Blog entry:
Fourth - sixth week
Brazil, state
of Goias, 17 December 2012 - 6 January 2013
Dear friends, family and all followers,
First of
all, forgive my tardiness in updating my blog as things have been hectic
lately. Secondly, I hope that you all
had a great holidays and enjoy it with your loved ones. In spite that my loved
ones are on the other side of the Atlantic ocean, I want to say that I always
carry you in my thoughts and in my heart. Thirdly, for you all, I also want to
thank you for your lovely comments and wishes. Although I'm lacking time in
replying them individually, I do read them all and they gave me much strengths
and motivations. I hope in this new year I can still entertain and inform you
with this blog.
Inspired by
the great book "Dracula" by Bram Stoker (I will inform you later
about this), I would like to change my style of narration to the style that Mr.
Stoker used in his book. Although the content will not be as exciting and
horrifying as the book in regard, I hope that you will appreciate this changed
of style. So, here it goes...
17-20
December, ENP. The
girls were gone for a couple of weeks as they were going to celebrate the
holidays in Bonito, Foz do Iguaçu and Ubatuba (nearby Sao Paulo). Thus, I was
left alone in this "island". I made the choice to stay behind for
various reasons. Reasons which will need to be explained quite extensively and
therefore I choose to omit them here in this entry. However, I'm quite content
with my choice although I would be lying if I'm saying that I didn't felt quite
lost. Lost in the sense that I didn't know what to do, so I have dedicated
myself in literature research. Until Leandro asked when I was planning to check
the cameras. Glad with the confidence bestowed, I started to check the cameras
alone. It went smoothly without any accidents (knock on wood!).
Only one
thing was still grinding in my mind, the registration at the Policia Federal. As a holder of
temporary visa it is required to register in a office of PF within 30 days
after the arrivals. After a search on the internet I found the way how to do it.
But, how can I go to the town of Mineiros? Well long story short, I could hitch
a ride with Bahiana as she and her families were going to the town.
21
December, Mineros.
We started to drive around 8.00 and arrived in Mineiros around 9. As soon as I
arrived at the rodoviaria (bus terminal)
I bought a ticket of the 12.00 bus to Jataí, where the office of PF is
situated. With the time that I had in between, I have fixed all the necessary
documents and I can departed to Jataí with little worries. Arrived in Jatai, I
went directly to the office of PF and spoke the receptionist that I want to
speak with someone regarding Registro
Nacional do Estrangeiro. It turned out that the officer is not yet back
from lunch break and I needed to wait for her. After one hour she came and I handed
in all the documents I had. She immediately pointed out that the letter of
invitation was in English and it needed to be in Portuguese. As my registration
term was closing, I need to convinced her that I don't have any other letter
and that it will take too long to fix another one. So I tried to convinced her
with my best Portonol, till she told
to me that she needed to checked it with the office in Goiania. What followed
was hours of waiting in agony, however, in the end all ended up well.
Later
that day. After all
the procedure was finished and left all the stress behind, I waited for the bus
to the rodoviaria. Next to me was a
lady and I asked her about the bus. It turned out that she was going to the
same direction and what follow was a quite nice conversation about where I came
from, what I was doing in Jatai etc. Later came an old gentlemen to mingled in
our conversation. About more or less an
hour later, the bus has finally arrived.
The lady went out a bit earlier than the rodoviaria, thus we have to said goodbye. Although, we hadn't a
proper introduction, I will not ever forget your kindness and I would like to
thank you again where ever you are.
Back in the
terminal I determined to buy a ticket to Goiania. Why? because I want to go out of the "island" for a bit
and also to spent Christmas in Pirenopolis. Beside nature, I really enjoy much the
colonial architecture and fortunately this town possessed both aspects.
However, i could only catch the 14.00 bus on the following day. Therefore I was
forced to spent one night in Jatai. I decided to stay nearby the rodoviaria to make things easier for the
following day and also because there were many pousadas (cheap hotels) around the terminal.
Just before
21.00 I was sitting outside a small bar across the terminal, waiting for the
end of the world enjoying cold beer and barbecued meat with mandioca (manioch/ cassava). So, the
world didn't end and now I'm typing this entry on my desk back in the
"island"
22
December, state of Goias. The duration of the trip to Goiania
was 7 hours. Arrived in Goiania, I was quite overwhelmed with the bright
decorations around the shopping mall/ terminal. I didn't noticed this four
years ago. After I went out of the bus I tried to buy a ticket to Pirenopolis.
