Pousada Casuarinas Recife

... which was fun, but we stopped at one point hungry as all get out, and missed their entry onto the streets. Tracy went home, all tuckered out and I got to see the ceremonials at the church in the new square in town. I did not understand a thing going on but Loi said if I would have left I would miss the best part. I stayed and I´m glad I did. Each Maracatu Nacao paraded in front of the church and the kings and queens and slave of each school stood on ...

... were joined by their two beautiful daughters, Camila and Karina, for a Brazilian lunch wherein we sampled a wide variety of local and international dishes. After lunch Dr. Camila returned to school and the rest of us continued on to discover more of Recife, including a visit to Castelo Sao Joao with its fantastic museums overflowing with incredible tapestries and rare works of art. My military "inner me" was ...

... to cost BEFORE you start! We went back to the hotel and sat and read for a few hours before getting some water. As per usual, we stumbled upon a mini-parade with brightly coloured dancers. We then made our way back to the area by the Cathedral. This was a central point for MIMO activities and Independence Day festivities. We had a couple of drinks and were hoping to see a capoeira display that was supposed to start at 7. Unfortunately it didn´t so we made our ...

... to watch the workshops and they laugh as I mess up, or cheer as I get a complicated step - word has got out I have ´casamento´(marriage) with dance so they want to see the Loira who adorei´s dance. I also love the friendships, the patience with my Portugese, the kindness and laughter and friendlyness, the music, the easy way it is to meet people and form connections, the community, where old and young party together, are welcome together, the way things ...

... up a drink and snack vendor... Anyhow, 3 hours later, when we knew we were supposed to get to Guanina, we saw Guanina out of our window, and the bus wouldn't stop! We were sure there was a bus station there or something, but there was nothing! So I had asked a tourist lady that sat beside us if he's not going to stop there - and she went and talked to the driver... long story short, the bus driver stopped for us on the side of ...

... meal, caiperinhas in hand, we demolished a fish in coconut sauce in a restaurant overlooking the city of Pernambucco and the ocean. We napped again then headed out to a Forro club where we danced till the wee hours. I had some great dances and actually never liked Forro till we got here. Its a pretty simple dance two steps forward and back, but here they pull you really close and mush against you. Its not gross because the dance floor is so packed the man actually offers ...

EVANGELISMO E DISCIPULADO "Antes de vocês virem conversar comigo, estava muito confusa. Me perguntava se Deus realmente existia, e não obtinha uma resposta. Compartilhei minha dúvida com uma amiga, que me disse para não pensar no assunto. Mas não foi o que fiz. Na noite anterior ao dia em que nos encontramos no campus, parei para orar, algo que raramente fazia ...

... We went to Olinda, which I thought was a lot prettier than Recife I thought, with cobbled stoned streets and coloured houses and a beautiful view on the sea. You can 't swim in the sea around Recife cos apparently there's sharks around. After Recife, I took a bus back down to Salvador, stayed there another two nights, saw Lenny Kravitz hanging out as a tourist in the city centre (I bumped into the man a few times but since I don't really like his music, didn't want to ...

... donkey shows? maybe).

When Carnaval time actually comes it’s all I expected and more. The costumes are incredible, all the more so considering that poor village people sacrifice everything for this one glorious spectacle. Parades crisscross the town for days and everything pretty much shuts down for business, analogous to Songkran in Thailand or Christmas/New Year in the West. The only problem is finding a meal ...