Spain >> Portugal >> Recife >> Wedding >> Amazon >> Rio >> Brasilia

Wow, so much has happened in the last 15 days that it is hard to believe I lived through all of it. Sooooo much has happened! Fasten your seat belt, here goes a very rough summary of the recent events:

After I left Sweeden I went to Vigo, Spain to meet my great friend Adrian (pic). As always, the fun is guaranteed with Adrian... we went to Portugal for a music festival and the next two days we relaxed in nice restaurants by the beach and what not (mostly recovering from the night Portugal). It was great to see Adrian and the rest of the gang in Vigo. I wished I could've stayed longer...



The one day and a half that I spent in Lisbon was just enough to get a feel for the Portuguese capital. Lisbon was the only city that I didn't hit on my 2004 trip so it was good to see it this time. From there I went to Recife in the northeast of Brazil (paradize area for me) where I spent one marvelous night. Great meal and walk by the beach, killer breakfast and I was off to home sweet home Brasilia!
I arrived in Brasilia and I hit the groud running. Tons of little stuff to do for the wedding, renting tux, driving and translating around town and what not. I had to do lots of stuff before the wedding, it was very enjoyable. I got to spend a lot of time with the Pattersons (now the inlaws) and show them Brasilia. It was great.



My sister married Preston Patterson on August 26th and the wedding was AMAZING!!! Perfect!!! Outside, around 5pm, no clouds, great spring weather, she looked beautiful - it was like a dream. My mom was so happy with everything :) Me too. The party afterwards was great too. I got to see sooooo many people that I hadn't seen in a long time (just about all my family and friends ;) ).


The next day after the wedding the Patterson's and I flew to Manaus to explore the Amazon forest and river. We got to see lots of cool stuff, great boat trips on the Amazon and Negro river, and a super nice/fun hotel by the river. We had a very full time in Manaus! From there we went to Rio de Janeiro - the wonderful city- to catch some more of the Brazilian culture. Rio was fantastic. Great weather, amazing beaches and views. It was soooo enjoyable! The Corcovado (where the big statue of the Christ is) is spetacular! One of the most beuatiful/ special places in the world for sure! The Maracana was also lots of fun. From Rio the Pattersons went back to Colorado and I returned to Brasilia to finally be at home for a bit... ;)


This trip accross Brazil was really special. It was fun to be with the inlaws and help them with all the menus in Portuguese and the small (sometimes BIG) problems in airports and what not. We sure experienced lots of adeventures in these 5 days. God was all over our trip! It was amazing :) Thanks again Rick, for letting me come with you guys! I loved it!

Now I am just waiting on my papers to be able to come back to the States. Please pray about this because it's been more than 4 months and I still have no answer! Hopefully I'll be able to return to GA in October. In the meantime I'll try to stay on solid ground for more than a week and enjoy my family :)

>> Marilyn, Karol, Cailey, Rick Patterson



Em Portugues
Estou no Brasil! Depois da Suecia passei pela Espanha, Portugal, Recife, casamento da Luisa, Manaus, Rio de Janeiro e agora estou em Brasilia. Me liga ou passa la' em casa que te conta todas as historias ;) Valheu?! ;)

Sweeden/ Suecia

Thomas, JP, Margareta, Folke

My time is Sweeden has been great. I've spent most of my time with Thomas and his family hanging out in Lund and Malmo. We had a delicous dinner with Thomas' parents (Folke and Margareta) on Sunday night and on Monday I got to hang with Peter (Thomas' older brother). This was the third time we've met and I really like to spend time with this family. We've become good friends. It was also very nice to meet Thomas' girlfriend, Ida. Cool girl. Staying in the dorms and cooking with Thomas brought back many good memories from High Point ;) Today I am off to Spain and in 4 days I'll be in Brazil!

>>Peter + JP

Em Portugues
Minha passagem aqui pela Suecia foi joia. Foi bem legal rever o Thomas e sua famila, e tambem conhecer a namorada dele (Ida). Domingo a noite jantamos com os pais dele e segunda feira passei o dia com o irmao mais velho (Peter) em Malmo. Fiquei hospedado no dormitorio da universidade, no quarto visinho ao do Thomas. Foi muito bem divertido estar com o Thomas mais uma vez nos dormitorios, e cozhinhar juntos e tal. Hoje estou de saida para a Espanha para rever meu amigo Adrian. E depois, em 4 dias estarei no Brasil!

Acknowledgement / Recochecimento

I must take a minute to acknowledge how real, present and good God is in my life. This past week I've been contacting many different airlines trying to book a flight to Brazil (Varig went bankrupt so now all the other companies are overbooked and there are no flights from Europe to Brazil). On my last day in Thailand after fasting and prayer I call United Airlines one more time and got connected with a very helpful agent. After 2.5 hours on the phone we found a flight from Lisbon to Recife on the exact date that I wanted! It was really amazing how all this worked out. Immediately after that phone call I went to the Chiang Mai airport to catch my flight to Bangkok so I could come to Copenhagen.
About a month ago I called from NZ to book my flight from Bangkok to Copenhagen and the agent told me that there were no seats available for that route in the month of August! So we changed the route to Bangkok - Frankfurt - Copenhagen. So I called Lufthansa in Bangkok to confirm that I was on the flight, and the agent said, "yes, you are confirmed and it will be 33000 baht (about US$1000)." I had no time to talk because I had to board the plane in Chiang Mai, so I told the agent that I would be there in an hour to discuss this problem. During the whole flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok I was praying about this matter, because I had already paid for this ticket and an extra $1000 was not on my budget. So I got there and met a good agent and the Lufthansa office and after much explaining and calculations (1.5 hours) she was able to reissue my ticket with all my new routes all the way back to Atlanta and I only had to pay the standard $125 fee for reissuing a ticket plus the airport tax for stopping in Frankfurt. It was very intense hour and a half at the airport office in Bangkok, but God provided in an amazing way, and everything that could've and needed to happen for the reissuing of the ticket to work out happened in perfect timing.
I was soooooo relieved and thankful when I boarded the plane. Now I am in Sweden (Lund) with my good friend Thomas and it's great to be here. God is very real and very good. You just have to trust him and go for it.


Em Portugues
Tenho que escrever pelo menos um paragrafo aqui para reconhecer o quanto Deus e' real, presente e bom na minha vida. Nos ultimos 10 dias eu tenho ligado para varias companhias aereas tentando marcar minha passagem da Europa para o Brasil. Como Varig faliu todas as outras companhias estao super lotadas e nao tem mais vagas para voar da Europa para o Brasil no mes de agosto. Depois de um tempo de jejum e oracao liguei mais uma vez para a United e foi atendido por uma agente muito boa e depois de duas horas e meia de pesquisas e tentativas achamos um voo de Lisboa a Recife justamente na data que eu queria! Gloria a Deus. Logo depois do telefonema foi direto para o aeroporto de Chiang Mai para pegar meu voo para Bangkok, para seguir com minha viagem rumo a Europa.
A um mes atras quando eu estava na NZ eu liguei para a United para maracar meu voo Bangkok- Copenhagen mas nao haviam mais vagas no mes de agosto. Entao tivemos que mudar o trajeto para Bangkok- Frankfurt - Copenhagen. Logo antes de embarcar em Chiang Mai liguei para o aeroporto de Bangkok para confirmar que eu estava no voo para Copenhagen mais tarde naquela mesma noite. A agente da Lufthansa confirmou minha reserva e disse que custaria 3000 baht ($1000)! Bom eu falei pra tia que em uma hora estaria em Bangkok para resolver esse questao. Esse voo ja' estava incluso na minha passagem e nao tinha $1000 no banco sobrando para pagar mais essa passagem. Bom passei o voo inteiro de Chiang Mai a Bangkok orando sobre mais esse problema e quando cheguei la' Deus me deu uma paz no coracao que ajudou bastante. Fui atendido por uma agente boa e depois de muitas explicacoes e contagem de milhas (mais uma hora e meia) a moca emitiu meu bilhete novo com minhas novas tragetorias ate' Atlanta. So' tive que pagar a tarifa normal de $125 para a emissao da passagem nova e mais a taxa do aeroporto. Que luta meu.
Foi o maior alivio finalmente embarcar no aviao saindo de Bangkok. Agora estou na Suecia com meu grande amigo Thomas. Bom de mais estar aqui. Deus e' bom de mais, o lance e' confiar nele e bola pra frente.

