just chat or skype friends and family, laugh it off... Oh well. I just dont want to complain because Im still grateful to be traveling and seeing new things... But its not always easy.

Tomorrow I leave for my 26 hour bus ride, that should be a good chance to relax and try to absorb the Portuguese I've learned so far. Hopefully I'll arrive to Rio fresh and ready! I'm dying to exercise but I've been trying to rest. It'll be warmer in Rio and near the beach and I have PLENTY of time to see things, unpack my bags, and feel comfortable.