Itacare, Brazil

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Day 1 (Wednesday) - I didn't know where I was going. I tried to get directions from a cab driver but ended up just taking a cab for 7 Reals, way too much but I didn't want to walk in the dark. It turns out that there are kids there who will walk you to your hotel for basically nothing. The cab driver didn't know where the hostel, Buddy's Pousada, was, so I was feeling very good about taking the cab instead of trying to make it on my own. After getting some help from locals, we did make it. I knocked on the gate to find three guys sitting at a wooden table sitting around talking. It turned out to be the owner and two of his friends (Lee, Miguel and Andy). As I was walking to my room, I noticed the relative emptiness of the place. At that point, Miguel told me that I was the first guest. It made me a little apprehensive as guinea pigs often get burned but I also liked the solitude given my R&R gameplan. I took a shower then hung out with the guys for a little while. Another one of Lee's friends, Tom, came over as well. At first impression, I really liked the guys. I couldn't hold out very long as I was so tired from the two weeks previous.

Day 2 (Thursday) - Merry Christmas. I slept for a good ten hours and then went out for the complimentary breakfast. It was quite good. I especially enjoyed the coffee. I helped myself to three cups, enjoyed some of the sweetest fruit I have ever tasted and all was again right with the world. Mary Elena, the cook and cleaner kept bringing out food as if there were 15 guests, so I obliged in eating for 15. Miguel, joined Lee and I for breakfast. We talked for a little while. Miguel told me that he, a swiss native, had moved to Itacare and married a local girl who came from a very poor family. Miguel soon asked me if I would like to join the family for Christmas. At first, I said "no" as I didn't want to interfere. However, he really liked the idea and wouldn't let it die. I finally said "yes" and really came to like the idea. After a while, we left the hostel and were on our way to Miguel's house, where we would pick up his wife then head to her family's house. It was my first real view of the town as I had arrived at night. I found Itacare to be quite a charming town. First, we walked down the main drag, Pituba, which is barely enough for two cars and lined with shops, restaurants and bars. From Pituba, we walked along the main beach of the town, which is the main port for the fisherman. From the beach, we walked up another street, then took a right and on the complete opposite end of town (ten minute walk) were at Miguel's house. Miguel built a two story house with his own two hands. It included his abode downstairs and two guest rooms with private bathrooms upstairs. I was very impressed with his handiwork. I met Miguel's wife Caio, who seemed to take life at her own pace (a Brazilian trait). When we got there, she said that she wasn't sure if she wanted to go to her family's home and if so, when. Not sure exactly what this meant, Miguel decidd to cook some of the sausage he had intende to bring to the family gathering. So we sat outside in his backyard drinking cold drinks and eating sausage with the salad of peppers that Caio made. And while we ate, Miguel played some of the Brazilian music that he liked for us. It was a lot better than what I hear on the day to day here. After we polished off a good portion of the sausage, we walked back to Pituba Street, where we got some cold drinks and watched the activity. We then split a large sandwhich place at one of the only non-tourist priced but still good place on Pituba Street. As the sun was setting, three girls walked past that Miguel knew. He talked with them a while in Portugese and then informed me that one was a sister of Caio's, one was a cousin and the other was a friend. They had told him to come to the Christmas party and bring me independant of what Caio was doing. So we walked back to the house to get Caio, who had apparently decided to go on her own. We then walked to the party, stopping for me to get a large Coke for me to bring as a party gift. I wanted to bring more but my cash reserves were getting to be very low and could not afford much else. We walked into the Itacare favela (low-income housing) around 9 and ventured up, down and around paths till we got to the house. Initially we reached a three way enclosure made of tin where several of the men were sitting around playing instruments together. The group had obviously had a few drinks that day but they were very welcoming. After a few minutes at the top of the hill, we made our way down a steep dirt path to the homes. Getting down there I found around twenty people spread over an outdoor seating area and a little home. When I got there I was introduced to everyone, who were all very nice, especially considering the language barrier. There were lots of children there and they seemed to find in me the present of attention. I played with them for probably 45 minutes, lifting them over my head and flipping them every which way until I had built up quite a sweat. I decided to cool down a bit and talked with some of the relatives with my best Portugese, which is to say hardly any. However, I was not allowed to cool down for long, because I was reeled into the dance party in the middle of the outdoor area. I was not good and that was obvious but I had a lot of fun. After a while, I gave up on dancing but enjoyed watching all the cousins dance together. The older female cousins seemed to get a kick out of teaching their younger male cousins to dance. If I had the Portugese, I would tell the boys to take heed of the lessons (it is a real separator between guys), however this is Brazil and I don't think they need my advice on this. Dancing is not an option here. At about 12:30, I was sitting around watching the dancing when a couple tempers flared (one of the many negative effects of alcohol). Nothing happened but the family and I felt it was a good time for me to leave. They were nice enough to have two of the young adult males walk me home. They were very nice and it was such a different but fantastic way to spend Christmas. I had the feeling that they knew the real value of the holiday, which is enjoying time with family. I made it back to the hostel around 1am and was asleep by 1:30.

