Oh, and I'm speaking phrases in Portugues now, like: "Voce fala Ingles? (Do you speak english), or "onde esta' e pointe o onibus" (where is the bus stop?); ondge esta o sanitorios? (where are the bathrooms).
Current pictures can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/14172071@N02/6i9XCD
Saturday (A trip to Gaibu)
A phrase I've gotten very accostomed to saying: "Voce fala ingles?" = do you speak english? Almost every answer is "nao" (no) With a tad bit dissapointment I've not run into anyone who speaks more than two words of english. Europe and tourist destinations in Mexico make it easy to find people who can get you though most things. But, this time I really wanted an adventure, so lets go to a place where no one speaks english and I know about 5 word in Portuguese --Note to self: next time, lets check the sanity meter, ok?
Enter Paulo. An ex-mormon missionary from here who speaks understandable english and to top it off a great guy willing to take me under his wing and show me around.
We met up early Saturday with a trip to one of the beaches south of Recife where you can swim without fear of shark attacks. The shark problem is very real on the Recifian beaches. When the tide is out, the reefs create a natural pool and you can swim --well, more like wade. As the tide comes in and covers the reefs, you need to get out of the water. They've had people attacked standing in knee deep water.The signs every 100 yards are not to be ignored.
So we headed to a beach town called Gaibu which is about 40km south of Recife. Paulo doesn't drive, so guess what? Yes, another day of bus rides! The journey took about 2 hours after a number of bus changes and bouncy wild rides we arrive in the little town in a flurry of dust. The pictures speak for themselves; 
beautiful and relaxing. We went to two beaches, the main one, then hiked over to another. We ate shrimp, had bbq'd fish and just a nice day. Went swimming a couple times and the water was P E R F E C T! Journed back to Recife in the evening. By the time I got to the apartment, I was asleep in 10 minutes after the long day.Sunday (Old Recife, the "subway", and more wild bus rides)
Found us off adventuring the city again. I wanted to see the downtown, know as the "Venice of Brazil" We packed light as traveling downtown is slightly more risky as no one is there on weekends. So no back packs and things secure and hidden in pockets. The good, was there were no crowds and weather was perfect. The bad, pay attention. Old Recife at one time was a stunning city.
But it has fallen to disrepair and is a shell of its once grandeur. Seems the state government is starting a redevelopment effort as we could see a couple buildings beginning to be renovated. In addition they've put a high end shopping mall and building upscale high rise apt buildings. Give it 10-15 years and it will be a nice city again. I'd love to come back after redevelopment to see what they've done. It is truly a "Venice". Someone with vision and leadership built a master plan of waterway, bridges and city planning. The bridges crisscrossing the water, the grand old architecture is all truly beautiful, even in the state it is today.
The rest of the day Paulo had us on and off busses and the subway. I got to see about 60% of Recife. All the good and bad so to speak. Riding transport really gave me the chance to look and 
take in all the sites. I'm so glad we did that instead of driving. It also gave me the chance to really see the people, the neighborhoods and interact with day to day life here.
After a full day of riding transport, we got back to the Boa Viagem district, had Tapioca's at my favorite steet vendor (the lady with the hair net). She recognizes us now and knows exactly what we want.
1 comment:
Just got one tip. Google has translation in their webpage and this function may help a little bit.
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