Recife

Sorry for the late post but here is our blog from our Days in Recife (January 25th to January 29)

So, we made it out of Recife alive for those of you who were a bit worried, and we had an absolutely amazing time. Our journey began with a two hour bus ride which was very relaxing until we realized that we had no idea where we were supposed to get off the bus. When the majority of the bus got up from their seats to exit the bus, we assumed that we should make our way towards the front. The bus driver began talking rapidly in Portuguese at us. We gave him "the deer in headlight" face, and sheepishly said in Portuguese, "I´m sorry. We don´t understand. We don't speak Portuguese." Luckily, a man seated near the front came to the rescue as he translated to the bus driver where we needed to go.

When we got to the Recife bus station, we were thrilled to see Igor and Thiago. They brought us to the house to drop off our stuff and freshen up for the afternoon and night ahead. We made our way down to the Olinda Pre-carnival. The celebration took place throughout the colorful, house lined, sloping streets of the city. It was a sight to see the Maracatu bands parade down the street followed by scary birds on sticks that looked like people on stilts from afar. We also learned how to dance Frevo in the streets which reminded us of the umbrella dance from Mary Poppins.

After the Pre-Carnival celebration, we made our way to a family birthday party. We enjoyed traditional foods and sang along to the boys playing guitar. When "I Cant get no Satisfaction" came on, Michelle and I belted out the chorus. The boys stopped playing and everyone turned and stared. Whoops, stupid American girls. Afterwards, we made our way back to the house to continue our Brazilian tradition of teaching every group of people we meet American drinking games. The boys always get a kick out of "Drive". Hopefully, we are leaving our mark on Brazilian drinking!

The next day, we went to lunch down at Boa Viagem. We opted out of going to this beach though due to the vast amounts of shark attacks. At night, Igor and David took us to Old Town Recife. The drive there was really interesting because we could see the way the city was broken up by rivers creating islands that are connected by various bridges. We wandered around the city looking at various old buildings and churches. As we made our way down one of the streets, we heard the loud playing of Maracatu. When we found the building where the music was coming from, the boys told the woman that we were Americans and would love to watch them practice for Carnaval. As we made our way up the stairs, Michelle and I were a little nervous to walk into a large classroom of people playing. When we made it to the top of the stairs, we were suprised to see that all that noise was coming from one Maracatu instructor and his student. It was very cool to watch though! After the class, we went to an outdoor bar&cafe to watch a live band perform. The band played a lot of classic American oldies songs that we were able to sing along to.

The following day, we woke up early and headed to Porta de Galinhas which was rated one of the most famous and beautiful beaches in Brazil. The origin of the name is Port of Chickens which explains the giant chicken figures throughout the small beach town. There were Jangadas throughout the water as well as various snorkelers swiming in the extremely clear water. Michelle tried RaspaRaspa which is the Brazilian version of shaved ice, and we bought another bracelet to add to our Brazilian collection.

For dinner, we went to a local sushi place. Brazilian sushi has a lot of cheese inside of it and there are a variety of sweet dessert sushi (very hmm.. unique?)... Definitely unusual compared to American or Japanese sushi! After dinner, the boys presented us with traditional gifts. Raoni gave us a "Fita do senhor do bonfim" wish bracelet from Salvador to add to our collection. The tradition of the bracelet is that you tie the bracelet with three knots and for each knot you make a wish. When the bracelet falls off, all of your wishes will come true! Then, Igor gave us Colar traditional beads. These beads are worn by males during the Salvador Carnival celebration. During the celebration, the males give them to the girls! We won't be in Salvador for Carnaval so we got ours early!

On Wednesday, we went sightseeing in Olinda to the Alto Dase. We enjoyed tapioca pancakes com chocolate e coconut e queijo as we enjoyed the view of the city from the top of the hill. We took pictures in front of various churches as well as with Giant Boneco dolls that are used in the Carnaval parades. We watched an outdoor maracatu rehearsal in the park. The group was all women varying in ages. Then, we headed home to get ready for our last night in Recife!

For our last night, David and Thiago took us to a Forro club. There was a live band, and we had a blast practicing our Forro. It is amazing how much better it has gotten since we first arrived in Natal! When the band was finished, they played American Techno music or as they call it here, House music. Michelle and I loved showing off our American dance moves as we cleared the dance floor. Another night of bringing up the sun. Bom Dia Recife!

Thursday, Igor and Raoni dropped us off at the bus station, and we were off to our next destination..... MACEIO!