I arrived in Porto Allegre on the overnight bus & need not have worried about any problems at the Brazillian border with my visa, as slept straight through the whole thing!

My old Brazillian housemate Luci put me in touch with her good friends and sister in Porto Alegre, which is the city in which she grew up.

I had arranged with Andre for him to meet me at the bus station at 8am and fortunately he had no problems recognising me, despite the fact that for the first time in south america I was surrounded by lots of blondes, as southern Brazil recieved a lot of German coloniaation.

It was great to have a friendly face to meet me and to be able to speak with someone about their home town in english, as well as have a good laugh as Andre has a very cheeky sense of humour!

He took me back to his families inner city apartment where he lives with his parents, 2 brothers and one of thir girlfriends, Bruna (spelt wrong I'm sure!) whom I met when we arrived.

I had a shower and freshened up then joined them for the delicious breakfast they'd prepared!  

Breakfast in Brazil generally consists of some sliced ham, sliced cheese, rolls and fruit.  They also had some cheese spreads and another type of cheese in foil that I hadn't previously tried ... And Bruna likes soy milk - yay! So had my first white coffee for a while :-)

After some chit chat and pleasantries, Andre told me about 'the schedule' they had prepared for me!

First, a nap! Then we would go for lunch at the 'buffet livre' (all you can eat) in town near Brunas work (she was on holidays studying for exams), then Andres brother, Rosarito (his nickname)  would take me through town to see the sites, then that evening he would see if Kelly (Lucis friend since they were toddlers) was ok to change plans from heading to the charasco (Brazil BBQ), to going to Irish bar 'Dublin' instead - as apparently Tuesdays are busier nights out then the Wednesday night we'd originally planned.

So had my 2 hour nanna nap (still buggared from Punta!), and headed out for lunch - me, Andre & Rosarito.. Great little place and cheap!!! I think it was about $8 AUD (thank you again Andre for paying!) and had lots of salads & hot dishes to try. They also had a cook waiting to make up pasta sauces or sweet or savory crepes right in front of you ... Mmm the bom bom crepe was good !!

Bruna & Andre headed home to study and me and Rosarito headed out to look around town taking in the sights- Gasometro, government building, cathedral, mercado publico. 

Rosarito only speaks a little bit of English, and I speak no Portugese and only a little bit of Spanish so conversations were funny and Im getting better at charades!

When we got back to the apartment Luci's other friend Carime and her boyfriend Guilherme were there, so introductions were made and Guilherme gave me my 5 alternating cheek kisses - I was giggling and gasping for breath after 3!

'What?!' they're saying? This is how Brazillian men greet girls ... 

This is what I get for mentioning to Andre in the morning that I wasn't used to their kidding customs or what was correct to do when you meet!  

It's actually only 3 kisses in the south and  only 1 in places like Sao Paulo  ... maybe to speed things up in the busier city?! 

So anyway Andre told me I have to greet all Brazillian men like that - even the door man! Funny guy :-)

I left with Carime & Guilherme and went to their place to get ready.  All the places in her area were lovely but all fences have barbed wire and the grand stand alone houses have guards. Apartment blocks like hers had doormen (whom I did not Greer with 5 kisses!).

Another shower after walking around in the PA heat (Brissy style weather) then left for Dublin.

We met Kelly (who i was staying with) there with her friend. 

I kept finding it really funny as when you look around the room I could have been at any Irish pub at home.  

There were all colours of skin & hair, wearing same labels as us, and the guitarist was singing in English, playing heaps of my favorite songs like, Foo Fighters 'it's times like these' and Green Days 'I hope you have the time if your life'.

They pointed out to me though, the singer may not always speak English and if you listen closely it's  sometimes obvious ...

At a lot of bars in Brazil, when you walk in they ask your name to write on your drink card, and each drink you request is recorded on that, then you go to a register and pay at the end of the night.

I think its a great system as at least you know what you've had! Not good if you lose it though as you pay top dollar!!!