I have learned that there was only one company and the bus left daily to
Pirenopolis at 17.00 pm. So, I was forced to stay a night in Goiania. Confident
as I was with my recollection of the city I decided to take the bus to the city
centre. Well, It wasn't a smart move after all. As turned out my memories
regarding the public transportation in Goiania is quite rusty as I forgot that they
are working with sitpass. This
sitpass can only be required outside the bus from specialized vendors. Because
I was already in the bus I just grabbed my last small changes and gave it to
the driver. The bus went through the main street of Goiania and I was trying to
find out some point of reference. I was determined to go to the same hotels as
four years ago although in the end I missed my stop and ended up in the west
side of the city, a place where I am not so familiar with.
I looked on my watch and saw that the time was around at 21.00, dark and there weren't many streetlights. I
started to get a little worried. luckily, I was packing light and therefore
quite mobile. Downside though I was still wearing my havaianas flip - flop and cannot walk at a fast pace. However, I
found out that this west side of Goiania is quite posh with its restaurants and
bars. In the end after a long walked I found a sign of a hotel (hotel Avalon)
and so I decided to spent the night in that hotel. It was not the cheapest
option (90 reais / night) but I considered it as an "Christmas
present".
The clock
was already at 22.00 when I put my luggage in my room. Due to the circumstances
I already mentioned, I haven't dined yet. Starved as I was, I asked for the
nearest churrascaria where I could
got some rodizio. Rodizio is a type
of Brazilian barbecue, whereby the waiters came to your table with variety of
barbecued meats and if you like they will cut a slice for you (unlimited). It
also came with buffet. After month of vegetarian meals, my mind was set for
some meat. Without any refreshments and wore only a cargo short and t-shirt I
went to the churrascaria nearby the hotel. I was amazed as it was a posh
restaurant and all the clienteles were wearing their best suits and dresses. I
felt quite embarrassed with my outfit, but it was too late to go back and
change. The restaurant was exquisite, with a good diverse buffet (even with
sushi) and the quality of meat was excellence (note to my little brother: this
was cooked through and not so rare as we had in Amsterdam, however the meats
were still succulent). Maybe because I'm not use to eat meat, after an hour of
half I was already full and so I went back to the hotel.
23
December, state of Goias. After I checked out I went to the nearest bus stop. All the busses to
the centre were full, so I decided to walked (again with my Havaianas). My jaw
dropped when I saw how close I was from the centre plaza, Praca Civica. I have walked around this plaza four years ago so I
was quite familiar with it. Well, the milk was already spilled so let's move
on. There was a good accumulation of people around the plaza as there was some
kind of manifestation. Because I'm carrying luggage I didn't pay much attention
and just went to the terminal. As I walked through the avenida Goias, among the
people I started to feel like a backpacker. I don't know why but it was
actually the first time that I felt like a backpacker. Furthermore, it was the
start of feeling of liberation and freedom. I was overjoyed with all of this
feeling and for a while I actually have forgotten all the worries that I have.
Arrived in
terminal and with still plenty time to kill I went to the market. Goiania is
actually quite famous for its textile and especially every weekend there is a
market where you could buy cloths cheaply. I was only window shopping (or
rather market stalls shopping) and in the end I didn't bought anything. but
there was something so familiar, the smells which brought me back to my
childhood/ my time in Indonesia. I guess every market in the tropic shared that
same smell. Although the odour is quite horrible, for me it was something so
familiar and triggered some of wonderful memories.
Later
that day. By bus it
is about 2 hours to go to Pirenopolis from Goiania. I arrived in the town
around 19.00. The cloud was started to gathered and I could sensed that rain
will dropped quite soon. Indeed, after twenty minutes the rain did come and
accompanied with some thunders. I was walking and looking for place to stay
when suddenly a black-out. There was no electricity and It was quite dark. I
was already in front of a facility where they rent rooms. A second before I knocked
on the door the lady owner already opened the door. I asked if she still had
some rooms and she said yes, but as everything was still dark we needed to wait
for a little bit.Well, in
the end the electricity didn't came back up till the following morning.
However, with the help of flashlight I could located my room and have a rest...
Dear
family, friends and followers; I'm afraid I have to postpone my report on
Pirenopolis till my next entry. I promise it will be with plenty of images and less
text.
PS.
Although
this is really late: Mae, Feliz anniversario. Boa Sorte, saud y muitas feliz pra voce.
I cannot describe how much I miss you, but we will see each other soon as the time really flew by.
I cannot describe how much I miss you, but we will see each other soon as the time really flew by.
Grande abraço y beijos
Yuga