3 day treking/ 3 dias na trilha - Chiang Mai

The three day treking expedition was certainly my favorite adventure so far in Thailnad. On the first day we got on a truck and headed out of Chai Maing into the mountains and jungle of north Thailand. Ou first stop was an awsome waterfall, with cool (very slipery) natural slides :) Afteer that a quick stop at a temple up in the mountains and then a good 2 hour walk to a very small local village for our first camp sight. You should check the pics of the village to see our accomodations. This was a very cultural experience. So different from the Western world. After dinner we sang songs around the fire until late at night. I sang a song with made up words about Thailand and our group and the guides and everybody had a good laugh... The second day was full good hikes and waterfalls. By the end of the day the trek got tougher and tougher and it was lots of fun. We had a group of 10 (2 french guys, 3 Israeli, a French family of 4 and I). The Israeli guys (Alex, Bendov, Dori) were a lot of fun and I spent most of my time with them. After dinner on the second night I had my first original full body Thai massage. It was wonderfull! On the third day we jumped off a 10m waterfall (several times... + a 3m back flip), then went bamboo rafting (no seat belts or handles on this thing) and lastly we got to ride on elephants! Off course I asked to sit on the head of the elephant and be the driver :) Loads of fun, not so easy to stay balanced...
In addition to all that, we got to play lots of Thai football (which is smiliar to Foot-volley, but with a smaller/plastic ball), eat loads of different fruits along the way and learn some cool tricks that our guides would teach us. These guys knew a LOT of tricks :) They were like the Thai version of Macguiver.
I am back in Chaing Mai now for two days and then I am off to Sweeden. I am still having troubles booking my ticket to Brazil. Please pray about that. Thanks!
(Bendov, Alex, Dori)


Em Portugues Com certeza o melhor programa que fiz ate' agora na Tailandia foi a trilha de 3 dias aqui perto de Chai Miang. No primeiro dia saimos da cidade de caminhonete rumo as montanhas e florestas do norte de Tailandia. Nossa primeira parada foi numa cachoeira sensacinal e depois do almoco visitamos um templo no topo de uma montanha com uma vista bem legal. Logo depois deixamos a caminhonete e seguimos a pe' (2 horas) ate' uma pequena aldeia local onde nos acampamos. Vale a pena ver as fotos da aldeia. Vida totalmente diferente da nossa. Depois da janta sentamos em volta da fogueira com o violao. Inventei uma musica la' na hora sobre a Tailandia e os nossos companheiros de viagem o todo mundo rio pra caramba :). Eramos 10 no nosso grupo, 2 franceses, 3 israelenses, e mais uma familia de 4 franceses. Os israelenses (Alex, Dori, Bendov) eram muito gente fina e passamos a maioria do tempo juntos. No segundo dia caminhamos muito no meio da selva, vimos muitas canhoeiras e nadamos varias vezes - muito show de bola! No ultimo dia pulamos de uma cachoeira de 10m (vairas vezes) e depois decemos o rio numa jangada de bamboo - que foi bem mais divertido do que o esperado :) E para acabar o passeio montamos nos elefantes e fizemos um passeio pela selva. E' claro que montei logo na cabeca do bicho e de vez em quando tinha que segurar nas orelhas de fera' para manter o equilibrio. Bem legal.
Agora estou de volta em Chaing Mai (em um hotel 5 estrelas -pq aqui tudo e' barato entao to podendo, hehehehe ) e em 2 dias estarei na Suecia visitando meu amigo Thomas. Orem pela minha passagem para o Brasil. Valeu!

Bangkok .- Thailand

Eitcha, cheguei sufrido ontem a noite viu... mas
cheguei bem, achei o albergue e estou bem acomodado. O
aeroporto era meio que mal sinalizado e tudo que podia
acontecer para atrasar minha saido do aeroporto e vir
para cidade aconteceu. Caramba meu, a paciencia tava
no limite. Primeiro entrei na fila mais lenta do
mundo... todas as filas do guiche da imigracao
passaram e pegaram suas malas e minha fila ainda tinha
uns 8. Claro que eu pulei para o caixa ao lado para
ser o proximo a ser atendido. Quando finalmente era
minha vez a mocinha falou, ah nao - brasileiro tem que
passar la' no outro caixa para ver o medico. Oh diaxo,
depois de esperar esse tempo todo, sai da fila e vai
la' pro outro lado do salao pegar outra fila. A
senhora que me antendeu nao tinha a minima cara de ser
medica, e com um ingles bem quebrado ela me deu uns
formularios que eu assinei. Voltei de novo para o
guiche com meu passaporte e cai logo na fila de um
individuo que estava em treinamento. Meu, devia ser o
primeiro dia do cara. Demorou um tempao, uma duzia de
pessoas da fila ao lado passaram e finalmente eu
passei. Cheguei la' na estera e todas as malas ja'
haviam sido tiradas, mas logo depois eu encontrei
minha bag. Demorei uns 10 minutos para achar a saido
do aeroporto meu! Nao tem placa... depois tive que
desviar um batalhao de taxistas que queriam me vender
uma promocao, tive que passar por 3 maquinas para
finalmente consiguir sacar um cash. Depois sai, e
peguei o taxi normal (que era a metade do preco - bem
como o meu livro disse). O motorista nao falava nada
de ingles, mas cheguei na rua certa e logo achei meu
albergue. Morto, 12 horas de voo, mais 5 horas de
fusohorario atrasado, meu quarto era justamente no
sexto andar (sem elevador). Dormi bem pra caramba.
Cama dura que nem chao. Banho frio de manha (nao tem
agua quente - mas nem precisa). Bastante quente aqui, mas um calor suportavel.

Hoje fui visitar uma pancada de tempos budistas, e varios outros pontos turisticos. Eu cheguei muito cedo la' no templo e cai na armacao do "amigo" que tava la' que me arrumou um tuk tuk (moto sobre 3 rodas com motorista doido) para me levar em outros lugares e me trazer de volta. Na verdade o lance foi genial, e rodei Bangkok e passei por varias atracoes com motorista particular por um dollar. As coisas aqui sao muito baratas. Mas andar de moto e tuk tuk (esse e' o nome mesmo do trem) aqui e' atividade radical. Muito mais louco que pular de bungy ou paraquedas. Aparentemente as faixas nas pistas nao servem pra nada, cada um vai pra onde quer, um cortando o outro, maior confusao... e so' para no sinal se nao der pra ir meeeesmo. Bom sobrevivi. Deopis fui a Chinatown ver o bairro chines e outra anarquia de loucura total. Um tumulto de gente em lugares que nao tem espaco nem pra andar, e tem moto e carrinho de cachorro quente tentando passar na sua frente. Meu coisa de louco mesmo. Amanha vou fazer umas compras e depois ja' estou saindo daqui para ir para o norte pegar umas trilhas, ver cachoeiras e andar de elefante :)


>> tuk tuk

In English
Jus before leaving NZ I went up the Sky tower (highest building in the souther hemisphere by the way) to take a look at Auckland. I thought it was pretty big, but compared to Bangkok let me tell you... it's not very big at all. Bangkok is HUGE, extremely busy, things here are very different. The arrival last night was a bit rough, because it took me forever to go through immigration. This morning I woke up way too early (at 5am due to the time difference of 5h from NZ) and had a killer breakfast at the hostel (it was so good I orded it twice - big breaky today) and headed to town. Traffic here is insane! Like in NZ and Australia they also drive on the left side, well actually they drive on both sides... wait a minute there are no sides here. Honestly I don't think the lanes painted on the street mean anything, and WAIT! The light is red... oh I guess that doesn't mean anything either because we just kept on going. Today I did something far more eXtreme than bungy jumping or skydiving. I got on a tuk tuk (three wheel motorcile driven by crazy Thais) and this guy took me for a spin around town. I got to the buddist temple too early so a "friend" arranged this tuk tuk to take me around some other sites and bring me back around 1pm. The whole thing was set up, but it worked out really well actually. This guy drove me around for 2 hours to some of the attractions and the TAT (tourist authority t? / travel agency). It was fun, but insane! Driving on the wrong side, cutting people left and right... the works.
After that I spent a few hours wandering around the Buddah capital of south east Asia. It's called Wat Phra Kaew (Emerald Buddha) and it has many temples of different shapes and sizes with hundreds of Buddha's everywhere. Very shinny and bright, with lots of details on the outside, but the inside of the simpler temples were a bit dull. The big/important ones were quite impressive. Nonetheless I didn't really feel any peace or serenity in there. Very hot in busy inside. Unlike the European old cathedrals that somehow stay cool and quite (even in the summers with many visitors). After that I got on the boat again and headed to Chinatown. More insanity, motorcicles on sidewalks, people selling/eating/drinking stuff only God knows where it came from. Most of it looks weird and smells weird. I got to see a lot of new things today. That's for sure! After an exausting sightseeing day I went to one of the malls and was glad to see some familiar things like Burger King and what not.
I am hoping to do lots of shoping tomorrow! I am a little disapointed that things are not as cheap as I expected (as far as clothes - everything else like food/transportation/lodging is dirt cheap). But tomorrow is Saturday so I am going to the BIG market. Should find some good deals there. Then I'll go to the biggest mall in southeast asia, which should be quite good also.
In two days I'll be headed north to Mai Chai to do some trekking on the hills and forest. 3 days/2nights and many trails, waterfalls and elephants coming up. should be fun!

