Listen to this vlog entry here
Here’s a playlist to set the mood: Brazilian LoFi Hip Hop Mix for study, work or sleep ~ Vol. 1
Chapter One – Boa Viagem (Bon Voyage)
I had so much anxiety going into this trip, stemming from my fear of flying so I did a few things to help combat the stress. I got global entry. I brought plenty of snacks, and before I left, when packing, I made a list of not only things to bring to Brazil, but things to bring back. I also made plans for when I was back to keep me looking toward the future. Flying out of LAX was a breeze, I was even an hour early for my flight, a rare instance for me. It was about 13 hours to São Paulo. I booked a window seat and a family with a baby was seated next to me. Surprisingly this baby was very pleasant and rarely cried. I slept for a few hours here and there and it was a mostly smooth flight. There was one moment of turbulence and when I looked out the window I could see a storm below us. When I felt myself becoming panicked, I practiced some deep breathing exercises, and was able to move through it. We arrived a little before 7am local time, an hour or so late and I had to make my way through customs at GRU. A GRUeling process that involved a long immigration line, gathering my luggage, and going through customs, and essentially reentering the airport through a new terminal. I was automatically rebooked on a flight for 10am, which ended up working out, but I had to wait in so many long lines, and I’m not really sure what the hold up was. One agent mentioned that he hated Delta flights, which is confusing, because LATAM is a Delta partner airline, lol, anyway.
While I was in the reentry line I saw this beautiful brown skinned woman with a touch of gray in her fro, who was returning home to Salvador. She said she had been touring Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean coaching her gymnastics group. I wondered if all the women in Bahia looked like her because I would need to visit ASAP, haha. There are so many different looking people in Brazil. People who look like me, people who look nothing like me and everything in between. It is such a melting pot. I used the extra time before my flight to find some food and coffee which was harder than I anticipated. Everything was fried, or had cheese, and no where served oat milk. What was this Cali girl to do? I must’ve walked around the terminal three times before settling on American classics like Starbucks thinking they would have oat milk, WRONG. They did offer me coconut milk though, which was nice of them, haha. I opted for shrimp tacos from T.G.I.Fridays, and honestly these tacos were a jump scare. I should’ve known something was off when the server threw a handful of mayonnaise packets in my bag. The shrimp were fried and served in a flour tortilla with rice and cabbage with a whiskey glaze on the side with tortilla chips and some kind of creme sauce drizzled over everything. At this point I was too hungry to care, and just ate the tacos as best as I could before boarding my flight to Recife, the capital of Pernambuco.
Recife is about 3 hours northeast of São Paulo by plane. Since I missed my original connection, I ended up with a middle seat toward the front of the plane. There was some confusion, as the agent told me my new seat was 6A or so I thought, really it was 6E (E sounds like A in Portuguese). I slept for about an hour and was so relieved when we finally landed. It was a short wait for the luggage, I changed some cash, and called my uber. My God, as soon as I stepped outside the humidity hit me. It was hot! My uber driver was very friendly, and spoke some English, but Google Translate ended up being my best friend during this trip. I actually love that most people don’t speak English, somehow it gives me hope for the future. The radio played a mix of English and Brazilian songs, I can’t tell you the last time I had heard I Love the Nightlife. The views on the 30 minute drive to my AirBnB in the Casa Caiada neighborhood of Olinda already had me entranced.
Chapter Two – A Chegada (The Arrival)
I booked an beachfront 2 bedroom 2 bath condo overlooking the ocean. I was a bit removed from the wedding venue but being so close to the water was worth it. The building itself was very modern, with a game room, pool, gated entry and 24/7 security. The apartment had internet, smart TVs and my personal favorite, a hammock. It was a full day of travel at this point, and I was pretty exhausted so I just hung around the apartment. The beach below was filled with people, with lots of music and chatter. My host Telmo, was the best. He sent me so many suggestions and, his wife and sister in law all checked in on me to make sure everything was going well. The sister in law even walked with me to the grocery store so I could pick up a few items. Brazilians are SO nice. Once I got back from the store, I decided to venture out to a nearby sushi restaurant. Everything was cheap there so I decided to splurge a bit. To my surprise and chagrin most of the sushi rolls involved cream cheese. I am not a huge cheese fan to begin with, I almost never eat cream cheese, and couldn’t figure out why it seemed to be in everything. Anyway, it was early, but I ended up falling asleep on the couch and waking up around 11pm. Despite my best attempt I didn’t end up falling asleep until after the sun rose at 4 a.m. I was not expecting it, but I ended up having the perfect view. There was something so soul stirring about watching the sun come up over the Atlantic. My first Brazilian sunrise was truly astonishing, but I needed to sleep. So I drew all the curtains and drifted off. I dreamt about a cauldron of bats outside in a tree during the day.
