My Factory of Extravagant Marvels

I know I still have to post about the second part of the Senegal trip, but you will have to be patient for now until we have access to electricity and internet for the computer. For now, you can follow my tweets about our bike trip from Brussels to Barcelona (sometimes in Portuguese, sometimes in English) on the left column of this page or by following natperez on Twitter.

HAT Tournament | AUM - Association de Ultimate de Montréal Awesome!

Jon and I recently came back from an adventure trip in Senegal, where we went to visit our friend Ian, who's a Peace Corps volunteer there. When we landed in Dakar on the evening of June 14th, Ian came to pick us up at the airport with a couple of his PC friends - Frank and Emily. The adventure started right away: getting out of the airport is insane, there is an incredible number of people offering to sell taxi rides, food, help... It' s a bit overwhelming. Jon was reluctant to shake hands with this unknown man who came up to him smiling and holding his hand up, but then thought it was OK when Ian greeted him warmly: I'm his friend, said the guy, don't worry. Jon then went ahead and shook the guy's hand, but almost lost his engagement ring (it turned out that Ian had never seen the man in his life - the unknown guy was just bluffing to try and get the ring). We sneaked in at Fana Hotel for the first couple of nights, making sure to mingle among the PC volunteers ...

Why Does Everything Have to Be So Bloody Complicated? « Adventures in Boogieville My mom often told us sad stories about how my grandma protected my uncle Gilmar more than my aunt Tânia and herself. The post above brings light to similar situations happening in India, but in a whole different degree... how sad.

I wrote this for www.todomundofeminista.com: Brazilian leader suspends anti-homophobia campaign - Boston.com This decision was made a couple of weeks ago, but I still think it's important to comment. This is a perfect example to illustrate why public policy should not be influenced by religious beliefs. Dilma Rousseff, a usually open minded and inclusive leader, let herself be influenced by the evangelical front of the federal representatives (bancada religiosa) and suspended the campaign to raise awareness about homophobia. Of course everybody wants the videos and written material to be appropriate to school aged kids. We are talking about raising awareness here, teaching kids that homophobia has no place in a democracy. Nobody is trying to convert them into gays -- the idea is to let them choose. The president said in an collective interview that the government supports efforts against homophobia, but that it has no place in "advertising sexual options". The videos...

Melhor do jogo, Michael comemora a vitória e pede a música: ‘I will survive’ | globoesporte.com Que alegria me deu ver essa notícia. A homofobia é um dos problemas brasileiros dos que eu mais reclamo e é com muito orgulho que eu soube da história do Michael. Eu tiro meu chapéu pro meu povo! Esse foi um raro sinal de real solidariedade para com os homosexuais em geral, um passo que eu espero vire moda e contagie toda a população. Nenhuma forma de preconceito deve ter vez. Parabéns torcedores do Vôlei Futuro. Vocês deram um exemplo a ser seguido por toda nossa sociedade.

Melhor do jogo, Michael comemora a vitória e pede a música: ‘I will survive’ | globoesporte.com