Bunk fingers and city centers

I woke up with my pinky and ring finger on my left hand numb, like asleep but not. I didn't wake up on top of them so I don't know why the sensitivity was so strange. Because of this, my head was in a strange space. My pinky finger came back eventually, but my ring finger did not come back to full swing for another 4 or 5 days. Fucking weird man!

Gina, Josh's peace corps friend who we had eaten with in Sao Paulo, had arrived early in the morning. After a while we headed to the Centro on a quest for a camera store. Josh's camera had taken a harsh dive and had shattered the filter over the lense. I am glad we had this errand to do, other wise we wouldn't have thought to go down there. From a distance it just seemed like any other down town with tall buildings and busy streets. There was a nice out door market with plenty of things we didn't need. We stopped into an instrument store to see how much a four string Brazilian banjo would cost me. The answer, Too Much.

We hopped onto the tram from where it starts and took it up past our hostel into Santa Teressa for lunch. There was a great place Josh had read about for lunch. There was a table near the entrance that allowed us to catch a good breeze and a nice view of the street. The restaurant had some great paintings and posters. The food was incredible! The main dish was a dried, shredded meat, with a side of greens, and a side of mashed pumpkin! If we go back to Rio, I plan on going to eat that dish again. I might have to go just for this meal and to see if the kittens have arrived.

Took the tram back down and got off to walk around Lapa. We found the top of the beautiful stairs that have been decorated with a wide array of colorful tiles by a Chilean artist named Celeron. He was there on the steps talking with people. So I met him and was led into his studio by a friend of his who helps him sell his art there. I bought one to add to my art collection, because his art is great. It was exciting to buy an original piece from a man who has contributed to the flavor of such a tasty city. His mustache is inspiring to say the least.

It was getting late and we headed up to the hostel to check. Took a taxi to the bus station and played backgammon until it was time to board our bus which we would be on for another 19+ hours. This would teach us never to book seats at the back of the bus. It is not good to be any where near the bathroom on a bus... And so we were on our way to Porto Seguro and Arrial d' Ajuda. Bahia here we come!