Sightseeing and more interviews
Door: Hilda Alberda
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Hilda
01 Februari 2006 | Brazilië, Recife
Boa tarde!
Here I am again, 16,42h local time, at the LAN-house near my place. Let me start from where I ended my last story, which I wrote on Friday. My weekend was not very exiting to describe, but it was very nice. I watched some movies, visited a party at Paulo´s place (the party was from about 13.30h till 20.30h and it was located under the apartment building where Paulo lives - there were music (guitar, saxofoon and a microphone, but also some cd´s), bbq and ofcourse drinks... and I ended up dancing as well), I went swimming a couple of times, visited Boa Viagem (the local beach)... just a relaxed weekend in Recife. And then, at Sunday afternoon, me and Paulo went to the airport to pick up Marielle who is visiting Recife and me in particular for 2 weeks. It was a bit weird to speak Dutch again, but I am already used to it again. Paulo brought us to my place where Mar and I had dinner and ofcourse, chatted... I needed to know all the gossip of what was going on in Holland and the Notaris in particular! ;) On Monday, after having Açai (a bowl of icecold mixed fruit/ guarana etc with musli and banana on top = very good!) as breakfast, I showed Mar the university and the neighbourhood. I introduced here to the local and healthy coconut water and took her to the Hiper (= big supermarket) where we bought loads of groceries which ended up rolling through the bus (hmmm....). It was to far to walk back with all these heavy bags and the buses drive so fast and crazy that you have to be an acrobat to manage to pay the bus while carrying your groceries. But, we managed! After having lunch and enjoying all the intersting/ new food we bought, we decided to catch a bus to Boa Viagem. We walked along the beach and had another coconut. Then we went to the Recife Shopping Mall (the biggest in Brasil) and walked around without any money in our pockets... we decided to go back with our creditcards next time. ;) Ohw, I forgot to tell that I bought my first pair of Brazilian flipflops!!! I guess many will follow! That´s the only thing I am wearing here... I haven´t been wearing any shoes till now and I don´t think I will in the next 2 months. (Ohw... time goes way to fast! Already one month past!). Okay... we had something small to eat at the foodcourt in the shopping (that´s how they call a shoppingcentre/ mall here) at the Habib´s (a kind of Arabian McDonalds). Then Paulo picked us up by car (we planned it like this because I still don´t feel comfortable taking a bus when it´s dark), and the three of us had dinner in a restaurant near my place, and ofcourse Marielle had her first cerveja (= beer). On Tuesday I planned to do some interviews and me and Marielle took the bus to Rafael´s place. This was a new bus for me to catch, so it took some time till we figured out where to catch it (and ofcourse, there are no timetables or anyting, so you just wait till it passes). I ended up at Rafael´s place (I was so proud of myself to be able to recognise where to get out of the bus) later than I planned. There Rafael´s mother arranged a taxi for Marielle to bring her to Casa da Cultura (I haven´t been there yet) and me and Amanda had lunch there. After lunch we went into Caranguejo (yes, as I told you today Kevin, I already found out about the meaning... it is crab instead of crap, because of the swamp, but crap would fit well...). People at the healthpost were still having lunch, so we ended up waiting and talking. When they finished lunch we had a chat with Andrea (the women I interviewed last time) and then finally we went out into the favela. We were lucky to find a man sitting outside of his home who was happy to be interviewed. This man has had 3 wives (now he is dating a woman as well) and has been working as a clown in the circus. The man was really chatty and I got a lot of information about his life, his work and his wifes. He even showed me his clown suites! I found it an interesting interview and this men has a really positive view regarding women´s work/ empowerment. We sat inside his house, in the beginning there was no one else around, but after a while it got more crowded and more difficult to ask for specific information. Andrea came back as well, because they don´t want us to walk through the favela alone. We actually came in and went out on ourselves, but when we go around they will bring us to the houses of our interviewes. After the interview Amanda and I walked back to Rafael´s place where we had a cup of cofee. Then I toook the bus back home (I am getting pretty experienced with riding the bus here!) where Marielle just entered as well. She had a nice day in the center and also found the internetcafe here to send some emails. We had dinner at my place (tried some kind of corn thing that the