Foto da Semana 30

'Tis the season for pre-carnavale, all of January throughout Brazil. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I'm in Olinda to celebrate pre-carnaval. I didn't take too many pictures because of the intense rain but it doesn't hurt to post the few I did take. Enjoy!

The store owner had a giant doll made in his likeness. I wonder how much it would cost for me  to get one.

The celebrations started early.

In-between the rain, people would reemerge from the shelter to continue the celebration. 

He's soo tall.

Dancing in the streets.

Various bands were playing throughout the night.

When the rain wasn't pouring, the streets were full.

My gringo pack and my long lost son Rodrigo...or was it Rodrigues O_O.

Muitos lugares, tao pouco tempo

Pedro, Johan, and I making silly faces

I decided to spend my last 2 days in Olinda in another couchsurfer's home, Johan who has worked in real estate in various countries in Europe, Africa, and South America. When I arrived at his place he was speaking French to his business partner in Senegal through skype. Although I wasn't eavesdropping, it was nice to know I can still fully understand French.

Olinda is Pernambuco's old colonial city center, about a 15 minute drive from Recife. The colorful buildings reminded me of Salvador's Pelourinho neighborhood, very colonial in design. I mainly wanted to be in Olinda to take part in the pre-carnaval celebrations. The stone streets of Olinda were filled with people by early afternoon. Street vendors had already set up shop and were selling food and drinks to those who came to enjoy the show. However, my Sunday night was cut short because of the heavy rain. The weather has been working against me. It has been raining heavily throughout my last 5 days in the state of Pernambuco...I guess its time to move on. I left Olinda on on Monday night with Larissa, another solo traveler from Austria studying a year in Sao Paulo.

Larissa and I leaving Olinda

A few months ago, before the Mulheres Mil program started, I had blogged about taking part in a number of meetings to start up the program. One of the other professors, Goretti, had helped with the planning during the meetings. However, she moved back to Natal, the capital of Rio Grande de Norte, before the program was even launched. For months now she has been inviting us interns to come visit her. Well I decided to finally take her up on her offer. I arrived in Natal at 4am with Larissa but we would be staying different parts of town. I, somehow, managed to navigate to Goretti's home safely, bright and early in the morning. Her 20 year old daughter is travelling at the moment, so I she let me take a nap in her bed. As much as I prefer taking the overnight bus to my destinations, its still not comfortable enough for me to fully fall sleep.

Goretti and I at the mall

Her friend, Paulo, picked us up for lunch and showed me around town. Natal is about the same size as Ottawa, yet it seemed smaller. We went to the main beach, Ponta Negra, and a large shopping mall, which has a great view of the whole city. The city was settled on Christmas day in 1599 by the Portuguese, hence the name. There are various Christmas decor that stay up throughout the year to commemorate the city's name.

By the end of the night, Goretti and I were on a way to Pipa, which is about a 2 hour drive from Natal. Pipa is probably one of the most beautiful places I've been to in Brazil. The beaches are calmly stunning and very quiet. If I hadn't gone to Rio de Janeiro to celebrate New Years Eve, I probably would've joined my Fortaleza friends who had been here a few weeks before. I wish I had taken more pictures but, unfortunately, my camera broke the day I arrived to Natal :(.

Tim and I in Olinda

I had originally met Tim, a student from London who's studying a year in Rio de Janeiro, in Salvadar. Although he was in another hostel, he would often come over and spent time with people from my hostel. We coincidentally met again in Olinda when it turned out we were both staying at Johan's place. We made informal plans to meet up again in Pipa if I had the time. I hung out with him and his classmate, Gabriella, from France. We were a fairly international group exploring the beaches of Pipa.

Although my visit was short, I wouldn't have gone to Pipa if Goretti hadn't had taken me there. I'm extremely grateful for her hospitality, for taking me around her city and her favorite getaway. She now works at the Instituto Federal (IF) in Natal. I hate to say this but the IF in Natal looks way better and bigger than the IF in Fortaleza (I hope my colleagues don't read this). I sat in front of her class as her students hammered me with various questions. They were curious about my impression of Brazil, what I did in Fortaleza, how Canada is like, and...etc, etc. I have to admit, I have been speaking a lot of English this past month since I've hung around many gringos, non-Brazilians. Only a few short weeks of speaking English and I am already having issues speaking Portuguese. I'm scared about what will happen when I go back to Canada. O_O

I was in Pipa for a short time and in Natal for an even shorter time. Where am I going next?...Fortaleza :)

Foto da Semana 29

Before I came to Brazil, my mother warned me to stay away from favelas and shark infested waters.  I took her motherly advice and stayed away from the latter :)

Obrigada por sua hospitalidade

This week I'm in Aracaju, population 570, 937, and the capital of one of Brazil's smallest states, Sergipe. Aracaju is a pleasantly quiet coastal town and doesn't have too many touristic attractions. Thankfully, I managed to secure a place to stay through couchsurfing. I ended up staying in Daniel's lovely apartment where he grew up. This is only my second time couchsurfing, the first being in Rio during the September conference. Daniel was an amazing host that took me around his city, when he wasn't working of course, and tried to keep me entertained. However, I found that some days I was simply happy staying in and watching movies from his vast collection.

