i~ve got a sweeter song than the birds in the trees

i was going to bitch about how i had to wait an hour for juju to go to the beach but the reality is, i live in paradise!! i had one of the best days of my life!

a few friends and i piled into a car headed for a foreign secluded beach. our plans to lay out were thwarted by an overcast sky so we wandered instead . . . right onto a grassy trail that led to gigantic burnt sienna rocks being slammed by waves. we climbed the slippery boulders until we reached a point that seemed to be the end of the earth. the sea was stormy, waves crashed against the fortress of rocks and dolphins were jumping out of the choppiness. the splash reached about 3 stories and drenched us all completely, through our clothes, like buckets of water were being thrown on us. we stripped down to our bathing suits and laughed our asses off and looked for the nearest point to be even more drenched by the next wave.

time after time, we were pounded by even bigger waves, us laughing uncontrollably. after about a half hour of pure entertainment, we were numb to the core, sore from laughing, and decided to move on. i wondered into an old hut that housed a fishing boat, some benches and a stove with a pot of coffee. it was as if someone lived there during the day.

while our clothes dried on the beach, we played soccer, rode bikes and listened to music while drinking mate (all at the same time). on the way home, we stopped by the store to pick up fresh bread and then, all sandy and salty, made a huge feast of chicken, pasta salad, veggies, beans and rice for friends. lucy made a mayonaise with garlic, parsley, milk and oil, and i swear, it is of the gods. all those hours of watching food network tv never taught me the other way to peel garlic from i~s skin by soaking it. i could put a bowl of this mayo by my bed at night and eat it with my finger. (but we used the fresh bread as a vehicle for the sauce instead). of course no dinner is complete without brazilian reggae, dancing (i did a scarf dance, to everyone~s amusement) and cachaça! what a perfect day!!! brazil brazil brazil!!