girls at my place are eating, which was sweet but good). After dinner we felt like doing something and we went to the restaurant on the corner of my street to have some drinks. That´s as far as I want to get out at night on my own... We ended up having a cerveja and 2 caipirinias each... and having some nice chats! The caipirinias are pretty strong... :) that´s my substitute for boswandeling!!! What about that?! This morning we took the bus all the way to Olinda, which takes about 1 hour. I managed to get the right stop to get off and we ended up at the beach. First we looked around a little, walking around through Olinda´s beautiful streets, going up and downhill! Wow, Olinda is so different from Recife! It has beautiful architecture and all the houses are painted in nice shiny colours! It is also way more quiet than Recife, more sunny (I am afraid I am a little red now...), which also brings more tourists around... We saw a big bus of tourists comming down. We had some coconutwater, a chat with one of the local (free) guides (who complimented me about my Portugues... yahoo! and asked if I was a basketball player... uhuh!). Then I called Kevin (American fellow Anthropology-student from the Vu who is doing his research on forró in Brasil and is living in Olinda now). We had lunch with Kevin and after that Kevin showed us around, we had some nice dessert and ended up at Kevin´s place. Wow... he has such a nice view! Great! You look at one of Olinda´s churches, palmtrees and the blue sea! What about that. There are some hangingmats (I forgot how they are called in English: hangmatten) so we sat down and relaxed a little. After that Mar and I went down Olinda again, walked a round a little and took the bus back to Recife. We got out near the internetcafe, so I couldn´t resist sending some mails and writing a new story on my blog... I am not sure what we will do tonight, I am getting used to the Brasilian way of life. I do not have a shcedule and try not to have to many expectations, which is a good thing for me! I am learning a lot from this Brazilian way of life, hopefully some will last! Tomorrow I will go to Caranguejo to do some more interviews and I am planning to go to Porto de Calinhas (I am not sure how to write it) with Marielle this weekend. This is supposed to be a really nice place with beatiful beaches although it is therefore also a bit more touristic. I am looking forward to a relaxed weekend near the beach and maybe some good nights out as well!
That´s it for now!
Tchau tchau!
Hilda
Here I am again, 16,42h local time, at the LAN-house near my place. Let me start from where I ended my last story, which I wrote on Friday. My weekend was not very exiting to describe, but it was very nice. I watched some movies, visited a party at Paulo´s place (the party was from about 13.30h till 20.30h and it was located under the apartment building where Paulo lives - there were music (guitar, saxofoon and a microphone, but also some cd´s), bbq and ofcourse drinks... and I ended up dancing as well), I went swimming a couple of times, visited Boa Viagem (the local beach)... just a relaxed weekend in Recife. And then, at Sunday afternoon, me and Paulo went to the airport to pick up Marielle who is visiting Recife and me in particular for 2 weeks. It was a bit weird to speak Dutch again, but I am already used to it again. Paulo brought us to my place where Mar and I had dinner and ofcourse, chatted... I needed to know all the gossip of what was going on in Holland and the Notaris in particular! ;) On Monday, after having Açai (a bowl of icecold mixed fruit/ guarana etc with musli and banana on top = very good!) as breakfast, I showed Mar the university and the neighbourhood. I introduced here to the local and healthy coconut water and took her to the Hiper (= big supermarket) where we bought loads of groceries which ended up rolling through the bus (hmmm....). It was to far to walk back with all these heavy bags and the buses drive so fast and crazy that you have to be an acrobat to manage to pay the bus while carrying your groceries. But, we managed! After having lunch and enjoying all the intersting/ new food we bought, we decided to catch a bus to Boa Viagem. We walked along the beach and had another coconut. Then we went to the Recife Shopping Mall (the biggest in Brasil) and walked around without any money in our pockets... we decided to go back with our creditcards next time. ;) Ohw, I forgot to tell that I bought my first pair of Brazilian flipflops!!! I guess many will follow! That´s the only thing I am wearing here... I haven´t been wearing any shoes till now and I don´t think I will in the next 2 months. (Ohw... time goes way to fast! Already one month past!). Okay... we had something small to eat at the foodcourt in the shopping (that´s how they call a shoppingcentre/ mall here) at the Habib´s (a kind of Arabian McDonalds). Then