28/7

Well, I woke up a little later today because several people from our group went to see Batman last night and we didn’t get home until about 3 in the morning. Totally worth it in my opinion. Today, here in Fortaleza, we split up into smaller groups and went to visit a couple historical and modern sites here. I went with Jonny, Michelle, and Sara. Mercado Central, Catedral Metropolitana de Fortaleza, Teatro Sao Jose, e Centro Dragao do Mar de Arte e Cultura (The Dragon Center of Art and Culture of the Sea) were the places that we visited.

 I really liked the Cathedral because of Roman Gothic design, and how much it was illuminated. It gave off a different feeling then the cathedrals which I saw in Recife. I learned that  it was built in the 1930’s, which probably explains the difference between it and a lot of the other Brazilian Cathedrals I have seen.

Some of the stained glass art which we saw at the Cathedral. Michelle taught me that blue is
the most expensive color to make, so these guys had some money...

The Mercado Central(Central Market) is probably one of the coolest "malls" I have been to.

It gave off a really urbanized feeling and I really appreciated the structure.

That doesn't mean I bought anything though.

A picture of me having a philosophical discussion with a Brazilian Poet
whose name I failed to memorize/ take a picture of.

I enjoyed everything, but definitely what attracted me the most were the structures of the Central Market and the Cathedral. It is interesting to see how building styles change with the times, and I wonder where we'll be  in about 100 years. Will stadiums be different? Will they look at our public libraries and compare it to their own? We can only speculate now, but we can see how history has gone through different phases.

Hopefully, our "phase" will be looked on as a good, prosperous time in history. That's how I view my stay in Brazil.

Thanks for reading!!

26/7

We set off from the hotel at 7:30 and made our way to the docks of Salvador. When I found out that we were taking boats to island a ways away, I got a little nervous. The last time I was on a boat was when I was in middle school in the San Fransisco bay, where I basically barfed my living guts out. It was quite a memorable experience. Anyway, this time was completely different for me! I didn’t throw up, I think because the waves were smaller and also because the boat was bigger. It was interesting to see that quite a few people lived on the island, and that a lot of the tourism business were family-owned by the locals. The best thing was just relaxing and I think that my opinion of going to the beach has changed because of this experience.

25/7

Today I got on a bus, with no idea where I was going, but it turned out to be a great day. We visited a couple beaches which were way fun, but probably the highlight of the day was going to the turtle zoo called Projeto Tamar, or “The Tamar Project”. There were turtles of all types there and also manta rays and some fish. I enjoyed taking in every second of it and even for a second regretted on not following through on my wish as an 8 year old to get a turtle.

Something that really struck me was the value of having zoos. I discussed this with Doug, pointing out that sometimes it must be miserable to be penned up in a cage or a pool. Doug agreed, but pointed out that by doing so, the animals life was put into a lot less jeopardy than in the wild. He also pointed out that it helps us appreciate more these types of animals by being in closer contact with them. I guess I’ll have to think of that next time I’m about to dump a bunch of toxic sludge into a river or ocean.

Thanks for reading!!

24/7

Today was quite an experience!! I stayed in Salvador for three months and today I saw so many things that I never even knew existed! First, we went to the Lighthouse called Farol da Barra, which was really cool because we actually got to go all the way up to the top of the tower. The view (and breeze) was incredible! After this, our study group broke up into small squads. My squad (Shawndeen, John, Brady, Cristina, and Doug) decided to walk to the Pelourinho. I don’t think that any of us had any idea how far it was, but it turned out being a lot of fun! This is because we stopped once in a while, along with other things.

As we were walking, the first thing that we came across was the Art Museum of the state of Bahia. It was free!!... so I ended up donating some change anyway. We saw paintings, pottery, furniture, and a lot of other things. As our journey continued on, we came passed by the cathedral of Sao Sebastiao (Saint. Sebastion) which was the first cathedral I have seen in Brazil with a Greco- Roman style. It’s my favorite up until now.

The Pelourinho was an exciting spot! We went to the Mercado Modelo where you can haggle prices a little bit. After that, we met up with everyone to watch a catholic mass with an influence of Candomblea, which is a popular religion here in Bahia. It made for an exciting blend!

23/7

Today we basically packed our things, got to the airport, and went to Salvador, Brazil. We are now in the area where I served my mission about a year and a half ago. Although, I’m happy to be here now, I’m really thankful for the time we spent in Recife. It opened up my eyes to the Brazilian culture, and gave me a new perspective. I have learned to value more the impact that art can have. During our experiences with the CCJ, we used many forms of art to build friendships and get our foot in the doors of places. I can’t wait to see what the rest of this wonderful trip will bring, but I appreciate everything that Recife had to offer  myself and our small study group. 

7/20

So today unfortunately was the last day of class. Even though history has never been my subject of interest, the classes at ABA given by Professor Fitzgibbon have really opened up my eyes a lot and made me appreciate Brazil's past and how it affects the present. I am able to make connections with the things we learn in class when I witness and am immersed in Brazilian Culture.

I was sick, and so I didn't go to class, but it turned out that the majority of the class was used to learn a new dance for us North Americans to teach the Brazilians later in a church dance. I thought that I would get away with just mirroring the other students until at the dance when, I learned just how hard the dance would be to learn! That didn't go over so well, but I still tried.

Dancing is one of those things that I feel makes up the Brazilian culture and seems to come much more easily to them than to us Americans. Sometimes I wonder if it's just a mental thing...but no I'm pretty sure it's not. I tried to dance forro tonight with a Brazilian who was patient enough to help me out.

There's a certain dance where you just take one step to the right, and one step to the left. Simple enough, right?
It's just that by the way the Brazilians so gracefully danced, I thought they were actually taking a couple steps each time. So you can imagine how that looked when I tried to do it. No? Just think white boy stomping all over the place and that should be an adequate image.

Thanks for reading!!!

19/7

Today was the day that made me rethink my opinion on beaches to say the least. We went to a place called Porto de Galinhas, or the Port of the Chickens. This port was used for slave trade after slavery in Brazil was declared illegal. The slave traders used the code name Chickens for Slaves to keep their activities out of suspicion from the government. This beach has been voted best Brazilian Beach for several times in a row. I can see why now.

Upon arriving there, we took little sail boats out from the beach to the reef, where the water was extremely clear and it was easy to see the marine life in the water. We got to feed the fish and it was a really neat experience.

A rare sighting of some of the indigenous species at Porto de
Galinhas. Later in the day, we found out that the one on the
right was a lobster, due to the redness of his skin with exposure
to the sun.

The coolest part of the day was that as we were sailing on the boat, the boatman stopped and told us we could jump into the ocean and swim with the fishes!! It was the coolest thing I've ever done at the beach! I just wish I knew how to hold my breath longer, then I probably could have gotten more out of it! Today was well worth the sunburn I received/earned!

Thanks for reading!