or not really trouble, just learning new things about bahia and brasil and salvador. Learning things like, don't ever expect anything, because it probably won't happen, or if it does, it will turn out drastically different than you expected it to. This applies to all facets of life - travel, shopping, taking a taxi, exchanging a power cord, eating, etc. I guess this is a fact of life anywhere, but apparently in Bahia, everything is not what you expect it to be. For example - Friday morning we left to go to Boipeba - expecting a fairly easy and quick trip. It took us nine hours, a taxi, a ferry, a bus and a 3 1/2 hour boat ride to get to an island that is 30 minutes away by plane. Mind you, this is public transportation, so its super cheap. and slow. We could have taken only 4 hours and it would have cost 4x as much.
Another example is my power cord. My laptop's power cord has decided to quit working, and my fantastically patient and helpful mother (seriously, she's a goddess) found out that to get a new one, all I needed to do was go to the nearest mac store and exchange it, and lo and behold there is a mac store in salvador! two! Or so I was told by apple.com. LIES!!!! The first mac store I went to does not exist, and then the second only sells one desktop macintosh computer, and ipods. So, needless to say, they do not carry ibook chargers, when they do not even carry ibooks. Unfortunatley, I can't use my computer until I have a charger. I am currently borrowing Amit's computer (thank you!) while he is out. See. You don't always get what you expect, even when people tell you to expect it.
Other than that, the past few days/week have gone by so quickly! After returning from a fantastic weekend in Boipeba, Allie, Kelly and I packed like mad on Sunday night, so that we could be ready to move houses on Monday. The new house is HUGE! It was originally built to house three different families, one on each floor. So, each floor has a kitchen, living room, outdoor area, and about 4-5 bedrooms. I think that the second and third floors hold about 20-25 people each, and the first floor only 4! The first floor was re-designed, and is our dining room and main kitchen, as well as the CCS office. BUT! Don't worry! If you have sent me letters or packages (holy moly, if you have, thank you soooo much!) and I have yet to recieve them, we have the old house until March 12, and then I think the mail will be forwarded to us. Please send mail!
In other important news: UNC Men's basketball. March 4 is the dook game, and the last game of the regular season. I request that all of you Carolina fans watch the game for me, and cheer extra loud (please feel free to include jumping around, and knock on wood jumping over fires a few extra times) for me!
Also - I've been reading Barack Obama's biographical book - and I really like it! I suggest you all read it. I believe its called "Dreams from my father" but I may be wrong about that (the title has escaped me right now). Its really easy to read and just flows like a novel.
Go forth and read and cheer!