Report / observacao

I've been reading the book, The World is Flat, by Thomas Freedman which was recommended by my good friend/mentor Dr Wray, and this book talks a lot about blogging and the power of uploading and I feel compelled to write down some of my findings of the Land Down Under (this will be very brief).

I have noticed that the Kiwis (New Zealander) is very proud of their country and their roots (Maori culture) and they take very good care of their land - a lot more than any other country I've seen. They are proud to be nuclear free. They seem to be spiritually asleep. Australia is more industrialized and has more big cities, where as NZ only has Auckland. As one of the guides here said, NZ is like the rest of the world was 5 years ago (and that's true).
Australia has no typical or stereotype looking people or food. The country seems to be so young in its roots and has so much international flavor that it doesn't have a flavor of its own (yet). In NZ is easy to spot the Maori's where as in NZ the Aboriginals are nonexistent in society (at least on the east coast). Australians were very cool, into surfing stuff to look cool, laid back, almost slow. I found more Christians in Australia then NZ.
I found both countries similar to Brazil and Europe and different from America (as I expected). Aus and NZ are culturally closer to Brazil then Europe. The Europeans that I've met here confirm what I learned two years ago on my tour of Europe. The Spanish are a lot of fun, they party their life away and seem to be happy at the moment but they are clearly missing something that is not of this world. The Sweeds are extremely polite and the role model for world citizens. The German guy that I met here was different then the typical. He was a Christian and was usually late. We became good friends. In a nut shell that's my take on the people and the Land Down Under.

Em Portugues
No momento estou lendo o livro "O Mundo e' Plano" escrito por Thomas Freedman, que e' sobre a globalizacao do mundo. O livre menciona que uma das maiores razoes da rapida globalizacao e' justamente esse mundo dos blogs e tudo que eles passem de informacao e tecnologia de um para o outro. Entao ai vai minha contribuicao sobre o que eu ja' observei enquanto desse lado do globo.

Os Kiwis (povo da Nova Zelandia) tem muito orgulho da terra deles e por sinal cuidao MUITO BEM do seu meio ambiente. Impressionante o tanto que eles se importam com a natureza. Eles tambem estao bem vinculados a sua cultura (Maori), ja' os Australianos quase nao tem contato com sua cultura original (Aboriginais). Na NZ tambem se nota facilmente os individuos de decendencia Maori, ja' na Australia todo mundo parece ser gringo. Eles nao tem uma aparencia ou comida tipica. A Austalia parece mais uma salada de Asia e Europa com influencia americana. O pais ainda e' muito novo e ainda tem sua propria identidade. A costa leste da Australia e bem desenvolvida com varias cidades grandes, ja' a NZ so' tem Auckland (que nao e' tao grande assim, 1.4 milhoes de hab). A NZ esta' 5 anos atras do mundo (em termos de civilizacao, nao tecnologia) mas eles nao estao nem ai, pq a NZ e' show de bola e eles amam a natureza. Espiritualmente a NZ parece estar adormecida e sem interece. A Australia ja' esta' mais na frente, com pinta de reavivamento nacional (pelo menos foi o que eu vi e ouvi enquanto na JOCUM de la').

Auckland. summary/ retrospectiva NZ

Wow, this is my last night in NZ. The last two weeks have been unbelievable! I arrived in Auckland yesterday and tomorrow I am off to Bangkok, Thailand. Auckland is by far the biggest city in NZ (2 out of 3 Kiwi's live in Auckland). Very cool town. Today I spent the day at Waiheke Island doing some awsome hikes. These trails were amazing! I got to go through bush, mountains, beaches, and cool little villages (pic 2). The views are spectacular. For sure one of the coolest islands in the world. The hike got quite technical in the end and I had some exciting slip ups (close to the edge of the mountains!). It was all good at the end. On my way back into town I stopped by Devonport which is a lovely neighborhood/beach. Very nice sunset and atmosphere there (pic 1). Great day!
For the last few days, I've been hanging out a lot with team Spain (Bruno, Nuria, Bibiane, Gabriela). We had loads of fun in Kaikoura and Wellington. Wellington is notorious for nice restaurants, and we had a nice italian meal on our last night together there... good times.
here goes a brief summary of my travels in NZ (for my own record) - Day 1 arrive in Wellington, stay in an awsome YHA hostel and catch the ferry to the South Island the next day. This is was a very nice cruise. Big ship, the works, great views too (3h trip). Day 2 join the Kiwi Experience bus in Picton, spent the night in Nelson, nice hostel, met the friends I would travel with for the next 10 days. From Nelson to Westport was a nice drive, checked out a cool lake (crazy English guys went for a swim) and then a walk through tropical forest. Next day we had an amazing walk by the beach, another scenic drive till lake Mahinapua. Checked out the sunset at the beach, went for a run on the beach with Dan (English guy) and at night we had our trash bag costum party (we all had to make outfits out of trashbags. I was a rugby player on steriods- great costumes that night). Day 4 walk through forest to a nice lookout point where we could see beach, mountains, forest, river and lakes. Eat lunch at the beach, check out Franz Joseph glaciers. Day 5 at 6:45am skydive over Fox glaciers, then an all day hike on Franz Joseph glaciers and watch the All Blacks beat South Africa at night. Day 6 we went to lake Wanaka. Amazing views, including lake Hawea too. In this town Anders and I checked out the old fashion cinema where they served us dinner in the middle of the movie (cool place, we watched the daVinci Code- I thought it was pretty good). Day 7 as we were leaving Wanaka we went to puzzling world. They had lots of cool interective visual effects there, plus a maze that took me a while to find the exit! The first thing we did when we arrived in Queenstown was the bungy at the legendary Kawarau bridge (highlight!!!) I spent 5 nights in queenstown doing snowboarding, bungy, watching my friends jump and riding on the luge. Very fun town! On day 11 we went to Christchurch with a very crazy driver (Dave). We saw Mt Cook (biggest mountain in NZ) one more time, watched a couple of movies and headed to the east coast. Loooong drive. All Blacks beat Australia that night. Day 12 we headed to kaikoura where we went whale watching. Only got to see two, but it was fun, they are huge! Saw many seals as well. Day 13 get the ferry to the North Island and back in Wellington (capital). Nice dinner with the Spanish team in downtown. Day 14 check out the national museum Te Papa with the Lord of the Rings exibition. Very cool displays of the original miniatures, clothes and weapons. And finally the last two days I've been exploring Auckland and Waiheke islands. Could've not gone better. Very full time. Thank you Lord for letting me see so much of your beauty :) 100's of pics coming up... :)


Em Portugues
Bom, agora estou em Auckland (a maior cidade na NZ) e passei o dia na ilha Waiheke. Peguei umas trilhas muito feras la', com vistas fantasticas. Na volta passei por Devonport que e' uma praia bem legal tambem. Amanha estarie indo para Tailandia e vou passar 10 dias por la' . Ai vai o roteiro que fiz na NZ nas ultimas duas semanas: Wellington - Picton - Nelson - Westport - Lago Mahinpua (festa a fantasia com sacos de lixo), Montanhas glacias em Franz Joseph (paraquedas) - lago Wanaka- Queenstown (bungy e snowboard) - Christchurch - Kaikoura (baleias) - Wellington - Auckland. A versao em ingles a cima tem mais detalhes das aventuras... fotos em breve.

spanish team

Snowboard - Queenstown

O snowboard aqui em Queenstown foi muito show de bola. Dois dias de muitos tombos e descidas sensacionais nas neve. As montanhas aqui sao enormes, sem arvores ou pedras, entao da' para ir para qualquer lado a qualquer hora. Muito legal desbravar novos caminhos e ir desviando dos outos... Conheci uns caras muito legais no onibus e estamos viajando juntos a 10 dias e ja' somos bons amigos. Matias (alemao) e Anders (sueco, paraquedista) estamos fazendo todas as aventuras juntos. Muita adrenalina, muito legal.

