So, yesterday leisurely started out with your run of the mill Ash & Marg type of morning. A bit of facebook picture uploading with a dash of cachaça pining all mixed in with a hint of giggling about how funny we think we are. I attempted to use the washing machine so that we would have at least one pair of clean underwear for our 2 day plane journey to Ecuador, and let me tell you- easier said than done. First of all, the plug that it was plugged into didn't work, or at least I couldn't get it to, and I didn't really figure out that this was my problem for approximately 20 minutes. I moved the washing machine so that the plug would reach a different outlet.... Not sure if that was really necessary.... Second of all, I dont really read Portuguese all that well, and this washing machine was not like ours at home, so I am quite sure I was doing everything in the wrong order at the wrong time. Finally, I couldn't figure out why it just stopped and the water wasn't draining, so I started to take the clothes out and wring them by hand. Paula's sister Bella woke up and was like, "You don't have to do that, the cycle isn't done yet...." ummm.... ok, so no one ever said I had any patience. Luckily, Bella came in at just the right time and she helped me, and thanks to her I have fresh pair of clean underwear, and for that I will be eternally greatful. Clean underwear is definately a quality of life issue, and we all know that I am a firm supporter of quality of life issues.
Not long after the washing machine debauchle, Chico came home and scooped us up for lunch. He took us to this awesome buffet place, where I ate one of everything. (Don't worry Mom, the vodkarexia is also going away.... although Stick Stickly will be missed greatly....) The fried macaxeira was to die for. They also had sushi with strawberries in it. Apparently putting fruit in sushi rolls is a Brasilian adaptation, and like it. I also had so much delicious fresh weird fruit- add the happiness of Clarke when she get's a fresh can of meal worms to the happiness of a whale when she gets a giant mouth full of plankton and that is how happy I was. (For those of you that are a bit math-challenged, that equals a lot.) Chico kept ordering us weird fruit juices as well and they were also quite delicious, only adding to my euphoria. We went back for round two... three..... and I am pretty sure Ashley went back for round four to get us all some batatas fritas..... which she then proceeded to dip into the mangaba juice claiming that it was like dipping fries into Brasilian McDonald's ice-cream. Don't try to understand. Anyways, lunch was great!
Paula met us at the restaurant and they made the switch. Chico had to go back to work
:( because he may or may not be a workaholic. Or maybe it is just that most people work during that day and don't just travel around using one credit card after another. What a concept. I will have to ponder that one. Just kidding Dad. Anywho, Paula took us to the Casa do Cultura, which was sooooo freaking cool!! It was an old ancient jail that has been renovated into an indoor market. Each cell is now a small shop. She took us to the best one- wait for it....... you guessed it!! A shop that sells all kinds of cachaça, and we got to try some crazy flavors like banana (sooooo gooood) and cafe (Ashley wants to drink nothing but that forever). So, we did a little window shopping here and there and took some crazy pictures and had a great time.
Then, we went to see this giant Christmas tree, which reminded me- hey, it is almost Christmas! I honestly haven't known what day or time it is since about September, so the Christmas tree brought me back to reality. Time flies when you are having fun in Brasil! After the tree, we went to Marco Zero. (This is the point in the city at which all things radiate from. All mile markers in the state start right there. And I stepped on it. I love stepping on special points.) We talked to a little amiguinho with a boat, and he took us across the water to a long spit of some kind that is actually a monument celebrating 500 years of something. There were all sorts of crazy statues and sculptures that were apparently done by a crazy old man, and it was awesome. From there, the three of us watched the sun set, and then with the flash of a smile, Paula got someone to turn the colorful lights on and all of the statues were lit up just as dusk was settling in. It was beautiful. We could also see all of the Christmas lights and decorations that were in the city from here. The Brasilian Eiffel Tower is just near the Brasilian Twin Towers and they were sooo sparkly, it was amazing. Then, we climbed back into our little boat and our captain took us for a detour to a nearby cruise ship. There we were- this tiny, tiny row boat, next to one of the hugest ships that I have ever seen. I felt rather like a small flea next to a large dragon. It was all lit up too, and it was really, really cool!! I am pretty sure I also saw a shark do a back flip out of the water right in front of the Italian flag that was flying from the mother ship. We had so much fun, it was such a cool experience.
Then, we headed back to Francisco's house for some delicious soup that he cooked up. It was a bit like squash I think, but there is no way of truly knowing that for sure. Then, Francisco had this bright idea- 'Let's all go see the scariest movie ever!!' So we headed on over to the latest showing of 'Paranormal Activity.' I have bruises on my arm from Ashley squeezing it, and I have cuts on my hands from my own fingernails digging into my skin. That is how scary it was. Then, things just got weird.
1. I stepped in wet yellow paint in the parking garage, and then I left no foot prints.
2. Ashley gave a thumbs down to Nautico's rival futbol team fans on the way out, and they put a curse on us.
3. We got home, and the wind started howling like it has never howled before.
4. It also started raining. I haven't seen rain since I left AK.
5. Doors started slamming.
6. Bells started ringing.
7. A bat flew by.
8. We tried to put all of our awesome pictures from the day on the computer and somehow from the camera to the computer they got lost in space. (ÔXXXE!!!!!!!! Let me just take a quick minute here for some deep breathing exercises so I don' freak out and throw something. I want to scream.)
9. THEN THE SHOWER TURNED ON FOR NO REASON. (Seriously, at this point, I was freaking out. I tried to turn it off and it was still pouring water. Paula and Chico were sleeping, and Ashley was facebooking. I ran through the house from the bedroom to the computer room with no pants on. That is how scared I was. Luckily, Ashley was the only one awake, and she is quite used to seeing me with no pants on. And luckily, due to the aforementioned morning's events, I had on clean underwear. I didn't want to go back into the bedroom, so I waited in the computer room with Ashley for like an hour.)
