I Want to Stay

One day into my Brazil trip, and I'm already thinking about staying another week. It didn't take long for me to get into the travel groove. On the flight down (which was only 75% full, allowing me to lay out and sleep the entire 8 hour flight), I met a Brazilian woman who offered to take me to my destination. She wasn't a scam artist (mom, don't worry) - things like this happen in Brazil... very friendly people, especially in Minas Gerais. But it was easier for me to take the bus, so that's what I did. I expected to be able to use my Spanish to compensate for knowing no Portuguese, but it has helped minimally so far. At the airport I had a few stare downs with Brazilians at ticket counters, and had to resort to hand gestures and very simple words. I was immediately reminded of how travel oven equals failure (I think I posted about this yesterday). Because travelers are naturally ignorant, they make mistakes. The key is to be resilient and resourceful. For me, that's a hell of a lot of fun.

Dave and Cassia picked me up from the bus station, drove me to Cassia's house for a quick shower, and then we (plus two of Dave's friends) went to an outdoor modern art museum/park in the middle of nowhere. The three friends walked around while Dave and Cassia took wedding photos. Really cool park, and we got to see a very local (and somewhat country) side of Brazil.

We left the park in early evening and drove through a few small towns on our way back to Belo Horizonte. Thirsty, we stopped for some coconut water (straight from the coconut) and some of those cheese-tasting onion ring-looking snacks that are everpresent in South America. Driving through the towns reminded me of one thing I love about Latin America - how everyone is out walking in the streets when the day ends. There's so much activity - schoolchildren, people getting off work, people heading home or to bars. Of course, tonight the temperature was about 75 degrees farenheit all day, so the evening had a pleasant feel.

We decided to spend the evning at Cassia's house to rest up for the next few days. For dinner (really a "merienda"more than a dinner) we had ham sandwiches, a fresh fruit salad, and some local cheese + dulce de leche. The house reminds me of where I lived in Mexico - it's nice, simple, has a small patio, and is very "open air." I've got my own room, and it's very comfortable. I brought a photo book of Alabama and some BBQ dry rub for Cassia's parents, which they seemed to appreciate. A rooster will wake me up tomorrow (in Mexico, I was woken by the guys screaming "gaaaas"and "aguaaaa" before the lazy roosters, which usually started crowing at 9:00am). Tonight I'll read a bit of the Keith Richards autobiography (hilarious thus far... that guy did a lot of drugs. Seriously. A lot of drugs) then go to bed early. Tomorrow we'll drive to Ouro Preto, an old colonial mining town in the hills. Dave and Cassia had planned to spend the next two nights with us, but Dave has to take care of some stuff in BH. So, I'll either tag along with Tim and his girlfriend Caitlin, or go off on my own - either to Rio or to a random small town. Minas Gerais (the state we're in) has a bunch of small mining towns that are probably all similar. I think it would be cool to pick a completely random place to spend a day - probably just walking around, eating, reading, and feeling anonymous.

Oh, and I want to extend my trip in Brazil. I miss traveling. I'm good at it. It's invigorating. At this transition point in my life, I want some time away to experience something exciting, and to have the time and space to reflect on my transitino. Just as important, when else am I going to be in Brazil?

Destination

I will spend the next three weeks in Brazil. My goal for this trip is to not just enjoy myself, but rather be joyful in the moment instead of concerning myself with the destination. However, at this moment I just want to get to Brazil. I'm about to board in Miami after a long day.

I wrote this around 5:00pm today...

I just woke up from a nap on the floor of a friend's office in Miami. What am I doing here? Well, I should be in Brazil right now. I went to the airport yesterday at 2:00pm - plenty of time for my flight to Miami (then to Sao Paolo, then Belo Horizonte, Brazil). All set to check in, I was informed that the flight to Miami left two hours earlier. Apparently I had read my ticket wrong and mistook the arrival time for the departure time. Hm. Ok. What the hell.

(Colin, I still think your experience of going to DCA instead of IAD and missing your flight to the Bahamas is a more ridiculous story)

After the American Airlines guy scrambled to figure out my options (there was a good chance that I would have to forfeit my very expensive ticket and rebook everything) I had the option of driving really fast to Atlanta to catch the last flight to Miami, or come back today at 4am and do the whole thing again. Option two cost significantly less (I didn't have to pay for an entirely new ticket), so here I am in the midst of a 12-hour layover in Miami. Luckily I've got a few friends here. I'm at my friend Daru's office, and we're about to go have dinner with Andy Ransford and Patrick Betar, two really good friends from Rhodes. I haven't seen Betar in about 6-7 years... Gonna be fun.

So begins my three week trip to Brazil. A good friend from Fuqua is getting married to a Brazilian woman down there, so I figured this would be a great excuse to take an extended vacation. Most of my b-school classmates are going on world tours this summer... Mostly to Asia. Although I'd love to go spend a couple months traveling (when else am I going to have the chance?), three weeks will satisfy me. I've got a damn good job waiting for me in San Francisco (not to mention much needed paychecks), so I planned for a three week trip, then about two weeks in Birmingham, then on to California. Next on my travel list are North Africa, the Middle East, and New Zealand. Too many places to see.

My itinerary in Brazil:
Fly to Belo Horizonte, which is where my friends fiancée is from. I'll meet up with Dave, Cassia, and one of Dave's high school friends and go to Ouro Preto and Lavras Novas for a couple days (two old mining towns + some nature/hiking). If I hadn't screwed up my flight yesterday I would've been able to spend a night in Belo Horizonte with Cassia's family and friends.

