Brasil rite of passage = bureaucracy

So I'll start with the good news: I'm going to Rio this weekend! I leave Wednesday night giving me three full days (Fri-Sun) plus part of Thursday. I only get part of Thursday because of the bad news: the reason that I'm going to Rio.
The story starts with my application for a visa to Brasil. When I got my passport back there was a piece of paper that I was to use to register with the Federal Police within 30 days. On this paper there was an error though (my parents' names were switched) and I, without even thinking twice fixed it. I'll keep the story short, but just keep in my mind that throughout this I've had to take a friend from the lab with me because they all speak Portuguese so fast and with such accents that I'm in completely over my head without a translator. To cut to the end I now need to go to the nearest US consulate (Rio) to get a piece of paper proving what my parents' names are so that I can register and pay $R200 for an identity card that I probably won't get until I'm ready to leave. In between there was taking buses all over the city for one afternoon, and a separate morning, going to a different office and being sent back to the initial one, trying to schedule an appointment with the US consulate only to find out that they were booked until this Wednesday, and oh yeah I'm being fined $R8 a day starting today until I get registered and this piece of paper costs $30. Sigh! And the really aggravating part is that if I hadn't fixed the error no one ever would have known or thought about it. I'm rationalizing all of this by saying that when I said I wanted to travel the world and experience new things I was committing to things like this so I can't complain too much...it at least makes me feel a little better!

So other than this less than fun intro to Brasilian bureaucracy, things are going pretty well. Still meeting incredibly nice people and enjoying it down here. It seems like I've been here for a long time, but it's only been a month, and now the end is already in sight. I've been emailing back and forth with some former Fulbrighter's and starting to read up on Indo...crazy to think that in two months I'll be there! Until then I've still got plenty of traveling to do here! After this weekend Ouro Preto is still on tap within one of the 2 following weekends. And now I'm beginning to plan my week or so of travel right before I leave. That should be a real adventure since I'll be solo. This trip to Rio is with Juliano from the lab that has been serving as my translator and who has a (free) place to stay in Rio.

Ok that's enough for now.

Ate mais,
Aaron