10. I finally went to bed and noises and shadows were everywhere. (I laid there with my eyes wide open until Ashley came in and scared the hell out of me with the opening of a door.)
Thank goodness the ever-thoughtful Chico put a lava lamp in our room last night so we could have a night light. I had one terrifying nightmare about ghosts trying to get me, but luckily Ashley was sleeping right there next to me, and so she held my hand. You see, the problem with having a sixth sense is that ghosts try to reach out to you, and when something happens like you see a scary movie and you start to think about them a lot, that is when they go in for the kill and try to make contact. Not that they are are evil, but let's face it, my fragile state of mind may just finally crack if I start seeing ghosts. I am not sure there is enough cachaça in the world to deal with that right now. Oh, Dad, you must be so proud. And yes, aliens are walking among us too.
Anyways, I just packed up my stupid pack and now I am pretty sure it is about 90% Christmas presents from Chico to North Americans and 10% Marg's crap. hahahaha, but seriously, I am really proud of the packing job I just did. I think I could now give my own mother a run for her money in the packing department. Oh, who am I kidding, I would never win that contest, but I will continue to brag about this packing job for years to come. Paula and Francisco will
scoop us up for a farewell lunch and then we will be on our way to the other side of South America. We have 12 hours in Rio and another 12 in Lima. The Rio stint is at night, so we will probably just sleep in the airport, but we will be in Lima from 9am-9pm, so I think we will go explore the city. Maybe pay Juanito a visit. We will arrive tomorrow at about midnight in Quito, and yes Uncle Matt- I promise to check to see if my bags made it, I will not just assume they didn't....
So here I sit, very sad that I must leave my Brasilian primos, yet also very excited to see my Ecuadorian/immediate family. Beijos Brasil and hola Ecuador!!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Day 26: Tio Fernando says, "Can you please hold my whiskey while I drive?"
And....... the Pitu party ensued. And it was awesome. A bunch of people came over to Paulinha's house and we made good use of that caipirinha machine. Now, let me try to explain what exactly this contraption was. Paulinha works for Pitu, a cachaça company. Pitu has expanded their company and now also produces things over in Germany. So, those Germans invented this machine, and then it was brought back over to Brasil. It is very large and heavy and comes in two parts: lime and sugar part, then cachaça and squish part. First, you stick your glass under the lime lever and pull. A lime is cute into 4 pieces and falls into your glass. Then, you stick it under the sugar lever and pull. A cup of sugar falls over the limes. Next, you stick it under the cachaça lever and pull. Then you stick it under the cachaça lever and pull again. Now you have a nice amount of liquid in your cup times two. Lastly, you stick it under the squish lever and pull a few times. A big smasher thing comes down and mushes everything together. Now you have your caipirinha and you drink it. Then repeat. We all had a great time with this thing, and kept track of how many we all had on the fridge (Brasilians have a different tally system, and so the tallies were kind of a mixture of USA and Brasil, so I am not sure that it ended up making any sense, and I am pretty sure Francisco just flat out cheated towards the end.... haha)....
Anyways, after a while of having too much fun at the Pitu pre-party, we left the house to have even more fun. Iaci dropped us off at the front gates of Requebra Brasil and we entered into a mass of about 50,000 people. Every single one of them was wearing either orange or green, depending on if they had "middle or lower class tickets." We had white t-shirts. We made our way to the VIP section (right in front of the stage) and went directly to our open-bar with no line and unlimited beverage supply. Let's just say there was never a moment in which I did not have two Skols in my hands. Now this VIP section was crazy. Not only was there prime location in front of the stage (you could touch it), a stage for viewers that I can only compare to box seats, aditional private concerts in nearby buildings, bathrooms with no lines, food, and open bars for miles, but there was a craft station. Seriously, there was a craft station for people to bring their t-shirts to bedazzle and cut into all sorts of shapes and sizes. I bedazzled a star onto my forehead.
So there we were, in the middle of complete Brasilian craziness, with beers on our heads and more beers in our hands, and Chiclete Com Bananas came on. Now, this band is the most loved band in all of Brasil. There is one guy that comes to every concert with an actual banana tree on his head. They were soooo awesome!! So damn good!! I will marry the badass drummer while Ashley and Francisco fight over the lead singer. We made our way to the front and got so close to the stage that we were actually touching it and guards were forcing people left and right to stop climbing up on the stage. So, there we were- about one foot from Chiclete, and there we stayed until about 3am. It was so cool. Somehow we made it home, I believe it was a taxi, and I believe I slept through that part. When we got back, we tried to drunk dial you Ellen, but we were too drunk to figure out how to charge Chico's phone let alone dial the buttons. So, we tried again the next morning, but apparently we were still too drunk to figure out how to do any dialing. Damnit. How embarassing. After our failed morning phone session, I took a shower and about 8 gallons of dirt poured off of me. Maybe I should have taken one the previous night, before I crawled into bed, but too late now. That concert was dusty!
Anyways, yesterday was awesome too. Paulinha had to work really early, so she couldn't come with us :( but Francisco took us to "Sunday at Grandma's house." His Vovô e Vovó are so cute! We got a tour of the huge hacienda that the Grandpa built himself, and it was beautiful. Fruit trees of every kind and even a pool. We tried every different kind of wonderful delicious food that they kept bringing us and Francisco's dad and uncle's kept giving us new kinds of cachaça to try. They take them here with cashew (like tequila and lime). Now, how many of you know that cashew nuts grow on the bottom of a fruit that turns yellow and you cook it and put salt on it and eat it with cachaça? I sure didn't, but you learn something new every day. It is actually quite good, of course a bit nutty, and also a bit chalky, but I like the mild nut flavor combine with the juiciness. You can make pies and things with them too. Interesting.