On Saturday I'll break off from the group and take a 4-hour bus to Rio. This will be my solo time. In Tuesday a couple more friends arrive in Rio, so until then I'm going to do my own thing. Since I'm staying at a hostel in Ipanema on Tuesday and Wednesday, I booked a hostel that's in a more residential neighborhood. I may regret this, but I figured it would be a different experience than what the typical beach crowd has (although the first thing I'll do after getting to rio will be to walk around the beach). Plus the owners of the hostel got great reviews, so I hope they'll be able to direct me to some off the beaten path music venues and cafes.

After 4 days in Rio, the wedding attendees take a shuttle from Rio to Paraty (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraty) - 4 hours south of Rio. The wedding is on Saturday on an island about 15 minutes off the coast. While we're in Paraty (until Monday) there's going to be a big arts and jazz festival in town... Really cool stuff.

After Paraty I'll either head to Buzios for a day (the "Brazilian Riviera"), go back to Rio, or stay around Paraty for another day. Whatever I do, ive got to be at the Rio airport on Wednesday morning to fly to Salvador. From there, I'll meet up with my friend Matt, and with Dave's sister (Remember... Dave is the guy getting married). The three of us will rent a car and drive six hours to Lencois, which is the entry point to the Chapada national park. Dave has spent over 60 days hiking in Chapada and claims it's "like Yosemite times ten.". We'll see... I'll be there for five days. While in Lencois, we will probably meet up with other friends of friends (Americans) who have a house in Lencois. There's also a big festival that's going on (Brazilians will be on holiday), so the town will be jumpin. We plan to do a bunch of hiking to waterfalls and things like that. After five days, we drive back to Salvador. Matt will go on to Sao Paolo, Jess (Dave's sister) will head back to Portland, and I'll stay in Salvador for 3 days. I might go to nearby beach towns... I'm intentionally leaving this part of the trip completely unplanned.

Whew. That's my itinerary. Obviously, it's going to be an active three weeks. But, I think I've done a good job of building in some downtime. Aside from enjoying the moment, I want to come back refreshed and satisfied. A balance of partying (it's Brazil... Parties are inevitable and welcome) and days to myself.

One thing I'm thinking about right now - I despise the people in first class. Call me a player hater, but I resent their comfort. Contrast: me, shlepping a massive backpack everywhere and staying in hostels (and one nice pousada in Paraty). This has been the way I've traveled for the past ten years, and I wouldn't have it any other way. The struggle of traveling teaches you things... It does. Having to figure things out on your own and make a ton of mistakes in the process is how you learn - to take care of yourself and be resilient when you screw up. But, my 31-year old bones are telling me that this may be the last big trip I take in true backpacking style. We shall see. The people you meet when traveling this way always make it worth it.. No doubt about it.

Plane about to leave and there's an empty seat next to me. Thank goodness. Bedtime.

Missing things about Durham

Sent from my iPhoneThere are many things that I'll miss about Durham (and the South). One of my favorites is afternoon rain showers in the summer. Ideal viewing conditions: a screened in porch (or just a large open window), 3:30pm, 75-80 degrees.

Legend

Awesome

Last Thursday in Durham

Yesterday was such a great reminder of how special this place is (and specifically my experience over the past two years). After spending the last 6 days in the Outer Banks, NC with 250 of my closest classmates (we all rented massive houses in the same neighborhood), today we had some wrap up events before graduation. First, our sections gathered for an open mic - everyone had the chance to say anything they wanted to. It was notable that almost everyone talked about the relationships they built at Fuqua (and specifically Section 6). How it feels like family. How we helped each other through tough times. How, for whatever reason, the bond that we created is very special.

We then gathered as a class of 450 to watch the last FuquaVision skits, a second-year awards ceremony, and then have our last Fuqua Friday.

My friend Jake Kiser heard that Branford Marsalis was playing a "surprise" show at the Beyu Cafe in Durham. So, Jake, Josh Makaron, Rhianon and I went early to get a front row table. Matt and Cindy came a bit later. Branford was simply part of the band tonight (swing-like jazz music), but it was really cool to see him playing such a small venue. We stuck around after the show and chatted with Branford a bit. He said he's coming to Yoshi's in San Francisco in September and that Josh and I should come... really cool.

Afterward we went to Fullsteam Brewery where I played a bit of ping pong with Jake and hung out with some of my best friends at Fuqua. Amazing night. I'm going to miss this place.

More photos from the lake house

Our (former) lake house

After yesterday's tornados, here is what our lake house looks like. Ours is the one on the bottom right with the (now) floating dock. You can see our driveway and house foundation to the left. One of the few houses on our block that survived had people in it - very lucky.

Stache Bash Winner - Magnum PI "Best in Show" award

Sent from my iPhone

Fader

Awesome.

One of those days

... When I'm blown away by how lucky i am. Today:
- Policy class in the morning taught by Joel fleishman, THE man when it comes to philanthropy work (e.g. Used to be head if the Atlantic Philanthropies). Co-author of new book with tom tierney.
- just got out of a small group discussion with Tom tierney, the founder if the bridgespam group and former worldwide managing director of Bain consulting. He gave lots if life and career lessons - great experience.
- I'm about to listen to a talk by jeff rakes, CEO of the gates foundation and longtime exec at microsoft.
- tonight, going to a dinner at Joel fleishmans house. Attendees will be his students, Tom tierney, jeff rakes, and possibly dan ariely, Martin eakes (founder of Self Help), and likely a bunch of other luminaries.
- when I have free time, preparing to facilitate (with two others) a session during Fridays advances social entrepreneurship class on microfinance. My team is working with Greg dees (the professor), who is pretty much the father of social entrepreneurship as an academic discipline.

Anyway, interesting day. Apologies for typos and capitalization mistakes.