Porto de Galinhas

Well the first week of our 3-week odyssey is officially over, which is just incredible, as in "hard to give credit." I think that this momentous occasion deserves a little look back on the great memories we've made over the days.

I think that without a doubt it is the people we've met along the way that have made the difference between a good trip and a sick one, which I think is always the case. A few highlights:

The two Swedish girls we met at the hostel in Boa Viagem in Recife. If you are reading this, I have only this to say: you are insane, and you know it, and you are proud. What can you say about two teenage blond girls who can drink 20 middle-aged Brazilian construction workers under the table? That sounds like a metaphor but it's not.

On a related note, me and Mateo have unanimously decided that Swedes are the craziest partiers in the world. We think it's because their society is so perfect that they need to find an escape. Crazy parties: one of the many terrible, just terrible downsides to having an egalitarian, wealthy, uncorrupt, fair society with universal healthcare and a long history of peaceful relations with its neighbors. If only everyone could deal with their frustrations the way we do in America: cheap and ready access to firearms of all varieties.

Our second day in Recife, after visiting our second (that's 2) closed museum, we were lucky enough to meet Sergio, a former tour guide and part-time Elvis impersonator who generously offered to show us around all day for free. He used his contacts to get us inside the St. Isabel Theatre, the colonial-era theatre where women and "coloreds" of any type were not allowed, and where the great sugar barons of the time hobnobbed with each other and even sometimes with the Emperor. We also saw the Casa da Cultura, an old prison now converted into an eclectic market. Check out the pics on the right if you want to see a jewelry store inside a prison cell.

Another friend we made in Recife was Klen, a sociology doctoral student from Minas Gerais who was in Recife this week to take the entrance exams for the doctoral program at the Federal University of Recife (he passed - congrats!). Kling traveled with us to Porto de Galinhas, exerting a mature influence on the two of us which we skillfully managed to ignore. Maybe next time buddy!

In Porto we met a ton of just phenomenal people, one of the effects of being in a very small town. Jeanette and Timu from Germany were a couple of instant friends, two of those people that you feel just an instant connection to from the moment you meet. Timu showed us some sick house dance moves at the local club called Santeria, where we spent every night we were there (and some mornings too).

While we were in Porto we also took a little excursion into an ecological reserve they have there, with mangrove swamps and seahorses. I would like to say a few things about seahorses.

First of all, it is widely accepted that on the universal scale of cuteness seahorses lie above kittens and bunnies (but just below puppies). I mean, they're miniature horses that swim around the ocean. Who would believe that if they didn't see it with their own eyes? I mean, it's like if I told you I had an 8-foot pink bunny.

Also, when you catch them and hold them in your hand, they just lie there, looking at you helplessly with those big brown eyes. Who could hurt such an innocent creature? Actually, the chemicals used in sunscreen burn their skin, which is why you're not allowed to hold them. Although apparently hundreds of sunscreen-laden tourists swimming for hours in their natural habitat apparently doesn't do any harm. Who would have thought, right?

Well, as usual I've been too long-winded, and by now I am no longer in Porto de Galinhas, where this post was started, but rather in Maceio, capital of the state of Alagoas, so I will continue the story elsewhere.