Anyways, we all headed on over to the Uncle's house next door, and there about 10 of us relatives sat around a table in the courtyard eating more and more delicious food and more and more delicious cachaça. (Some had been soaked in cashew.... now that was some good cachaça!!!!!) There was a parrot in the background singing along to the Brasilian music. After a while of chatting with the family, Tio Fernando mentions that he has a new horse, and invited us to see it. So, of course we say yes and we want to ride it. So, we all climb into his ridiculously nice truck and he asks me to hold his glass of whiskey while he drives. It was only 5 minutes away. We got there, and this place was so beautiful. Flowering trees of all colors and beautiful sleek horses. There was even an albino one with the palest blue eyes you have ever seen. It was so pretty. There, we met Hugo. A 9 year old Brasilian kid. The absolute cutest kid I have ever seen in my entire life. Now, I do not want to have a kid for at least another 25 years, but when I do, I hope it looks just like Hugo. This little bugger took us around the pasture for a ride and it was so fun. You can't help but smile when you are on a horse. In Brasil. Surrounded by flowers. With birds singing. And the world's cutest kid smiling at you. Breathtaking really. But, it had to end sometime, so we went back to the family gathering and joined in for some more quality time.
I love this family. They were all so kind and loving and made us feel like we were at home. They also may have convinced us to come back for Carnival. Does anyone have an in with American Express, because I think Mastercard and Visa have had enough of me. Just kidding Dad. So, we had a wonderful time with the family; it was so lovely. I love them. We left just after dark to go meet Paula and I saw some more mocegos (bats). They are so cute and tiny here (one of them visits Paula in her house every day). As we were driving home, we got stuck behind this truck with huuuuuuuuge speakers in the back and it was blaring music out of them. I felt like we were right back at Chiclete Com Banana!! It was hilarious to watch the people on the street dance as we slowly drive by.
So, we got back to scoop up Paula and we all went to the mall. Now, you might be thinking, "why would you go to the mall while in Brasil?? you have malls at home and the clothes and shoes are more expensive in Brasil, not cheaper...." Well, most of us have malls at home. Let us not forget that Ashley lives in Juneau, where the thing that they call a mall is actually a large building with a craft store, a hiking boot store, and a really delicious Mexican food joint. So, we went to the mall in search of the perfect watch for Ashley. She has been wanting one ever since she saw our dear friend Celine's Brasilian watch 2 years ago. This is when she realized that she is obsessed with green, and proceeded to buy a green watch and a pair of green sunglasses. She also may or may not have accidentally stolen some green swag. She will now have to sling bracelets on the beach to get home. We ate some delicious food and the best dessert ever. Delta Experience. So good. Then, the mall closed and we came home for some shut eye.
I don't know what is in store for today, but I am sure it will be something awesome. I love it here and I love Paula and Chico.
Now, for those of you who have expressed concern about my health, I want to show you a little something called the food pyramid:
6-11 servings of grains: beer
2-4 servings of fruit: wine, limes in caipirinhas, and exotic fruity caipivoshkas
3-5 servings of veggies: vodka is made of potatoes
2-3 servings of proteins: the little ants that crawl into my kool-aid-vodkas
2-3 servings of dairy: capetas have cream in them
use sparingly-fats and sweets: caipirinhas have sugar in them, but let's face it, this category isn't healthy, so let's not worry about it.
NO PROBLEM!!
Anyways, after a while of having too much fun at the Pitu pre-party, we left the house to have even more fun. Iaci dropped us off at the front gates of Requebra Brasil and we entered into a mass of about 50,000 people. Every single one of them was wearing either orange or green, depending on if they had "middle or lower class tickets." We had white t-shirts. We made our way to the VIP section (right in front of the stage) and went directly to our open-bar with no line and unlimited beverage supply. Let's just say there was never a moment in which I did not have two Skols in my hands. Now this VIP section was crazy. Not only was there prime location in front of the stage (you could touch it), a stage for viewers that I can only compare to box seats, aditional private concerts in nearby buildings, bathrooms with no lines, food, and open bars for miles, but there was a craft station. Seriously, there was a craft station for people to bring their t-shirts to bedazzle and cut into all sorts of shapes and sizes. I bedazzled a star onto my forehead.
So there we were, in the middle of complete Brasilian craziness, with beers on our heads and more beers in our hands, and Chiclete Com Bananas came on. Now, this band is the most loved band in all of Brasil. There is one guy that comes to every concert with an actual banana tree on his head. They were soooo awesome!! So damn good!! I will marry the badass drummer while Ashley and Francisco fight over the lead singer. We made our way to the front and got so close to the stage that we were actually touching it and guards were forcing people left and right to stop climbing up on the stage. So, there we were- about one foot from Chiclete, and there we stayed until about 3am. It was so cool. Somehow we made it home, I believe it was a taxi, and I believe I slept through that part. When we got back, we tried to drunk dial you Ellen, but we were too drunk to figure out how to charge Chico's phone let alone dial the buttons. So, we tried again the next morning, but apparently we were still too drunk to figure out how to do any dialing. Damnit. How embarassing. After our failed morning phone session, I took a shower and about 8 gallons of dirt poured off of me. Maybe I should have taken one the previous night, before I crawled into bed, but too late now. That concert was dusty!
Anyways, yesterday was awesome too. Paulinha had to work really early, so she couldn't come with us :( but Francisco took us to "Sunday at Grandma's house." His Vovô e Vovó are so cute! We got a tour of the huge hacienda that the Grandpa built himself, and it was beautiful. Fruit trees of every kind and even a pool. We tried every different kind of wonderful delicious food that they kept bringing us and Francisco's dad and uncle's kept giving us new kinds of cachaça to try. They take them here with cashew (like tequila and lime). Now, how many of you know that cashew nuts grow on the bottom of a fruit that turns yellow and you cook it and put salt on it and eat it with cachaça? I sure didn't, but you learn something new every day. It is actually quite good, of course a bit nutty, and also a bit chalky, but I like the mild nut flavor combine with the juiciness. You can make pies and things with them too. Interesting.