I had a great fun night and managed to get sloshed on 3 cocktails - those Caiprahinas are wicked!!! 

And got hit on by my first Brazillian - yay! 

He came up to me at our table and offered to buy me a beer in Portugese - of course I had to turn to the girls and say 'What the he'll is this man saying to me?!'

I declined - being one of the few Aussies that don't drink beer, and wasnt about to accept a drink when I couldn't even have a chat to him without a translator  :-(

Stayed at Kellys that night and she went off to work early the next morning and left me a note to call her and meet for lunch.

I got up and seized the opportunity to get all my washing done, then rang Kelly and received instructions on how to get the bus to her work.

I programmed her address into google maps on my iPhone and set off ...

Straight up, working out which bus to catch was not easy ... Then when on the bus the driver and guy you pay kept looking over, smiling and laughing :-(

The cashier guy wasnt so bad, and told me when to get off which was good - hopped of and checked my iPhone for the map ... 

I have no idea why it does this but the map decided to update itself and as I was now no longer Connected to Kellys wifi,  the map dropped out leaving a grey screen.

Tbe only hope when this happens is to make the blue dot (the location where I am) connect with the red dot (the location you've programmed). It was the only map I had!

Fun times!  

So about an hour later after the blue dot sending me on a crazy journey through the streets then suddenly deciding to move across the screen even though I'm standing still, a few text msgs from Kelly, and some barely understandable directions from some helpful locals, I managed to meet Kelly at her work.

We then headed off with her and her work mates for lunch. I hadn't previously spoken about what we do for a living, so it was funny to we tall have similar roles doing business improvement / change management / process mapping and Kelly is a system analyst.

They also use BPMM which is the process mapping tool we've just commenced using at work!

Kellys workmate and English teacher, Fiona had the afternoon off and offered to show me about.

Fi moved to Brazil from Scotland on a whim speaking very little Portugese having only done a few basics lessons. She met her husband Phillippe very quickly, and now speaks fluent Portugese one year on. 

We went for a walk down by the water, and did a cruise of the water ways.  

It was great to get her perspective on the country and the difference from the UK.

Fiona helped me work out which bus ro take back to Kellys, but I still got lost as bus didnt seem to stop when i pressed the button! 

Ended up walking the 40 minutes back to Kellys apartment in Centro Teotropolis from Zona Sul in the rain, as was paranoid about getting a bus again, and kept thinking I'm almost there!!!

That evening we went for dinner at a traditional Churasco that had gaunchos dancing Flamenco (might have that dance name wrong!). It was great to see this side of Brazillians, and so far removed from the beaches of Rio which is what I thought Brazil was all about!

It was Kelly,Andre and Carime at dinner again, but also joined by Luci's sister Naty and her boyfriend Guilherme

The food was delicious but too much meat!!! I just couldn't keep up with the amount they were bringing to try!

Also loved the BBQd pineapple with cinamon & sugar - mmm will have to try that at home!

Ducked the gaucho who was looking for a volunteer and  Kelly went up instead.

He had an old hunting weapon they used, which was 2 hard balls on a string that he was using in his act to make a beat as he hit them on the stage. He also displayed his skill at using them as he'd swing them around Kelly at the perfect angle to fluff her hair up but not take her out! 

After dinner we dropped Naty and her boyfriend home then went for a quiet drink at the Boteca.

Farewelled Carime and Andre and thanked them for spending a very fun 2 days out of my 500 day holiday with them (another cheeky Andre comment), 'I can't believe you're only going to spend 2 days out of your 500 day holiday with us!

The next morning Kelly dropped me at my bus platform to be sure I was getting the right bus to Florionopolis!

I had such a fantastic time with all, and enjoyed thier company so much!

I really appreciated all their insights into Brazilian culture and all they did for me!!!

A big thanks to Luci too for arranging it all for me and making the intros!

It will definitely remain one of the highlights of my trip - even if it was only 2 days if mt 163 day holiday :-)