Day 3 (Friday) - Time to relax.... After nearly 9 hours of well-deserved sleep, I enjoyed another big breakfast and several cups of coffee. This morning Mary Elena included some homemade bread that was fantastic. The bread and the fruit made a great start to a relaxing day. As the construction crew was out finishing up some work on the work on the hostel, from floors to stair rails, I wrote a little, catching up on my blog after being several days behind as a result of all my travel. Just before noon, Lee was nice enough to walk me to the ATM that he knew would have the best chance of working and point out a place to by a sarong (good to use as a towel when traveling because large when spread ou but small when packed). The ATM had money!!! It was then that I realized the excitement that the older gentleman felt in Boa Vista at a successful visit to the ATM. I was no longer broke, which is a good feeling when in a foreign non english speaking country. I went back to the hostel and continued writing in my private by happenstance room. At around 2, I made the fifteen minute walk to Tiririca beach, where I layed out for about an hour and a half minutes in my best SPF 45 sunscreen. I came back to the hostel and got cleaned up. I grabbed a quick dinner then went with Lee to Tom's bar, which was to open in a few nights. He had done some new work and wanted to show it off. I must say that it looked to me like it was going to be a popular bar, with a second floor deck overlooking the heart of the main drag. Afterwards, we went back to Lee's where we were joined by Andy for a few drinks. It had been just the type of day I wanted and head off to bed around midnight.

Day 4 (Saturday) - Relax Day part 2. I had hoped to take a surfing lesson but the town was overflowing with activity this day. I had never before witnessed the tranformation of a town from low season to high season. And this was particularly odd because it was all happening in 48 hours. I had self imposed deja-vu this morning. It was nice to feel like I was in a routine, even if it was just for a day. I ate the overwhelming portions, drank my coffee and then went to work on the computer. After an hour or so of writing, I decided to run some errands in town. On the way back, I ran into Ben, a kind of handy man about town at Tom's place and talked with him and Tom for a little over an hour. After a while, I decided I was definitely in need of a beach nap and was being called. I headed out to Costa beach this time, which was also quite pleasant but a little more overrun with peddlers than the day before. However, I must say that it was here that I found the Brazilian experience that I had imagined in my dreams. I was literally surrounded by gorgeous people. It was at this point where I thought to myself, "Should I cut my travels short and go home? Naaaaahhh!" I stayed at the beach for a couple hours alternating between playing in the water and working on the tan. As I had plenty of time to think under the clear sky on one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen, surrounded by the the most beautiful crowd I have ever been apart of, I also thought to myself that I really need to learn either Spanish or Portugese. I was foolish as a kid for not learning Spanish. I didn't see the benefits that would be to come. Schools should really hire me to come give speeches about the merits of other languages with a slide show presentation. However, the thought ended, as did my time at the beach. On my way back from the beach, I met Thor, a surfing instructor who told me to come by his shop later that night to set up a surf lesson. He said he would be there till 11. When I got back to the hostel, I met Mo, an American girl (from San Francisco, seriously why San Francisco), who is also on a world tour. We talked for a little while and then went to grab a quick bite of food. She was interested in seeing a raggae show that was supposed to happen that night, so we stopped by the bar that it was at on the way back. The bartender said the show would start around 9. Afterwards, she and I went to the surf shop where we were hoping to book group lessons. When we got there, they said Thor wasn't in but that we could wait for him if we wanted. I took the time looking through their selection of board shorts. Only having one swimsuit, was getting a little old. I tried on a pair that were ok but I wasn't too awestruck over. I considered purchasing them as a backup till I checked the price. They were nearly $100 US. I laughed, then I checked the pants for the precious metals they must have come with. I told the salesgirl I wasn't interested, at which point she told me that Thor would not likely be in till near 11. This was a classic Brazilian moment: show up at the store around 8:45 for someone, they tell you to wait and shop around, and finally when you prove to be uninterested buying anything, they tell you that he is two hours away. MO and I decided to go back to the bar to listen to some music but it apparently wasn't happening tonight for some reason. Well, we just got a drink and people watched. What had been a sleepy road just days before had become a lively party street with the opening of the season. It was amazing to see the transformation in just days. I had never seen such and it was quite interesting. After an hour and a half, we went back to the surf shop. The salesgirl said Thor had come and just left (unbelievable). So I ran after and caught him. We set up a lesson for the following day with his brother-in-law at 2 for both Mo and I on the beach Itacarizihno, which is a bus ride away. After this, Mo and I both decided to call it a night and headed back to the hostel. This night seemed a lot hotter than other nights and the mosquitos were particularly bad. Sleep was particularly hard to come by.