Chapter Three – Olinda e Recife
My friend Valentina, aka Pedro, invited us to her dad’s house for lunch. I had heard so much abut this magical place in the “jungle” of Brazil, and was excited about possibly seeing a monkey. When we arrived on the compound I took note of the thousands of mangoes on the ground. Standing on the veranda, every few seconds you could hear a mango fall. It was a dream. The flora was so lush and green, with so many fruit trees. Mango, papaya, and fruits I can’t even name. While taking in the view, I actually saw a marmoset. It all happened so fast, I wasn’t able to capture it on camera. They symbolize communication, relationships, problem-solving, joy and flexibility. We went on a quick walk around the land, when I tell you there were so many fallen mangoes, at very least 10s of thousands. They even had an apiary. Lunch consisted of a regional dish called aratu or basically an omelette made with small crabs, cod fish cooked in olive oil, green beans, rice, and fresh mango juice. For dessert, coffee and orange cake. Everything was so delicious, the bolo or cake, changed my life. And even more, it was so great to meet Pedro’s mom and some of her close friends. I had already met her dad during our New Years Mojave desert excursion way back in 2015. It also just so happened that her mom was receiving an award from the U.N.D.P for her social justice work. It just accentuates how precious this moment in time was.
After lunch I went back to my Airbnb to get some R&R before linking up with my schoolmate Trevor for dinner and exploring the gay bars in Recife. We decided to get dinner at an Italian restaurant in the historic center of Olinda. One of my favorite things about the area is that music is abundant. Passing by a park, I saw people practicing juggling and various instruments. People are playing music and dancing in the street. It is quite a sight to behold. The restaurant was interesting, luckily no cream cheese. The pasta was so fresh and excellent, but I was a bit confused by the sauce. There’s some kind of herb that threw it off for me. The restaurant also had a mango tree outside, and it was at this point that I decided to calculate how often a mango falls. You could see the sugar dripping from the mango, I just wanted to pluck one off the tree. The tiramisu dessert was excellent, and we made our way to Boa Viagem. Depending on traffic, Recife is about 20 minutes away from Olinda. Our first destination was the main gay bar, Conchittas. The decor was truly bizarre. There were several tributes to the Beatles, Elvis and Michael Jackson. I didn’t realize they were gay icons. We stumbled upon a Bachelor Party, which was the main event. Tell me why, Trevor, a straight man, got hit on, by a straight woman, at a gay bar. Story of my life. I’m literally making a movie about it. We then went next door to the karaoke bar. As expected for a random Wednesday night the bars were kind of empty. Still, I was impressed by the song selection, it seems that certain songs are destined to be karaoke songs. I shocked the crowd with my finale, Não deixe o Samba morrer by Alcione
Chapter Four – Recife Antigo: Rios e Ruas (Old Recife: Rivers and Streets)
The next day I wanted to be a bit of a tourist and head into Recife and explore, but I woke up late. I don’t think I ever fully adjusted to being 5 hours ahead of my normal time zone, but it was at this point in the trip that I decided I was already in love with Brazil and wanted to stay. I had lunch at a restaurant Pedro recommended, Reteteu that specialized in Pernambucan cuisine. I got a shrimp and pumpkin dish. I should have asked them to go easy on the cream cheese, lol. After lunch, I grabbed coffee and one of their regional delicacies, bolo de rolo (guava roll cake) in the old part of the city near Praça do Marco Zero. A group of us was meeting there for a boat tour. It was lucky to be able to hang out with other wedding guests and get to know the city more as a local. After we rode the rivers into the night, a few of us decided to hit the streets of Recife. We ended up at a gay bar called Super 8, at least I think it was a gay bar. It was showing queer films from the neighboring state Paraíba, you guessed it, on super 8. You can’t make this stuff up! I love how folks just take over the streets, eating, drinking, dancing, and even watching films. It was a beautiful night, capped off with dinner at a nearby restaurant that also had live music. I tried my first caju (cashew fruit) caipirinha, and omg. Why don’t we have caju in the US? There is so much we’re missing out on, I don’t get it.
