I have a new friend....well, two....

On Tuesday I got my second tattoo. In case you haven´t heard - it hurts to get a tattoo. Hurts, hurts, hurts. And tattoos require quite a bit of care. I have to use special soap to wash it each day. I have to apply cream 2 to 3 times a day. I am not supposed to sunbathe, swim, or exercise for 10 days. I was so distraught to learn that I couldn´t exercise for ten days that the man at the tattoo shop quickly modified the number to 5. (if I don´t run for 10 days I will be a neurotic mess - see explanation below) BUT....I think she is beautiful. I know there are people on both sides of the fence when it comes to tattoo´s - hate em or love em. Either way - Nossa Senhora Aparecida is with me always, in my heart, through my faith, and on my love handle. Teehee.



I was reluctant to take a picture to show her. One reason was because I have family and friends that detest tattoos. Another reason is because I´m feeling kinda fat right now. I haven´t worked out regularly for almost two weeks, between being sick and now having a tattoo. Also, I have been eating a lot. There are these cracker "things" that have about 2000 calories per bag and I eat a bag in two days. I don´t know what it is - I don´t think they are crackers, they are more like crack. I include this picture of a quick dinner I threw together. It was japanese soba noodles (which I LOVE), with steamed brocoli, sauteed onions, soy sauce, all topped with sesame seeds. Not bad - and I actually ate a legitimate portion of noodles. The problem is the tray of brigadeiros you see behind the dinner. I used two cans of sweetened condensed soy milk and cocoa powder. I ate that tray in about two days - that seems to be the magic number. And here is a funny quirk about me - whenever I eat really badly, as I have been, I drink even MORE water (as if that will flush the toxic fat cells out of my system) and then I feel bloated, on top of feeling guilty and fat. I´m just going to go straight to TRIPLE ugh! I usually eat a lot, and not always great, but when I work out it negates the guilt. Oh well, not too much longer now.


I have definitely eaten enough today to stop for the evening but I´m not done. My new friend Sebastian, from Argentina, is cooking authentic empanada´s tonight - some specifically vegan for me. We have been inseperable. He went with me to the tattoo shop for moral support on Tuesday, he and I went to MAM (Museum of Modern Art) at Iberapuera Park yesterday, and tonight he is cooking for me. He and his significant other, and me and my friends, were going to all vacation in Porto Seguro next week, but now I am going to Ilha Grande instead. I´m not sosososo thrilled. I´ve been to Ilha Grande before but it is pretty and cheap. Yeah cheap. And it is certain. We have all booked and purchased or transportation and pousada. On a different note, Sebastian keeps trying to convince me that Argentina men are the way to go (he has no vested interest - he is definitely not interested in me). And today there was a report that ranked countries in terms of equality of the sexes. Brasil is 74th. The U.S. is 31st. And Argentina...33rd. Not bad. Sebastian may almost convince me - he opens all my doors, waits for me to walk out or in of a building first, he bought me (and his boyfriend) a rose at the park, and now he is cooking for me (which he swears all Argentinean men do). I truly love my friends here. I am pretty positive no one here - or in Argentina - is going to diminish my love for the boy back home, but I am having fun.

I´m vegan, single, Catholic, mostly American and learning what it means to be Brasilian. No boy, job, or Porto Seguro but LOTS of laughs and a very important woman watching my back. It´s been a good week. woohoo!