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