Maceio

Sorry for another late blog... here is a blog from our days in Maceio ~January 28- February 1~

After a couple amazing days in Recife, we were off to Maceio for the week. We had a mellow four hour bus ride. We napped, enjoyed the scenery, learned Portuguese, and reminisced about our various travel memories of Brazil thus far. As we started to get closer to Maceio, our usual worries set in. Where should we get off? Would we recognize our host? I mean, it had been so long since we had met him in Texas. Our bus was running very late and his phone of course was not working, what would Plan B be? After many failed attempts of getting a hold of him on the bus, we began to sing Bob Marley "Don't Worry About a Thing because Every Little thing is gonna be alright".

And it was. Sure enough, Aldo was there, and we couldn't have been more excited to see him! He took us down to the beach to one of his favorite places to eat.. Chuvitos! Although, we didn't get the traditional sanduiche according to him, it was one of the most amazing things I have tasted in Brazil thus far. We definitely need to get a Chuvitos in California. After, we we went to La Poana, a little restaurant/bar on the water, for drinks and to catch up a bit. I mean, it had been years since we had met him in the states. We told him about the places we had been in Brazil thus far, and he assured us that Maceio was better!

The night was still young so we headed to his beach house at Praia do Frances to get settled in and ready for the night ahead. We were speechless when we saw his beach house. The house reminded us of a house from the Real World MTV series. It was set up with 4 beds/4baths/several dining and lounge areas/full outside bar/pool/hammocks/etc. I could definitely live here! After a tour of the house, we went for a dip in the pool and enjoyed cerveja gelada, our favorite!

Later that evening, we headed to a club Le Hotel Night set up with House Music and an Axe band. We got to meet up with old friends from Joao Pessoa, our second stop on the Brazilian journey, because they were in Maceio for the weekend for a friend's wedding. It was so awesome to catch up with them . We laughed as Aldo used his Texas drivers licence to get into the club and order drinks. Just three Americans entering a Brazilian bar. The band was great, and we had an awesome time dancing the night away.

The next morning, we headed to Praia do Frances. We laid on the beach basking in the Brazilian sun, yes in Brazilian bikinis! We are fitting in so well. After we had been there a bit, a cloud covered the sun and chuva(rain)! Five minutes later, the rain had passed, and the sun was back out. Such strange weather, but hey we can't complain! As the tide quickly rose, we decided it was time to go. We headed back to the beach house for a Churrasco(barbeque). Aldo's housekeeper made the most amazing traditional Brazilian food. We were in heaven. They brought out their best pimenta sauce to see if we could handle it. We loved it.... Aldo cried! Guess, Brazilians can't handle the heat like Americans haha.

After that amazing meal, we relaxed in redes(hammocks) that were scattered about the backyard. Michelle and I are in love with hammocks. If there is a hammock, we will probably opt to sleep in that rather than our own bed. We are definitely going to buy one in Floriapa to bring back to the States. There are so many things about this culture that we love and want to bring home with us to share with all of you!

We didn't relax for long though as we headed to Barra for Aldo's friend's family party. Everyone there was so welcoming and friendly. We taught them American drinking games of course, and then we headed out to the after party. The after party was probably at one of the most amazing beach houses Michelle and I have ever seen. The house was set with a huge pool, deck, and back yard that connected right into a private beach. These people are living the life! The girls taught us Forro, Frevo, and Samba! They were extremely patient with us as we butchered the dances, but I like to think by the end of the night, we got the hang of it. Probably the coolest group of people in Maceio. We closed out the evening by bringing up the sun, taking a photo shoot with the sunset, and going for a morning swim! Such an amazing night.

I awoke earlier than the other two the following morning so I joined Aldo's dad and uncle out by the pool. I used my various Portuguese phrases to communicate with them. My Portuguese isn't great, but it is definitely better than when we started out in Natal. Luckily, they knew a bit of English to go along with my bit of Portuguese. After a late breakfast by the pool, we headed back to Barra beach for the day. We tried feijado for the first time at the family BBQ. They kept mentioning something about cow tongue.... I'm hoping that wasn't in it!

We headed to Maceio for the evening as we enjoyed drinks at La Poana. Apparently, Michelle and I don't look like Americans. The waiter thought we were Brazilian until he heard us speaking in English! Haha, we fit in as long as we don't talk. After dinner and drinks, we headed back to the beach house for a late night Jam sesh. Aldo plays the guitar extremely well.... the singing not so much... haha just kidding Aldo!

Sunday was a bit of a lazy day. There was extremely tropical rain and weather so we relaxed outside in the redes (hammocks). It was definitely nice to lay low after a busy couple of days. We headed to the bus station to buy our tickets for the following day and enjoyed Tapioca com coconut e queijo down by the beach! We went to an outdoor bar and watched Aldo's futebol team lose to Flamengo. He wasn't too happy. Apparently, we are bad luck charms. It was interesting to see all the hype around the sport as people dressed in their team's jerseys and talked smack in Portuguese. The bar was absolutely packed and people crowded around outside on the streets.

Then, we headed to Chuvitos! We couldn't leave Maceio without having another sanduiche! Aldo made us order all by ourselves and get the traditional Chuvitos! Although we were a bit nervous, we got the order right maybe with an additional coke here or there; but hey, it worked out! We got a taste of how small Maceio is though as we ran into a guy at Chuvitos that we had met at Le Hotel Night! Such a small town!

On Monday, our last day in Maceio, we went to Piscina Naturales(Natural Pools). We took a Jangada (small sail boat) to a spot in the middle of the ocean that at low tide forms natural pools around the reefs. It was absolutely amazing. The water was so clear we could see these fish that we had eaten for dinner the night before. The only place that I could compare it to would maybe be Joao Pessoa's rising island at low tide.

As our lawyer host Aldo headed back to work we lounged around his flat in Maceio preparing for our travels that evening. Aldo was sad to see us leave so when he got off work he cooked us a romantic meal of Brie, crackers, wine, and Italian pasta for our going away meal! Apparently, we ruined his traditional dish though with all the pimenta.

At midnight, he took us to the bus station. We said our good byes. and we were off to Salvador. We had such an amazing time in Maceio. We were sad to leave and will definitely miss it, but are looking forward to coming back to visit real soon!