note: location is curitiba, brasil<\/p>\n
well, this morning i called up nissan again and…..<\/p>\n
…wait for it…<\/p>\n
…wait for it…<\/p>\n
nothing happened!<\/p>\n
after sitting in the room for several hours waiting for a call back, i gave up and walked around curitiba a bit. there’s a nearby park featuring small caged up birds, tortoises and monkey (there was only 1). at one of the cages, an identical bird was sitting freely on the railing outside. i’m not sure if he escaped (but was to scared to face the cruel world)….or was wild and fell in love with a caged bird.<\/p>\n
not wanting the entire day to go to waste….i did something a bit daring: i spoke to the cops. it’s risky because it severely limits my future options (at least in curitiba). also, police in latin america (minus chile), can be corrupt….which can be a good or bad thing. in this case, it might be a good thing, since they’re getting a free car….so they’ll be fine expediting the process. and who knows…maybe they’ll give me a ‘get out of jail free’ card. i’m a bit scared to show them ushi until the deal is further underway. anyway, i showed up and spoke to the first guy i saw. then, he took me to his boss. then, i went to the boss’ boss. at this rate, i might be speaking with president lula tomorrow.<\/p>\n
i’m also going through a bit of withdrawal. it’ll be sad not having a\/the car anymore. i’ll have to sweat in the heat and take the bus like a commoner. without ushi, i’m not ready to face the cruel world either.<\/p>\n
in other news, i’m beginning to look into getting home. a 1-way flight to san francisco is more expensive than a roundtrip one (~$1k). i figured that for that price, i might be able to find a cruise. unfortunately, the only cruise that i found going from south to north america is a 6 star one, costing ~$7k. next, i looked into container ships (which sometimes offer transport for passengers). a huge thanks to Charlie for researching this. unfortunately, ships are kinda pricey…and apparently
\n\\Homeland Security has forbidden one-way voyages between continental USA (and Canada!) and Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America because they threaten the security of the USA\\”.<\/p>\n
so, i thought about going to europe first…here’s one going from brazil to france:
\n\\”We are happy to inform you that CMA-CGM, The French Line, continues to serve the Caribbean and Brazil from Northern Europe. These container ships carry bananas northbound and fine French wines southbound along with other container cargo.\\”<\/p>\n
sounds delightful! plus it has a small gym, pool, tv, etc. but it will end up costing several times more than an airplane.<\/p>\n
so…any other ideas or suggestions?<\/p>\n
aside: when i said that there was no cheap lodging in curitiba, i was slightly mistaken. near the train station there is a place that provides a private room (shared bathroom), television & car park for 17 reais (the next cheapest i found was a shared dorm for 33 reais). to put that in perspective, most parking lots here charge 12 reais for 12hrs of parking. unfortunately, the place is also a dump…..even worse than the $3 hotel i was at in guatemala. it’s usually a bad sign when the guests lounging around the reception look high\/drunk and have alcohol on their breath.”<\/p>\n\n\t\t