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