JA's Jibba Jabba

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• 04:13:00 am on June 19, 2007 | 0 | # |
  
  

  Just in case, you have not been following my news lately, you will probably be interested to know that I am on the road again with my globe trotting efforts.

  This time, it’s not the long stay like the one I did in Brazil.

  In this instance, I am visiting a few cities in the span of two weeks: Lyon, London, Dubai, New York City and Toronto via Paris and Amsterdam.

  As I write this, I am an hour half an hour away from Dubai. It’s a 6 hour flight but it went by quickly due the simple fact that long flights do not phase me anymore and with all the eating, movie watching, napping, writing (business reports, unanswered emails, love letters), listening to music that I never get to listen to, time goes by quickly.

  Lyon was great. Cool cute city. Since I stayed there less than 24 hours, I did not get to see much except for the city centre as you can see in the photo albums.

  London was off the hook. I met up with two friends that I had not seen in over 10 years. Man, did I have a great time with the two sisters.

  There are a lot of incidents that took place that made the moment special and some that made the trip very expensive like the accidental cell phone that I made for 25 minutes by accident!

  I certainly do not look forward to my mobile phone bill cos it’s going to be a killer!!!

  Now, i am headed to Dubai. Have no idea what to expect. So many friends have been there and have told me so many great things about it. Obviously, I can’t wait to land and will certainly tell you about it via my trusty little digital camera that’s running out life me thinks.

  As usual, I have meet some great people and to all my new friends, thanks for the hospitality and I can’t wait to see you again.

  OK, now there’s some sort of turbulence and we’re asked to put on our belts. Since I don’t want my shinny new baby flying into my face, I will log off here and wish you well.

   

• 02:45:49 am on April 9, 2007 | 0 | # |
  
  

  I don’t mean to be all political but this figure is just too shocking.

   

• 12:41:53 pm on March 24, 2007 | 0 | # |
  
  

  Never had to buy a ticket, pack my suitcases and do some gift shopping in such a little amount of time.

  I had to leave Brazil in a hurry to come attend and urgent and crucial matter in Montreal. Nothing dramatic, just something important.

  So now, I am back home already missing Rio and Brazil and planning my next trip.

  Brazil was a lot of fun as I will explain in a future post. What they say about it is all true as you can see from the many photos that I took there.

  For now, it’s going to be difficult getting used to Montréal life again especially at the beginning of Spring when it’s not exactly cold nor warm.

  My plan for the coming weeks is simple. Deal with all the paperwork and crap that as a tax paying person, one has to deal with then taking off again to another exotic destination.

  Right now, I have no idea but something will come up in that big brain of mine…

   

• 02:23:43 pm on March 4, 2007 | 0 | # |
  
  

  Where in the world did the month of Feb go?

  Anyway, status report: weather is still hot, life is still great and I am digging it even more.

  Back to the underground…

   

• 12:49:57 pm on February 26, 2007 | 0 | # |
  
  

  It’s Monday, back to “normal” life in Rio. Carnaval week-end is over and man, it is everything they say it is.

  It all started with the whole city shutting down. No more businesses opened. Everything came to a halt. Then it was a myriad of street parties. Each block probably had a party going on. The streets were so filled with people, I kept wondering where they had appeared from.

  The heat also decided to increase in intensity which made it ideal to spend the restful moments at the beach enjoying the water.

  Then disaster struck again… I took a bus ride to the “Jesus Statue” that lasted exactly 45 mins. It was in an air conditioned bus that was probably set at 15 degrees. Outside it was over 35 so the drop and increase in temperature did not please my body. That left me with a nasty cold that has lasted a week so far. I guess that I am pretty sensitive to temperatures. The cold I have is kind of weird… i am always exhausted and the only thing I feel like doing is just eat and sleep.
  But, in sickness and health, I am here to have fun and the cold is slowing me down but not stopping me. I still did go hang out with some friends on the week-end and on Sunday night, I was taken to a nightclub in the North Zone (a so-called dangerous zone but I saw nothing to warrant that reputation).

  It was a party where they play “Black Music” which in Brazil means RnB, Hip-Hop, Funk, Soul and any other type of music that’s from African-American origin. It was a crazy party. I had my camera but like I say, I will become the next Pope and I need to make it hard for dirt diggers to find anything to wreck my street cred. I did meet a couple of people and I received such a warm welcome that I was overwhelmed. Everyone wanted to introduce me to their friends and with my inexistent Portuguese and their limited English, the conversations were a little bit comical.

  I can’t believe that it’s been almost two months I have been in Brazil and I have yet to explore the country. It’s crazy insane here and I love it. I just have to keep up cos sometimes I just get overwhelmed with the much going ons here.

