Vacay

I think it is time for a vacation. I realize how silly this sounds coming from Rio de Janeiro, then southern California hippy-haven Ojai, but it's true. I'm a little burnt out on this small town (and living at my parents house again), so I'm packing up and heading out.

First destination: Los Angeles!!! Although I have lived about an hour and half from Los Angeles for most of my life, I have never actually visited Los Angeles (unless I was hopping on a plane). I have a friend who goes to grad school at USC and we are going to stay with her for a night.

Second destination: Sunny San Diego (the whale's vagina, anchorman fans? anyone?)! It's my friends birthday and I think a girl's night is the perfect way to take me out of this funk i'm living in.

Pray for a sunny weekend, because this albino girl is going on her third straight no-summer, which means I am translucent like a little frog...you know, that kind where you can see their inner-workings? If I let this go any longer, people will actually be able to see me digesting food through my abdomen....

And with that lovely visual...I'm off!

Small Town

When people ask how small my small town is, I generally throw out this anecdote:

My brother was on the front page of the paper and received free diapers for a year for being the first baby born in Ojai in 1987! His birthday is January 4th...

That being said, it's common knowledge amongst the town-folk that I spent some time in Brazil (or was it Argentina, Ecuador, Belize...Ethiopia?). While having a conversation with the dentist a while back (you know, when they shove their fist down your throat mouth and then ask what you've been up to. "uahh hhguu fhafndk " "oh yes, interesting!"), my dentist asked me to prove my Spanish fluency. I replied with the autopilot response: "oh, Brazilians actually speak Portuguese".

I then received the most unique linguistics lesson of my life on how Portuguese is actually a dialect of Spanish like European Spanish vs. Mexican Spanish...oohhhh so like, Portuguese = Brazilian Spanish. Anyhoo, I think dentists just like to talk out their ass because they know you can't respond.

All of this talking about Brazil is giving me some MAJOR saudades. Add to that the fact that I'm also having some MAJOR visa issues that do not look like they will be clearing up any time soon, and I'm getting ready to break my arms and legs so I can fit in a priority shipment box...will someone please pick me up at the post office?

If anyone else out there has saudades that "need to be killed", (or you just want to see BEAUTIFUL VIDEO) that my friend Bruno Villela made, check this out: www.vimeo.com/17982994