Where Is Ron?
Latin America, 10 November 2008 - 3 March 2009
Ron in Sipascancha, Peru, November 2008
Recife, Brazil, January - February 2009
2 February 2009
Afton, Virginia, USADear family and friends,
Today is Groundhog Day, and unfortunately, Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Phil, "the world's most famous groundhog" saw his shadow this morning, predicting that this already long winter will last for six more weeks. For the many non-US folks on our distribution list, Groundhog Day, February 2nd, is halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, i.e. between. the first day of winter and the first day of spring. The celebration of Groundhog Day began with Pennsylvania's earliest German settlers, who brought with them the legend of Candlemas Day, which states, "For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May..." Supposedly, European Germans watched hibernating animals, particularly badgers, to see if they saw their shadows, and since there are no badgers in Pennsylvania the groundhog became a substitute when German settlers moved there. So, if the groundhog casts a shadow on Feb. 2, winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says, spring will come early.
Ever the optimist, I'm hoping the groundhog is wrong. And as a sign of my optimism, I ordered the vegetable and flower seeds for our garden today.
Ron added a PS to the message below, telling me, "You might just want to save this and combine it with the next report. There is really nothing of interest to read." However, people keep asking me, "What is Ron doing?" So I'm sending the message to answer that question.
Love to all,
Ellen
To see photos of Lençois, click on the thumbnail at the left.
Recife, - a week gone by
To see photos of Recife, click on the thumbnail at the left.
2 February 2009
Recife, BrazilEllen, my dear,
A week in Recife. Where did the time go to. There have been no adventures, no wonderful social connections, no fantastic experiences - just a week of sun, rain, beaches, buses, talking, figuring out how things work, where things are, how to get there, and deciding or not deciding on where and when I am going next.
I know it has been a week because my hotel presented and wanted me to pay a bill for the week this morning.
Before trying to explain where the week went, let me tie up a couple of loose ends from the previous week.
One of the last events we watched in Lençois was the ritual of cleaning the church. Pictures will be provided later and they will say more than the thousand words it would take me to explain. But the women were all wearing their beautiful white holiday clothes and carrying mops or brooms or flowers or buckets of soapy water or .... And then there were the bands with the guys in costumes and their bodies and faces painted, playing their drums. And lots of tourists like me following them around with cameras and taking pictures while trying to avoid being splashed on the way down the steps. I told George and Bharbreh they should adopt this tradition for an annual cleaning of the Community Center at Shannon Farm.
George, I want to thank you for leaving me your book: Cicero, The Life and Times of Rome's Greatest Politician by Anthony Everitt. I am enjoying it very much, and will probably read it the second time. Actually I have to go back and read earlier parts to keep all the players straight, so maybe I will have read it three times before giving it to some other lucky traveler. Ellen I think this would be a good book group book.
Now on to Recife - and how have I spent a week here. Try to remember going to the beach for a week and then trying to write about what you did for a week - well, that is the reason to go to the beach - to do nothing for a week except enjoy the beach. Well, that is what I have been doing - nothing and loving it. I have explored the beaches by local buses from Olinda north of the city and the beach part of Recife called Boa Viagem Beach. Olida is more laid back with smaller one or two story building while Boa Viagem is much more commercial with tall building on the other side of the road along the beach. I found better fried fish in Olinda but more choices of restaurants in Boa Viagem, with the later being more expensive.
I must admit that neither of the beaches are very spectacular or good for swimming and they are crowded as well. The signs warning about sharks are very clear. The reef in Boa Viagem protects a small area to swim but when the tide comes in, much of the beach disappears in places. But still - it is where I ended up when I got tired of the buses.
Arriving at the bus station there was a 17K metro ride to the center where you transferred to a bus (for the same ticket) to the beach area of Olinda or Boa Viagem. I felt safe on the metro with my back pack and generally have felt safe in Recife, however, I don't walk around with my camera or much money and take taxis later at night. But it feels very different from my experiences in Salvador. Here I see police in cars but not on the streets.
Recife has a Sam's Club, and it took me a while to figure out how to get there by bus. But I couldn't find any of the things I needed and was disappointed in the selection. Shopping is difficult for me. My belt buckle on my security belt, with the zipped inside to hide some money, broke in Bolivia, where I then bought a hand-made belt from an artist which kept stretching and leaving stains on my shirts. In Salvador I bought another belt from a department store that was adjustable but the buckle keeps coming loose from the belt and leads to some problems when it is holding my water bottle, my inside pouch, and a bag of other items. And I am looking for a new set of shoe strings to replace one that is wearing through in one spot as well as still looking for a light weight bathing suit.
And then there is figuring out how to use my mobile phone. This morning I stopped in the Vivo office (it is their sim card that I bought in Sao Paulo) and tried to figure out the messages I get and where my credits went and how to use the phone etc. After giving the guy a penny for good luck he proceeded to pull up Google on the computer and used the Google translating page to explain different things to me. Thank you Google!
One day I found a large open air restaurant with a large sign advertising a special of R19.95 which would be less than $10 US and a picture of a beautiful piece of steak and an order of pasta. So I went in and sat at a table along the street and tried to order the special. Nothing ever arrived so I asked what the status of my order was. There was some discussion between a couple of the waiters and then a tablecloth, plates, and silverware were provided and I waited for a while but no food appeared. So I asked again. This time the maitre d' came over and we had a much longer discussion which I could not understand. Finally he asked me to follow him and he showed me the buffet, and the Japanese sushi bar in the adjoining room, and explained that all this was included in the special. With the prices I was paying for sandwiches (example a sub-way foot long was about $7, a hamburger next door was about $6) I couldn't believe that this was the special. I learned later that the dessert buffet was not included. Then there were the guys with their skewers bringing all kinds of meat to my table and slicing off whatever I wanted, including chicken and beef. However I never saw a piece of steak that matched the picture in the advertisement sign. But it was a bargain and I have returned a couple of more times wondering how those other places stay in business with this competition.
I still have no idea what I am going to do next or when I am going to do it. If I were heading to Belem I would probably break the trip at Sao Luis, but the bus ride to Sao Luis is 24 hours. There is a city halfway but I read that it is the hottest city in Brazil. I could go along the coast but it would take longer. And then when I get to Belem I am further away from Sao Paulo. So I don't know what I will do. Stay tuned.
Brazil is expensive, big and crowded. Cities are full of cars and bus traffic and quite noisy. And frankly the experience has not been an adventure like trips in Asia. People are mildly interested in me because I am an American and there are not many here in Recife - at least I have not met them.
I get around by bus and have found that the bus I take somewhere is not the same bus that brings me back. Numbers and routes change. It has taken me some effort to get around but I am getting better and not really doing as much moving around.
Maybe next fall our reports will be more interesting to read [note from Ellen: next fall we hope to go to Uzbekistan] - especially with a better travel writer back on the job. I miss your reporting skills.
Love and miss you,
Ron
Forward to Sao Luis and Belem
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Last updated: 11 April 2009
