y tambien...

My Brazialian work collegue Flavia gave me a few travel tips yesterday.

Most of them addressed the one thousand and one ways that enterprising thieves will try and steal my wallet when in busy touristy areas. On a slightly serious note, most of these crimes are crimes of desperation - people have to do this otherwise they can't eat - and they wont hesitate for a second to stab you. Your life is nothing to them, and whatever you have got in your wallet is not worth your own life. The poverty in some areas is going to be fairly confronting and Im trying to mentally prepare myself for that, but I dont think that you can really understand until you see it with your own eyes.

Also, ive been warned not to wear socks and sandels combo, because I will look like a gringo american tourist. Hmmm, where can I bye a pair of those crocs?

x

jesus christo!

There really is so much to organize before I leave in six weeks! (24th November!)Im feeling a bit stressed cause I feel like I really haven't saved enough money to do this trip properly and I still have all these extra things to pay for before I even leave. I will look under the couch for that $50 I lost...

this list is really just for me to get it all out of my head into writing;

1. Apply for passport
2. Check which countries I need visas for
3. Organize a credit card
4. International Student Card
5. International Youth Hostel Membership
6. Icebreaker clothing
7. Walking shoes
8. Some 'crocs' (I hate these shoes when I see people wearing them but they are actually a really comfortable alternative to thongs and protect your feet much better. You know when your wearing thongs and twigs on the ground point up at weird angles and cut you? Maybe its just me)
9. Travel guide
10. Some good books to read on the plane. i think it is kinda long-haul flying direct from Sydney to San Fran. My doctor (aside from hitting on me) recommended me some books about SA which sound pretty cool. He also liked to say "fucking crazy" alot.


Book 1.

'La Guerra de las Partes Pudendas de Don Emanuel' (The War for Don Emanuel's Nether Reegions) by Louis de-Bernieres

This is an earlier work by the author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin.
"De Bernieres mixes history and fantasy in this love story set on an idyllic Greek island torn apart by Nazi occupation"



Book 2
- 'At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig' by John Gimlette

"If some Americans can't locate Canada on a map, it's likely many haven't even heard of Paraguay. Yet this California-sized South American country has endured an astonishing run of totalitarianism, instability, and war. Travel writer and attorney Gimlette shares that chilling history, drawing anecdotes from survivors and descendants as he explores the country. While his own doings seem unavoidably flat compared to the outrages he relates (one war killed four-fifths of the country's population, and 9 out of 10 men), it is interesting to glimpse the country today, which is happier yet still a place where the black market dwarfs the gross national product"

11. More injections for Hep A and Typhoid.
12. Anti-malaral drugs (*not* 'larium' - US soldiers seem to be going crazy and killing themselves or others after taking this shit.)

Ok that is enough for today. soon I wil post a loose travel plan if anyone is interested in which countries ill be visiting.

love

photo

Hey there

!Hola amigos!

Please keep in touch with me while I heap off for my first trip oversees, as no doubt I will be dejected and lonely from time to time and it will be lovely to hear messages from you (perhaps save your abusive messages for email ;0 ) In return, I will strive to record my thoughts, experiences and reflections as best as I can - both for my own benefit and for you to see what I have been up to.

Oh wait... im not actually departing for another eight weeks. Still, getting inoculations for yellow fever and typhoid holds promise of exotic far away places and the possibility of an untimely death.

X0