The Sandlot and Others

Everyone has seen the movie Sandlot. If you haven´t, I don´t want you reading this blog again until you do. Well, the sandlot is not only just a yard housig the meanest dog known to man "the beast" created by holywood. The sandlot is real. We live a few houses down from it. There is a house down the street from us, painted a pale pink it hideous lookinhg. The yard looks no better than the house, barren would be an appropriate description. In the yard however, lives the beast, a terrifying mix of boxer and something else that has yet to not scare the hell out of john and I everytime we walk by. The problem is we shouldnt be scared. There is a giant metal fence between us and him, and everytime we jump away from the fence as we see him charging toward us all the old Brazilian men hanging around laugh at us which leads me to think this animal is basically harmless. But for all of you that come to visit, we´ll take you to the Sandlot and see if you get scared. Please fake it if you dont just to make john and I feel better. We´ve come to learn that A brazilian security system doesn´t consist of an alarm or a phone call to the police. The security here comes in the form of giant, loud, menacing looking dogs. This is a fact that we are going to have to get used to. The funy thing is there are about 11 thousand starys on the island which is a lot. But they are all much friendlier as far as we can tell then the house dogs. We actually know a guy who owns a pitbull that looks more like a tiger than a dog if you ask us. We think he has it for protection, and based on how it looks alone I would never think of messing with its owner. The first time John and I talked to this guy while his dog was around I was lucky enough to be holding a hamburger. Not the best of ideas. The dog turned out to be reasonably friendly though, aside from its razor sharp teeth, orange striped coat, and a body full of muscle. Ill post a picture of him later if I can and you´ll see why you could probably call this dog Sher Kahn (read the Jungle book). I´m on my way out tho, probably going to the beach. The next bog will probably have something to do with my first time surfing, and finally understanding why surfers say its like being in a washer machine when you fall or your board.

Two way streets

I don´t have much time cause I am at an internet cafe and John is dying of hunger at the momment, but I would like to inform everyone that John and I made it down here, alive. granted, it was a total of a 30 hour trip from when we left my house to when we set foot in the hostel, but what can you do? the island is awesome there are tons of beaches, tons of people, and all sorts of things to do. We drank the water, and we aren´t dying of dysentery, so that is one obstacle overcome. There are sure to be many more.
Now on to an interesting portion of our trip, and hopefully a set of guidelines you can all follow if you ever rent a car in Brazil, or, im guessing, any other south american country. John and I rented a car to explore the island for two days. The island is about 50 miles long and 15 wide. We searched the whole island, thus completing our goal, but let me tell you it was one of the scariest experiences of my life. John deserves a medal. He got in no accidents, didnt kill anyone, and didnt have a complete mental breakdown. He did get mad at one or two people from time to time though. I can´t say i blame him. He did all the driving cause I can´t drive stick and this is not the place to learn. First of all, the roads vary from highway to dirt path, from wide enough for three cars to pull in the side view mirrors, and from a speed limit of 20mph to ¨none posted.¨ Second i would like to tell you, if there is someone in front of you going to slow, you can pass them, regardless of the kind of road you are on or if there is a double yellow line painted on said road. You can pass on hills, around blind corners, on one lane roads, even if there is oncoming traffic. The last on is my personal favorite. you are also allowed to pass more than one vehicle at a time in any of these situations. My personal favorite was the VW golf we saw pass us, and two tour buses, on a two lane road with dense forest on one side and a lake on the other. There is little room for fear or error on the Brazilian road. You can´t think, if you think you´re dead, thats would be an accurate driving philosophy around here. About a week ago, a beer truck crashed into a tree coming down a hill trying to pass a passanger car. Instead of seeing if the passangers of the truck were ok, the onlookers took to stealing the precious cargo that was spilling out onto the streets. Once the truck had been sufficiently looted, the driver and passanger were tended to. There was another instance just two days ago, of a truck trying to pass a bus on a two lane road only to realize to late that there was an oncoming bus in his newly created passing lane. It seems funny at times to us, but its actually quite crazy when you think about it. Most of the truckers around here work more than 16 hours a day, and most of them seem to be using various narcotics to stay awake. Thank the government for strict trucking regulations in the US. Another constant worry on the brazilian road is the motorcylce. These guys are like fearless gants. They are tiny so you never see them in your mirrors, and they never slow down. They will pass anyone, at anytime, in either lane, in any situation. they fly by with little warning, and then they beep at you if you fail to notice them like they aret doing anything wrong. Its nothing short of a miracle that anyone who drives a motorcycle in this country isnt dead shortly after their first ride. I´ve got to go but there is mroe to add to this sotry.

take it easy all