Estou de volta :)

I've been back in Brazil for almost 1 week now. A week that almost started in disaster...

Before leaving for my trip i had signed a contract for a new house, and paid 2 months' rent as deposit. The landlord had picked up my bed and some other things, and promised to have everything waiting for me in my new room on my return. I even had a key to let myself in on the 1st day back.

So having landed at 5.30am, i was standing outside my new house before 8, key in hand. Tired but excited. And then the key didn't fit in the lock. And of course i didn't have the guy's number saved in my phone. So i trawled through my luggage until i found the contract. And of course there was no number printed there.

By then i was starting to wonder in what backstreet I would find my bed for sale, and if the Federal Police (my favourite government department, you may remember...) had a ripped-off tenants supports service. Fortunately Diego and his friend (+ car) were with me, so by 8.15 i was on my way to his house. I found the phone number online, and my (very apologetic) landlord explained that they had changed the locks while i was away, and promised to be at home waiting in the afternoon.

After a less than smooth start i've enjoyed my 1st week here. I'm still not sure how many people are living here (i counted 13 but apparently there are some i didn't meet yet). There's Brazlians, French and Germans, and we're speaking a mixture of English, French and Portuguese. So my English will continue getting worse. In a few minutes we'll be gathering around the tv to watch Brazil take on Argentina in a World Cup qualifier that is a must-win for Maradona's men. I hope everyone will still be smiling in 2hrs from now!