The job hunt

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It´s been quite a while since I´ve been on a computer with this much time, so I´m going to write a few short entries for each city to catch up what´s been going on for the past few weeks.

After the craziest of Salvador, I was looking forward to get to quiet Maceió. Unfortunately, the bus company had other plans. Getting at the bus station around 20:00 to buy a ticket for the 22:30 bus (usually no problem) I learned that they had just sold the last ticket two minutes before I walked up. Next bus, 6:30. Beleza. I spent a quite miserable evening in the rodoviária (bus station) trying to stay awake all night in order to keep my pack safe and with me.

However, when I finally got to Maceió safely and with all my things, I took several things as a sign that I was in the right place. (There was an English school two blocks from my hostel, and at breakfast they served suco de goiaba (guava juice), which is my favorite kind.

Maceió is an exceedingly pleasant city. The neighborhood where I was, Ponta Verde, is the nicest of the town, although unlike most Brazilian cities, there was no part anywhere that was extremely poor. The beach at Ponta Verde has wonderful, calm, green water and on Sundays the place is packed with friends and family passing the entire day in the sun. Around dusk, many people take to the avenue parallels the beach to run or bike, usually in groups of friends. Then, it´s off to one of the great restaurants that line the beach as well. Overalll, the city is very clean, safe, modern, and pleasant (although without any real attractions other than the beach). Basically, if you ever wanted to move your entire family to Brazil, this would be the place to do it.

I started my job hunt there, spending a day walking around the entire city (literally), handing out my résumé to numerous schools. Unforunately I discovered that most classes had already started a week and a half ago, so there was little need. I got one offer, but it was too little pay and too few hours to make it worth while. As it would turn out, I received several more offers by e-mail several days after leaving but was too far north at the time to go back.

Essentially, this is where my job search started and ended. I realized that work is work anywhere. I´d rather spend my time here in Brazil really enjoying it. So, at least for the moment, I´ve abandonned my plans of getting work and simply turned my focus to enjoy the adventures. This frees me up to see the entire country and then venture through the rest of the continent.

Maceió was pleasant, but in my five or six days there I didn´t do anything, which made me realize that I want to stay on the move and see what else is out there.

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Photos

Praia da Ponte Verde
A wonderfully pleasant beach with shallow, green water where you can laugh with friends, listen to locals play samba, watch demonstrations of soccer skill, or get some great food.

Barraca
This is an example of the typical restaurants that line the beaches in Maceió. Wonderfully tasty food with a great seabreeze and sometimes live music.

No centro
One of the brightly painted buildings in the center of town, which is a crazed area of clothes shopping and, when I was there, political rallies for various candidates.