This past weekend marked the first excursion to the Brasilian beaches for me si
nce I’ve been here, as well as my first real vacation of the summer! I spent some time searching for destinations along the coast and getting suggestions from coworkers. Then I heard those 9 magic words – “we’ve got a place you can stay for free.” That was my supervisor talking. His girlfriend’s family has a vacation home that sits vacant for most of the year, especially now, the Brasilian winter. I told her that we would be incredibly grateful for letting us stay there and that we would love to take her up on the offer.
The house is in the northeast of Brasil an hour and a half south of the city of Recife(pronounced Hey-See-Fee.) We flew into Recife Thursday morning and picked up the rental car. I opted for the bargain car(still $50 a day) and it lacked some of the more basic features such as A/C, cruise control, locks on the inside of the doors, temperature control, and power steering. Driving south of the city, Karisa and I saw some remarkable landscapes like we’ve never seen before. The northeast is sugar cane country, and it’s pretty much the only thing you see for miles around. There is also, unfortunately, a high rate of poverty in this region, and there are some sad sights mixed in with the unusual beauty of the scenery. We made it to the house just around sunset – barely light enough to make out the house from the Google Earth map I had printed. We were greeted by the housekeeper who showed us in. Now this is a cultural issue that we had a really hard time with. Housekeepers/maids are very common here. For example, every coworker of mine that has a family also has a full time maid. This is a someone who cleans, cooks, cares for the kids – everything. Even knowing that this is really common in Brasil doesn’t make it easier to have someone cook your meals and wash all of your dishes for you afterwards. Add in the major communication problems and it made for an interesting few days.
The beach was amazing. The house is only a couple hundred feet from the beach, with private access. The first day we spent playing in the low tide beach, searching for cool sea life and loving the warm water. The wonderful sun we had on the first day didn’t last though. The next day the sky opened up in a major way. And then again…and again. But we made the best of the situation and enjoyed some intense games of poker. The final day cleared again just in time for us to leave. One last morning on the beach and then we hit the road to visit the city of Recife. One last confusing and awkward interaction with the housekeeper and we were off(I should add that Joelma was unbelievably nice and accomodating.) In the end, relaxation was achieved. A great trip!
