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What an adventurous couple of days it has been. We left from Maracaipe in bus and went to Jacumã (farther in the North, for a map of Brasil, go here - we were about 30 minutes outside of Joáo Pessoa). We camped on the beach for four nights. Here is a day-by-day rundown.1st night - Arrived in Jac. and, after eating fish cooked in coconut (the local specialty we hiked with our bags and tents down the beach in the dark until we found (what we thought was a safe) enclave right next to sea. It was safe until the tide came in. We moved back up the beach and camped 30 yards from the sea. Very beautiful with noone around (during the night). Gustavo and I stay up late talking and festejando con la luna y las estrellas.Sunday - Awoke to people walking around our tents - apparently this beach isn´t as deserted as we thought. Anyway, we break down our tents and decide to move farther up the beach (past la playa del amor or the Love Beach in English) where there are cliffs, no houses, and seemingly nobody. As we walked, decided to take a 4-hour pause at one of the thatch-roofed bars along the Love Beach where we ate some more fish & shrimp soup, and drank a bit of beer. At this point, we have walked a total of 100 yards (!).After leaving the rest./bar, we have our first encounter with El Rio De La Mierda (or the Poop River); named as such because it drained a mixture of who knows what from Jac. to the sea (we learned quickly to cross when the tide was low as the river was wider). It seperated The Love Beach from our section of beach and effectively kept out most visitors. We found a spot up on a bluff and built our campsite out over the sea. There was noone else around (a deserted beach!). The sun set very early (around 6:00) although the temp. was perfect the entire time (some rain but nothing major). After setting up camp, we headed back to town to find some food, drink and Samba. We found the first two but not the last one at an outdoor barbeque where we ate chicken and bacon on sticks and drank caperina. A great night as we all talked for probably 3 or 4 hours about different customs and holidays in our countries (among other things). Unfortunately, for the second time in as many trips with Dani & Geli (i.e. in Bolivia as well I got food poisoning after eating 4 of the chicken/bacon combos and 2 of the sticks of cheese cooked over the fire on a stick). Everyone else ate the same (well, not in as large a quantity) and noone else got sick (my theory - the last one I ate wasn´t as hot as the others i.e. it wasn´t cooked as well). Needless to say, I spent the next two days not totally comfortable (but felt better than the last time in Bolivia).Monday - We wake up to the sound of the waves only 30 feet from our tents - I throw up for the first of two times. I spend the majority of the day sleeping in the shade with my bed. As for the night, we build a campfire and cook hot dogs while we tell all sorts of crazy stories. I am told more than once that my life and stories are very GRINGO - that´s OK, I loved telling the stories (i.e. rolling Katie Peterson´s, cow tipping with Mark, having my Jeep *stolen* from in front of IHOP, etc. and making references to TN ). The place is spectacular and we all have a good time (although, sometimes, I can´t help but notice how different I am from the others). On a side note, my sister leaves for Rio de Janeiro today - I hope I will meet up with her there (if not, then we will meet up in Iguazu).Tuesday - I don´t feel good again (could it be the hot dogs, NO )and spend the majority of the day sleeping in the shade and thinking. What about living in Barcelona, Spain? Geli and I have spent alot of time talking about Spain (she has been to Barcelona and Granada as well) With noone around and only the sea to keep you company, it is easy to spend the day sleeping. We build another campfire and cook fish with rice in hobo packs (tin foil packs you put in the fire for about 15 minutes that I learned in Boy Scouts) - the food was great and afterwords we all lay around the campfire under the stars on a beach in Brasil - how cool is that? Geli taught us some games (que se yo, divide by 7, and another) that were also pretty cool.Wednesday - It was sad to leave the campsite after three great days but today (it is wed. as I write this) it is time to head south down to Rio - we hiked with our bags down the beach to a little fishing village without electricity (but with food and drink, luckily). We took a two-hour break from our walk and ate some fish and shrimp soup along with some Skol beer. I am not sure how I will get to Rio (it looks like 40 hours in bus). At the beach, I read but didn´t finish Master Key To Riches and Los Argentinos Por La Boca Mueren 2 along with my diary from my time in France with Carole over Christmas. Needless to say, a wide range of topics. Now that it is the end, I am ready to get back to some semblance of work (yet I have two more weeks of traveling in front of me!).

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