In English
Snowboarding here in Queenstown has been fantastic!! Two full days of awsome rides and some pretty tough crashes too (off course). On the first day I had a new (lowest) record of only two crashes! The second day I had many more than that, but I also had better runs too :) This mountain (Coronet Peak) was not as long as the ones in Colorado, but it had many more paths, and much more snow. The conditions were really good. Actually the whole mountain was good to ski. There were no trees or rocks, and you could basically go any where, any directions you wanted, and make your own trails. Really fun this way, so many options, loads of variety! I've met some cool people on the bus and we've been traveling together for about 10 days now and we've become good friends. Matias (German), Anders (Sweed), Claire (Engl) and I had a blast at the mountains. Anders and I have really hit it off with the adrenaline crazy stuff, doing bungy's and what not together :) - he is a certified skydiver (so a good friend to have in NZ) ehehehehe. Cheers - JP

Xtreme week / semana aventura

As if skydiving wasn't enough, latter that day I went on a super hike on Franz Joseph Glacier. Very cool. Huge walls and caves of ice every where. Two days latter I jumped off the original bungy bridge!!!! Bungy jumping was invented here in NZ, I got to jump off the bridge where it all started! It was a perfect jump, head first with the classic water touch up to the waist. The best part is shooting out of the water, flying high upsidedown. Sooooo much fun! Today I got to ride the luge, which is a track going down a big mountain We ride on little go carts racing down the mountain. When we get to the bottom we catch the lift back up and do it again. Good fun! Tomorrow I am going snowboarding on the mountains of the Lord of the Rings! for sure this is the most Xtreme week of the trip!!! Love it!

em Portugues


Por aqui tudo certo. Mae, antes de ler ser ultimoemail ja' tinha pulado no ioo ioo humano. Muito doido mae!!! Deu tudo certo e' claro. O bungy jump foi inventado aqui na NZ e eu pulei justamente da primeiraponte onde o Bungy foi inventado! Sensacional, 43metros de altura! Cheguei a tocar na agua!! Tudoprecisamente calculado. Pulei de cabeca e' claro e oelastico deu so' para eu colocar a cabeca dentro daagua e me jogou la' pra cima de novo. A melhor partee' quando vc sai da agua, molhado e voando pra cima decabeca para baixo. Muito fera'! Eles fazem isso aqui a17 anos mae e ninguem nunca morreu... mas agora podesficar tranquila pq ja' fiz todos os salto que queriafazer mesmo. Agora e' so' snowborad... yeeeeaaaaaaahhh:) Aqui a alta temporada e' o verao, mas o invernotambem e' temporado, pq aqui o ski e snowboard saomuito fortes. As temperaturas aqui no sul estao entre0 e 13 graus, entao nao ta' tao ruin nao. Da' prafazer tudo e tolerar numa boa. Agora a agua la' do riodo bungy tava fria viu! Que gelo meu! A agua fria foipior do que o pulo. Creio que a Australia no verao seria melhor sim, porcausa das praias. Mas tambem seria mais caro e todasas praias ficam lotadas e nao sei se seria tao bomassim. Aqui na NZ sao duas temporadas bem diferentes.Aqui tudo e' radical. No verao e' a temporado de surf,caiaques e barcos nos lagos e rios. No inverno e'escaladas no gelo, e ski e snowboard, e o bungy e' oano todo e' claro. Mas pra mim deu pra eu fazer detudo, pq peguei uns dias bom de praia e surf la' naAustralia e aqui a neve esta' de boa. Agora viajar naNZ e' bem mais caro por causa dos passeios eaventuras, mas tambem e' mais legal pq tem maisaventruas, opcoes e beleza para ver. - JP

Skydive / Para-quedas

12000ft, open the door, smile at the camera, and FLYYYYYYYYYYYyyyyyy... 120mph for 45second of free fall - crazy adrenaline.... very very cold. I did the skydive over Fox Glacier - the only place in the world where you get to see glaciers, tropical forest, ocean/beach, rivers and lakes - all in one jump. It was unbelievable!!!





Em Portugues


12000 pes de altura, abre a porta, sorriso para a camera e fuuuiiiiiiiii..... voando nas nuvens da Nova Zelandia. Pulei de para-quedas mae!!! Nao se preocupe - estou bem. Pra falar a verdade nem deu medo! Serio mesmo! Foi tao surreal que nem deu medo, mas foi show de bola. O salto foi sobre o Fox Glacier, o unico salto no mundo que se ve montanhas glacias (?) rios, praias, lagos e floresta, tudo de uma vez so'. Foi sensacional!!! Bom de mais!!! 45 segundos de queda livre e mais 4 minutos de paraquedas. Aterrisagem nota 10. No problem... :)

Nova Zelandia - Sul/ NZ south island

Alegria!!! Muitas montanhas e praias sensacionais aqui na Nova Zelandia!!! Antes de sair de Sydney passei um dia nas Montanhas Azuis e foi muito joia (foto abaixo). Montanhas e vales incriveis. 15 vezes mais velho do que o Grand Cannion. Espetacular. Mas com certeza a NZ e' o pais mais espetacular de todas as minha viagens. Estou vendo todas as montanhas do Senhor dos Aneis, muitas cachoeiras e praias fantasticas! Sai da Australia a uns 5 dias atras e aterrisei em Wellington (capital da NZ). Passei a tarde e a noite por la' curtindo as vida urbana. Na manha seguinte embarquei em um super navio para atrevessar da ilha do norte para a ilha do sul. Esso passeio foi um super cruzeiro. O navio (enorme e muito chique, com tudo que tem direito) faz um verdadeiro zig-zag entre varias ilhas pequenas, e e' montanha pra todo lado, e todas as fotos parecem ser cartoes postais. Chegando em Picton peguei o onibus do Kiwi Experience e estou fazendo o tour da volta completa em torno da ilha do sul. Amanha vamos escalar montanhas de gelo! Muitas aventuras em todas as cidadezinhas que nos passamos. Bem legal. Depois tento escrever todas as paradas e atividades... Vamos passar duas noites aqui em Frazier Glaciers e depois vamos para Queestown, a capital mundial da adrenalina e esportes radicais! Vai rolar o snowboard com certeza ;) herheheherheh. Ate' a proxima. - JP

prai na NZ - NZ beach

FOTOS - as novas fotos sao 4 albums da Australia. O primeiro sao as fotos da base da JOCUM, o segundo das ilhas Whitsundays, o terceiro do trabalho de evangelismo feito na praia de Airlie, e o quarto da minha super viagem de Melbourne a Sydeney (na estrada/ off the beaten path). Espero que gostem das fotos... :)

In English

Wooohhhooouuu!!! Aki aora!!! (hello in NZ). New Zealand is amazing! Certainly the most scenic place I've ever seen!!! Huge mountains every where, amazing beaches, waterfalls, glaciers plus wild life. I am in awe of all. Just before leavinng Sydney I got to spend a day in the blue mountains (pic) and it was fantastics! HUGE! 15 times older than the Grand Cannion. I arrived in Wellington (capital) 5 days ago and just spent a day/night there. The next morning I got on a big ship to cross over to the south island where I'll be in the next 2 weeks. This trip was great. What a cruise! The ship had to make some zig-zags around islands of mountains and huge rocks coming out of the ocean. It was amazing! Every thing looked liked a post card. On the other side, in Picton, I got on the Kiwi experience bus I'll be doing the south island tour that goes all the way around. So far we've been going down the west coast, checking the mountains from the Lord of the Rings, Waterfalls and amazing beaches. Tomorrow we'll go hiking on the glaciers! Moving mountains of ice!!! so cool... The New Zealanders (Kiwi's) are great too. Very laid back, huge on rugby! The All Blacks (national team) play tomorrow and the whole country stops to watch that (including our driver – Jarrad) ;) Should be a good game. We'll sepend two nights here and then we are headed to Queenstown which is the Adrenaline capital of the world (loads of eXtreme sports). Snowboarding for sure!!! Big time!!! Love it! It's very cold here, and it will be even colder there... see ya then - JP

PHOTOS - There are 4 new albums from Australia posted on the links on the left. The first one is the YWAM base, the second is the Whitsundays island/beach, the thrid the evangelism work at Airlie beach, and the last is the trip from Melbourne to Sydney that I did with OZ experience.

