Fortaleza, Brazil

I woke up this morning and realized that it was December 16 and that I have only 4 days left in Brazil. I’ve been traveling since December 5, which has helped the time to pass quickly. I went with Meggie, Brianne, and Erin to Fortaleza, a city in the North of Brazil in the state of Ceará from December 5-10. We left late on the 5^th after Meggie got out of class, but the flight was delayed and we arrived at 12:15AM, nearly 2 hours later than anticipated. We weren’t sure what we were going to do when we got there or where we were going to stay because we were all semi-counting on a contact that Erin made through her host mom. (The lady’s name is Carine and is a Mary Kay saleswoman who lives in Fortaleza and promised to set us up with a place to stay.) Carine called while we were waiting out the delays in the Salvador airport and offered to pick us up and take us to the hotel. We thanked her and told her to expect us at midnight, but when we got there she wasn’t there and didn’t answer her house or cell phone. After waiting half an hour we decided to find a place ourselves and called around a few hostels until we found room for 4 at a decent price. We got our first glimpse of Fortaleza through the taxi windows and we commented first on its over-the-top Christmas decorations (in one plaza they made a giant Christmas tree out of white hammocks), and then on the prostitutes lined up on the street, where coincidentally, the taxi stopped to let us out at the hotel. (We read in the tour book that it was located in the prime night-life spot but we weren’t exactly expecting the womanly display.) We got two rooms for $20 a piece, including breakfast (which is much more expensive than we had hoped).

In the morning Carine called and apologized for having missed our calls the night before and came to pick us up and take us to the other hotel. Meggie and Bri were on a tight budget so although Carine secured reservations at a 4 star hotel for the same price as the first place, we decided to keep looking and ended up at an apartment with a kitchen and two bathrooms for $6.75/day. We went to the grocery store and bought bread, eggs, turkey, wheat bread, water, and fruit, which was to be our sustenance for the next four days. That afternoon we went to the beach (Praia do Futuro) for a few hours until it started to get dark. The beach was pretty, but the waves were really too strong to swim in. On the bus ride we passed by a favela which I wish I had been able to get a picture of because the snow of trash on the hillside by it was striking. When we got back we made a reservation for an excursion on Friday morning and went to the artesian fair near our apartment where everyone found some great buys and ended up spending the money we saved on the cheap, smelly apartment.

We left for the excursion Friday at 7 AM and went to Morro Branco, Praia das Fontes, Centro das Rendeiras and Canoa Quebrada. At Moro Branco we walked through a labyrinth of sand dunes and then took a sand boogie ride to a fountain of youth (Praia das Fontes) and a sweet water lagoon where we swam to cool down. In the sand dunes we saw 12 different tones of natural sand which the natives use to make artwork. A little after mid-day we left for Canoa Quebrada where we spent the next 3 hours on the beach and I tried a acerola smoothie (acerola is a fruit similar to a cherry). We got back to the apartment around 6:30 PM and stayed in for the night talking and doing crossword puzzles. (The girls have awakened a new passion for crossword puzzles in me. Maybe after some practice I’ll be able to compete with Grandma and Grandpa Hoza.)

Saturday we went to the central market where we found some great deals on Christmas gifts and souvenirs. Erin picked out two paintings but didn’t have enough cash to buy them on the spot so we went back to the apartment to get more money and grab a bit to eat, then returned to the market briefly to get the paintings. We walked over to the cultural center near by and went through the modern art museum and watched a film (The Waitress) at the theater to help pass the time before dinner. (Carine had offered to pick us up at 6 and take us to dinner and we were eagerly anticipating a solid meal because boiled eggs and fruit doesn’t hold you very long.) She ended up picking us up around 7 and taking us to a mall where her father owns a shop. (I failed to mention earlier that she is the PERFECT Mary Kaye representative. She is fair skinned with strawberry blond hair and dresses in pink and heels.) We met her son, niece, and empregada and toured the entire mall before she led us to the food court and, at long last, we ate. Carine is 35 and clearly infatuated with the States. She is going to the Mary Kaye convention in Dallas next month and I told her to get in touch with me if she wants to travel to Houston or New Orleans.

Sunday we went to the beach with Carine and her son. Erin and I left around 12:30 because the sun was too strong and Erin hurt her shoulder when one of the waves knocked into her. Meggie and Bri stayed a few more hours and met up with us around 3. We decided to wander around the city a bit and find some ice cream. We ended up buying a carton of ice cream and splitting it (I opted out for yogurt), then we walked along the beach until nightfall.

Early Monday morning, Carine picked us up and took us to the airport and after more delays we reached home around 3. It was a brief stop home for me because Erin and I left for Belo Horizonte the next day. I had just enough time to unpack, repack, answer a few e-mails, and say goodbye to a few friends heading home.