Diamonds are forever -- until they´re all mined.

Thank you for all the concerned emails! Sounds like word is getting to the States amongst the always-top news of weather and who´s marrying who that Sao Paulo was in such dire straits. I´m totally fine. I almost didnt make it to the airport that night of my last posting; the police wanted everyone off the streets by 8 p.m. and the taxi drivers were planning to stop running around that time as well. Too dangerous, they said. The international airport had been closed down and I couldnt get any information about the domestic one. Two really great people at the hotel helped me out; I cant even begin to tell you how beyond stressed I was. Sure, I wanted to stay longer in Sao Paulo, but not under those conditions! I did eventually manage to catch a taxi near my pousada before the lock-down and we flew like the Concorde through empty boulevards, usually veins of black tar clogged with traffic. It was really eerie to see the city -- the world´s third largest i think? -- so bloody deserted at that early hour.

I spent the night at the airport and caught a morning bus to Lencois to check out the Chapada Diamantina region, all forests and squat mountains, with caves and waterfalls thrown in to make it all the more interesting. This area is (was?) rife with diamonds, though I am not sure how much of it is left. The next day I got on a tour -- it is impossible to see the sights without a car -- and made shapes of animals and people out of stalagmites and stalcitites in a cave and kayaked around another one with emerald water, hiked along a waterfall called the Poco do Diablo and climbed atop one of those pudgy mountains called Pai Inacio. The weather could have been better, I admit. It had rained the evening previous -- quite an anomaly for this time of year, but the sun finally came out. It is amazing how much you depend on weather when traveling.
Today´s weather was very warm with no white dandruff of clouds to ruin the view, but I took it easy rather than hike it in the hot sun. I got bit the first night by mosquitoes on my chin and hand, both of which have turned into swollen members on my body. So I´m walking around with an obese face and hand. Not a pleasant sight but it´s nice because i dont give a crap!

So I am officially in the northern region of Brazil now, which is as different as a foot and nose could be from each other. This is the cultural heart of Brazil, with a large Afro Brazilian population really bringing color to the country. It is also the poor region of Brazil, which unfortunately means you have to watch your back a lot more. No more walking around with full pockets -- leave that stuff at home. The houses here are really basic, with walls that function to divide spaces but dont reach the ceiling, which means you really dont have as much privacy as you´d like.
I am really missing Sao Paulo already. I´ve talked to a few Brazilians about Sao Paulo and they think I am absolutely loca for loving it so much, much less for wanting to exchanging my plush life in Los Angeles for the chaos of SP. Yea, I think I could be crazy too because it is a concrete jungle. The way I see it, SP is like NY in some ways, and Rio is sort of like the L.A. of Brazil. You have die-hards loyal to either one, so there is a small rivalry between the two cities and regions. But Rio doesnt´t have an area of town where I could get abundant Japanese or Arabic food. SP´s rent in the nice part of town -- and I know for a fact, because I went to the real estate office and got a printout of places to rent -- is no more than $600 for a three-bedroom house. So now what, about Barcelona? Oh, my problems. It´s great to have such a problem as this...
I am off to get some made-to-order banana bread from a bakery here in this tiny town. I ordered it yesterday from the restaurant, and how can you beat $2 for a loaf? Now that´s crazy.