Zoropando!

Hi everybody! Mariana is right, it’s time to take off the dust from our blog. Those gay balls you see behind were sending me uninterrupted e-mails complaining about our lack of attention. Ok, children, ok. We’re here, don’t need to cry anymore.

This time I’ll write only in English. Put bilingual posts demands too much work, and probably our brazilian readers (are there still any readers in our blog?) can understand both languages.

After 21 days in the Netherlands – yup, that country is amazing! – we traveled to England again. This time, our friend Claire was at the Warwick University, and we were curious to visit the Midlands… although England is terribly expensive, we loved that country and wanted to go again, visiting more cities. At January 28th, we could feel the real pain: our Zoropando experience was closer and closer to the end. We needed to separate! Then, Mariana took her coaches to London, after Newscatle, and finally a plane to Paris, and the next day I took a bus to London and a plane to Lisbon. The beginning of the end.

Lisbon

When I arrived in Lisbon airport, at January 29th around 6 PM, my kidneys were hurting a lot and I didn’t know where to go. My flight back to Brazil would leave only 24 hours later, and no one of my friends in Lisbon knew I was there!! Dããã! Then I put my heavy luggage in the locker and luckily decided to call Lu (my friend from Braga). She gave me Margulies phone, the carioca guy that lives in Portugal for 2 years. He was just leaving his work, which is very close to the airport, and we went home together. His house is really nice, and weather in Lisbon was cool (around 15 degrees!). Good!

Next day I woke up (dã!), watched TV and then found my way to the airport again. At the train from his house to Lisbon downtown there’s a marvelous view to the beach… I was all the way thinking about this crazy traveling experience, people we met, places we visited and how satisfied I was about everything. Ah, and of course, thinking that I’d soon have to cross that ocean in a 12 hours flight. Ughh!

Flight back

My flight back home was a round-the-world trip: Lisbon-Paris-Rio. Ai ai ai ai ai ai ai! This is unbearable especially because you need to pass over all that immigration processes two times (find the departure gate, wait in the giant queues, take off your clothes to put on X-ray with that women touching you, open your bags, show everything, stamp your passport and so on). And when I arrived in Paris there was an ignorant police officer man blocking everybody with a hand luggage that didn’t fit his small basket. Ahh! People wanted to kill him, because this jerk was screaming with people and acting in a totally non-professional way! When I passed by him, I was with many kilos of hand luggage and of course it was more than what he would allow. He started complaining, losing his patience with me. And everything in French!! You know what I did? In the queue there were around 20 brazilians telling: ignore him and walk away, walk away! I did it and nothing happened. Loser, haha! (Yes, definitely there are too much Brazilians in Paris).

After all these complications, I noticed that my flight to Rio would leave in 10 minutes, and I was 15 minutes away from the gate. Those stressful 15 minutes running were the worst part of all trip. Charles de Gaulle airport is too much big… and no chance to lose this plane!! Then I ran like a desperate chick, with a heavy backpack and two huge supermarket bags with holes (things were falling down all the time!). There was a time that I couldn’t feel my legs and hands anymore, I was almost dying without air but couldn’t stop running more and more. Wow! Then finally I arrived at the gate and the pilots were very good samaritans: they waited 30 minutes more to leave, because some connections flights were delayed. Ufaaa! What an adventure!

When I finally could sit and rest, my mind started working at 130 km/h again. I was deeply sad to leave such a wonderful continent, with so many different and completely new things to me. I also couldn’t stop thinking about every detail of my experience, and the gap between the image of Europe I had before and after traveling. Completely different! It’s hard to explain in a few words, but our stereotypes about european cities and people doesn’t fit into reality. And it’s a blast to see every little myth deconstructed, day by day. That was the trip that we lived with highest intensity.

Rio de Janeiro again!

Ah, what a mix of sensations I had when the plane landed here! First I was desperate wanting to go back to Zoropa again, then I though: people are waiting for me here in the airport, I want so much to see them, how happy! Two seconds after, all I wanted was to go back to that magic continent again.

When you arrive at Galeão airport you can see and feel the brazilian mess! Perfect, now I’m home and no way back! Everything was completely crowded, because of carnival, and I was still wearing a shirt, two sweaters and a coat. IN CARIOCA SUMMER! Immediately a strip tease was needed.

My house was all decorated with balloons and papers. Giulliano and Amanda prepared a brownie, hummm. Delicious. You’re talented, kids! I had a shower, ate and then connected to send an e-mail to Yordy, my special boy. But he was already there, online! We talked a little to tell our news, very very cool. Then I went to bed for some long hours of sleep. Home again, ufa!

Balance

45 days, 7 countries, 10 different houses, 3 days in a car, 1 new love, 0 snow, 0 disappointments. Almost any sunny days. Lots of new friends. Zoropando is not over. You can be sure that we’re going back soon, and hope more people can join our next adventures!

Até a próxima, cambada. Vejas as fotos no Facebook (ou no orkut da Mariana).

Tchau!