On the road again

Reacting on several requests my public travel journal will be continued in English from now on. For those who don't know what this is about: I am travelling Brazil for 4 weeks with one of my best friends.
I left home on Dec, 3rd at 3:30 a.m. and arrived 25 hs later in Belém in the very north of Brazil (-the aeroplane had flown along the coast-line with endless beaches-) where I met up with Malte.
My backpack weighs only 12 kg this time which is about 5 kg less than last time, the weather is good -it's approximately 30 degrees Celsius and mostly sunny- and we feel safe.
Changing aeroplanes in Sao Paulo was quite stressful because the flight was delayed and the luggage hadn't been checked through...anyway, people were very friendly and act as if they know each other; a woman tried to talk to me in Portuguese and even though I didn't understand a word she gave me a kiss on the cheek and a bunch of sachets with shampoo and conditioner which she had taken out of her bag.
Many women have fake boobs and are dressed up like dollies so I felt well underdressed in my traveller's gear.
I'm very glad Malte speaks some Portuguese. Otherwise we'd be pretty much fucked because most people speak no foreign languages at all.