after a late start in campo grande, we were on the road to curitiba. so far, roads in brasil are pretty decent. the worst roads we’ve been on are paved ones with tons of pot holes. some also have giant bulges in the center of the lane. a few times i think the bottom of the sentra came very very close to hitting those (most of the time, i drive on the side of the road, when i see them). the country side out here is really beautiful. it’s mostly large green fields of sugar cane or pasture land with trees lining the roads and/or dotting the fields (why do the farmers leave some of those trees there? …i also imagine much of these areas were once forested with trees). sunsets are also very pretty.

we also had two incidents (at the same time). the first was another flat on the front left tire. the tire is starting to wear thin, but we couldn’t see any holes, so we just popped on one of the extra tires (it’s so awesome having extra tires/wheels at your disposal…thanks vince!) and threw the busted one in the trunk. when i tried to close the trunk, for some reason it didn’t latch. so i tried it again…and the same thing happened. then, i looked at the fixed part of the latch inside the trunk and it had fallen off! apparently the two screws holding it on had some how come loose (…sounds like the sentra might be a lemon….just kidding). luckily, i found them and now ushi’s trunk is better than ever.

we’re now in maringa, which seems like a nice little city in the state of parana. tomorrow we’ll get to explore the parks/cathedral in daylight.