Keep it casual

Ok, so I'm a little behind in the blogging. I still need to write about last week at the beach (which was awesome!). I'm getting there, but it might take a couple of days since I have to do a lot of work on my project. In short, the beach was really beautiful, the jungle hikes were STUNNING, and we had an awesome night exploring Paraty, a cute touristy town on the coast. Other interesting events occurred (including late night ocean skinny dipping), but I'll leave the most exciting highlights for my upcoming in-depth update.

Today I went to Sao Paulo to see some art exhibits (see previous post), have dinner, and walk around the city. About 15 students were signed up to come, but I think only 9 actually made it. The rest were nursing hangovers; we went to a club in SP last night and everyone had lots of fun...maybe too much fun (if there is such a thing). I ended up spending more money on drinks than I intended--In Brazil, instead of paying while you drink, you're handed a card when you enter the club. The bartender just adds charges to your card and you pay when you get out. I wish I'd known that beer was R$6.50 a bottle! Sneaky.

I finished reading Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer yesterday. It was an amazing book. Well written and easy to read. I had a hard time getting into it when I first started, because Krakauer gives very long-winded descriptions of physical locations and logistical situations, but I quickly gained huge appreciation for his approach. Chris McCandless (the protagonist) died when he was 24-years-old, after hitchhiking around the western United States for two years and then spending three months alone in the Alaskan wilderness, entirely free from human contact. Incredibly tragic. But, I think McCandless really lived more in 24 years than most people do in their entire lives. Anyway, read the book. (Dad, I'll return it to you when I get home so you can read it :) Thanks for letting me borrow it.)

I've moved on to Jane Eyre. I'm about 100 pages in and I just cannot put it down. I am IN LOVE with this book. Can't wait to see how it develops. I'm also accumulating a list of books that I need to read this summer, including Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, and The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. Since I'll be working at the hotel again, I'll have lots of time to read. Exciting!

I'm off to bed. Or maybe off to read.