Working / Surfing / Learning (Eng/Port)

Well so much has happened and I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to update the blog, so fasten your seat belts because here comes a quick review of the last 10 (very full days). To catch more details you will have to catch up with me next time I see you (it would be too much stuff to write).
I am still at the YWAM base in Brisbane and last week I got to work VERY hard. On my typical Thursday I wake up at 5am to watch the world cup, around 7am had breakfast and after that worked in the kitchens cutting some fruit for the morning tea (which we have every morning here and it’s an excellent idea that should be implemented worldwide). Around 10am I was doing construction work, mainly digging a whole and mixing concrete for new laundry set up that we’ve been working on. After lunch I helped the crew clean up the kitchen (one of my daily duties here), then back to the construction to nail some boards, move washers and what not. After that I worked on the garden planting some ferns and watering tons of plants with bucket, picked up a huge sack of leaves for the clean up of the front of the property, and then put away all the tool that were used in all the jobs. After all that, play a little volleyball on the park down the road, eat dinner, clean up the kitchen, ping pong and crash into bed… no time for internet you see. Oh, and today I was the cheff in the kitchen and we made Brazilian food. It was sooooo good. Everybody loved it!

Last weekend I went to Byron Bay and it was excellent. This is the most popular beach town of Australia and the beaches there are really amazing! As soon as I got there I signed up for a surfing lesson and it was fantastic. Greg and Dominic (picture) were the aussie coaches that my group had and they were great. I am not going to lie, I crash countless times and I’ve never been flipped so many times in one afternoon, but by the end of the day I had the surfing thing down pretty good : ) It was soooooo much fun! The waves of 1.5 meters were great! Perfect conditions!
I spent the night at the Arts Factory which is a very cool, crazy hostel. Definitely the coolest one I’ve been to yet. Lots of surfers, musicians and artists here. There was art everywhere. The counters were made of surfboards, one of the dorms was made out of a bus, the other one was a circus tent. Very cool and different. The next day I did lots of walking and running and swimming on the beaches. I reached the most easterly point in Australia and got to see some dolphins from the lighthouse look out. Amazing place!!!

This week I’ve had the privilege to be a part of the Sports DTS school here at the base and it has been a blessing. The first half of the week we were away in a ranch house in the country. So peaceful there. Nothing around to bother us. Great teachings on the character and nature of God. I am learning so much! We also played tons of volleyball and I introduced foot-volley, which was a major hit too! We came back yesterday and the lectures will continue until the end of the week. Oh I wish I could stay for the whole course. It’s sooooo good.

This weekend I’ll try to see the city of Brisbane, since I’ve only been on the base thus far, and on Monday I leave for New Zealand! Better go now. The sports group (the one I am in) has 6am work outs on MWF, so it’s going to be an early rise… cheers – JP

don't know how to flip this pic so...

Em Portugues - Trabalho / Surf / Aprendizado

Alegria!!! Eu tenho feito tanto coisa por aqui que nem deu tempo de eu atualizar o site, mas ai vai um resumo do que se passa por aqui…
Ainda estou na base da JOCUM em Brisbane e tenho trabalhado bastante por aqui, fazendo de tudo. Lavo prato, corto fruta, limpo a cozinha, trabalho na construcao cavando buraco, fazendo cimento, pintando, martelando, removendo movies e maquinas de lavar roupa, jardinagem plantando samambaias, regando palmeiras, catando folhas, e mais… Hoje fui o chefe la’ na cozinha e fizemos comida brasileira. O arroz e feijao fizeram o maior sucesso e todos adoraram.

Fim de semana passado fui a Byron Bay, que e’ a praia mais frequentada da Australia. Muito show de bola. Chegando la’ peguei uma aulinha de surfe com uns professores (foto) muito feras. Depois de varias tombos e caldos peguei a manha da parade e no fim da tarde estava arrebentando nas ondas eheheheheheehhehe. Muito show de bola, bom de mais! Duas semanas atras estive no ponto mais sul da Australia e em Byron estive no ponto mais leste do pais. Uma vista incrivel da praia, do oceano e de baleias!!! So’ que nesse dia eu nao vi nenhuma baleia nao, so’ golfinhos. Show de bola esse lugar.

Essa semana eu tive o privilegio de participar das aulas do curso do DTS de esportes. Fomos para uma fazenda, longe de tudo para ter as primeiras aulas sobre o carater e essencia de Deus. Muito bom, aprendi bastante. Foi muito legal, bem tranquilo o lugar, muito volley e baralho com os amigos. Introduzi o futevolley e foi o maior sucesso! Todos adoraram : ) Amanha eu assisto a ultima aula dessa serie aqui na base mesmo e no fim de semana eu vou visitar a cidade de Brisbane, porque ate’ agora so’ fiquei na base. Segunda eu pego meu voo para Nova Zelandia!
Vou dormir porque amanha o pessoal do esporte tem que correr e malhar as 6 da manha, entao tenho que ir dormir cedo. Aquele abraco - JP

Evangelismo com a JOCUM na praia de Airlie

Ai ai… as coisa que eu nao faco para o reino de Deus. Ok Senhor se e’ mesmo da sua vontade eu va' para praia Airlie fazer evangelismo eu vou… ehehehahehe
Pois e' um dia depois de chegar na base da JOCUM aqui em Brisbane eu sai com uma equipe deles para Airlie beach para fazer evangelismo por uma semana. Foi uma viagem muito longa (15horas) mas valeu muito a pena. Esse lugar e' um ponto muito estrategico porque e' ali que estao os corais e as praias mais bonitas da Australia!
Na nossa equipe de evangelismo tinhamos cerca de 70 jovens que vieram de 3 bases diferentes da JOCUM. Formamos um grupo muito unido e fomos muito abencoados. Tivemos muito tempo de louvor e consgracao e tudo isso foi muito forte. Estar em volta de crentes de verdade, tementes a Deus e’ outra coisa viu. Outro nivel meu. Muito boa essa experiencia.

Na praia, montamos uma barraca enorme que parecia um circo. Cabiam mais de 200 pessoas. Dentro da barraca montamos um palco para shows a noite, e varias mesinhas de café para os convidados sentarem em volta e jogar baralho, conversar e desfrutar do ambiente. Tambem tinhamos uma barzinho de cha’ e café que fez muito sucesso.

O grupo todo foi dividido em varias areas especificas e eu cai logo na area de esportes. Nosso objetivo era conectar com as pessoas durante o dia e convida-las para a barraca a noite. Entao todos os dias jogamos futebol e volley na praia, fizemos muitos amigos e a maioria deles passaram pela barraca a noite para tomar um café ou escutar a musica. Dai a gente conversava e compartilhava nosso testemunhos e nossa fe’ com os novos amigos. Foi muito bom. Conversei e compartilhei com muita gente, a maioria jovens que estao de viagem. Tocamos e impactamos muitas vidas.

No meio da semana tivemos um dia especial para o esporte e fizemos um torneio de volley de praia e eu fui o diretor do torneio. Fizemos um churrasco e com 3 quadras na praia tivemos um super campeonato com 48 participantes. Foi sensacional. Eu organisei tudo igualzinho a um torneio de tennis e deu tudo certo. Foi show de bola.

