today i spent the whole day at the police station chasing after false leads for donating the car. really frustrating. especially when i came home to find 2 emails from friends with good alternatives. i’m going to try to explore those tomorrow.

i’m really disappointed in the brasilian legal system. that said, i also understand it completely. charity is a tricky thing…..in the short term it’s great, but in the long term it can be harmful to development. for instance, donating shirts to africa is great, but it also puts the local shirt makers out of business (how can they compete with free?). clearly my case is an anomaly and the legal system can’t account for crazy people who decide to drive from san francisco. i’m just frustrated because so far brazil doesn’t seem to have an ‘out’ for the sentra.

here’s something interesting…..when brazilians say the number ‘6’, they say ‘meia’ (not sure if i spelled it right)….meaning ‘half’. so for a phone number, they’ll say: five, three, three, ‘half’, two, etc…..