Tuesday, 4 February 2014 DAY 654 311 MOON 23 WAXING 29%
We took a trip to the air-conditioned Mall. Sometimes when we load up all the backpacks to go and catch a bus for a day trip, Ezra thinks we are moving to a new place. Ezra calls this, “going to a new island!” Ezra took a 3 hour nap today yesterday and was up last night until midnight. I think his long nap is his way of letting us know that he is ready to move on. I think all of us are ready to move on. Our small room is too hot and we are limited with the activities we can do around here in the heat. We have become Mall Rats. We have stopped going to SESC. The jungle is too hot and initial trail is too steep. Functional parks and playgrounds are non-existent. In order to go to the beach without turning into a red lobster or umbrella cowerer, we must wake up uber-early and ride a bus for an hour. Our small room of a place heats up like a sauna box at times. The heat is getting to us all. So, today we loaded up the backpacks with some water and went to the air-conditioned mall of Shopping Beiramar. Yes, air-conditioning. I did not thinking it would come down to one of the most sought after items as we traveled around the world, but here we are, heading to the Mall once again. We walked around and visited book stores mostly. They have two book stores in the Shopping BeiraMar. Unfortunately, books are one of the many items that are disproportionately priced here in Brasil. All books start at over $15 USD and they have zero promotions. Out of date Agenda books are prices from $20-$50. Ridiculous prices! They definitely make you pay to read. Books are only for the privileged few. Also, small little quaint coffee and bakery shops appear to be a popular thing to do, much like in the States. I know these types of places were in Europe as well, but we mostly saw and were familiar with quaint little stand-up coffee shops in Madrid and Rome, where you would drink your coffee and be gone in 5 minutes, all for a promotion of a 1€ for café and pastry. Here the same items would cost you at least 3 times that. Some pricing just does not make sense. We basically stick to the grocery store where we buy fresh bread, cheese, ham, lettuce and sprouts and then have a picnic in the mall or at the playground. Ironically, the electricity went out at the Mall for about an hour. A thunderstorm threatened all of Florianópolis. Yes! Finally some rain. I ran a 47:12 10K in the heat on the flat BeiraMar path. We arrived back at home just before the rains.
oneworldtwokids 