Anyways, we all headed on over to the Uncle's house next door, and there about 10 of us relatives sat around a table in the courtyard eating more and more delicious food and more and more delicious cachaça. (Some had been soaked in cashew.... now that was some good cachaça!!!!!) There was a parrot in the background singing along to the Brasilian music. After a while of chatting with the family, Tio Fernando mentions that he has a new horse, and invited us to see it. So, of course we say yes and we want to ride it. So, we all climb into his ridiculously nice truck and he asks me to hold his glass of whiskey while he drives. It was only 5 minutes away. We got there, and this place was so beautiful. Flowering trees of all colors and beautiful sleek horses. There was even an albino one with the palest blue eyes you have ever seen. It was so pretty. There, we met Hugo. A 9 year old Brasilian kid. The absolute cutest kid I have ever seen in my entire life. Now, I do not want to have a kid for at least another 25 years, but when I do, I hope it looks just like Hugo. This little bugger took us around the pasture for a ride and it was so fun. You can't help but smile when you are on a horse. In Brasil. Surrounded by flowers. With birds singing. And the world's cutest kid smiling at you. Breathtaking really. But, it had to end sometime, so we went back to the family gathering and joined in for some more quality time.
I love this family. They were all so kind and loving and made us feel like we were at home. They also may have convinced us to come back for Carnival. Does anyone have an in with American Express, because I think Mastercard and Visa have had enough of me. Just kidding Dad. So, we had a wonderful time with the family; it was so lovely. I love them. We left just after dark to go meet Paula and I saw some more mocegos (bats). They are so cute and tiny here (one of them visits Paula in her house every day). As we were driving home, we got stuck behind this truck with huuuuuuuuge speakers in the back and it was blaring music out of them. I felt like we were right back at Chiclete Com Banana!! It was hilarious to watch the people on the street dance as we slowly drive by.
So, we got back to scoop up Paula and we all went to the mall. Now, you might be thinking, "why would you go to the mall while in Brasil?? you have malls at home and the clothes and shoes are more expensive in Brasil, not cheaper...." Well, most of us have malls at home. Let us not forget that Ashley lives in Juneau, where the thing that they call a mall is actually a large building with a craft store, a hiking boot store, and a really delicious Mexican food joint. So, we went to the mall in search of the perfect watch for Ashley. She has been wanting one ever since she saw our dear friend Celine's Brasilian watch 2 years ago. This is when she realized that she is obsessed with green, and proceeded to buy a green watch and a pair of green sunglasses. She also may or may not have accidentally stolen some green swag. She will now have to sling bracelets on the beach to get home. We ate some delicious food and the best dessert ever. Delta Experience. So good. Then, the mall closed and we came home for some shut eye.
I don't know what is in store for today, but I am sure it will be something awesome. I love it here and I love Paula and Chico.
Now, for those of you who have expressed concern about my health, I want to show you a little something called the food pyramid:
6-11 servings of grains: beer
2-4 servings of fruit: wine, limes in caipirinhas, and exotic fruity caipivoshkas
3-5 servings of veggies: vodka is made of potatoes
2-3 servings of proteins: the little ants that crawl into my kool-aid-vodkas
2-3 servings of dairy: capetas have cream in them
use sparingly-fats and sweets: caipirinhas have sugar in them, but let's face it, this category isn't healthy, so let's not worry about it.
NO PROBLEM!!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
How many different ways are there to eat crab?
Well, to answer that question, I would say quite a few. We all went out to this awesome seafood restaurant right on the beach last night and Mom- you would have been so jealous. Not to rub it in or anything, but I ate a lot of delicious crab in a lot of delicious ways. Paula's brother and his new wife came to join us, and they were both very nice and so very cute! I tried a few caipivoshkas made with fruit that I have never heard of before, and of course now I can't remember the names of those fruits, but I will reobtain that info and get back to you. We called it a night around 12, and headed back home. We looked like a bunch of bumbly bear-sloths walking in, as we were all so tired. I woke up this morning bright and early and ready for action because I couldn't contain my excitement anymore!! We are going to an all day music festival today and I LOVE MUSIC FESTIVALS!!!!!!!!!! I am going to go wake up everybody now because it is almost time to start our Pitu pre-party. (Paula has a special Pitu caipirinha machine, and we are going to try that baby out!!) Whoohooooooooooooooooooooo Chicletes Com Bananas here we come!!!!! :) AAAAALLLRIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!!!!!
Friday, December 11, 2009
VIP in Recife
So, after another 16 hours on the bus (which, by the way, did end up smelling like poop), we finally made it to Recife!!!! Did we get there at 8am like the bus people said we would? No, of course not. Do I know what time we actually did get there? No, of course not.... every clock in the terminal was different, and they ranged from 10am-1pm. I am guessing we were closer to ten due to the position of the sun, but there is no way to prove that.
So, I got out my little Brasilian Oi phone card and attempted to call Francisco.... about 78 times.... because I didn't think it was working.... No one ever said using a Brasilian pay phone was easy. Little did I know, that apparently it was working, and he was just in a meeting and I made his phone go off for like an hour.... hahahaha sorry about that one Chicão..... anyways, he called me back on the payphone (that is right, I answered the phone in the terminal and just said, "Hello?" like I was at home. I got a few weird looks on that one....) and arranged for Paula to come pick us up! I love her!!!!!! She is so awesome!!!!
Paula took us to a really cool place for lunch and right off the bat we ordered up some Caipirinhas. What more could we ask for? We ate some delicious food and had a wonderful lunch getting to know the newest addition to the South American branch of the family. It was great. So, then she took us to Olinda, where there are signs everywhere that say "beware of shark attacks".... I am now missing a leg, but it was just my left one, so no problem. We had a few Skols there on the beach while Paula ran across the street and to do some quick cachaça business deal, and then she came back and we ate the freshest crab ever. I mean it was literally crawling in my hand one second and the next it was on my plate..... pobrecito. It got revenge on me when it clawed my thumb though, and now I have a huge war wound. Crab ghosts are the worst kind of ghosts. Anyways, after the carageijo (sp??) we went up to this square and tried some tapioca, a strange little beady substance that they fry and then it kind of turns into a crepe type thing and there was queijo and coco in it. Delicious.
