All day at the Beach

I woke up a bit late - I seem to have contracted the cold that everyone in the house has and it's playing hell with my system. But I managed to drag myself outta bed by 11 am Rio time which would 8 am back home.

It was quickly decided that we would go to the beach today as it was scorching hot this morning. So everyone got ready, guys headed out early and I ran to catch up. I dressed for the beach this time and wore my surf shorts for swimming. We Stopped at this Burger joint along the way and had Breakfast/Lunch. I had a burger with orange juice and a small Acai smoothie.

Again, i must stress the Acai drinks back home are crap, pure crap compared to the Acai here - so darn good. Like if you ever get the chance to come to rio get a bowl of Acai - with granola if you like - you'll be addicted. Plus they have amazing qualities - most antioxidants of any known fruit or veggie, natural elctrolytes on par with Gatorade (minus the processed sugar), omega 3 on par with salmon...just a great all round fruit. If you're stuck in Lethbridge go to booster juice and get one of the Acai Juice bottles - not as great but you get the idea.

So after our meal we headed down to Barra Beach. By this time there was a bit of a mist in the air and it cooled down considerably. Once we got to the beach we picked up some lawn chair that we were supposed to cost R$2 (2 dollars in Brazilian Currancy) but ended up costing me like R$6 - go figure? I guess we got "Gringo'd."

the Beach was awsome - we pitched up near the outter edge as a result it was less crowded; which was great. Because this is my first time near the ocean I'm in there quite a bit (well the 2 days I've been there). It's great - it's like swimming in epson salt...ha ha!

We spent the day at the beach although the ocean was warmer the sun was not as hot as yesterday. Apparently the young lad who invited us to play paint ball is Renzo Gracie's nephew - the kid was built like a tank. Everyone here is so friendly they always wanna shake hands, smile, and the gals love to kiss and get close when they are leaving (Ciao!)

I really like the beach and the long 30 minute or so walk to the beach. I would like to spend as much time there. I was going to train at Gracie Barra which is right near the beach but it's way too far and if I'm going to be training 2 times a day I'd like to not have to walk so far in the dark (it's winter here so it gets dark early). But Gracie Fusion is just around the corner and much more convienent.

I think the key to being my loneliness is just to get out and do something with others or once I get to learn the neighborhood better by myself. Hope you enjoy the pics - I'm going to bed soon as it's already 10pm and I need to be up early to get to morning training.

Still miss my family tonnes but it's getting alot better - I still need to find a way to phone them more - skype is the best option but I don't have a credit card. Things will work themselves out.