Travels!

So! It has been A FAIR WHILE since I've written here but lately I have been VERY out of routine..which has been great! First up I moved houses, into a family that has older kids and one on exchange in Australia (Alice Springs) so I'm back to being an only child and yeah relishing in it actually! My new parents are amazing, they really do so much for me to make the most out of my time here and they're so attentative, helpful, loving and really so interesting to talk to but the worst/best thing is they have TOO MUCH GOOD FOOD! Um, the first night I sat down for dinner I was just like well wow, we are going to have problems..there was like no space left on the table..just full of various delicious dishes.

It's gotten to the point where my friend was like 'oh look! It's Sarah!' at this

Which starts the first story! This is at the São Paolo zoo, which is quite amazing place to see when you think about how congested the city is with it's endless grey concrete buildings! Anyway the zoo even had Emu's so of course the two Australians and I started talking to them in ridiculous Australian accents..because you know us exchange students..we hate to draw attention to ourselves or be weird....................such as the following night...5 Australians, 2 skate boards and a night on Paulista (the main avenue of Sao Paolo city) ...=recipe for madness. We skipped along the streets yelling the Australian anthem, one of them crossing the street belly flat on my board, various falls, fire extinguishers being set off, tomato sauce EVERYWHERE, finding random people walking around with guitars turning into besties and busting out wonderwall together and yeah... I wish I could give details about what happened from then until 7.30am buttt that's gonna have to be one for when I get home ;)

The rest of São Paolo was very fun too, it really is the New York of South America in that it has allll the things and the individuality. We went to Japan town, 25 do março (a crazy market street full of everything and anything) and the Rock Gallery (6 storeys of piercing/indie/skate shops-where I bought my board!).

Next trip: Florianopolis! This is a city in the South, 8 hours away which is actually an island hanging off the continent. My family and I went down to visit my host brother and he and his girlfriend took us to all these amazing beaches, view points and sights which were absolutely stunning, and we did a little trek which was so revitalising to be surrounded by endless forest and little lakes and just untouched nature...it's so much more appreciated when you are used to buildings and more buildings and oh how amazing it was to see an ACTUAL beach with WAVES! All of this made me think of Yamba, with love :)  And I found many more little pieces of Aus in this city, like when I saw an Aussie flag hanging in this tiny little lakeside cafe..turns out the owners spent a year there and even went to Yamba! Very small world indeed! 

There are in fact many  Brazilians from Floripa that go to Aus for the surf/travel/lifestyle and many Australians that visit Floripa as well for the same reasons and it makes me realise how similar the countries are. I actually found an Aussie themed restaurant "Didge" that's how into it they are and it was hilariously over done with rugby jerseys, surf boards, didgeredoos, 'sheilas' on the ladies bathroom and the waiters all walked around in these Steve Irwin-inspired ranger outfits. The menu had things like 'sydney steak', 'burger surfista' 'Aboriginie sauce' haha they have clearly thought that adding an Australian-related word would instantly make the food Australian...

                  (their attempt at pavlova..it's just icecream in the middle...)

But the best of all was YAMBA LAMB!!! Ahhh I couldn't believe it when I saw it..I almost cried of pride. Like there I was, sitting in Brasil, ordering something with the name of our tiny little coastal town that has been such a big part of my growing up. It was a real moment of connection between my two lives, from one home to the other. And I realised that perhaps this world isn't as big as we think it is :)

Another cool bridging of the worlds ocurred two weeks ago when I met up with Luiza, the Brazilian exchange student who went to my rotary district in Aus! I caught the 3 hour bus to her house to be greeted with the news that we have 2 free VIP tickets to Flo Rida's show which just happened to be on the same night in a club of her exact city! So instead of paying the $150 we rock up as he's starting..(everyone dying of suffocation from getting there so early) start shimmeying our way through the VIP area pretending we bought backstage tickets..made it to the very front and enjoyyyyed every minute! Champagne was sprayed, sneakers were chucked, Flo Rida money flying everywhere, his body was thrown into the crowd and we ended up getting into the backstage area anyway and yeah it was just crazy amazing times!

Aside from that just being going to school casually, had a bit of a tear the other day as we were celebrating independence day and everyone went to the quad to sing the national anthem and their school anthem and saw the little 4 year olds and I just thought far out this is the last time they'll ever do this after so many years, and now it's like the end of an era for them you know? And I know this will sound really lame but it feels like I have grown up in the walls of Carmo singing this school anthem every year..when of course I haven't..but they make me feel like I have :D   And today they got their graduation t-shirts with everyone's name on them and mine is on there! Ahh there is nothing quite as special as that feeling of belonging ;)

As for now, just trying to enjoy the last few months here, soaking up the sunny weather and getting into some Capoeira, surfing, beach runs and longboarding (now my principal mode of transport haha)! I am loving the feeling of summer..in the air, on my skin, it's got it's own vibe that brings a certain happiness and excitement..I don't know why exactly..it's weird because summer's arrival for me is usually about school holidays, christmas concerts/parties, Country style/yamba surf/podium, extreme busy-ness, and just Yamba in general..and it's almost not summer without these things but I think wherever we are this vibe will stay with us forever, I can't explain it but we all know the one!

Now that it's coming to the end I always sit here thinking wow I could have done this, I should have said that, imagine what it would be like if I paid more attention to this person etc. etc. like with just random things that I'm discovering now..and the more you analyse each day/thing and think about how it could have been better it kinda leaves you upset and disappointed with yourself. Like even simple decisions I enter this existential crisis looking at both options wondering what will be the most worth it, what is the 'right' thing to do, what will you miss out on if you choose this side etc. and there are just so many possible variants..and our freedom of choice feels more like a curse but yeah I'm starting to realise that you can't do every activity, be everyone's best friend, accept every invite and have every single day run perfectly efficiently. Life doesn't work that way, nor should it. There is no correct formula and it is impossible to please every person and experiment every thing..my current mum consoled me the other day by reminding me that our regrets are made up of choices that felt right at the time, with the thoughts and capabilities that we had at the time, and they're not worth upsetting today. So, trying to roll with that idea :)

I have 3 more trips that I've been on since I started this blog and many more stories but no WAY will it fit here you've done well to make it this far haha! And soon enough I'll be setting off for the big 30 day trip around the North East haha! So, life is accelerating now more than ever but instead of worrying and over-planning like always I'm just going to try and take it com calma, in the spontaneous spirit of summer! Glorious summer. Oh how we've missed you! X