Just a quick update on things in Brazil

Hey everyone, how's life wherever you're at?
Things are going well here. I think I have nailed down the three classes I want to take at UFPR this semester. They are:

Os regimes políticos não pluralistas no século XX (Europa e América Latina)
***Non-pluralist political regimes in the 20th century (Europe and Latin America)
A antropologia das periféricas
***Anthropology of the Periphery
A formação do militante
***The formation of the military government

All of these classes are special topics classes, so I will have to read a whole lot and probably write a few things. It will definitely be in depth. I'm seriously looking forward to it because I haven't really been doing much lately.

And for some exciting stuff, Carnaval begins very soon!!! Caroline, Rachel, Juan, Roberto, Vanessa and I are all going to Florianópolis for Carnaval. I think that Caroline, Roberto and I are going to be staying again with Gustavo. Rachel, Juan and Vanessa are going to be staying at Juan's parent's house (which I've heard is incredibly nice).
So that should be pretty exciting. We're going to leave on Friday afternoon (that's how the plans look now) and then come back sometime in the middle of the next week.
Of course, all of these plans depend on...
My new job here teaching English. There is this new English school here called InFlux and I got a connection with the guy running it and training actually starts tonight. No one works during Carnaval here so I really doubt anyone will be working. The only other problem is the lack of a work visa. I really don't see this being much of a problem, though. The guy will probably pay me under the table.

I also found out, from the official people who officially make these official statements, that Caroline can go to the Polícia Federal here and get an extension on her visa so that she won't have to leave the country. The extension is only R$67, so that's much less than going somewhere else.
We still may decide to leave the country anyway and go to Buenos Aires, because when else are you so close to Buenos Aires? So we may go ahead and do that and see what that's all about. My professor here told me about all these places that we could stay at for really cheap. He said that because of Argentina's horrible economic problems back in 2000-01 people started opening up their houses to tourists in order to make some extra money. So people will charge around R$15 per night for a room in their house. That's crazy cheap. The only problem is the R$200 bus ticket there and back (so R$400 just for the bus trips, not including food, staying somewhere, etc). I think it would probably be worth it. If we could spend US$300 for the whole trip, I think that's a small amount for a trip to another country. The bus ride is probably a 24-hour bus ride, so that might not be too exciting, but we'd get to see some nice stuff on the way, for sure.

Anyway, I think that's a big enough update for now. I am waiting on Mom to send me another battery charger because a 220V outlet in Florianópolis killed mine last time. Sometimes batteries here for certain high-powered things (like digital cameras) are very unreliable. I'll have to look for some good batteries for Carnaval pictures.
Well, that's all. Everyone have a good time with life in the next few days and I'll post another update before we leave for Florianópolis just so people know I'm still alive.
Peace.