Just a short update, and a lame one, at that

First, a hint: three new posts today. Make sure you read them all!

I'm back in Manaus for the day. The bad news: I thought my flight left last night. I was so convinced, in fact, that I went to the airport - and wondered "why isn't my flight on the departure screen?" On the plus side, I got to experience the sheer insanity that is the Manaus bus system, where each stop services 30 different routes, and the drivers don't slow down - maybe they'll flash their lights, but mostly you just have to pay close attention if you want to flag one down, squinting into the headlights in the dark of night trying to read the numbers. And then once you get on, the drivers power through the streets with a vengence, pedal to the floor and slowing down for nothing. I always sing that Vilent Femmes song to myself on the bus, you know, with the line "damn city bus/moves so slow." Not appropriate here. Anyways, I don't know if I messed up when I bought my ticket, if I thought I would be getting back a day later, or if it was just the only flight from Manaus to Natal I could get, but It's lame because I have nothing to do in here. So I spent the morning looking at the lame touristy areas in the center (which mostly consist of a couple of mediocre buildings left over from the rubber-boom days of the 19th century), and now I'm just killing time. It might be a "get high and watch girls in the street" kind of day. Either that, or sit in my room in my underwear in front of the fan and watch blurry cable TV. Damn, travelling is exotic and fun, eh?

I made it back safely from the Xixuau. Chris, Karissa and I made the trip, which was interesting because Karissa had a falling out with the other girls (over a boy, surprise, and the fact that they're all dumb idiots that revel in drama and cattiness), so she kinda sorta wanted to be friends. I tried to lend a sympathetic ear and act interested. As we loaded up, a family of giant river otters came to watch, and as if to say goodbye. We took the Xixuau speedboat to the nearest village, where the public boat would pick us up. What I didn't know was that it would be a 10 hour wait, because Chris declined to mention it - sort of like how he declines to mention anything really. So we pitched our hammocks on the dock and tried to ward of the mosquitoes and get some sleep. Around 4am, the boat finally showed up, and we loaded our stuff, re-pitched our hammocks, and chugged off towards Manaus. The trip was dull and uneventful, and mostly I just hung in my hammock and read (I'm reading Trainspotting right now; it's a lot more disjointed than the movie, and makes me scared to go to Scotland, like everyone is a hooligan or an addict waiting to kick the shit out of me). Just like the ride up, the trip was devoid of river pirates, to both my relief and disappointment.

So tonight, at 3am, I have an actual flight out of here. Hopefully there's some nice trade winds in Natal. It's friggin hot here!