Setting the bar

Our high-set bar is already falling and we haven't even left yet. By chance my friend Eli called me yesterday to hear about our upcoming trip and mentioned "surely you have gotten a visa for Brazil"... oops. Mike forgot to tell me about that chapter of our guidebook before he dove into the bar warp zone. Emergency calls to the Brazilian consulate ensue and, of course, they say the process takes a minimum of 10 business days. When do we leave? In 10 business days-- too risky. So, hours of phone calls to American Airlines and hundreds of dollars later, we are no longer flying out of Brazil because we will be turned away when we try to enter their horribly bureaucratic country. Hooray!!! The first of many upcoming mistakes is actually a blessing because Rio is reallllllly out of the way from the rest of our trip and would have required days of bus riding with dust, chickens, and weird smells (that's how I picture it anyways). This also frees up more time to devote to Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia. So, dry your tears. We are happy with the outcome, although this makes me nervous about all the other crucial details we must be completely ignorant of. Stay tuned, it should be quite entertaining...

Wish Mike luck on the bar exam the day after tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that.