No ultimo dia eu ganhei uma passagem de graca par ir visitar as ilhas da Whitsunday onde estao as praias mais bonitas do mundo! Bom nao achei que era mais bonito que Fernando de Noranha nao, mas o lugar era mesmo espetacular. Fui com um alemao que estava visitando a barraca e nois demos a sorte de sermos os escolhidos no meio de todos que estavao la’ na barraca naquela noite. A viagem foi sensacional e o alemao (Frankie) que era muito doido e nao sabia de nada acabou aprendendo bastante coisa sobre cristianismo ;) orem pore ele!

Depois do jogo horrivel do Brasil contra a Franca voltamos para a Brisbane (mais 15 horas - no sentido sul dessa vez). Hoje acordamos tarde e depois do almoco tiramos e guardamos todo o equipamento da barraca e lavamos os onibus. Durante as proximas duas semanas vou estar trablhando aqui na base. Vou trabalhar com construcao, jardinagem, cozinha e limpeza de segunda a sexta das 8:30 as 18h. Semana que vem vou assitir as aulas do DTS de esportes e ver como e’ o treinamento deles aqui. Estou bem animado para ver essas aulas - esse era o DTS que eu estava interessado em fazer. Vamos ver como sera’… - JP

YWAM outreach in Airlie Beach

Ai ai... the things I'll do for the Kingdom of God... Ok Lord, if you really want me to go to Airlie beach (the most amazing beach on the western hemisphere) I'll go.
So one day after I arrived at the baseI got on the bus and came with the YWAM team from Brisbane to Airlie beach to do evangelism for a week. It was a looooong 15 hour trip straight up north, but it was worth the drive. We had 3 YWAM teams there with a total of about 70 YWAMers. All these people were amazing and we had lots of deep, quality, worship and spiritual time together. Very intense and very real. Very powerful too. It was great.
On the first day we got there we helped the others teams to finish setting up our tent. This tent was huge and could easily fit 200 people. Inside it we had a stage, a few coffe table that were used for board games, cards, etc, and a free Chai tea table (which was a major hit). I was put in the sports ministry team and all we did was play soccer and volleyball at the beach all day in order to meet people and invite them to the tent at night. At night we would all be at the tent and hang out with the people that came in for the free Chai and to hang out. Almost every night we also had live music and one day we all got really crazy and had an amazing jaming night. Some how me and these other 5 guys with drums, guitars and trompete sounded really good. It was sooooo much fun. In the middle of the week we organized a volleyball tournament and I was the tournament director. We had a free BBQ and a great tournament. 48 people signed up and participated! Lots of them stopped by the tent at night and we had a chance to share our lives and testimonies with many of them. I ran the tournament like the tennis pizza parties and it worked out really well :)
I had lots of great conversations and many powerful experiences this week. God was so real, present and evident in this tent. It was amazing! Very humbling in times. Most of the people that came into the tent were backpackers from all ove the world, mostly Canadians and Europeans. With most of these I had to talk and listen to them for 1 hour or more before we talked about God and Christianity, but it was always worth being patient. Some times the subject didn't even come up, and it was ok, we had a good time together. So many of these young people were glad that the tent was there and that they could come hang out with us intead of going to the bars and get drunk again... (there is not much to do in Airlie beach). We made many friends and handed a few bibles too. I believe many lives were changed.

On friday, after the amazing jamming session, somebody gave our leader a free trip for two to the Whitsundays Islnad and she ended up giving it to me and another dude that I met that night. This guy (Frankie - from Germany- on the picture above) was so happy! He just walked into the tent, talked with me for like 20 minutes and ended up getting a free trip to the most amazing island and beaches in Australia! I ended up spending the night with Frankie and Michael (Australian dude) whom I had also met that night. Our whole group stayed in an elementary school 15 minutes away from the beach, where we slept on the floor with our sleeping bags. I couldn't go to the school at night because I would have no ride to catch the cruise in the morning, so I ended up crashing with Michael in a really nice hotel right by the beach. It was so nice to sleep in a bed (even though it was only for 5 hours) - I had been sleeping on the floor for a week... Early the next day Frankie and I got on the boat and had to the Whitsundays. The food on the boat was amazing and the beaches and islands were spectacular too. The water was crystal clear and the sand was white as snow and really really thin and soft. We spend the afternoon there swimming and playing frisbee and other games. Loads of fun.
On many nights I was on security duty and I had to stay awake at the tent to watch the sound equipment and make sure no drunk people would sleep or pass out in the tent. It wasn't too bad, specially with the world cup games being at 1am and 5am (we showed all the games on a big screen in the tent and this was also an evangelism tool). After 2 nights with very little sleep and a full day on the boat I was put on security again and my shift was suppose to end at 4:30am. By 10pm I was almost a sleep but I drank lots of coffee and managed to stay awake until the Germany Argentina game at 1am. The game was great but afterwards I was dead, and needed desperately to sleep. Everything went wrong, the van that was suppose to pick us up broke down I was stuck there until 6:30am! It was awful! When the next crew finally arrived we had no car so we had to take a taxi back to the school. After I slept for 3 hours I had to wake up and pack my bags to leave the elementary school. I ended up missing the bus was stuck there for another 3 hours (that I wish I was sleeping)... the rest of the day was pretty rough but it slowly got better. We had a good dinner and a fun last night. The next morning at 5am Brazil played awful and lost to France. Horrendous! After that we cleaned the house and got on the bus again. 15 hours latter we arrived in Brisbane.

For the next two weeks I'll be doing construction work, gardening, moving luggage and helping in the kitchen, from 8:30am to 6pm Monday - Friday. Next week I'll be able to watch some of the Sports DTS (Discipleship Training School) lectures and I am very excited and looking forward to it. That's the main reason why I came to Brisbane and Australia in the first place. Below is a picture of us jamming in the tent :) - JP

Na Estrada / Off the Beaten Path

Woooohhhhooouuu!!!! Estive na estrada nos ultimos 4 dias e fiz uma viagem sensacional de Melbourne a Sydeny.
Fui com um grupo de gringos e fizemos tudo que tinha direito. Eramos 16 (varios ingleses, duas meninas da Dinamarca (Gitte e Anne) que foram bem legais, um cara da Malasia, uma menina da Singapura, duas alemas e um guia australiano (Craig) que foi sensacional. O cara era muito gente fina, e sabia de tudo sobra a Australia, os atlahos, as historias, cangurus, e tudo mais.

No primeiro dia saimos de Melbourne as 6:30am rumo as prais do sul da Australia que ficam no parquet nacional Wilson Ponontory. Vimos praias sensacionais e chegamos ao ponto geografico mais sul da Australia. Como estava frio nao deu para pegar ondas mas jogamos um futebol australiano na praia, e fizemos escaladas nas rochas de granito. No caminho tambem paramos para ver varios cangurus (uns 100), emas e uns outros animas tipicos da Australia. Muito legal, parecia um safari e dava pra chegar bem pertinho dos bichos. A noite fizemos um churrasco e as 5am e’ claro o Brasil meteu 2 a 0 na Australia! Ainda bem que de Australiano so’ tinha o guia no onibus ;)

No Segundo dia fizemos uma caminhada por uma floresta tropical, visitamos a praia mais longa da Australia (90 milhas) e passamos a noite em um hotel fazenda que e’ um retiro para monges. Nesse lugar eles tinham um brinquedo daqueles da NASA que vc prende os pes e as maos e gira feito louco em todas as direcoes… muito legal! Na janta comemos umas comidas organicas la’ dos monges (muito bom) e depois tivemos uma aulinha de introducao a meditacao. Foi interessante. Depois da aula tive uma conversa interessante com a professora que e’ budista. Depois sentamos em volta da fogueira ate’a hora de ir dormir.

No terceiro dia pegamos a estrada de terra e seguimos o “rio neve” e vimos paisagens incriveis! Vejam as fotos em breve! Cruzamos a fronteira dos estados Victoria e Nova South Whales e chegamos ao monte Kosciusko que e’ o ponto mais alto da Australia. La’ fomos na estacao de esqui e tivemos varias guerras de bola de neve e alugamos umas pranchichas la’ para descer nas montanhas (so’ para quando cai). Foi massa’!!! Passamos a noite em Jindabyene em um hotel com uma vista fantastica do lago. Ali jantamos e jogamos sinuca com os amigos ate’ tarde e as 5am todos os ingleses e eu acordamos para ver Inglaterra e Suecia (2-2).

