Brasil with K

K and I became friends the long way round. She was friends with one of my best friends, and although we had occasionally met at Penn State and in NY, we were never actually friends.

Right before our mutual friends destination wedding in Mexico, we realized a shared love for travel over myspace. We bonded at the wedding and over the course of the next couple years - and countless BBM chats - we started coordinating business trips so that we could get together and talk about travel, exercise and boys (shamelessly my 3 favorite topics).

I always had a hunch, but finally confirmed that K and I both can be incredibly efficient and effective in getting what we want. We organized a complete trip to Rio and Florianopolis in record time - less than a week without the use of BBM!

She arrived in Rio and we settled into the Sheraton Leblon as comfortably as two Platinum spg members can. When the sun would peek out, we’d race to get some sun. She signed up for the free outdoor gym on Ipanema and we did an exercise class in the midst of palm trees and ocean breezes. My Carioca friends embraced her and we enjoyed a few days of Rio nightlife before jetting off to the chic resort town of Florianopolis, otherwise known as Floripa.

We literally had to peel ourselves off of the sun chairs to make our flight but we made it. Upon landing in Floripa, we were greeted with rain. Lots and lots of rain. Nonstop rain.

We checked into the cozy Pousada dos Chas (House of Teas) and asked what there was to do when there was rain. No one could give us any good advice, so we defaulted to our other favorite subjects – exercise and boys.

First up: Exercise. Exploring the town of Jurere, dodging the rain, we stumbled upon a yoga class. Sure, it was conducted entirely in Portuguese so we didn’t understand much, but we did understand enough to get comfortable hanging upside down in makeshift harnesses. It was a great start to our trip. Next up: Boys.

The first night out in Floripa, we were quickly apprehended by two local Brazilian guys. K has been to Brazil before, but always with other guys, so she was protected from advances from the locals. I, however, have faced Brazil as a single lady and knew what to expect.

I warned that within 7 minutes, she’s have a tongue shoved down her throat. Although K is well traveled and no one would dare call her naïve, she didn’t quite believe me. However, she believed me enough to stay sitting on the sofa next to me, so I had a front seat view of her being caught unawares by the move that an ex-pat friend has described as “Momma bird feeding baby bird.” I laughed and laughed about that as Kara dragged me out of the bar.

Apparently all we needed for sunshine was for K to be indoctrinated to the Brazilian courting, because we had glorious sunshine for the rest of the trip. I was so sad to say good bye to K, but glad that she had been part of my Big Trip, and we got to incorporate all of our favorite subjects.

After I said goodbye to K, I boarded a 17 hour bus ride from Florianapolis to Iguazu Falls.