Then, Francisco finally got out of work and met us up in the square! Reunion! We had some more Skol, chatted about memories past, and then headed back to Paulas to get ready for the evening. I am pretty sure we googled the lyrics to Total Eclipse of the Heart so that Francisco could refresh his memory for the upcoming drunk dials. After taking a much needed shower, we went on our way. We stopped by Franciscos house and I got to see Iaci (sorry I know I am spelling that wrong!!) She is such an amiguinha!! She poured us a shot of cachaça and then we went out for a night on the town. Now, we arrived at this club.... red rope surrounding the door.. and we got straight in. No waiting in line for us because Paula got our name on "the list." We then proceed to the super-airconditioned dance floor, only to notice that all the tables are reserved. No problem. Paula manages to get us prime real estate somehow, so we were seated right away. Then, we tried some "snakes" :) aka snacks, and had some cervejas. The pre-party music was awesome, 1980s USA all the way. Then.... the band came on. They are from Recife, and loved by all. So cool. We put our dancing shoes on and rocked the night away. We had an absolute blast and stayed out quite late, even though they both had to work this morning!! Such good directors of fun!!!!
So, this morning, we woke up at Paula's and had a leisurely morning. She came to scoop us up around noon and took us to the beach. We sat there under and umbrella, and every time someone walked by selling all sorts of strange food, we would buy it. I ate whole shrimp (ripped their heads off and threw them at Ashley), whole fish with some delicious side dishes, a strange soupy concoction of seafood, beans, cuero, olives, and corn (really good actually!!), some nuts, some BBQed cheese on a stick, some coco, and who really knows what else. It was really cool trying so many new foods from the comfort of my own beach chair. Then, we headed back here to our new penthouse suite (yes, she also lives in one- amazing view of the city, and yes there was a gorgeous sunset). Paula had to go to work for a bit, so I watched Ice Age 3 with her sister while Ashley loaded up 9billion pics on faaaaacebook.
Side note- she has a really awesome camera, and mine is held together by tape and the battery only works for about 30 seconds before dying, so I am relying on her for pics. I will get the web address for them and put them on my blog to share. For now, they are on facebook.
Anyways, I love cartoons, and now we are getting ready for the night. I am not sure what is on the agenda, but Francisco and Paula should be getting home from work soon. I am so stoked for tomorrow- there is a huge outdoor music festival with like 10 of the most awesome Brasilian bands ever and of course Paula is getting us in VIP style once again. Why would you have it any other way? It will be awesome.
So, I got out my little Brasilian Oi phone card and attempted to call Francisco.... about 78 times.... because I didn't think it was working.... No one ever said using a Brasilian pay phone was easy. Little did I know, that apparently it was working, and he was just in a meeting and I made his phone go off for like an hour.... hahahaha sorry about that one Chicão..... anyways, he called me back on the payphone (that is right, I answered the phone in the terminal and just said, "Hello?" like I was at home. I got a few weird looks on that one....) and arranged for Paula to come pick us up! I love her!!!!!! She is so awesome!!!!
Paula took us to a really cool place for lunch and right off the bat we ordered up some Caipirinhas. What more could we ask for? We ate some delicious food and had a wonderful lunch getting to know the newest addition to the South American branch of the family. It was great. So, then she took us to Olinda, where there are signs everywhere that say "beware of shark attacks".... I am now missing a leg, but it was just my left one, so no problem. We had a few Skols there on the beach while Paula ran across the street and to do some quick cachaça business deal, and then she came back and we ate the freshest crab ever. I mean it was literally crawling in my hand one second and the next it was on my plate..... pobrecito. It got revenge on me when it clawed my thumb though, and now I have a huge war wound. Crab ghosts are the worst kind of ghosts. Anyways, after the carageijo (sp??) we went up to this square and tried some tapioca, a strange little beady substance that they fry and then it kind of turns into a crepe type thing and there was queijo and coco in it. Delicious.
Then, Francisco finally got out of work and met us up in the square! Reunion! We had some more Skol, chatted about memories past, and then headed back to Paulas to get ready for the evening. I am pretty sure we googled the lyrics to Total Eclipse of the Heart so that Francisco could refresh his memory for the upcoming drunk dials. After taking a much needed shower, we went on our way. We stopped by Franciscos house and I got to see Iaci (sorry I know I am spelling that wrong!!) She is such an amiguinha!! She poured us a shot of cachaça and then we went out for a night on the town. Now, we arrived at this club.... red rope surrounding the door.. and we got straight in. No waiting in line for us because Paula got our name on "the list." We then proceed to the super-airconditioned dance floor, only to notice that all the tables are reserved. No problem. Paula manages to get us prime real estate somehow, so we were seated right away. Then, we tried some "snakes" :) aka snacks, and had some cervejas. The pre-party music was awesome, 1980s USA all the way. Then.... the band came on. They are from Recife, and loved by all. So cool. We put our dancing shoes on and rocked the night away. We had an absolute blast and stayed out quite late, even though they both had to work this morning!! Such good directors of fun!!!!
So, this morning, we woke up at Paula's and had a leisurely morning. She came to scoop us up around noon and took us to the beach. We sat there under and umbrella, and every time someone walked by selling all sorts of strange food, we would buy it. I ate whole shrimp (ripped their heads off and threw them at Ashley), whole fish with some delicious side dishes, a strange soupy concoction of seafood, beans, cuero, olives, and corn (really good actually!!), some nuts, some BBQed cheese on a stick, some coco, and who really knows what else. It was really cool trying so many new foods from the comfort of my own beach chair. Then, we headed back here to our new penthouse suite (yes, she also lives in one- amazing view of the city, and yes there was a gorgeous sunset). Paula had to go to work for a bit, so I watched Ice Age 3 with her sister while Ashley loaded up 9billion pics on faaaaacebook.
