Uruguay and São Paulo

So, I figured since I was so close to Uruguay that I should stop by for a few days. I took a boat from Buenos Aires to Colonia where I jumped on a bus to Punta Del Este. It was about an 8 hour trip in total, including a 30 minute stop in Colonia. It wasn't all that bad, except for the fact it started at 23:00!!!! I figured the overnight travel would be okay, but since there was a stop over 1/2 way through the night, it completely broke up my sleep and I was sooo tired when I arrived in Punta. I stayed at this hostel - Roger's House. Was about a 3 minute walk to the beach. I toured around the town, enjoyed the beach for a little while and then had to head to Montevideo to catch my flight to São Paulo, Brazil.
I arrived in São Paulo on Thursday morning, took a taxi to Laura, Rinaldo and Gabriel's home. They greeted me with open arms. I guess I should say who they are. Elizabeth Cardoso Pereira, a co-worker from back in Calgary, arranged our meeting before I even left for my trip. It has been wonderful. They have shown me around São Paulo and treated me like family. Tomorrow, we are heading to a museum, shopping and tour the city by car.
The plan is to head to Rio and the state of Bahia on Monday...