Day 5 (Sunday) - Woke up tired after maybe three hours of uninterupted sleep. I laid in bed for a while and finally exited my room to join the rest of the world around 9. I enjoyed the breakfast this morning and took my time fully enjoying one of my last times to be lazy for a while. The beach we were to go to for the surf lesson would take a 30 minute bus ride, which meant we had to catch the noon bus. Mo and I walked to the bus stop, where I was able to check times for the next morning's buses. I had been told and in my book it said the earliest bus was at 7am, which would be a close call for a 9:15 bus, however I found there to be a 5:15 and 6 bus because of high season. We boarded the bus and took the ride down to the beach. Once there, we decided to treat ourselves to an agua de coco (coconut water drank from the coconut) and sit in the shade. With several hours in the water with a bright sun ahead, the last thing I needed to do to prepare was to spend time in the sun. It felt nice in the shade. It was a very beautiful beach that is much longer than the others of the area. The people were pretty nice to look at as well. This beach had a different type of sand than I had run across before. It had the typical light colored sand but it also had some grey sand intermingled in certain places. This sand was very hot. I witnessed a lesson learned when a young family came to the beach. There were three boys all under 7. The oldest boy saw the sand ahead and ran to get in. A few steps in he felt the heat of the sand and ran back to his parents screaming. The middle boy followed shortly behind and the same scene unfolded. Finally the youngest boy saw the sand and decided to give it a go himself. All three were in the grass crying. I thought to myself, ah the recklnessness of young boys. This as I was about to ride a hard board on a wave. Our instruction began at 2 and I must say that it was a neat experience. We used longboards as they are easier to get up on than smaller boards, which are more at the mercy of the tide. I had heard that getting up was difficult but I was surprisingly up in 10 minutes (within the first 5 attempts) and rode a wave all the way in 5 minutes after that. Granted these were not terribly big waves but I was pleasantly surprised. The hard part was doing all the stuff you need to do once up. Once up, you have to walk on the board to find the spot that is best for keeping the tip of the board in the correct position. This did not come as naturally. By the end of the lesson, I was taken out to the big waves where you wait for the right wave. On these waves, it is hard getting the timing right for just catching the wave. I missed many. I did however catch two. The first one I didn't get up. The second, I got up but was off quickly when the wave broke. Our day was up and now all we had to do was get back into town. I carried one board and the instructor carried the other up the hill to the bus stop, which seemed a lot longer up than down. We caught a bus quickly then all went to this special sandwhich place for dinner, which turned out being the same one I had already been to twice. Surfing burned the calories because afterwards I felt like I had eaten nothing. I went back to the hostel where Lee, Andy, Tom and three Swedish travelers and new hostel stayers were talking. I sat with them for a while and shared my experiences. There was music on in the background and within minutes one of the Swedish guys got up to turn up a song. It was apparently a song by the group Prodigy. I have a very limited knowledge of Prodigy but found myself to be in the minority on that. One of the Swedish guys, Chris, went to take a nap and Andy left but the rest of us sat outside for three hours (broken up for me by a shower) while I got a very thorough lesson in Prodigy and electronic music in general. I felt like I was in 'VH1 Behind the Music' episode. I was invited out by the Swedes, Andy and the group of Brazilians who were in the room next to me but I had an early bus to catch so I agreed to meet for one drink after I was through packing. I met Karl, David and Chris, the Swedes for a few minutes while they were having dinner and had a drink with the Brazilians before I made it back to the hostel around 1. I had another difficult night of sleep as it seemed even hotter than before and the mosquitos were definitely the most ferocious they had been. I wet my sarong/towel and wringed it out hoping the wetness would cool me down and the fabric would protect me from the bugs but the fan was not strong enough to keep me cool and I hardly slept at all.

Day 6 (Monday) - Got up at 5 and was out the door by 5:30. I had such a good time in Itacare that I was sad to leave but I was sure that I would enjoy my New Years in Rio. I caught the 6am bus and I was on my way.

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Photos

Pituba Street
The main street on Christmas night, one day before the crowds started to arrive.

Christmas Night
My host family celebrates with dance. What a great night.

Beach
Beach I went to on my second full day. One of many pretty beaches.