Daniel (on the floor), his friends and Amber having a good time.

I also got to meet Luciano and his girlfriend Luciana  (I didn't make up their names) while I was in Aracaju. I have been talking to Luciano for the past 6 years about everything...seriously there's a lot that can be discussed during that time. We never thought we'd see the day when we would meet in person, but it just goes to show anything can happen. My time is Aracaju was quiet and short, it was good to have that weekend to relax and get some Niagara College work done.

Kyllderes, me, and Thiago from CS

On Wednesday morning, I arrived in Recife (Pernambuco) bright and early, in time to take the crowded metro train with people heading to work. I was the only one looking ready for an adventure with my large backpack, flip flops and floral print dress. I decided to continue couchsurfing since I had such a great experience in Aracaju. I spent my first two nights in Kyllderes' apartment, I'm still struggling to pronounce his name (sorry). The walls of his apartment are covered with DVDs and I mean thousands of movies. Since it rained for the days I was there, we spent an afternoon playing Wii dance games. By the way, that game console is a work out, I'm even contemplating buying one so I never have to go to the gym.

Since Kyllderes had to travel for work, I spent friday night at another couchsurfer's home, Samuel who I had met during a CS meeting the night before. Samuel's an interesting guy that loves to cook and lives in the Boa Viagen neighborhood, a fairly touristy area. He has taken over 20 cooking classes throughout his life, learning how to cook multiple international cuisines. He even took the time to teach me how to make tapioca. It was pretty simple and I'm surprised I didn't learn earlier while I was in Fortaleza.

In the past 7 days I have slept in 3 different homes. Although carrying a heavy backpack with all my clothes around can take a toll on the back and shoulders, I'm glad to be seeing different parts of Brazil from the perspective of locals. They have all welcomed travelers to their homes before and always seem to have entertaining hosting stories, the good and the bad experiences. I hope one day when I have my own home, I will be able to host travelers like me, and show them the same hospitality I have been shown. Thanks guys!

Next stop...Olinda

Foto da Semana 28

I was lucky enough to be in Salvador to celebrate the Festa do Bonfim, which is a major annual celebration. Taking place on the 2nd Thursday, the streets are filled with many people wearing all white. Starting at the Basilica de Conceicao da Praia, the ceremony is lead by a large group of Bahian women dressed in traditional white Bahian clothing. They then walk 7km to the Bonfim Church to clean the steps. This is done to honor the Candomble patron saint, Nosso Senhor de Bonfim and Oxala, the god of gods. Throughout this walk the women dance and sing chants in Yuroba Language (Nigeria). I didn't get a chance to see the group of women that lead the ceremony since they started very early in the morning, however I followed other groups that were part of the celebration. I ended up going with people I had met at the hostel in Pelourinho. In total we walked 14km, there and back, probably the longest walk of my life but it was worth being part of such a major celebration.

I went to university with Nina from Sao Paulo. We just happened to meet randomly in Salvador, oh destiny.

The other travelers I met at the hostel.

Man dancing on stilts, talent.

Just some clowns to amuse the crowd.

She has wonderful balance.

There was a lot of people out that day.

We finally reached our destination.

One of these is mine.

Thousands of ribbons are tied onto the gates and the front door.

Sorria, voce esta na Bahia

I've been really wanting to go to Salvador (Bahia) ever since I landed in Brazil and I finally got my opportunity. I was a little nervous at first, now that I am travelling alone (Bye Chris and Andrela!). However, through my trip in the Dominican Republic last year, I learned that many people often do travel alone. I just have to be cautious as to who I hang out with and where I go. Hostels are a great way to meet other lone travelers who have the same sense of adventure as I do. In Salvador, I stayed a week at Galeria 13 Hostel where I met many people from many countries everyday. I met a lot of people from the UK, France, Japan, Brazil (of course), the Netherlands, Canada...etc. Although I knew them for one day, meeting the Canadians was one of my memorable nights. These two guys would go back and forth with sarcastic comments about everything. Their sense of humor is one that I am used to and miss greatly. Their sarcastic humor kept me laughing the whole night, almost couldn't breath. They made me feel kind of homesick, wanting to speak to my friends in Canada.

