Planning...

I have begun the arduous process of taking care of the numerous details that accompany a six week trip.

The most important of which was getting a Brazilian visa. Because the United States, for some reason, feels it is necessary to charge Brazilian Citizens $100 to come to this country, they have decided to have a reciprocal fee for US citizens visiting their country. Eye for an eye I guess, which really is fair. The thing that drove me nuts about the process of applying for a visa is that you have to apply to the proper consulate based upon where you live. For me, living in Hawaii, that is the consulate in Beverly Hills, California. No problem I thought. I will just mail it off like I did when I went to Kenya and Vietnam. Wrong! They do not accept applications by mail. Ok, so now what? That's right, a visa service company. These are companies which you mail all of your materials to and they submit your passport to the consulate. They charged me $60. Oh, and because neither I, nor a direct relative, is submitting the passport I have to pay the Brazilian Consulate an additional $10. But wait, that is not the last of it. I also have to cover the cost of FedEx'ing my materials back and forth from Hawaii which is at least another $30. So, all told, just getting the visa to go to Brazil is going to total up to about $200. In sum, who cares? Not me. $200 for a visa is totally worth it to get to spend six weeks cruising around South America.

Other things to take care of include:

1. Buying travel insurance.
2. Calling my accountant to let him know that I am not going to be able to sign any tax documents after March 29th.
3. Going to the doctor for a travel consult.
4. Getting travelers cheques.
5. Deciding whether or not to even bother taking real shoes.
6. Going to Longs to get all of the necessary toiletries and sundries. (I am hoping that I have been at this traveling thing long enough that I would be able to get everything I need in one shopping trip this time.)
7. Taking care of my auto insurance. (I get a break for being gone for more than a month.)
8. Dealing with the cell phone...
   

I will be certain to keep you apprised of the progress as it gets closer to departure time. Please feel free to drop any hints, tips, or suggestions into the comments section. Particularly if they concern surviving in the concrete jungle that is Rio or the natural jungle that is the Amazon.

Next Stop...

BRAZIL

My boss at work has generously given me SIX WEEKS off from work so I can go traveling this spring. And from what immediately proceeds this paragraph you van see where I will be headed. I have purchased tickets and will be leaving Honolulu on the 30th of March and will be returning to Hawaii on the 13th of May. Unlike my last journey to Southeast Asia, I will be traveling across South America with a companion. Her name is Rebecca and I promise that I will provide a proper introduction in the future.

Right now the plan is to arrive in Rio on the 1st of April and eventually travel up the Atlantic coast of Brazil to Belem, a town at the mouth of the Amazon River. From there we will be traveling all of the way up the Amazon to Iquitos, Peru. I will depart from there to begin my journey home.

Right now I am occupied with the process of getting my visa for Brazil, which as it turns out, is a serious pain in the butt for Citizens of the United States.

Like last time, I promise to write updates from the road on a regular basis. And as requested, there will be a higher picture to text ratio this time. ; )

Mom's Opening

Mom's big opening for her collage work was at the Braunstein/Quay Gallery the evening of January 7th. The event was a huge success. There was an enormous turnout of family and friends. Almost everyone from both sides of the family came down to see her work. All of my Mom's siblings and their families came, and my Dad's siblings were there except for the ones that live in other parts of the country. My great aunt Peggy and her husband Martin even made the journey from Naples Florida to come to the show. Mom was even willing to pose for a few photographs.

Mom's collage work is primarily made with old wood blocks prints from the early part of the 20th century. She spends countless hours painstakingly cutting out images from the paper and then arranging them into pieces. Most of the themes have to do with nature. Recently she has been creating pieces with lots of small squares with a mini collage in each square. She has also started illustrating dictionary pages. On a page that says bead, she has attached hundreds of beads. She also has one with buttons and one with snaps. One of the best pieces in my opinion is an old set of 25 encyclopedias in which she did one page from each one following the entry on that page. She did China in the C book. Electricity in the E book, etc... You can see some of her pieces up close on this page.

The show has been a huge success and mom sold two pieces that first night. She also recently found out that she sold the encyclopedia piece which was the biggest and most expensive piece in the show! We are all very proud of her!!!

After the opening the assembled mass of family members made our way over to Lulu's, which is a nice restaurant nearby. There were about 18 of us for dinner and we all had a wonderful time. As usual, the younger cousins took over one end of the table, dragged me into it, and we proceeded to have more fun than everyone else combined. Emma and Daisy (pictured) provide me with the latest and most important information about pop culture today.

My trip to California ended the next morning when I flew back out to Hawaii to resume my normal life...