Adoro conhecer novas pessoas

This week was pretty quiet. We’ve had Portuguese classes in the mornings only with Professor Vitor because Professora Erilan is on vacation this week. On Wednesday afternoon, Amber and I made our official bucket list of things we want to do in the next 6 months. Although it has only been a few days since, we are still adding things to it. It mainly consists of trips we want to take, different food we want to eat, and trying new things, like surfing. I’m happy I have a partner who’s as adventurous as I am in trying new things. After we went to go watch the sunset which was beautiful. Soon we'll watch the sunrise...soon.

I enjoy the work it takes to get to the good stuff

Another highlight of this week was meeting up with the members of couchsurfing Fortaleza. Ever since we landed I've been wanting to go to a gathering, but we always end up forgetting. Like last week, I had RSVPed to go but we got distracted by cheap crab Thursdays. (I know, I’m a sucker for food) On a weekly basis, the group meets up at a bar to drink, eat, talk, and laugh. They are mix of Brazilians and foreigners who are living in Fortaleza for work, travel, or schooling. Ok I love meeting new people and I’ll admit this isn’t the first time I’ve met a group of strangers from online (NO I don’t mean online dating hahaha).

Just some of the members of CS Fortaleza

For instance, one of my New Years resolutions was to perfect my knowledge of Spanish. So I created a meetup.com account, joined a Spanish speaking group, and began attending their gatherings at Bridgehead Coffehouse. Of course the first time I was nervous and I had even contemplated leaving the coffeehouse before any of the members noticed me. But I stayed and conversated with these strangers who had the common interest to improve their spoken Spanish. We exchanged stories of life experiences, family, and friends over a cup of coffee or tea.

Couchsurfing.org is similar in terms of bringing strangers together to discuss their traveling adventures thus far. We met alot of interesting people, specifically Brisa and Barbara who came over Friday and gave us some Brazilian music. They even took us to Fortal, Fortaleza’s off-season carnaval, with them on Saturday. At the moment, I don’t want to talk too much about Fortal, I’m saving it for my Culture section....but here's a sneak peak:

Amber and I in our new and improved abadas