Ughh... back to Miami, back to the grind... 2 hours driving in traffic, Hurricane Sandy, workplace drama, DA drama, my parents and the bureaucratic leviathan that is urban USA. Hoo-freaking-yay!

I have traveled to quite a large chunk of the world in my 30 years.  That's 35 countries, 5 continents, 15 US states, 4 Canadian provinces and 1 Brazilian state, the latter as of last week. This was my first time setting foot on the continent of South America (LOL last year it was Africa... and damn, did I really criss-cross the Equator 4 times in a little over a year??? ).

For the first time ever visiting a foreign nation, I literally felt like Dante exiting purgatory into Paradise -- I was Home.  No, it's not because Rio de Janeiro really is 'Paris in the jungle and with beaches'.  True that it is a city complete with everything that appeals to the human senses - art, music, history, fashion, exquisite food, technology, architecture, commerce all nestled comfortably in one of Mother Nature's most sensuous corners on this strange little marble in the vacuum of space.

No... and I have DeviantArt to thank for this.  For it was here, a mere 369 days ago, that I had the pleasure of making a connection with a true and most wonderful friend who has changed my life and pointed it in a direction where suddenly my decisions -- no matter how insane they seem to an outsider -- make sense!  My 9 days spent with and her AMAZING family are among the most memorable of my life and will remain so.  The adventures, the marvels, the jokes and the laughs, the tears at the airport... and that night I made her go out  in a torrential thunderstorm where the streets flash-flooded and she wanted to kill me (not without good reason): these were the moments that made that week BEYOND GREAT!  And I have 4 great people to thank for that (yes, I am looking at you).

I am still in awe at the strange twists and turns one's life takes... thinking back to this [link] first little comment I left on her first published chapter of her Magnum Opus, at a point in my life where I had lost so much and stood confused at a twisted crossroad in my journey, and how now it has pointed my life in a new direction -- an exciting one with so many opportunities throughout.  

Life is a journey! The moments we share along the way are worth more than the destination.  And this was hardly my last trip to Rio de Janeiro.  At any given one of these, I may not come back to reside in the US at all.  It is a thought of which I am increasingly serious.  I may be crazy, but it's a calling!

*sigh* Cidade Maravilhosa, como eu sinto falta... Quase tanto como minha boa amiga! (Now off to sink Portuguese into my brain!)