Sad to leave Brasil but as I was already mentally prepared for the fact that we were only going to be there 3 ½ weeks I managed to survive through a few tears. All was fine until my host sister Dani started crying and then the whole house ) followed J. Dani and Rubinho´s wedding was great – bloody big – but great. She had just under 300 people there (costed my host father the same as our reception of 65 people!!!) and a lot of them were people who I hadn’t had time to see very much so I got to catch up with them there. Dani was beautiful and everything ran smoothly. The zip on the back of her dress broke open and I thought GREAT (those who were at my wedding know my zip broke and my beautiful bridesmaids had to sew me back into my dress) but unlike mine it was a normal zip that you can undo and do back up again and it was all fine for the rest of the night!!!

So then the long haul to Colombia. We had to back to Santiago in Chile as our world ticket means we have to fly with the companies who have an agreement with Qantas; in Sth America that’s basically LAN CHILE. Our flight to Bogota from Santiago (CHILE) and our flight from Sao Paulo to Santiago didn’t match so we were left in the airport in Santiago to wait 14 hrs in transit. It would have been ok if it was in the day time as we could have gone to have a look around the city, but it was at night and not worth risking going into the city so we made ourselves at home in Santiago airport for the night. If I can get these photos to download quicker i´ll send you Paulo sleeping on the airport seat. I found it more comfortable on the ground J the air conditioning was so frosty and I was freezing my but off so much so that I had to get Paulo to buy me a jumper from the 24hr tourist shop – so I got a Chilean jumper out of it.

The Andes around Santiago are spectacular. As we flew inland fropm brazil we had full view of the andes between Bolivia and Chile. BREATH TAKING!!!!!

To our surprise we then had a stopover in Ecuador on the way to Colombia, however it was worth the 30min stop as we stopped in Guayaquil and it seems like such a cute little town. And I got one of those typical Llama wool type bags out of it (just a little one) – well, I don’t know if its actually Llama wool but one of those J

Colombia has been great. We are in Cali, where Paulo`s parents live. I get a bit bewildered in the city sometimes but whilst humungus and ridden with crazy traffic it is a beautiful place. Cali is in a valley and surrounded by mountains that reach the sky. For almost a week I have been staring up at the mountains trying to figure outr a way to get there and then the day before yesterday (sun) Paulo`s family organised a party to celebrate our marriage and to get the family together, and it was in a farm house in a part of the mountains behind Cali. The place is called Montebello and is still part of Cali – like an outer suburb. BEAUTIFUL!!!!! And I finally got to the mountains. I am still trying to con Paulo into renting some bikes and taking me for a bike ride up in the mountains. Pauylo`s mum even organized a kind of Mariachi style band – iots actuall called a TUNA so not exactly like a mariachi. It was so cool, but I was scared they´d call me up to do something – luckily for me they didn’t!!!!

Paulos family have been great. A bit hard getting used to apartment life and confined spaces but all is well. They are always fussing and trying to do everything for me. Paulo`s mum needless to say is overjoyed at the fact her little boy – aka Paulo is back. I am the TERRIBLE girl who keeps dragging him away from her hehehe!!! Only kidding, Cristina, his mum has been doing everything she can as well as his dad. Their housekeeper, Diana is great and super friendly. She is only here until 2pm but I like chatting with her. Tomorrow at 7:30 is EMPANADA lessons.

Anyway, from here is just hanging out until Xmas. After Xmas the Cali festival begins for a few days and then on 2 February we are due to go to San Andres, a carribbean part of Colombia on the coast, and then to Cartagena, one of the original European settlements here so hopefully some breathtaking architecture. Cartagena is also on the coast. Then we will spend some time in Bogota with Paulo`s dads side of the family and then back to Cali for a bit less than a week before we head off home via Spain and Thailand.

Hope you are all well and keep in touch. Let me know your news etc.