Blogs from Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, South America
May 14th 2012
Alex had a work visit to Recife, on the northeast coast of Brazil, and Jenn tagged along. We stayed at a hotel right along the area’s nicest beach, Boa Viagem (Good Trip), but there isn’t any swimming allowed due to shark attacks. We went to a popular square, which turned out to be a bit shady, but we got to see some old churches and the farmer’s market. From there, we tried to take a taxi to an Italian restaurant, but had to take three taxis before a driver knew where it was. For the weekend, we headed north to an island “resort.” The first bad sign was when the taxi driver pointed out the nearby prison. Nevertheless, we continued on to the hotel with a room straight out of the 70s, including the linens. We’ve ... read more
July 30th 2010
Hello followers of our adventure! Today was the final day of work for us at the build site. After a long week of arduous work, we said good-bye to the locals and good-bye to shovels and wheelbarrows! I promised to give you more information about the families moving into the houses, so here it is: In the poor city of Feira Nova, the women of the community got together to form a women's council to address the issues they were facing. On the top of their list, the most important need and desire of these families was to have a house of their own. Renting is expensive and conditions are poor and sometimes they get ripped off. Habitat for Humanity got in contact with these women and together they formed a plan, 100 houses for 100 ... read more
July 28th 2010
Here a few photos from our build so far. This is all we were able to upload at the internet cafe because the computers are slow. However, we will add more as soon as possible.... read more
Habitat for Humanity Brazil: Team Thrivent
Published: July 27th 2010South America » Brazil » Pernambuco » RecifeJuly 26th 2010
Olá Pessoal! (Hey Everybody!) Our trip is underway! Team Thrivent has been in Brazil for two full days. Our team consists of 11 people, 10 citizens of the U.S. and one native Brazilian from Fortaleza, Henrique, who is our translator. Our team leaders are Mark and Bobby who work at Thrivent Financial, and they organized and planned the entire trip. Mark's son, Derek, who has been to Brazil once before on vacation joins his father, and Bobby's mother, Mary, and sister, Sharie, who are first timers in Brazil. Joining us are Karen and Ed (aka Senhor Eduardo) from Indiana, Glen from North Carolina, Marladean, and Rosemary. We all met up in Recife Saturday night at Hotel Jangadeiro on the coast for a welcome dinner and introductions. Dinner was buffet style, including fish, fruit, salads, soups, and ... read more
Salvador, Regen, Fussball WM, Endspurt
Published: July 21st 2010South America » Brazil » Pernambuco » Recife
July 21st 2010
Dank einer tollen Chefin hatte ich im Mai 2 Tage frei und konnte somit ein langes Wochenende in Salvador, Bahia verbrigen. Mittwoch abends ging der Flug (Ich wohne 5 min mit dem Bus vom Flughafen enfernt!) und nur 2 Stunden später landete ich schon in der wohl afrikanischsten Stadt Brasiliens. Dort holte mich eine Freundin ab und mit dem Bus gings dann in die 5er WG (3 Spanier, eine Guadeloupanerin (???) und eben eine Deutsche). Bis Sonntag Abend hatte ich Zeit diese tolle Stadt kennenzulernen, die eine ganz andere Atmosphäre hat als Fortaleza oder Recife. Die afrikanischen Sklaven kamen dort zuerst an und somit hat sich die afrikanische Kultur in Salvador viel stärker gehalten. Candomblé beispielsweise ist eine Religion, die es in Brasilien quasi nur in Salvador gibt und auch die Mehrheit der Menschen ist immernoch ... read more
May 31st 2010
Ich versuche mal an dieser Stelle die Monate Januar bis Mai kurz zusammenzufassen. ;) Natürlich mit dem guten Vorsatz ab jetzt wieder regelmäßiger zu bloggen… Im Januar war Mama also für drei Wochen in Fortaleza, Ceará. Sie fand es heiß. Ziemlich heiß sogar glaube ich. Wir sind dann per Leihwagen ein bisschen an der südlichen Küste entlanggefahren, haben an den schönen Stränden halt gemacht und Sommer, Sonne, Strand genossen. Canoa Quebrada, Morro Branco und all die kleinen unentdeckten paradiesischen Strände dazwischen sind definitiv die highlights in Ceará! Als einzige Gäste in der Pousada in einem mini Fischerörtchen, keine 2 Schritte aus der Zimmertür bis zum Strand - so lässt’s sich leben finde ich. Als Kontrastprogramm sind wir danach auf abenteuerlustigen Straßen mit mehr Löchern als Asphalt ins Inland in Richtung des Nationalparks „Ubajara“ gefahren.... read more
February 25th 2010
The beautiful one... There is a place.. nestled by the sea, built on slopes overlooking the "ogre in a dungeon" city - recife, her name is Olinda. Delapidated and faded, its rolling cobbled streets are a sanctuary for those that stroll through . Fallen romantic portuguese churches are the centrepieces with tall coconut trees dressing the view which is a turquoise shark infested ocean. Olindas historic unesco protected centre houses mainly gays, artists and tourists, but a step or two outside and the landscape is a more familiar one of the poor north east.. where prawns and Pitu (a toxic cachaca) are the staple diet. The days are oppresively humid with a soak late afternoon while the early laser sun sends you scampering for shade. Once a year , brasil hosts carnival...its big, vulgar and exciting. ... read more
January 14th 2010
So, here I am, travelling round Brazil alone like an incredibly independent mature human being! It is sooooo weird having filled in details that don´t include Lençois, Bahia. Leaving was one of the most difficult things I´ve done. I really loved it there and the people and places were just about unbeatable. My last weeks were fantastic and my friends and boyfriend really spoilt me. I had Délio, Vinny, Coquinho, Gabriel, Edson, Mariana, Aninha and Evando there to see me off at the bus station, which as you can imagine was a tearful experience. I´m already trying to plan a way to go back as soon as humanly possible! I left on Monday on the 11.30 bus and slept alll the way to Salvador. Arrived 05.30 and stayed the whole day in the bus station, getting ... read more
