9/7/15
(Short post today.)
I often take a lot of things for granted: safety, ability to move, breath, breathe, speaking intelligently (well, I am not sure that ever happened for me), and most importantly: sleep. After traveling for so long and staying in so many hostel (good, bad and extra special: I mean, I once saw a used condom, dead cockroaches, and even someone who slept and walked around naked. Also, I have learned it is always people who should be clothed that like to naked), you would think I am used to it. The truth is, and I know I complained a lot about it, there are always situations that top all my past experiences. Last night and this morning was one for record.
I went to bed around 11pm, exhausted after 2 nights of minimum sleep: the 8 beds form was full (due to a holiday: it is Independence Day in Brazil. I had a whole blog post planned, but you know about the best laid plan f nice and men), and the brazilians using the room were really noisy. It is not the rowdy noise from partying too much, but the constant snoozing of alarms at 5am; talking loudly at 2am, 5am, and any other time; the banging of doors; turning on lights at all hours. This morning took the cake: there was an alarm going on from 4:30am to 6am, then lights came on at 5:30am when three people went to shower, which was followed by cabinet doors banging and yelling. At 6am, one person lost his key to the lock, so the front desk person came with a saw and saw through the lock. In the end, I think I slept for less than 2 hours. Launch I only slept 6 hours in 48 hours, my body basically shut off itself and I was groggy with a sore throat the rest of the day.
Not able to sleep and the cleaners had to clean the room, I went to the bus station to get my ticket for Rio, opting to depart the next day. I decided to go for the most expensive bus, since it is the last time on this trip I will get the chance to try the executive bus (no such connection to Iguazu falls and to buenos aires).
I spent the rest of the day trying to pack my bags, grab supplies and finally managed a 1 hour nap. It add my headache a little worst, and I now have a sore throat. This, coupled with the terrible thunderstorm and rain throughout the day, made it tough to enjoy the Brazil Independence Day the way I wanted. But then, that’s traveling: good comes with bad, and you just have to make do.
Oh, and did I mention there is a creepy guy in my room? He likes to get really close to people, and I think he is currently “rubbing one out”, under the cover of bedsheets and some very loud snoring from another guy in the room. Ah, joy of hostels never ends.
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