Chapter Five – Dia da Proclamação da República (Proclamation of the Republic Day)
I woke up feeling so at home despite the language barrier. This is partly because the people are SO KIND. For example, I was having trouble finding a hair appointment, and the girl who braided my hair literally rescheduled an appointment just so she could do my hair before the wedding. She even helped me schedule my nail appointment. I love how staying open and present is part of the culture. It almost feels revolutionary. I felt so grounded and safe. After my appointments, the wedding guests gathered in the historic center of Olinda for a wedding toast. The full moon had risen, hundreds of people were on the street, many with the wedding, but many not. It was electric. It felt like New Orleans on steroids. And by sheer coincidence I bumped into a woman who had the same bag as me. In fact I saw a woman with her exact bag over a year ago and had been searching for one ever since. I finally found one a couple of weeks before my birthday. It shipped all the way from Japan. We were careful not to “burn the start” so I returned home relatively early so I could get some good rest before the big day.
Chapter Six – Casoreo nas ladeiras (Wedding on the Hills)
I woke up super excited for the day ahead. I spent some time at the beach before heading to the wedding. OMG THE WEDDING! In my mind, weddings like this only happen once every 10 years. A union of truly cosmic proportions. 300 plus people gathered to celebrate Valentina and Marcelo. The joining of two radiant hearts that live and love so fully and freely. A love so pure and abundant that it lifted us into a new dimension. An intergenerational party that lasted over 12 hours. There were two bands, and several DJs. I still have the nerve damage in my toe to prove it. It was truly remarkable and unforgettable and I feel so blessed that I was able to witness and partake in the vibes. It was epic. And I got hit on by at least 3 people so there’s that, LOL. And YES I saw the sun rise. Not pictured, all the delicious food that I ate, like tapioca and bolo.
Chapter Seven – Alto da sé (Top of the Cathedral)
My last full day in Brazil was like taking a deep breath. At breakfast I ran into a few people from the wedding who recommended I visit Alto da sé to get souvenirs. It was November but the blocos were already preparing for carnival. Music and people filled the streets once more. It never gets old. The views of Olinda and Recife were breathtaking and I was able to check a bunch of things off of my list. The group had one final link up on the steps of a church before I left to go to the mall and get coffee and other things to bring back. I had my first local açaí bowl and I honestly can’t eat acai bowls anymore without thinking of Sylvanian Dramas.
Chapter Super Oito – O Voltar (The Return)
The morning before my flight was all a blur. It was a rough night with my cycle coming on heavily. I also had a supernatural experience, where I met the ghost of a cat. It was actually a really sad dream, but I appreciate that my spirit had attuned so quickly. I was able to make it to the airport in time, but once again struggled to find food. I ended up having a burger, and honestly, now I see what all the hype is about. The burger was really good, haha. I had them hold the mayonnaise, finally catching on. The flights home were smooth, minus this man trying to get me to change my window seat with his wife’s middle seat. Audacity really is at an all time high. I slept even more on this flight. I watched Inside Out 2 and ended up having a brief dream about my family, including my dad and aunt who have passed. It was a happy dream, where everyone was laughing and joking. I couldn’t help but think that they were all so proud of me for not giving up on my dreams and allowing a new dream to awaken inside of me. Getting through the airport was a breeze, thanks global entry. When I finally got home, all I could do was cry, releasing so many emotions that had built up over the past week. This was honestly the best experience of my life. I feel like a brand new person who can truly accomplish anything, at the same time honoring the shifts that have occurred as a result of this transcendental spiritual revelation.