We only went to Porto Alegre, in Southern Brazil, because it was half-way to our real destination - Montevideo, Uruguay. We made a quick decision to stay two nights mainly because I didn't think two nights could be too long in any new city. But then I hadn't been to Porto Alegre.It's not a horrible place but it's fairly boring especially for two people coming down from an Iguacu buzz. Our hotel was called The Ritz which Tim nicknamed a ruder name that rhymes because it was quite awful, especially compared to the hostel we so loved in Foz do Iguacu.
The Ritz's only redeeming quality was its cable television in the shared lounge, which at least got us out of our dingy room with its beautiful view of a rubbish dumpster. Unfortunately my new CNN obsession was often interrupted by an elderly man who seemed to live at the hotel.
My face would fall when I saw him sitting smuggly at the television watching something in Portuguese and he would let out an audible sigh when he saw me glued to CNN International.
I'm amazed that it's taken me no time at all to be desperate for entertainment in English. I get sadly excited everytime I get the opportunity to understand something on television or in magazines. I've been watching awful American shows. I´ve tapped my toes to Britney Spears, Phil Collins and Shania Twain. And I've read Tim's copy of the New Scientist magazine cover to cover, even though I have no idea was an 'unparticle' is.
But the most exciting moment in my search for English entertainment happened, surprisingly, in Porto Alegre. We discovered a shopping mall's cinemas were playing Sweeney Todd, a film impossible to dub over because it's a musical.
Oh the excitement! We went to the movies. Two hours of uninterrupted entertainment I understood. It wasn't the first time Johnny Depp had made my day, but it was the first time he'd done it in a foreign city. I know they don't say 'When in Rome, go to the movies,' but just this once I didn't care.
Check out more photos from my trip in my Flickr album.
Read more about Brazil.
