Where Is Ron?
Latin America, 10 November 2008 - 3 March 2009
Ron in Sipascancha, Peru, November 2008
São Luis and Belem, Brazil, February 2009
9 February 2009
Afton, Virginia, USADear family and friends,
More bus rides! That's what Ron has been up to in the past week. I'm just glad I'm not enduring all these bus rides with him -- I miss him, but not enough to want to be there doing what he is doing!
So, a report below from Ron, plus a report from Laurie as she and Steven continue their interview and teaching sessions with villagers in Mandorini.
Love to all,
Ellen
To see photos of São Luis, click on the thumbnail at the left.
Sao Luis and Belem
To see photos of Belem, click on the thumbnail at the left.
9 February 2009
Belem, BrazilHello, my dear,
I have retreated from the afternoon heat of Belem to a cool air conditioned Internet Cafe to let you know about my last week. Before leaving Recife I enjoyed another $10 buffet dinner at my favorite restaurant and took some notes to remind me about the wide choices provided: fish with capers and olives, spinach salad with dried figs and cheese, lettuce salad with grated Parmesan and eggs, fried pineapple (yummy), cubed egg plant, fresh salsa, black eyed peas (especially good since I missed Carol's at New Year's), shrimp Creole, a fresh fruit selection of mango, watermelon, pineapple, melon, plums along with preserved figs and maraschino cherries, fillet Mignon wrapped in bacon, grilled chicken, meat wrapped around different cheeses, a Japanese sushi bar and much much more. For dessert which was extra - by weight - I had flan which I know you would have loved. [Note from Ellen: flan is one of my very favorite desserts.]
From Recife I took another bus ride to São Luis. It was supposed to be a 24 hour ride but turned out to be 28 hours. From Sao Luis I caught another bus to Belem.
When I bought my ticket to Belem, I checked out the Internet Cafe at the bus station and they had good keypads and a fast connection, so I planned to spend at least three hours on the Internet before my bus left on what was supposed to be a 12 hours bus ride. I got to the bus station early, logged in and killed the first page full of spam, and then the Internet Cafe lost its connection to the Internet and did not get it back before my bus left. And then the bus trip took 14 hours. So much for good planning.
São Luis has a wonderful old town, much of which is a World Heritage Site. Much like Lençois, the center had lots of people at night, many tourists who were mostly from Brazil, but I met other travelers as well. And of course there was music coming from many different directions.
As an example of my days, I will try to describe one of them. I got up at 7 am for breakfast, which was provided by the hotel, consisting of sliced ham and cheese, fresh rolls, butter, watermelon, mango, melon, crackers, coffee. (Sometimes there is powdered chocolate and hot milk, sometimes yogurt and cereal.) Then I walked about 20 minutes down to the docks where I bought a ticket for the 9 am catamaran for Alcantara Island. While waiting I met some young backpackers from New Zealand, Italy, Columbia, and I think Germany. We exchanged some travel stories and after learning that I had traveled like them when I was younger, they found me somewhat interesting. I learned that they were robbed at gun point (small revolver) the day before when they took a short cut to the beach on the other side of the river. On the boat I sat between a woman from Rio and a woman doctor from Belo Horizonte and her husband, a lawyer. The woman from Rio, Juliana, was waiting to take a test for a job in the parks near here. I would call her an environmentalist and she would call herself a biologist. The man she is married to is also a biologist and they are both hoping to move from their island park off the coast at Rio to the parks near here. From her description of the island she works on, it sounded like she was leaving paradise. But they will go back there eventually, but need to pursue a career.
On Alcantara Island I walked around, toured the Island Historical Museum, the old remains of the cathedral, including the whipping post which still stands, although most of the building does not, and looked at some of the old houses, churches, and walked down the old street looking at some of the old buildings dating back to 1695, some with coverings of the old Portuguese tiles and others just ruins of walls standing, visited the old church and wandered around town. Found a ripe tomato in a store and sat in a little park and ate it.
Later in the afternoon I ran into Juliana and she knew a place to eat and we shared a fish dinner for two. Seems to be a custom for tourist-oriented restaurants to serve big portions for two people. Or a custom for people to share a meal.
Afterward I returned on the 3:30 pm catamaran. (There was also a boat that went at 9:30 and returned at 4:00). I was warned that things could get wet so I wrapped my camera in several plastic bags and put it in my shirt pocket, still attached to my safety lanyard around my neck. Good thing because I did get wet on the return trip.
Walking back to my hotel I passed the main bridge over the river to the city and watched three women in costumes doing acrobatics, waving flags, and one playing an accordion then passing the hat to stopped traffic at the red light. Later walking from my hotel to the center, I found them again in a small park and stopped and talked. Again, after explaining that I had traveled like them when I was their age, they opened up and we exchanged some stories. They are basically traveling on what they collect for their performances - enough for hostels, bus tickets and food. At one of the hostels a guy walked off with their portable sound system and they are having to save to replace it. Two of the women were from Venezuela and the other from Chile.
That evening in the center I met a couple of guys, one from Norway and one from Sweden. The Norwegian has always worked as a fisherman or in businesses related to fishing and has traveled all over the world. He really loved Brazil and now has a home near Natal. We spend the evening talking to each other and some of the locals. Most people were eating and drinking lots of beer and I was maintaining my tastes for water and fish and even a bit of pizza.
So went a day. There was an annual meeting of the World Social Forum meeting in Belem and many people had been to the meeting and were now traveling around (such as the young people I met at the boat.) If I had known about the social forum it would have been wonderful to have attended. While I meet lots of people, the meetings are brief and then people go on their way.
There has been some discussion about my time in cities rather than smaller places. I think because we live in such a beautiful place in the country I enjoy spending time in cities when I travel. The distance and time from Cuzco to Salvador to meet George and the need to get additional pages in my passport as well as visas to Paraguay and Brazil also meant spending time in cities and then catching buses between big cities. And then it is harder to get to out of the way small places and requires more time and planning to do so. And when I am alone, it is harder to go to the smaller places alone than it is to go to cities. Brazil is so large, and it is not my normal patter to cover such distances. Compromises, plans with others, time limits, and choices have made this a very different trip. I think I prefer visiting a smaller place and doing it well - maybe on bike - than doing it like this trip. Russia was also large and presented some of the same difficulties. However, I am enjoying my time, sweating, losing weight, and getting to know Brazil and some Brazilians as well as other travelers.
Now I am enjoying getting to know Belem. And I think I will go look for something to eat.
Love and miss you more each day,
Ron
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Last updated: 11 April 2009
