Our stay at Ilha do Mel was, I would say, a mixed bag. On the one hand we were in paradise: long sandy beaches, gorgeous weather, and surrounded by extremely friendly people. However, we were literally the only foreigners there, and although this allowed us to gain some sort of insight into local life, the language barrier was more than a little bit annoying. The brazilians spoke good english but i could tell that it grated on them that we couldn´t speak any of their language. Nonetheless by the end of our stay we had learnt a little portuguese by continually asking questions, which they were more than happy to answer, and I feel they appreciated we were giving it a go. We also met some lovely american girls from New York towards the end of
... read more