Anyway, onto what I actually have written in my journal instead of this rambling no one is interested in.
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Recife
Right now I'm waiting on my flight to Recife. I have to give up my pocketknife because it was in my carry-on, even though ti made it through security in Curitiba and São Paulo. No big deal, I'm sure I can get another one if I need it. My flight has been delayed but only by about 30 minutes. During Carnaval I guess it's too be expected.
So it's actually delayed a little bit longer and the Gate 8 door had some sort of malfunction. Delay+Malfunction=Death? Might seem like a weird idea, but without even requesting it I was given an emergency aisle seat right by the window in a row all by myself. I'm not complaining though. The cost of death is well worth having all of this legroom and a nice view.
Anyway I think that the hostel I booked a month ago may have tried to screw me over. Either that, or it was just an invitation to stay in Recife for Carnaval. Either way I have my reservation printout with the dates, proof of reservation, and what I owe. We're getting ready to go and it looks like I definitely have the whole row to myself. From now on if I can help it I will only use emergency aisle rows.
Salvador has been nice although ridiculously hot, and I'll be back if the money required won't stop me from going everywhere else I would like to go. But for now, I'm going 450 miles north, which will put me about 500 miles south of the equator, where it might be hotter.
So i decided to skip out on my hostel and get a hotel. It's only R$70 per night, so about R$210 which is about $100US. It's definitely worth it, if only because I have my own shower, private room, and I'm one block away from Praia da Boa Viagem. It's nice to have cold air conditioning, good TV, and a nice firm bed. I took a shower and now I'm just relaxing. I have about R$185 I can spend but hopefully I won't spend it all. Breakfast is free at the hotel so that's one meal I won't have to pay for. I'll probably spend it all though, no big deal really. I don't really know if I'll be able to come back here before I leave Brazil so I may as well spend it all.
The sun here rises at about 5:15AM, which is about 15 minutes earlier than Salvador. I guess that's what I get for being this close to the equator. Recife has some beautiful waters (see above), probably nice than in Salvador. Today I'll just take a nice afternoon nap then tonight get some good food and head out to the beach. It's too bad the sun rises so early. I would try to get some nice sunrise pictures. I may try to get up and go out there then just come right back and sleep for a little longer. I have the rest of today, all day tomorrow and Thursday, then Friday morning, so tomorrow I'll get out and see Recife, then Thursday I'll go out and see Olinda (where the last day of Carnaval in all of Brazil takes place.) I'll figure out what to do from there using Frommer's and the locals, but for now, it's time to take a nice nap under the cold AC.
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Wow, here in Recife I really have just been lounging around. Last night I went to the beach for a little while, walked around the city for about two hours just to see what was going on, then I came back and watched my favorite movie of all time dubbed in Portuguese (Top Gun for those who don't already know). After that, I passed out. I went out and bought a newspaper talking about Carnaval in Recife, so now I have even more proof that I was in fact in Brazil. After I go out and get some sweet lunch, I might come back for a quick afternoon nap (it's too hot to walk around much), then head out to the beach for either some R&R or some T&A, not sure which. Recife Antigo was nice (where I went this morning), and probably would have been much better if I could have figured out where the hell I was going. When I come back I will be a lot better at Portuguese and may find the nice places of the city and figure out all that jive. Later today I'm gonna catch the Setubal via Boa Viagem bus and head up to Olinda and see a little bit of the final festivals of Carnaval then see a few things. I would like to see the Praça da Liberdade and the statue of Princesa Isabel (Wikipedia for all your research and knowledge needs.) Basically in 1888 she signed the declaration here to free the slaves of Brazil. Read more about it because you can never have enough knowledge, because knowledge=power. (For everyone wondering "hey where are the pictures of Olinda" I accidentally left my camera in the hotel room and by the time I realized it I was on the bus halfway to Olinda.)
I went to a cybercafe to delete all of my email and then I went to try to find a Correios that was open but apparently no one in Brazil works during Carnaval so I'll just have to wait and see if they're actually ever open. I have never seen a post office here that is open.
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Instead of going out to eat lunch today I went to CompreBem (Buy Well) and decided to get a few things there. I bought some gorgonzola (which I mostly ate all of it by itself), ham, French (Freedom) bread, two maracujás (passion fruit for you northerners), four oranges, a 2-litre bottle of Guaraná, and a litre bottle of suco de laranja and a litre bottle of suco de maracujá. All of that was R$32. I am probably never going to buy food in the US again since it's so cheap here compared to the import-nation of America. Tonight when I get back from Olinda I'm gonna order some gangster ass Japanese food and then PTFO on the floor of my hotel room. I might get some sushi from that place. Before I came to this country I had never eaten sushi, but now I love it, especially with that hot-ass green stuff that comes with it (I have learned it's called Wasabi.)
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Apparently it's impossible to swim at night. I didn't realize that part of Recife was below sea-level, so they have these protective walls that stop the water from flooding the streets. I went out there with my shorts on, no shirt, my towel and sandals ready to rock it on the beach. Everyone had to have known I was a tourist because no one else was like that. It was cool though. I sat out on the top of the wall and felt the water splash and the mist come up and thought about life and all of it's intricacies.
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I did decide to go to Porto de Galinhas, but instead of taking a taxi to the bus station in Recife Antigo and then catching the bus there, I decided to pay R$30 to have a micro-ônibus pick me up from the front of my hotel. I arranged it at the hotel, and they'll be here at 9AM tomorrow morning with air conditioning which is fabulous. If it has a tour guide that rocks, but I don't know if R$30 would be enough to cover two-way travel and a guided. Either way, it should be fun and I'll definitely enjoy a good frutos do mar almoço (literally that means fruit of the sea lunch) by the ocean. Hopefully I'll get to do the reef diving or the dune buggy tour. Either way, I should have an awesome time and I'll try to take a few pictures. I haven't really been taking many in Recife because I just haven't felt like carrying around my camera since I'm by myself and also I have just been relaxing a whole lot in my hotel room since I'm lazy and tired.
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So you've seen a few pictures from Recife, and I really only have a few more. I will post about Porto de Galinhas separately with the few pictures (only 12 actually) I took while there. I didn't write anything about it in my travel journal, so I'll make it up as I go along. I may not really even type all that much, just put a few comments out by each picture then explain a little bit about each one. Hopefully this fulfills your desire to keep up with as much of my life in Brazil as possible. I'll have some pictures soon of our guests here in Brazil, Dr. Anderson and Dr. Ingram, both from WSSU. Stay tuned!
Look at how much more of an explanation the English-speaking tourists need. I'd think the picture of the shark would be enough, but instead of a simple "Danger: Area Subject to Shark Attacks" (which is what the Portuguese means) they have to go on to explain stuff. Also, Recife is in the state of Pernambuco for all you doubters and haters out there.
1 comment:
Pretty pictures of the beach.
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