after campos i returned to sao paulo for a few days. the hostel i stayed at was nice but there was hardly anyone there. but i still met lots of people from brasil and the world, had a really good time, and got to know a different part of the city.
next i took a bus from sao paulo to presidente prudente. it took about 8 hours, but it wasnt so bad because i got to see a lot of the countryside which was really beautiful. i stayed with bharbara who i met through couchsurfing. i stayed with her and her famiy for two nights. i had a nice time with her and her friends. the experience was much more valuable than if i had gone alone, not knowing anything about the city. so i am really grateful for that opportunity.
on thursday i traveled to jales to complete my registration with the federal police. i left at 920am and didnt get there until 6pm because i had to catch two buses and waited about three hours in between. when i arrived in jales i found a hotel with wifi after searching for a while on foot. one night cost $17. the next morning, i got up early to go to the delegacia of the federal police. the stakes were quite high for several reasons: i had already purchased a bus ticket for 330pm to ilha solteira, the delegacia was only going to be open from 800 until 1030am when it would close due to the brasil x holland match, and i still had some tasks to complete before i could get registered. i arrived early and by 830 i left to go round up all the necessary items to complete the process. i took a mototaxi (just a guy with a bike and an extra helmet) and first went to pay the registration fee of about $100 at the banco do brasil. that was fairly straightforward and only took 15 minutes. next i went to a notary to get notarized copies of all the relevant pages of my passport. this cost about $20 and also didnt take long. lastly i went to get 3x4cm fotos. this was also quick, costing $7. i returned to the delegacia around 930. i waited a while then they took my fingerprints and gave me my official id. i left around 1020 and went to a bar to watch the match. the brazilians were angry about the loss at first, but soon after they were happy and brasilian again.
i arrived in ilha solteira around 6pm after a three-hour ride. felipe, at student at unesp, met me at the bus station. oh, this is on friday. iaeste informed me of my housing arrangements on wednesday. anyway, felipe and i went straight to my new home! thats nice to be able to say. being a tourist is tiring. living somewhere is much more pleasant. im even thinking of returning one weekend to visit.
the house is medium-sized and well-used. i think there are four other students that live here although its tough to say because the semester is just ending here and theyve all been coming and going for vacation. last night i went to the house of a friend of felipe. i met lots of people and had fun speaking lots of portuguese and learning lots of new words and expressions.
today i went to watch the argentina x germany match with some of my new friends. in the afternoon, we went to the beach of the rio parana. the surrondings of the city are really beautiful. theres water everywhere you look and watching the sun set along the river at the foot of the hidroelectric dam was great.
i think im going to have an excellent experience here and im ready to start my research on tuesday.
pictures soon....
Saturday 3 July 2010
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment