The second two weeks of July I went to Fortaleza, Brazil (Northeast, very close to the equator) for the BRAZ-TESOL conference. This was Brazil’s ESL teacher conference that takes place every two years. The other two fellows and myself all went to present and attend various seminars and presentations. Summer, living in Manaus (Amazonia) and Beatriz living in Campinas (Sao Paulo) and I all stayed at a great hotel across from the beach for the first week – Hotel Luzeiros. The breakfasts were spectacular (see photos below), as was our view and location. Every evening there was a major fair (feirina) along the boardwalk of the beach and they had every craft you could imagine - tablecloths, jewelry, hammocks, purses, lace, clothes, etc. The city also had a lot of poverty and child prostitution, which was very sad to see. Apparently, it is one of the more dangerous cities in Brazil, but you don’t really feel that unless you are out walking around. Just going from the hotel to the beach to the clubs, you certainly don’t have the same perspective as driving through the center of the city, as we did to get to the conference every day. Our amazing breakfasts at Hotel Luzeiros
The beach across from our hotel 
TESOL CONFERENCE with Beatriz and Summer
with Summer, Joelle, & Beatriz Meeting with Consulate members 
with Donna, Beatriz, Helmara, Summer & Joelle The TESOL conference was very interesting, and then in our spare time we went to the beach a lot! Samantha, a teacher I knew from Londrina, who now lives in a different state, was also there for the conference, so she came with us to the beach as well. Vendors were coming by every 30 seconds to sell you something , which got kind of irritating, but I did end up getting a tattoo – well actually just henna, but still fun:) We ate a lot of crab, lobster, shrimp, and the local rice dish, baião de dois, which had cilantro in it and was delicious. They also have a ton of fruit there and of course fruit drinks too. The typical Brazilian drink, caipirinha has cachaça and lime. These are basically too strong for me, but you can substitute vodka for the cachaça, called caipiroska, kind of similar to a Screwdriver. We could add any other fruit we wanted, so we had tangerine or strawberry, and the best – passion fruit (maracujá). These are terrific! So, we drank lots of those and went dancing several evenings as well to hear Brazilian pop music and the local specialty, forró (see video on the side for a better look at this – lots of fun). Fortaleza has a lot to offer, especially since many of the major parties occurred on the beach with excellent food and drinks and several live bands/singers in different sections for you to choose from! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera for this. But it was what you picture from Brazil or Mexico – outdoor tables, sea breeze, palm trees and lots of music. If you get tired of dancing you can walk out onto the beach and walk in the ocean for a while too - gorgeous!! At Praia do Futuro 
Lobster on the beach Getting a tattoo - just henna 
On the way to Jericoacoara 
After the TESOL conference, Summer and I, and Mauro, a colleague of hers from Manaus stayed another week and went to Jericoacoara. This is a small town with only sand for streets, about 5 hours Northwest of Fortaleza, located in the middle of a national park. It was great! First, we had to take a freezing air conditioned bus for 4 hours. So, although it was 85degrees outside, I had two sweaters, a scarf, and tennis shoes! At least I was prepared this time. Then we had to get off the bus and take a jeep for the remaining hour because we had to drive through sand and along the beach. We stayed at a little pousada (small outdoor style hotel) called Bela Villa Vista, run by an American woman and her Brazilian husband. It was very charming but we were in the middle of nowhere so there were many more bugs and animals than I was planning on. There were huge frogs everywhere and lizards, baby frogs in the rooms, etc.:) I guess it's all what you get used to. It was okay for a few days, but I don't think I would want to live there. Although, the pousada and the staff were really nice and it was super peaceful. There were hammocks on the decks of all the rooms and I became addicted to taking naps there. I wanted to buy a hammock but they were just too heavy to bring back. We were just a few minutes from the dunes and the beach. Our "taxi" service was a donkey and a cart that would take us down to the beach and back:) At night it was so silent and dark, the only things you could see and hear were the moon and the donkey steps. It reminded me of a scene from an old musical like “Oklahoma”. Trying to walk back by ourselves was a little difficult because roads kept branching off from one another and there were cows and horses roaming around, not to mention wild dogs. It was basically a peaceful place, but still you never knew what kind of animal you would come face to face with at night, since you could hardly see in front of your nose! There were excellent restaurants in town, and lots of live music and stands that sold various drinks. The only annoying thing was that you were ALWAYS walking in the sand. There was almost no pavement at all. And no matter what kind of clothes you wanted to wear, no matter how dressy, you still had to wear flip flops, otherwise it was just too difficult. Getting to Pedra Furada to see the sunset on our first night We had to climb up and down rocks, wade through rough ocean water and climb back up the rocks - I thought we would never make it here, but we did, and it was worth it! 
Everyone trying to get a photo of the sun as it hits the one hole in the rock!
At our pousada - I love the hammocks!! 
Dunes and beach at Jericoacoara
Evenings in Jericoacoara
Sunsets at Jericoacoara 
Everyone running up the dune for sunset 
Excursion to Tatajuba
While in Jeri, we took an excursion to the other side of the dunes which was fabulous as well. You take a buggy across the dunes and through the wind – it felt you we were getting two face lifts, it was so windy! But then you arrive at a lake in the middle of the dunes where you can have lunch and sleep in the hammocks in the water, and just relax – a perfect day trip! In fact, the whole trip to Jericoacoara was almost too relaxing. It was great, but we were ready to move on after a few days.
Learning to play the music that accompanies Capoeira
Many people come to Jericoacoara to do wind and kite surfing because it is extremely windy, since you are on the tip of the region, Ceara. Another popular activity is Capoeira. This is a traditional style of fighting/dancing that the slaves used to use in Brazil. It’s really interesting and I love the history behind it, so I took one class. It’s a little bit like Yoga and kick boxing combined. I have never been so sore!! It’s really acrobatic and I’m sure I used every muscle I have, and ones that I didn’t know I had as well! But I liked it and I think I’m going to try to continue the classes in Londrina too.
Final days in Fortaleza
We headed back to Fortaleza for two more days where we just stayed on the beaches there because I had caught a bad cold and wasn’t feeling well at all. We still managed to go to out to Dragão do Mar, though, the cultural center in town where they have outdoor bars and live music at night, in addition to an art museum and cinema complex. It was a nice way to end the trip. Unfortunately, I missed going to several other famous beaches to the east of Fortaleza, so I guess I’ll just have to go back one day:)
Uma boa viagem!!