No quarto dia passamos bastante tempo no onibus para chegar a Sydney a noite. No caminho passamos por Canberra, a capital, e vimos o parlamento, predios do governo e um memorial de guerra dedicado aos soldados australianos (muito legal esse lugar). A capital em si e’ bem pequena e nao tinha muito mais o que fazer por la’. Mais 3 horas de viagem e chegamos em Sydeny. Fui direto para o aeroporto pegar meu voo para Brisbane. Aqui estou na base da JOCUM e vou trabalhar aqui por 3 semanas. Amanha ja’ estamos saindo de viagem para o norte, Airlie Beach, para fazer evangelismo por uma semana. Dizem que la’ e’ lindo. E’ la’ que tem os mergulhos e praias famosas da Australia. Mais 15 horas de viagem... o pior e’ que eu vou perder o jogo do Brasil as 7am. Tomora que pegue ao menos no radio! - JP.

IN ENGLISH

Woooohhhooouuu!!! I just had an amazing 4 day road trip from Melbourne to Sydney. I went with a group of 16, mostly Europeans, and a phenomenal Australian guide (Craig). It was fantastic, we really got off road and saw tons of the country!

Day 1- we left Melbourne at 6:30am and went to Wilson Promontory National Park to check out some amazing beaches, and reach the Australia’s most southern point on the map. We hiked on granite rocks and played Australian rules football on the beach. On the way there we saw tons of kangaroos (about 100), emas and wombats (all very different animals). Very cool, we got very close to them. At night we stayed in a camp ground and grilled BBQ for dinner. At 5am Brazil beat Australia (2-0)!!!! Thankfully the only ozy on the bus was the guide, ehehahahehe.

Day 2 – we saw Lake Entrance and went for a walk on (a cold) tropical forest. Then we went to Australia’s longest beach (90 mile beach) and spent the night in a retreat place in the High Country of Australia that is run by monks. They had a great play room with one of those toys from NASA that you strap your feet and hands you spin in every possible direction… very fun (before dinner). For dinner we had some crazy organic food and it was excellent! Then we had a intro to meditation class and it was interesting. Afterwards I had an interesting talk with the teacher who was a buddist. Then we sat around the fire until we went to bed. Very nice accommodations.

Day 3 – We drove along the Snowy river and had some amazing views!! Check out the photos latter. We crossed the state borders of Victoria and New South Whales and went to Mount Kosciusko (highest point in Australia). There we played in the snow with sleds and many snow ball fights. Great time! We spent the night at lake Jindabyene at a nice hotel/motel. After dinner we played some fun games of pool and then at 5am me and the other 5 Englishmen watched England vs Sweeden (2-2).

Day 4 was mostly driving in order to get to Sydney by 6pm. We stopped in Canberra (the capital) to see the parliament and government buildings. We also saw a great war memorial. Very cool place. Nice little town, good landscape. 3 hours latter we arrived in Sydney where I caught a flight to Brisbane where I’ll be doing my 3 weeks of missionary work. The base here is really nice and there is a good sense of community all around. But tomorrow I am leaving already with a team for a week of evangelism in Early Beach (this is the place where you see all the pics from Australia. It’s suppose to be amazing corral riefs and beaches). So 14 more hours on the road tomorrow. The worst part is that I’ll miss Brazil’s game! Hopefully we’ll listen to it on the radio. Gotta get some sleep. We leave at 5am! - JP

Australia Open - Melbourne

Eu joguei tennis no aberto da Australia!!! Ja' estou em Melbourne e e' claro que eu fui ver as quadras do aberto da Australia. Chegando la' peguei uma raquete emprestada e bati uma bola com um muleque australiano que estava treinando. Dei uma peia no coitado... ganhei oficalmente minha primeira rodada no aberto da Australia!!!! Muito fera' as quadras. Olha eu ai dando a entrevista da vitoria :)
Bom antes de sair de Sydney passei um dias nas praias de la' (Bondi e Manly), sensacionais!!! Muito show de bola Bondi. Dei uma malhada la' na praia que foi o ouro (bom de mais!). As ondas la' estavam maiores dos que a do Havaii. Muito surfista bom por la'.
Melbourne tambem e' uma cidade sensacional, com muitos parques e jardins por toda a cidade. Uma delicia de andar e passar tempo nesses parques... nem parece que vc esta' na cidade. O rio Yarra passa bem no meio da cidade e na beira do rio tem de tudo... restaurantes, lojas, calcadao, barcos e mais. Bem legal de andar e correr na beira do rio :) O complexo do Australia Open e' sensacional e ja' fui la' duas vezes. Tambem assiti um jogo de Futebol Australiano num estadio muito fera' daqui! Futebol Australiano e' meio que uma mistura de rugby e futebol normal. E' bem legal, o campo e' enorme e os cara tem que correr pra caramba! O time da casa tomou uma goleada, mas foi bom que eu vi muitos gols :)
E' impressionante o tanto de gente asiatica que tem por aqui!!! Pelo o que eu ja' vi todo australiano tem cara de estrangeiro... pra todo lado tem gringo, australiano com cara de gringo e aisaticos. Em Sydeny tambem tinha muito brasileiros! Ver o jogo do Brasil la' foi joia. Assisti no I-max (cinema gigantesco). Os jogadores na tela eram maiores do que em pessoa! A tela e' enorme!!! 5am foi show!
Aqui se dirige na esquerda e eu fico louco na hora de atrevessar a rua. Que confusao meu... muito louco. E na hora de andar na calcada a mesma coisa, pq como os carros todo mundo ando do lado esquerdo. Aqui eu nao ando, eu desvio... mas to melhorando. Em termos de andar na cidade ja' estou craque e ja' sei chegar em todos os pontos importantes em Sydney e Melbourne. Bem facil de aprender as ruas daqui.
Amanha as 6:30am estou saindo em um tour de 4 dias de Melbourne para Sydney. No caminho vamos ver varias cidades tipicas austrlianas, montanhas, cangurus, Canberra (a capital) e mais... depois eu vou para Brisbane passar 3 semanas la' fazendo um trabalho missionario. Depois disso eu devo ir para Nova Zelandia. Amanha tem que acordar cedo! E o Brasil vai jogar contra a Australia e eu aqui no territorio inimigo meu... seja o que Deus Quiser e Brasil pra frente!


In English - Melbourne


I played in the Australian Open!!! It's offical, I've won my first round :) I got to play with some kid that was practicing here in the Australian Tennis Center (home of the Australian Open -Melbourne). I crushed the poor kid, but then I gave him a few tips. The courts here are so nice... I was pumped :) Dream come true!
Just before leaving Sydeny I spent a day at the beaches there and they are amazing. Bondi and Manly are great and I had an awsome time there!
Melbourne is the capita of sport in Australia so I am loving it. They have so many stadiums and facitlies! Last night I went to an Australian Rules Football match at Telestra dome. Sooooo much fun! Crazy sport, fun to watch. It's kind of a mix of soccer and rugby (I think). The gardens here are amazing along with the Yarra river that runs through the city and everything else around it. Very relaxing atmosphere.
In Australia people drive on the left side, and it's extremely confusing at first. I've dodged a few close ones on the streets, but now I looked both ways, twice, before crossing any street (even the one ways) eheheheha :)
Tomorrow morning I leave on a 4 day tour headed to Sydney. We'll see cangorus, mountains, Canberra (the capital) and lots of other typical Australian things... should be fun. On Monday Brazil plays Australia and I am on enemy ground! It's going to be Brazil all the way baby!!!
I got to see the first game on the I-max in Sydney. It was great! Lots of Brazilians there :) by the way, tons of Asians everywhere and all Australians look foreign...
Gotta wake up early and hit the road tomorrow... more pics coming soon! Vamos Brazil!!!