Side note- she has a really awesome camera, and mine is held together by tape and the battery only works for about 30 seconds before dying, so I am relying on her for pics. I will get the web address for them and put them on my blog to share. For now, they are on facebook.
Anyways, I love cartoons, and now we are getting ready for the night. I am not sure what is on the agenda, but Francisco and Paula should be getting home from work soon. I am so stoked for tomorrow- there is a huge outdoor music festival with like 10 of the most awesome Brasilian bands ever and of course Paula is getting us in VIP style once again. Why would you have it any other way? It will be awesome.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Day 22: get made fun of by parrot.
soooooo.... we spent most of the day trying to get a darn bus ticket up to Recife. unlucky for us, the people that work for the bus company would much rather surf than actually sell bus tickets. so, after trying literally everything in our power to get these tickets, we had to form a few more plans.
plan a: steal 2 donkeys and head north.
plan b: make a run for it.
plan c: take a bus to salvador and then catch one from there to recife.
Obviously, we opted for the donkeys.
So, after a morning of sitting on bus company steps and spending $22 on postcard stamps, we decided to meet up with our drum circle friends once again for some good old fashioned relaxation time. so, we headed up to the local tattoo parlor and found our dreadlocked pals in their camo pants. They were their usual hilarious selves, and so were we, so a good time was had by all. One of our amiguinhos had a parrot. I have not laughed this hard in I don't know how long. The parrot fake charged me, and then started laughing at me in a human voice. If I had not been staring at this parrot with my own eyes, I would have thought it was a small child laughing hysterically. It was the absolute funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. The parrot was making fun of me. He was screaming he was laughing so hard. I am never getting over that. We then ate dinner at a place where you can draw on the tables with crayons. That is of course why we picked the restaurant, what more could you ask for? We invited our new Israeli friend Shai and made him guess our top 5 (maybe 6) fave animals. It is our favorite game. I hate to brag, but my javelina turned out swimmingly.... well I have probably drawn at least 8,754 in my lifetime. It is my best skill. The crab moqueca thing I ate was good too. We tried to show Shai the parrot, but as soon as Ashley got the camera out, the parrot looked straight at us and would not say another word. Bastard.
(2 days later....) We hit the sack early that night because we had not slept in days. No, we did not take up crack to fit in with the locals. We were just having far too much fun. So, the next morning we once again tried to leave this town, but due to the aforementioned problems with the bus system in Itacare, we were not able to. So, we went on to plan z.... we made the best of it and went to the beach with 2 English girls, a German, a Hollander, an Israeli, and our local amiguinhos. I picked out a nice shady spot under a rather tropical looking tree and set to work doing the usual. The English girls were really cool, and we had a great time chatting about how crazy the Ecua-bus system is. Let's just say we could write a series of books about it and they would not be even close to boring. After we got back to the hostel, we realized that we had some misinformation about bus times once again (BIG SURPRISE), so we ran to the bank twice, packed up our packs, paid the bill, and ran through the cobblestone streets frantically trying to find the correct bus station. We finally found it right in the nick of time and got on the bus to Ilheus. Unfortunately, we had to leave without saying goodbye to our amiguinhos. Coincidence though- one of our band friends was on the bus, and we made him promise to make a facebook, which he did that very night. We also ended up leaving before those damn Germans paid us back for dinner..... scammed again. Damn. Always by Germans, never the locals.
Two hours later we were there, and then climbed onto another bus to Salvador. This one was sweet- the seats went all the way down, ac, blankets, headphones with a Jackie Chen movie, and a bathroom that didn't have human and/or chicken feces covering the floor. Nice. We got to Salvador this morning at about 6am. Of course the bus to Recife that is supposed to leave in the morning is non-existent today, so we had to buy a ticket that doesn't leave until 7pm tonight. So, we made the best of yet another transportation disaster and made our way to the town. We took a bus and ended up at the extremely large elevator that takes you up to the old town, which overlooks the ocean, the marina, and the old fort out in the water. Very picturesque. We made some friends with some capoeira dancers and watched them do their thing in the streets. So awesome, one of these days I am going to take one of them up on their offer to teach it to me. Then, some tourists from Sao Paulo, who apparently had a problem with Bahians, told the police that they were being accosted for money, and so there was a big uproar in the streets about how they were trying to preserve their culture and whatnot. We took this as our cue to get another Skol and find some lunch. We ate some rather spicy food at a kilo spot, and then got lost in the streets for a while. Luckily, we found our way back just in time to stop the dehydration with some delicious coco juice and I was able to get a rather nice sun hat to protect my fragile face and its fastly growing "beard." haha. Thank you Ashley for haggling the price down, you always got my back. Anywho, we made our way back here to the bus station with time to spare. We are finally going to Recife, and should be there by tomorrow morning. Can't wait to see Francisco and meet Paulinha!! I have a feeling a few people will soon be recieving drunk dials from Brasil. You know who you are. Alright, time to get on the next 12 hour bus ride. I hope this one has no chicken feces. Ooh I smell batatas fritas.
plan a: steal 2 donkeys and head north.
plan b: make a run for it.
plan c: take a bus to salvador and then catch one from there to recife.
Obviously, we opted for the donkeys.