  This week should be nuts too especially as I’ll get to go to a football match. Just for the kicks of it, I want to wear the French jersey and see the reaction of the people 🙂

   

• 11:03:25 pm on February 16, 2007 | 0 | # |
  
  

  From now (Friday evening) until next week (around Thursday or Friday), I am going to be missing in action. I will barely be online, slow to reply emails (I know that I am already but expect longer answer times), no more creeping around social networks, no Skype, nothing.

  That’s cos the famous Carnaval is on!

  I don’t know what to expect cos it’s my first time experiencing it but from the looks and sounds of things and people, you can feel something brewing.

  So, wish me well and I will give you the full lowdown when the craze ends.

   

• 01:10:46 am on February 15, 2007 | 0 | # |
  
  

  So the people in Brazil don’t celebrate Valentine’s day like the rest of the world. Theirs fall in June.

  That means that today was just another day. But no one here seem to care as the crazy Carnaval is starting this week-end. My friends here have told me to basically sleep now as I won’t sleep much in the forthcoming week. I am looking forward to it.

  I am debating if I should have my camera or not. I don’t want to be caught on camera doing something that may haunt me the day I become the next Pope :o)

  To all of you who are in Montréal getting your dose of the 25 cm of snow, I feel for you. Yes, it looks pretty in the short-term as it’s all white and nice and calm and tranquil but wait until the temperatures drop and that stuff becomes ice and it becomes all dirty.

  Happy Valentine’s Day… if you did not have a date, don’t worry. You can always watch TV lol

   

• 10:22:45 pm on February 12, 2007 | 0 | # |
  
  

  I spent the week-end in Taubaté a city that’s in the province of Sao Paulo. They say that it’s half way between Rio and Sao Paulo, but they lie lol

  Anyway, a DJ friend of mine that I met over the net invited me to go visit him and his city and I gladly obliged. After a 5h bus trip there I finally arrived.

  The bus system in this country is amazing… dayuuuum… I have never seen so much efficiency in a developing nation. Forget the bus systems in North America… they don’t even compare.

  Anyway, I got to Taubaté which is a really small town. But the people I met there were so amazing and I had so much fun and food! It’s a pity my metabolism is faster than Schumi’s F1 car but I would come back to Montréal looking like a sumo wrestler.

  I took so many pics from my stay there. I will not go into describing everything that went on. Pics are there for that.

  I just want to thank my new met friends for the great hospitality and for keeping it real. One thing that I find fascinating about small towns is that people are so tight and there you meet real friends.

  So to Ed Ground, Lucianna, Zee, Claudio, Adrianna, Marcela, Maurice , Guliano, Camilla , Flavia, Marcos Skin, Amanda, Léo and Leandro P, thanks so much and hope to see you soon. Y’all know my email addy so when you visit Canada, holler and we’ll hang and I’ll show you around.

   

• 09:31:54 pm on February 4, 2007 | 0 | # |
  
  

  Today, it’s been a month I have been here. It’s weird but it feels as if I have been here forever. even though I am completely isolated due to the language barrier, I have no problems getting my way around or getting things done.

  Everyday, i find more places, dishes and people that I find cool. Everyday, I discover something new about myself. I used to think I had myself figured out but I really don’t. But so far, I am digging what I am discovering about me.

  This month is Carnaval months and already the party atmosphere can be felt everywhere. I am even practicing my Samba moves. It actually looks pretty busy easy (sorry for the typo) as in most dances around the world, the woman has to do all the work 😉

  Do I miss Montréal?

  My friends of course. The city itself, just barely. I guess that it’s because I am so deep into Rio right now and am not completely partial.

  This month, I will seriously start working as I need to balance the fun and play equation otherwise I will not be able to enjoy the lifestyle I have led for the past couple of years. It’s actually doable but right now, I am still distracted by the going-ons.

  It has started getting hotter… I don’t even remember what a blanket is or what a hot showers feels like. I think that I will pick up a few kilos as I certainly eat more but the fact that I run around a lot does not help.

  You will notice that my frequency of posting updates will decrease. That’s because I have started to let my camera do the talking. Looking at my visitor logs, I have noticed that more people check out the pics than the blog meaning that people would rather see than hear a hundred times, a business adage i tend to follow religiously.

  Hope you don’t miss me too much and if you do, get yourself a ticket to Rio and come have fun with me… you will not regret it!

   

• 04:23:15 pm on February 1, 2007 | 0 | # |
  
  

  This cold/hot situation in Rio just nailed me. I have a cold so that means that I have to nurse it by drinking those funky vitamin c/lemon/honey mixture plus a lot of rest.

  This what happens when the buses, buildings and homes are cold from the air con and the outside is hooot

  I’d rather be sick from a cold in Rio than be healthy and in Montreal though… especially in February, the coldest month of the year!!