Beautiful Sydney

Wooohhhhoouuu!!! I am Sydney!!! All is well and so far I am having a great time. Lots of exploring! I've seen and experienced so much already that is hard to put it all in words so here are some highlights...
After I left Colorado I actually got to spend a day in Los Angeles which was a nice (unexpected) addition to the trip. I got on one of those city tour buses and went everywhere and saw everything... Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Venice beach, Chinese theater, farmers market and more. We had a few stops and a nice guide and the whole thing was a lot of fun. At night I came back to the airport to catch my flight.
The flight to Sydney wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. It was not bad at all and it was easy to adjust to the time change too. The key is to sleep on the plane and stay awake here on the first day (no naps). But man on the first night here I crashed at 9pm and was gone...
My hostel is clean, has lots of cool people and it is in a great location. Yesterday I went on an amazing run from my hostel through the botanical gardens to the Sydney port and Opera house. Unbelievable!!! So nice to run by the water and on the park and then around the Opera house. Amazing workout/ run/ worship time :)
Today I am going to check out some beaches, and tomorrow I might go to the mountains. So far in the city I've seen lots of great architecture, cool modern museums and an awsome Jazz festival in Darlin Harbor!!! The weather is a bit cold, but not bad. Brazil plays at 5am and I am so pumped for our first game. Australians are really into the world cup (Thank God!!!) so it's been a lot of fun already :)

Em portugues
Por aqui beleza pura! Sydeny e' muito fera' mesmo. Ta' fazendo um pouco de frio mas da' para explorar tudo que tem pra fazer aqui. Meu alberque e' massa, e esta' bem perto do porto. Ontem dei uma corrida ate' o porto de Sydeny e a casa de Opera atravessando o jardim botanico... sensacional!!!! Bom de mais correr por aqui. Muita gente ativa por aqui.
Antes de chegar me Sydney passei um dia em Los Angeles e foi joia tambem. Peguei um onibus tour la' e fomos e todos os lugares intressantes... Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Teatro chines, praia Veneza e mais...
A chegada em Sydney foi tranquila e o ajuste ao fuzorario foi tranquilo. Indo rumo Oeste nao bem problema... e' so dormir no aviao e nao dormir durante o dia quando chegar aqui ;)
Hoje vou explorar umas praias e fazer um passeio de barco. Tem muito extrangeiro por aqui e o ingles daqui tem um sutaque diferente, mas da' para entender melhor do que o sutaque da Inglaterra. O povo aqui ta' animado para a copa e todos aqui estao mais interessados nos jogos do Brasil do que da Autralia!!! Bom amanha as 5 da madruagad estarei vidrado na telinha com um monte de gringo aqui vendo nossa selecao rumo ao hexa!!! Segunda copa que eu vou ver de madrugada- que furada meu... Hoje vou as praias amanha as montanhas... fui!

Colorado Highlights

Wow! The last two weeks have been so exciting and full of highligts! First I got to see my mom and sister (it has been 16 months since I've seen my mom)! Then Kimberly came over and spent a weekend with us! And yesterday my sister got married! Well, she is not officially married yet, the real wedding will be in Brazil on August 26, but they had their engagement celebration/reception here in Fort Collins for all their American friends and family that won't be able to come to Brazil in August. - Check out all the photos on the links on the right :)

My family and I had soooooo much fun with Kimberly in the rocky mountains!!! She flew in on Friday night and stayed with us until Monday. Friday night we had some good pizza in Old Town (downtown Ft Collins) and on Saturday we spent the day at Hestes Park. This place is amazing! We were surrounded by snow top rocky mountains, wild animals, and amazing view points every few miles. We had some snow ball fights, a killer picnic, great nap by the river and lots of fun pictures :)
On Sunday we went to my sister's church in the morning and after lunch and a deserved rest we went running on the beautiful mountains around Ft Collins. It was such a fun run/workout!!! Monday morning came too soon and we had to go our separate ways in the Denver airport...
- After Kimberly left my mom and Luisa focused more on the wedding stuff and I got to hang out some with my sister's roomate and go on a awsome hike onGray Rock Mountain. It was a tought 7 miles and 7700 feet hike, specially on the way up! Well somehow we get off the trail (unitentionally) and ended up on the wrong side of the mountain man. The hike quickly turned into rock climbing and thank God we had some Colorado mountain boys (guys that move like monkeys) with us! They would climb ahead and throw us ropes for us to get over the tough parts. It was AWSOME! I am glad we got to do some rock climbing. Once we got to the top we saw the trail and the way down was cake...
The greatest highlight was certainly my sister's wedding yesterday! Luisa looked beautiful! First Preston (groom) walked in with his grandmother, then I walked in with Luisa. Luisa and Preston took their seats on the stage and the grandma and I set on the family table. After that the pastor said a few words, one of their friends sang a beautiful song, they exchanged some words, and cut the cake. After that lots of picutres, coffe expresso bar, cake, chocolate fountain, and fellowship meeting the new family. Everything looked great. The parents and family did a great job with all the decoration!

EM PORTUGUES
Wow, as ultimas duas semanas tem sido sensacionais!!! Muita alegria por aqui. Primeiro tivemos o reencontro da nossa familia, faziam 16 meses que nao via minha mae! Depois a Kimberly (gata/namorada) veio nos visitar aqui no Colorado e tivemos um super fim de semana juntos, e ontem foi o casamento da Luisa!!! Bom o casamento oficial sera' no Brasil em agosto, mas essa foi a comemoracao que eles fizeram para os amigos e parentes que nao vou poder ir ao Brasil em agosto. Vejam todas as fotos nos links ao lado...

O verao aqui no Colorado e' super legal porque faz bastante calor e da' para aproveitar bem a montanhas e a natureza do local. Essa semana mesmo participei de uma super escalada ao topo de uma montanha aqui perta da cidade da Luisa (Monte Pedra Cinza). Foram 11km de caminhada (7700 pes) e se isso nao fosse o suficiente na subida nos erramos o caminho e sem querer saimos da trilha... logo logo a caminhada virou escalada e em alguns pontos tivemos ate' que usar cordas para consiguir escalar as partes mais dificeis. Mas foi muito FERA'!!! Chegando la' em cima achamos a trilha e a descida foi moleza :)
A cerimonia da Luisa foi muito bonita! Primeiro o Preston (noivo) entrou com a avo' dele e depois eu entrei com a Luisa. O Preston e a Luisa sentaram la' na frente e eu e a avo' sentamos na mesa dos familiares. Depois o pastor deu uma palavra, uma amiga deles cantou uma musica muito bonita, eles trocaram umas palavras, cortaram o bolo, e depois tivemos a festa. Um super bar de cafe' (coisa de americano, mas muito bom viu), bolo e fonte de chocolate - que delicia!!! Depois de muitas fotos tivemos uma recepcao mais intima so' para os familiares e amigos dos noivos onde a Luisa e o Preston abriram os presentes e lerao um monte de cartoes. Eles ganharam muita coisa boa e foi divertido ver eles abrindo os presentes e cartoes :)
Ai esta' a familia completa do noivo e noiva. Click nos links ao lado para ver todas as fotos!

The Links - (Os links a direita)

On the right side you can click on some links to see some of my pictures of the last two years…

- Pics from Jessa are the photos that I got from Jessa’s camera. Lots of wedding pictures, new years, twilight, small group, and showers…

- El tour de Europe – this has pictures of my journey in Europe in 2004. Two and a half months of backpacking through 8 countries in western Europe (England, Denmark, Sweeden, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany)

- Pictures from Athens has random photos of friends

- The Atheltes in Action (AIA) camp was an awesome fun experience learning how to apply biblical principles into sports and competition.

- Christmas 2005 are picture of my sister and I in Athens and Atlanta during Christmas and new years – great times!

-Thanksgiving 2005 I spent with my sister in Colorado- lots of hiking and snowboarding!


em Portugues

Vc pode clicar nos links a direita para ver varias fotos minhas dos ultimos dois anos…

- Pics from Jessa – fotos de casamentos e amigos no ano novo…

- El Tour de Europe – as fotos da minha viagem a Europa em 2004. 8 paises em dois meses e meio na Estrada (Inglaterra, Dinamarca, Suecia, Espanha, Portugal, Italia, Franca, Alemanha)

- Pictures of Athens – fotos dos meus amigos em Atenas (onde eu moro).

- AIA Camp –as fotos de um acampamento para Atletas de Cristo que eu participei, onde aprendemos a usar principios biblicos em copeticao e esportes.

- Chritmas 2005 – o natal que eu e a Luisa passamos juntos na Georgia.

- Thanksgiving 2005 –o super feriado de acoes de graca que passei com a Luisa no Colorado.

In the beggining God created the Heaven's and the Earth

In the beggining God created the Heaven's and the Earth. I am not that creative, so this is just to see how this blog stuff works. Nonetheless I do believe that story from Genesis 1! It's the story of my life... :)