Paulo picked us up by car (we planned it like this because I still don´t feel comfortable taking a bus when it´s dark), and the three of us had dinner in a restaurant near my place, and ofcourse Marielle had her first cerveja (= beer). On Tuesday I planned to do some interviews and me and Marielle took the bus to Rafael´s place. This was a new bus for me to catch, so it took some time till we figured out where to catch it (and ofcourse, there are no timetables or anyting, so you just wait till it passes). I ended up at Rafael´s place (I was so proud of myself to be able to recognise where to get out of the bus) later than I planned. There Rafael´s mother arranged a taxi for Marielle to bring her to Casa da Cultura (I haven´t been there yet) and me and Amanda had lunch there. After lunch we went into Caranguejo (yes, as I told you today Kevin, I already found out about the meaning... it is crab instead of crap, because of the swamp, but crap would fit well...). People at the healthpost were still having lunch, so we ended up waiting and talking. When they finished lunch we had a chat with Andrea (the women I interviewed last time) and then finally we went out into the favela. We were lucky to find a man sitting outside of his home who was happy to be interviewed. This man has had 3 wives (now he is dating a woman as well) and has been working as a clown in the circus. The man was really chatty and I got a lot of information about his life, his work and his wifes. He even showed me his clown suites! I found it an interesting interview and this men has a really positive view regarding women´s work/ empowerment. We sat inside his house, in the beginning there was no one else around, but after a while it got more crowded and more difficult to ask for specific information. Andrea came back as well, because they don´t want us to walk through the favela alone. We actually came in and went out on ourselves, but when we go around they will bring us to the houses of our interviewes. After the interview Amanda and I walked back to Rafael´s place where we had a cup of cofee. Then I toook the bus back home (I am getting pretty experienced with riding the bus here!) where Marielle just entered as well. She had a nice day in the center and also found the internetcafe here to send some emails. We had dinner at my place (tried some kind of corn thing that the girls at my place are eating, which was sweet but good). After dinner we felt like doing something and we went to the restaurant on the corner of my street to have some drinks. That´s as far as I want to get out at night on my own... We ended up having a cerveja and 2 caipirinias each... and having some nice chats! The caipirinias are pretty strong... :) that´s my substitute for boswandeling!!! What about that?! This morning we took the bus all the way to Olinda, which takes about 1 hour. I managed to get the right stop to get off and we ended up at the beach. First we looked around a little, walking around through Olinda´s beautiful streets, going up and downhill! Wow, Olinda is so different from Recife! It has beautiful architecture and all the houses are painted in nice shiny colours! It is also way more quiet than Recife, more sunny (I am afraid I am a little red now...), which also brings more tourists around... We saw a big bus of tourists comming down. We had some coconutwater, a chat with one of the local (free) guides (who complimented me about my Portugues... yahoo! and asked if I was a basketball player... uhuh!). Then I called Kevin (American fellow Anthropology-student from the Vu who is doing his research on forró in Brasil and is living in Olinda now). We had lunch with Kevin and after that Kevin showed us around, we had some nice dessert and ended up at Kevin´s place. Wow... he has such a nice view! Great! You look at one of Olinda´s churches, palmtrees and the blue sea! What about that. There are some hangingmats (I forgot how they are called in English: hangmatten) so we sat down and relaxed a little. After that Mar and I went down Olinda again, walked a round a little and took the bus back to Recife. We got out near the internetcafe, so I couldn´t resist sending some mails and writing a new story on my blog... I am not sure what we will do tonight, I am getting used to the Brasilian way of life. I do not have a shcedule and try not to have to many expectations, which is a good thing for me! I am learning a lot from this Brazilian way of life, hopefully some will last! Tomorrow I will go to Caranguejo to do some more interviews and I am planning to go to Porto de Calinhas (I am not sure how to write it) with Marielle this weekend. This is supposed to be a really nice place with beatiful beaches although it is therefore also a bit more touristic. I am looking forward to a relaxed weekend near the beach and maybe some good nights out as well!
That´s it for now!
Tchau tchau!
Hilda