On the night I arrived I met Eri, a Japanese girl that had been studying in Argentina the past few months and decided that she wanted to see Brazil before she returns to Japan. Also travelling alone, we spent most of our time together sight seeing, going to the beach, and going out. She also helped me when I stubbed my other toe for the 2nd time (the 1st time had been 2 days earlier in Rio and Andrela had helped me, thanks!). I definitely need to lift my legs when I walk and watch where I step :(. Eri and I have a very similar view of the world and we are both eager to conquer it. Next time, we'll travel to Chile together, we girls can dream right?

My hostel is located in Pelourinho which was once the city center during Portuguese colonialism. Founded in 1549, this neighborhood is filled with old historical monuments and buildings that date as far back as the 17th century. It should be noted that Pelourinho also had the first slave market on the South American continent. Most, if not all, of the architecture is very colonial in style and each building is painted in different colors. And yes, this is the other location that Michael Jackson shot his music video that I talked about in a previous blog post about the Santa Marta favela in Rio.

Each day as I walk on Pelourinho's stone paved streets, the spicy smell of acaraje is always in the air. I made sure to have one each day while I was in Salvador, however I did get sick of it after the 5th day. At every corner of the plazas, there are women dresses in traditional Bahian attire and selling the local dishes. Influenced by old African fashion, these Bahian women stand around Pelourinho while tourists take pictures with them. Their dresses are both elaborate yet beautiful. The headscarf reminds me of current Nigerian fashion, which I love. 

I was very surprised to see how strong the African culture has stayed in Bahia. Like the history of African-Americans, Afro-Brazilian slaves were often forced to forget their African traditions, religions, and cultures. However in Salvador, the people have been able to maintain their blended African traditions, mainly influenced by Nigerian and Angolan culture. From the food to the clothes and religion, the African influence is strong here. One week was not enough, I will definitely come back to Salvador.

Next stop....Aracaju :).

Foto da Semana 27

Located in the Guanabara Bay, Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf in English) is one of Rio de Janeiro's most famous morros, and trust me there are a lot of morros. I didn't get a chance to visit Pao de Acucar during my first trip to Rio because of the cloudy weather. We were told its not worth going unless the skies are clear. This time, after a few rainy days Chris, Andrela, and I went to Pao de Acucar. Here are some pictures that we took. Enjoy!

Feliz ano novo!

So I've returned to Rio de Janeiro to celebrate New Years Eve. My initial plan was to hopefully meet some of the other CIDA interns in Rio for NYE, but things don't always go as planned. I ended up going with my new friends Andrela from Colombia and Christopher from Chile who had been studying in Fortaleza for the past 5 months. I happened to have met them at a BBQ a few weeks earlier and we quickly realized that we would all be travelling to Rio the same day, but just different times. What luck right? It was their first time in Rio so we revisited some of the same locations I had already been to back in September with Amber.

We went to the Cathedral and paid a visit to my favorite stairs in the world, the Escadaria Selaron, and I managed to get a picture with Jorge Selaron. I went back to the world famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema and relaxed with some Cariocas.

This is probably a good time to mention why I have pictures of a doll. One of the women from Mulheres Mil gave it to me as a Christmas gift and since she is a red-head like my coworker, I've named her Amber. Amber is travelling with me in spirit and like her namesake, my doll has been very supportive. Everytime I look a her, she tells me how special I am :). Thanks Amber.

The main NYE event takes place at Copacobana with over 2 million people wearing white and celebrating at the beach, making it the biggest NYE celebration in the world. The main act of the night was David Guetta, a French DJ and producer who has worked with many singers, such as Akon, Kelly Rowland, LMFAO, the Black Eyed Peas and Rihanna...just to name a few. This was probably one of my most memorable NYE celebrations to date. However, it did rain for most of the night...heavily. Since there we're soo many people, trying to get home was an issue since most of the taxis we're full. We stayed out all night but we eventually caught a bus to our hotel. We got back to our hotel around 7am, right on time to have our free breakfast and sleep all day. NYE in Rio was certainly an experience and I'm glad to have that checked off of my bucketlist of life.

I won't lie the rain in Rio put a damper on our plans. During my time in Fortaleza, I had gotten used to having hot sunny days everyday. The rain was a very depressing sight to see. Eventually the weather did turn around and we headed to see Pao de Acucar, a sight I missed out on last time because of cloudy weather.

Rio this second time around was very different from the first time with Amber. I'm extremely happy to have met Chris and Andrela. My time with them made my trip even more sweet. Thank you guys, I'll never forget you both. Until we meet again, beijos.

Next stop...Salvador, Bahia.