Barra da Logao

So the neighborhood / town I'm staying in here is called Barra da Lagoa, which is in the north central of the island of Santa Catarina. Florianopolis is actually the biggest city in this island and its also the capital of the state I'm in, which is also called Florianopolis. I'm doing all my updates from my phone now so I can't include links, but def check out this town cause its beautiful. Quiet beaches with long rolling waves - cute little restaurants in town - and everyone is real nice and laid back.

So yesterday morning I got up and had a nice breakfast - free at the hostel - of fruit and toast, and started chatting with the three Israeli guys. As I mentioned before they are all about 23 and they just finished their 3 years of mandatory military training. Everyone in Israel has to do 3 years, and then most go traveling for a bit afterwards. First we have Aviv, who is the nicest and most chill of the group, and he has a pretty close resemblance to Andy Garcia the actor. Next you have Ran, who was a medic in the military and who's funny and goofy and very good hearted. Last you have Shahaf, who is well traveled and also very funny. So we decide to head down to the main beach with surf boards and boogie boards which we can use for free from the hostel (score!). First we smoke some of the weed these guys bought when they got here. It's not great but it gets us laughing and then we are on our way, with the Israelis wearing bandanas and scarves - perfect middle eastern stereotypes. It's funny - if I saw these guys I would think they are Brazilian but I'm pretty sure everyone here knows they are not from here. Regardless it is a beautifully sunny day and we setup on the beach and jump in the perfectly clear water. I'm sans boogie board at first just because I wanted to enjoy the water, but the other guys are all about catching waves. Shahaf gets up on his first try but the rest of them have more difficulty, which is funny to watch. Eventually I get the boogie board and hit a bunch of waves, then we chill on the beach, go grab some lunch, and head back to the hostel where I take a nap in a hammock for a few hours. When I get up its dark and raining and the other guys are asleep. I'm craving pizza (as usual) so I head to town with the only other guy who's staying in he hostel. He's from São Paulo and couldn't be nicer. His English isn't great but he's working on it so he appreciates speaking with me. We order an amazing pizza - pic below. He tells me of the great restaurants and neighborhoods in São Paulo, which gets me even more excited to get there and try the food! I'm gonna get a bus ticket today, but I'm thinking of taking an overnight bus on Tuesday (11 hr bus ride). We walk home from dinner in the rain and then I watch parts of Lord of the Rings with the Israelis before passing out around 1am. Not a bad day considering it started out raining and drab. 

Today me and the Israelis are gonna head to these more isolated natural pools overlooking the ocean to chill and hang out. Also I saw some kids jumping off 15-20 ft rocks the other day and so I def wanna try that. Can't begin to say how much I'm loving this place right now...

São Paulo guy I had pizza with last night

Sam - king of the manner