So, after a morning of sitting on bus company steps and spending $22 on postcard stamps, we decided to meet up with our drum circle friends once again for some good old fashioned relaxation time. so, we headed up to the local tattoo parlor and found our dreadlocked pals in their camo pants. They were their usual hilarious selves, and so were we, so a good time was had by all. One of our amiguinhos had a parrot. I have not laughed this hard in I don't know how long. The parrot fake charged me, and then started laughing at me in a human voice. If I had not been staring at this parrot with my own eyes, I would have thought it was a small child laughing hysterically. It was the absolute funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. The parrot was making fun of me. He was screaming he was laughing so hard. I am never getting over that. We then ate dinner at a place where you can draw on the tables with crayons. That is of course why we picked the restaurant, what more could you ask for? We invited our new Israeli friend Shai and made him guess our top 5 (maybe 6) fave animals. It is our favorite game. I hate to brag, but my javelina turned out swimmingly.... well I have probably drawn at least 8,754 in my lifetime. It is my best skill. The crab moqueca thing I ate was good too. We tried to show Shai the parrot, but as soon as Ashley got the camera out, the parrot looked straight at us and would not say another word. Bastard.
(2 days later....) We hit the sack early that night because we had not slept in days. No, we did not take up crack to fit in with the locals. We were just having far too much fun. So, the next morning we once again tried to leave this town, but due to the aforementioned problems with the bus system in Itacare, we were not able to. So, we went on to plan z.... we made the best of it and went to the beach with 2 English girls, a German, a Hollander, an Israeli, and our local amiguinhos. I picked out a nice shady spot under a rather tropical looking tree and set to work doing the usual. The English girls were really cool, and we had a great time chatting about how crazy the Ecua-bus system is. Let's just say we could write a series of books about it and they would not be even close to boring. After we got back to the hostel, we realized that we had some misinformation about bus times once again (BIG SURPRISE), so we ran to the bank twice, packed up our packs, paid the bill, and ran through the cobblestone streets frantically trying to find the correct bus station. We finally found it right in the nick of time and got on the bus to Ilheus. Unfortunately, we had to leave without saying goodbye to our amiguinhos. Coincidence though- one of our band friends was on the bus, and we made him promise to make a facebook, which he did that very night. We also ended up leaving before those damn Germans paid us back for dinner..... scammed again. Damn. Always by Germans, never the locals.
Two hours later we were there, and then climbed onto another bus to Salvador. This one was sweet- the seats went all the way down, ac, blankets, headphones with a Jackie Chen movie, and a bathroom that didn't have human and/or chicken feces covering the floor. Nice. We got to Salvador this morning at about 6am. Of course the bus to Recife that is supposed to leave in the morning is non-existent today, so we had to buy a ticket that doesn't leave until 7pm tonight. So, we made the best of yet another transportation disaster and made our way to the town. We took a bus and ended up at the extremely large elevator that takes you up to the old town, which overlooks the ocean, the marina, and the old fort out in the water. Very picturesque. We made some friends with some capoeira dancers and watched them do their thing in the streets. So awesome, one of these days I am going to take one of them up on their offer to teach it to me. Then, some tourists from Sao Paulo, who apparently had a problem with Bahians, told the police that they were being accosted for money, and so there was a big uproar in the streets about how they were trying to preserve their culture and whatnot. We took this as our cue to get another Skol and find some lunch. We ate some rather spicy food at a kilo spot, and then got lost in the streets for a while. Luckily, we found our way back just in time to stop the dehydration with some delicious coco juice and I was able to get a rather nice sun hat to protect my fragile face and its fastly growing "beard." haha. Thank you Ashley for haggling the price down, you always got my back. Anywho, we made our way back here to the bus station with time to spare. We are finally going to Recife, and should be there by tomorrow morning. Can't wait to see Francisco and meet Paulinha!! I have a feeling a few people will soon be recieving drunk dials from Brasil. You know who you are. Alright, time to get on the next 12 hour bus ride. I hope this one has no chicken feces. Ooh I smell batatas fritas.
WTF?
So.... last night did turn into quite the extravaganzaaaaa..... we went out to this bar on the main strip for Victoria's birthday and I am pretty sure that at least one representative from each of the world's countries was there. I stood in for Thailand. I couldn't really afford to spend 10 reales per drink due to the fact that I am as broke as a joke, so luckily I found one of our new Chilean drum circle amiguinhos and he showed me where the gas station was (take a left at the dark alley and then a right at the kids drinking cachaça on the front porch) so that I could use my mastercard (the supermercado closes at 11pm, and lets face it, it was probably about 3am....) Thank you American credit system for making this possible. Just kidding Dad..... Anyways, Pingo the posauda dog followed us all the way, and I just want to say that he is just about the cutest Brasilian dog I have ever seen. He is always trying to put his paw on you. Kind of like Cath does when we sleep in the same bed. Just likes to know you are there. Definitely cooler than Pinche.... no offense Pinche. Somehow, we ended up going to an after party at the band's house where we played music and this tiny old crazy man kept kissing us on the top of the head and telling us about how he spends 11 hours a day climbing coconut trees. He then proceeded to try to braid my hair.... Next thing we know, it was light outside, so we headed back home. Our new Canadian friend tried to order us some 6am Brahmas, but even we were too tired for this kind of behavior, and so we opted out and went to sleep. About 20 minutes later, we woke up because we had to go to the bus station AGAIN to try to buy tickets to Recife. There are many things wrong with this bus station:
1. The only bus that goes to Recife is Sao Geraldo.
2. The Sao Geraldo office where you buy the tickets is not at the bus station, it is somewhere that is hard to find.
3. The Sao Geraldo office is never open when we get there.
4. The Sao Geraldo website doesn't work.
5. The Sao Geraldo phone number to the Itacare office is pointless because they are never there to answer the phone.
6. Sacanagem.
So, we will try again at 1:30pm, as they posted a sign swearing they would be back at this time..... So, after trying to figure out the bus dilemma, (only to decide that we can't do a damn thing about it until 1:30) I mosied on down to the local supermercado to get something to drink. On my way there, I saw one of our band friends. He was drinking a Skol (10am) and somehow I accidently knocked it on the ground, spilling beer and glass everywhere. They said no problem, and then bought me a beer. That about sums this town up in a nutshell. I went to get Ashley and we then proceeded to hang out with our band friends for a bit as we are just killing time until the bus place opens. Let's just say we opted out of their 11am activity and decided to blog instead. Let's add that bit of information to the nutshell. We don't know what we are doing today because our life decisions are currently dependent on this pinche bus, but hey the world is our oyster and we just a couple of pearls.
