A 3-month Reunion

Several years after returning to the Bay Area from my year in Brazil, I had a chance to go back for 3 months. This time, I had a list of friends and places to revisit, new destinations and a 2-month Brazil Airpass from Varig Airlines. The Airpass was a lot like a Eurailpass in that I could take any flight on Varig Airlines for 60 days, anywhere they flew in Brazil, which was everywhere. Brazil is huge, only slightly smaller than the continental US, but I logged scores of hours traveling all over. I finally saw the Iguazu Falls (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6L8845utZI4) and more of the south and interior of the country. I flew into the Amazon via Manaus and collected frogs in the jungle with a scientist and his wife who knew my buddy Joao. That trip was also my first real introduction to capoeira (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBk3Xd7GCWk), an Afro-Brazilian dance form that incorporates self-defense maneuvers. Capoeira is performed to the music of the berimbau (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0xDmlQnca0). The three months flew by and were not enough. Can’t wait to go back again !