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Unfortunately I received some bad news recently and my Nan has passed away at the great age of 91, she was ready to go and went peacefully so it is as best as we could have hoped for. She was a fantastic woman with a bright spirit who was so kind and loving and she […]

You last left myself and Harry in Buenos Aires or just leaving Buenos Aires on our way to Bolivia, via a quick pit stop in Santiago, Chile. At the time of booking, the layover looked a dream, 10 hours and a quick chance to see Santiago and no need for a hostel. However Santiago was […]

Tchau Brazil, Hola Argentina, Now I had many preconceptions about Argentina; First there was our rivalry that we have always had, mostly in my mind built by football. Many games always bringing up the memory, which I have never owned but can see so vividly, of Maradona punching the ball. There is also the playful […]

Hey Y'all, Excited to welcome my second guest blogger to the stage, the unpredictable, the lovable Mr Harry Sinclair-Waugh... Hello to all my fellow Mazil followers. I'm very excited to be contributing to the blog that I've kept a keen eye on since its inception a year ago. The aim of the first weekend of […]

After a lovely month at home visiting family and friends, I've come back to Brazil, if only for a short time this time. Whilst I was back I was telling most people I would be heading to Salvador because I was keenly interested in both the culture there and the history of the sugar plantations. […]

That's all folks. For now. The monkey's out of the bottle I had been keeping the fact that I am coming home a secret to surprise my very sharp and difficult to surprise brother, whose birthday it is this month. The lengths we all went to not let anything slip was well, far. We paid […]

It was a week of hard fought battles which had me sitting on hand switching knife edges. An end to many a season as Winter is coming in the Southern Hemisphere. The battle to sit upon the throne in League one was at its finale, the band of men in Luton trying to secure it […]

I've been watching a lot of peep show recently which is the perfect show, the inner monologues really nailing it on the relatability scale. It's very self-degrading and beautifully honest. I would recommend it to everyone. Everyone British anyway. For me it really normalises the negative emotions and I find myself laughing hard at all […]

So I've given her a makeover. Before the layout did it's job but I've spent the last few weeks creating something to give her a new look. Mainly just for practice and creating something to which I can now upload posts and other content to without having to code them in. Which has good implications […]

So here it was, Carnaval, the week I'd been waiting for, the biggest party in the world. The thing everybody has been talking about since I arrived here. It began on Friday the 1st of March and ran through to March 6th, Ash Wednesday. This being their version of pancake Tuesday. A week long celebration […]

I had the best Monday I have ever had this week. It really started late Sunday night into early Monday morning, the soap opera that is the NBA delivered an entertaining crossover event with all of the best characters involved in the All- star game. Although never a great game, all the little storylines make […]

Last Tuesday my second tourist visa ran out The Friday before, 2 days after my parents left, I headed to the airport to rectify this. I had accumulated all the documents I would need, to study here for a possible six months albeit due to monetary reasons, more likely less. Many people had advised me […]

Hello folks, last week my wonderful parents came out to visit and we had an absolutely cracking time, but to tell you about it I'm gunna pass the mic to my Mum and you can hear it from her point of view. Enjoy.... The power of love and a hug 🤗 For those of you […]

It's been 5 months so far. In truth I've been thinking about this blog post quite a lot, the differences in culture, what's the same? What's different? What do I like about it? What do I not like about it? I always have thought Brazil is cool, ever since the 1998 Nike advert where the […]

Feliz Ano Novo Caras I hope you are all having a great start to 2019 So far, for me, it has been, very happy and positive, thanks for asking. It all started on December 31st, I'd been invited, through a mutual friend to a party in a swanky apartment overlooking Copacabana beach, the scene of […]

Ola, Feliz Natal Merry Christmas. I feel like the Grinch atop of Whoville looking down (via instagram) on those below, enjoying all their festivities and their xmas boozing, driving home for Christmas and fireplace snoozing. I say this because here, there is no Christmas excitement, a few things in the window and a few polar […]

I am a breaker of things Always have been, things break around me and this month, this has made itself apparent again. No matter where I am, I will break things. I should take care more really, but even when I really try to, shit happens. So heres a list of the things I can […]

So everybody's gone, I don't know what I did or said but everyone has left or is leaving. Within 24 hours, Maddy, Leandro (one of my housemates) and Hanisah all left for England. Mark left for a week but will follow back home for a longer period not 7 days from now and another of […]

Been a busy few weeks. I've fallen behind on life; this, my own diary, coding and Duolingo. Works been annoying, I've read zero books and I have no idea whats going on in the soap. But I have done many new things and seen more parts of the city than I have in the previous […]

