The center of Latinamerica in the 18th century
I continued my journey to Ouro Preto which lies in the state of Minas Gerais, 2 hours away from Belo Horizonte. A small town that became famous for its mining. It is located in one of the main areas of the Brazilian Gold Rush. Hence the name Ouro Preto (Black Gold). During that time it was the most populous city of Latin America.
Today tourists are fascinated by the picturesque old town and the pretty hilly location, the UNESCO ranks it as world heritage site. In Ouro Preto, a buddy of mine who was staying with me in Berlin a few years ago, got me a place to sleep in a student union.
Students houses everywhere
Ouro Preto is full with these student unions. Usually several men or women rent a house. Theses houses are somewhat similar to fraternity houses as found in North American colleges and are called repúblicas, with the majority of them privately owned. This housing system is unique in Brazil. Each república has its own different history. There are repúblicas in which the freshmen have to undergo a hazing period, before being accepted permanently as residents of the houses.
When I entered the house of my fraternity, I saw the huge amount of beer crates. I thought I was in a pub, but no, these were leftovers from carnival. The house also had a modern flat screen TV and game console. So good! Each of the 10 boys had his own nickname! One of them was called "the shitter", you certainly don't want to be called that.
Brazilians love a "good time"
I explored the city with a young local student who kept taking pictures of me. I liked Ouro Preto with its many old colonial buildings and cobblestone streets.
One evening I went with some of the boys to a girls' student association. After enjoying some alcoholic drinks, the evening finally ended with each of the girls going to her room with one of the boys. Yeah, the Latinos love to "have a good time". The Brazilian guys are also very persistent in their approach and try until the girl more or less annoyed says "yes". Brazil always ranks amongst the nations with the most sexually active countries. In Australia my friend told me that her Brazilian friend there didn't like the Australian guys because they are too shy in comparison with the Brazilian guys she's used to.
my birthday
After all, it was March 8th, my birthday. I wanted to celebrate it later in Sao Paulo with my buddy. The best present I got was from my favourite club Barcelona, who won 6-1 against PSG in the second leg after a 4-0 defeat in the first leg and thus reached the quarter-finals.
2 days later I returned to Sao Paulo to celebrate my birthday.
