Rounding the bend

We are all getting to the point where we are exhausted every day.  We haven't even gone out since Friday, but we keep wanting to have chill nights in.  Karla and I decided this can't happen anymore.  We only have 5 days left in Brazil and we have to make them all count.  

During the day, we went to the Instituto Evandro Chagas and had a great lecture from the director, Elisabeth Santos.  She was brilliant and had such good insights about the on-goings in the medical field.  I was most interested in what she had to say about Yellow Fever.  I found out there was an outbreak in Brazil about a month before I left.  I couldn't find anywhere to get vaccinated for it (although I did not search too hard) so I did not get the vaccination.  When I asked her why it is not required for travelers to get vaccinated, she seemed dismayed.  You could tell from her tone and facial expressions that she felt strongly about the issue.

We actually got to go to a new mall today for lunch!  There were plenty of places to eat,

 including McDonalds.  I chose Bob's burgers and ate a chicken sandwich that had ham and cheese on it...  They literally put ham and cheese on everything here.  The other day we ate chicken parmesan and it had ham and cheese melted on the top!  Anyway, the sandwich was a nice relief for my stomach after days of Brazilian food.  Also in the food court was an arcade! I really wanted to go play the Brazilian version of Dance, Dance, Revolution, but everyone else wanted to shop, so I conceited.  

We tried to go out, but Mondays are, apparently, resting days where cool, fun bars are closed.  We did go to a restaurant/bar, but it was really low key.  Karl, Alex, Laura, and I walked a few blocks trying to find a bank.  It was the first time I thought I was going to have to fight someone.  When we were walking, we passed a group of people and one guy fake ran after us, but stopped.  I had half spun around with my fist clenched already.  So that was scary.  Anyway, we ended up finding a bank, but it wouldn't accept our cards...

At the restaurant, we met the UFC Champion Lyoto Machida! It was awesome because he was so nice!