Errar verb To Fuck Up The act of being wrong in conduct or judgement "Eu errei - I fucked up" I like this verb, we don't really have it in English, but I find it useful and have used it frequently, particularly this weekend. Before though, flashback to last weekend, quite the opposite. Last Saturday […]

It was a fantastic weekend last weekend, I was riding a high, at one point on Saturday exploring a new area, closing my eyes as I and the song hit a high note simultaneously. Later on physically heading up, but to a pretty cool coffee festival with an even better view, before descending to watch […]

Time was running out on my visa, with 21 days left and still lots to see and do, I attempted to extend my visa. I assembled all the necessary forms and evidence, which was a kerfuffle itself, and had heard/read many horror stories regarding the bureaucracy of Brazil. I was not confident. On Monday they […]

First things first, I've found the best coffee shop situated a mere 2 minute walk away from my house and that is where I will now be writing most of my posts. Like a true remote worker. It's dead cheap, the coffees come with a truffle and the cookies melt in the middle. On top […]

Last Sunday I was not in the greatest mindset and not feeling particularly good but this has been contrasted by my thoughts and feelings this Sunday. Everything is really coming together. The week has steadily progressed with each day, I think I'm gunna start plotting how I feel on a graph so I can look […]

Sunday morning, election day here, or at least the first round of voting. After watching the UFC fight last night at a place literally called 'fight bar' drinking caipirinhas (terrible things) I awoke with a stonking headache just in time to escort Jose to the polls to witness their democracy in action. I originally took […]

This is still one long transition, still planting seeds and establishing roots, last Sunday moving to a flat where I'll reside for the next two months, possibly 5. Yes, there's a hammock! You may remember I discussed the house hunting process a few weeks back... "I began in the student area, what a guy, the […]

Its been 40 days, it does not feel like it, still feel I'm at the beginning, and I hope I am. I'm going through a process of trying/learning a lot of new things all at once; Portuguese the job coding meditation forro Each one is going pretty well, the routine is helping and I can […]

I've now been here over a month and been working for over a week. I can actually feel myself settling, metaphorically nestling into a little burrow. I first arrived basically as a traveller and it was pretty non stop, then I found my place and probably did a little too much of nothing and now […]

Have you ever seen Inception? When the main characters infiltrate the dreams, they continue in the dreamworld unnoticed by the dreamers 'projections', until they perform an action which is abnormal and all of a sudden, the 'projections' all turn to face the foreigner inside the dream. That is the scenario I find myself in fairly […]

So I did not go out and celebrate Brazil independence as I had envisioned. Mainly cause I had nobody really to go out with. Most of my friends I had made are travellers or were away and the one resort had returned to the party hostel from where I once came, however I was not […]

I did it. I got the job, Smashed the mock It means the world to me. Literally, I can, for the time being, live wherever I wish as long as the wifi is acceptable, the weather is good and the government lets me. That is free, I admittedly did the stupidest dance I've ever done […]

So I went through with the interview like I said I shouldn't, after some good advice from wise old Pog, an employee at the company. I got it. Although I now have a mock lesson on Friday morning which is being drummed up as just as much of an interview, maybe even more. But my […]

I've lost track of days already, I've been neglectful to my own personal diary and even more neglectful to the learning of Portuguese. But my attention has turned elsewhere to building a base. I returned to Ipanema to begin laying down some foundations. I had a 3 step plan that seemed so easy. Get a […]

Hello, Before I begin, a very happy birthday to Holly Ciuffini, My amazing sister in law who I hope has had the best weekend down in Wales topping off what is a well deserved summer! I didn't plan to post this much but now its just on a when I would like to discuss something/share […]

So lol at me and my shit pockets, my phone got jacked last night (I think) out of my pocket as I believe we were heading to the first bar. I couldn't be sure if I had brought it out after I felt someone brush past. I just suddenly felt lighter. He was swift and […]

Ok so the other day I told you I saw the most amazing thing. That has already been replaced. Before I begin, I have been measuring my Portugues based on communication with taxi drivers. Not a great yard stick I know cause its dependent on their personality and knowledge of English but each time I […]

Yesterday I saw one of my favourite things I've ever seen, better than Christ the redeemer for sure. I wandered into the centre in my shirt to look for work and stumbled across a bowl besides a large building under construction. With many people looking on, the construction workers had decided to take a rather […]

Domingo As you can see, I've already learned lots of Portuguese. On the first taxi ride I realised I'm going to struggle to communicate, the bits I've learned from Duolingo helped very little. There were 0 cats reading newspapers. Since then I've already come along way, my most recent taxi ride involving several discussions including […]

I made it. I keep thinking to myself why the fuck am I here. In both a positive and negative way. What am I doing in a foreign country with no idea how to speak Portuguese and no idea what I'm going to do. This briefly scares me and I wonder if I made a […]