1. The only bus that goes to Recife is Sao Geraldo.
2. The Sao Geraldo office where you buy the tickets is not at the bus station, it is somewhere that is hard to find.
3. The Sao Geraldo office is never open when we get there.
4. The Sao Geraldo website doesn't work.
5. The Sao Geraldo phone number to the Itacare office is pointless because they are never there to answer the phone.
6. Sacanagem.
So, we will try again at 1:30pm, as they posted a sign swearing they would be back at this time..... So, after trying to figure out the bus dilemma, (only to decide that we can't do a damn thing about it until 1:30) I mosied on down to the local supermercado to get something to drink. On my way there, I saw one of our band friends. He was drinking a Skol (10am) and somehow I accidently knocked it on the ground, spilling beer and glass everywhere. They said no problem, and then bought me a beer. That about sums this town up in a nutshell. I went to get Ashley and we then proceeded to hang out with our band friends for a bit as we are just killing time until the bus place opens. Let's just say we opted out of their 11am activity and decided to blog instead. Let's add that bit of information to the nutshell. We don't know what we are doing today because our life decisions are currently dependent on this pinche bus, but hey the world is our oyster and we just a couple of pearls.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Chapter 3: Sun:1, Margaret: 5.
casakatura.com.... seriously, that is where we were living.... shout out to Rick who is such a badass that he had a gate opener straight out of "Men In Black." So, we did end up staying in our cliffside mansion a couple days longer than previously planned, but can you really blame us? We decide to spend another day at the beach, so we hopped on our mototaxis and sped over to Mucage, an awesome beach with white cabanas and Brahma for miles. We spent the day there meeting random beach hippies who shared their coconuts and their jewelry and whatever else they may have had up their sleeves with us. We somehow managed to convince our new friend Julio to take us home on his own motorcycle, and I am pretty sure Ashley videotaped the entire ride.... we may or may not have threatened him with our pocket knives when he took a "short cut" through the woods, and I most definitely assured him that our livers would be worth nothing on the black market, so he would be wasting his time if that was his modus operandi. So, we had him drop us off at the mercado where we purchased a large bag of dried beans and a large bottle of vodka.... it seemed like a good idea at the time. We headed back home where I learned the hard way that if you make kool-aid without the correct sugar to water ratio, you can get shot. I then accidently ate a spoonful of ants due to the fact that they had infiltrated my kool-aid spoon (how many times is this going to happen to me in my life?) and of course they tasted like coconuts. I do think, however, that the protein is helping my anemia, because everytime I eat ants, I don't bruise quite so easily for a few days. Ashley then announced that "what she does to me in my sleep is her own damn business," and I don't really know what to make of that. Maybe that explains some of the bruises. So we attended yet another red carpet event, as a friend was opening up a new posauda. There was dancing, Brahma, chapagne, glittery stars, Bob Marley, food, Brasilians, and I may or may not have challenged a local man to a rap battle using a Lauren Hill beat...... needless to say I shot that sucker down. "Oh turn the lights down low.... and we certainly dont drink beer out of small plastic cups..." Something along those lines.... so there you have it. We finally left the next day. It was hard, but we had to do it seeing as how we keep shaving off plans because we end up staying in one place for too long. The thing is, Arraial cast a spell on us. I seriously think it is a magical palce. Fairy dust in the water or something. But we somehow broke free of the haze, hopped on the balsa, rode across to Porto Seguro, found ourselves some mototaxis, and went on our merry way. There is also something about a mototaxi. Regardless of how terrified one might be, you cannot help but smile when riding on one. 9 hours later, we arrvied in Itacare. We met a German girl on the bus, so the 3 of us found a hostel for the night. Unfortunately, there are no couchsurfers listed here; it was late, and we were tired, and we didnt feel like scouring the streets for a kindly drum circle to take us in, so we actually had to pay for a hostel. We aren't fond of this concept, but we are coping with vinho. The night was filled with mosquitoes, and I may or may not have malaria now. Damn, just as the post nasal drip had subsided. It's one thing after another around here. We spent yesterday at the beach, and scoped out some good surfing spots. Unfortunately I had to cancel my surfing plans this time around.... You see, I finally shoved all of my insecurities deep down into their dark shadows where they belong, I stuck on my lime green rash guard, I took a shot of maracuja caipivoshka, and I ran straight into the ocean. It was all fun and well splashing about, but somehow despite my 100 helio spf/waterproof sunscreen, I still managed to get a couple of 3rd degree burns on my pinche spots. Sacanagem. So, alas, I am staying out of the sun today and will learn to surf another time. If I get taken out on this trip, it better be due to an anaconda swallowing me whole or a great white biting my head off or something. I will be damned if I let that bastard of a sun take me down. So, on another note, we found a Chilean drum circle on the beach last night at about 4am. We may or may not have joined it and acquired their protection. (Beach mafia? I am just saying..) Oh, and I lost Ashley becuase she jumped on the back of some moto and so I then had to make this German guy scour the beaches with me until we found her.... lets just say we almost stole the moto at that point.... we thought a night ride to Boliva would be exciting.... Spent today in a hammock with my music and my book and my journal. There may or may not have been a glass of wine present as well. Rather relaxing. It is our German friend Victoria's birthday today, so chances are we will turn tonight into some kind of extravaganzaa!! Anywho, off to Recife soon!! Cannot wait to see my Brasilian cousins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And now it is time for some vinho to counter this self-induced heat rash. You really can't beat self-induced heat rash with a stick. Or can you? Ciao.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
