This weekend we ventured to Ubatuba, a beach town on the coast of São Paulo (two hrs from SJC) to attend a O Rappa concert. I caught a ride with an Argentine surfer (a friend's blind date from the night before) who also happened to be going to Ubatuba for the weekend. I think we qualified as the most international car traveling in Brazil: in respective order, each seat was occupied by a different country: Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Venezuela and the United States. O Rappa is a popular Brazilian reggae/rock group that I've been wanting to see since I discovered them a year ago... luckily I didn't have to wait too long, as they seem to be touring all the time. The show was awesome, lots of energy without being too crazy. Ubatuba itself is great: it has 20+ beaches, some for surfing and some calmer places better for families. So far I am so impressed with the São Paulo's beaches: the locations are beautiful (picture rolling, tropical hills) and absolutely no American tourists (thank God: only Paulistas to share the beach with!). Out of all of the countries I've traveled to in the world, Brazilians are the most hospitable: accommodations for the night in Ubatuba ended up being more complicated than anticipated.... At the last minute we were put in contact with Davi's friend, who then welcomed us to stay at his friends' family's house (so now we're at friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend's). We ended up going to the concert with 6 engineering students from ITA. To get there the 8 of us squeezed into a four-person car (3 in the front, 3 in back and 2 in the trunk)... the engineers shared their drinks before hand, then slept 3 on only two mattresses so Chiara could each have our own that night. Then the family bought everyone ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast. All of this for two girls they had never met before!
In other news: I actually am working to
o. It took quite a while to get started, mainly because I arrived in Brazil in the middle of everyone's vacation time. But I've now talked to the trainee who held the position before me and am finally meeting the president tomorrow. The NGO is so awesome but there's so much work to be done on the "development" side (eg: marketing, organizing documents, fundraising). I have my work cut out for me! In my time here I want to: initiate contact with international foundations, design more literature for them to distribute to the local population, get them started with a website, start a seasonal newsletter, raise money from outside of Brazil.
Chiara: we seriously owe those engineers a couple six-packs!
Eu gosto do Brasil também, Mick!
Carnaval no Rio. Nossa!! 
