Last Stop: Ouro Preto, Brazil

 The view of Ouro Preto from my hostel, which was the best view in town

I'm ending this trip the way I began it.  Smiling alone upon the open road.

I saw Margaret off on Thursday in Rio de Janeiro, then hopped on an overnight bus to Ouro Preto, a small colonial town in the mountains northwest of Rio.  I had thought I was done with these overnight buses, but unfortunately, in my last five days in Brazil I will end up taking two!

What I've loved about traveling is that I never know what each new day will bring, what new people will enter my life, and what I'll end up seeing.  I arrived in Ouro Preto at 6:30 a.m., crawled into bed, then dragged myself to breakfast, where I met a British guy (Sebastian), an Austrian guy (Michael), and a Canadian guy (Mark), all of whom have been travelling for awhile. I've had so much fun the last two and a half weeks, but after rushing around and doing so much in such a short period of time, it's nice to take everything a little slower.  The pace of travel is just different with folks who have been traveling for a long time.

By midday, we all ended up piling into a Brazilian guy's car and heading to Mariana, another little town, for the day.  As we hung out in front of a church in Mariana, with Sebastian and Michael playing guitar with some local Brazilians, I couldn't help but smile at the moment.  That morning, I wouldn't have thought that this was where I would be. We sat in squares chatting, drank beer at a local dive bar, then made a mad drive to a little waterfall during the waning moments of daylight. Yesterday, we hiked to a lake, where we all swam to a floating raft, lazed around and laughed in the weakening sunlight, and then played some kooky memory game that Michael had played in kindergarten. 

Typical travel moments.  They exist in that very second with those particular people.  I probably won't ever see them or talk to them ever again, but we are a part of each others trips now.  There are silly pictures and funny videos that someone may or may not post.  But we shared a moment just to share.  Often, at home, I find myself too focused just to enjoy.  When I meet someone new at home, sometimes I wonder, "What's the point of investing time in this person? Am I ever going to see them again?" Or I hear people all the time say things like, "I don't need any more friends; I already have a hard enough time keeping up with all the ones I have already."  But it's so different on the road.  Every moment is just appreciated for what it is at that time.

I ended up spending my last couple of days in Brazil with these guys. 

Tonight, I board an overnight bus back to Rio, then tomorrow I get on my plane back home.

The sprout is heading back north-- following summer, looking for life again.