Hitch to Hope

My first week in Brazil. What a time so far. I know I’m on a mission and my first goal to get to an orphanage in Bolivia is still my main focus. But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the way I get there…

My flights from Frankfurt to Fortaleza went well. Apart of the fact that I forgot with which company I flew with on the connection from Recife to Fortaleza. (Note to self: print out full flight itinerary next time). So after a bit of researching the departure screens the flight number popped up in my mind and I was good to go.

And so I landed in Fortaleza. A little anxious because of the fact that I would be picked up by a couchsurfing host. (www.couchsurfing.com is a website where people can offer a room/couch for free or for that matter, recieve one). I said I would land at 19:45. He wasn’t there at 20:00. I got a little bit more anxious but a few minutes later there he came walking to the gate, Paulo Barbosa.

I handed him the new vinyl album of Iron Maiden. When we communicated through couchsurfing I asked if I could bring him a welcome gift. As a big Iron Maiden fan this was a logical wish. Then we walked to his car. Not even the people I know in the Netherlands have a nice car as he had, an almost brand new BMW stood there waiting. And so we drove in style to his house to drop of my gear.

I had little rest because we went for drinks on the praya (beach) Beira mar. A nice little restaurant where they serve buckets(!) of beer (read: buckets with ice with bottles of beer in it) and waiters who are constantly walking around with dishes that you could order on the fly, or you could order from the menu. So we had some buckets and ate some food. Meanwhile a friend of Paulo also joined. She found a little time to go for drinks because she was studying hard to become a public lawyer. With an exam comming soon the stresslevel was rising in her. Anyway we sat there for a couple of houers and we went back to Paulo’s home.

While all this happened we were discussing different subjects. Paulo has a strong oppinion about the political situation in Brazil. Especially the corruption and inequality in the country he condemned a lot. I can only agree with him on that matter. But spanning the interrests from science to religion to women (which man doesn’t talk about that) and ofcourse the weather, We always had something to talk about.

The next day Paulo suggested to come tot he city with him. He had to work but he could drop me off at his work. I would walk around a bit and then have lunch together on praya Futuro, another beach in Fortaleza. And so I walked the city, and the beach a bit, i returned to his work and we went for lunch at praya Futuro.

Paulo already said it would be a very typical place, and so it was. The beach full of parasols made of palmwood and there leaves. And just the view over the ocean. Something that would immediately pop up if you would search for ‘vacation in Brazil’. The picture was really perfect when we ordered two coconuts from which we drank the liquid, it was even cold!

Paulo went back to work and I went to his home. I was still a bit jetlagged and tired from the first impressions of the day so when i got home I allmost fell asleep immidiately.

The next day I went with Paulo to his work again. This time we didn’t plan lunch. I just had some time to change some money and I went to the beach myself this time. I found a nice little café on the beach. First I had a big juicy coconut, after that some coffee. Now had my head been hurting a bit, Brazilian sun is HOT and because I’m not exactly blessed with a big afro I wanted to get a hat. I had seen some vendors walking up and down the beach with all sorts of goods; fruits, sunglasses, shrimp (yeah, shrimp on the go), suncream, etc, etc. Also there were hat-vendors and after seeing a few pass by I decided to ask one of them what the hats cost. Ofcourse he didn’t answer my question but he immediately started giving me al different kinds of hats to try. There had been sitting a woman at a table next to me and she provided me with some useful judgement. After little negotiation,  I paid him 20 real (5 euro) and I was glad with the somewhat hip but mostly functional protection for my delicate somewhat balding head. The woman at the other table congratulated me with my brand new appearance.

The woman and I kept talking. She didn’t speak a word of english and I did not speak any portugese but that didn’t seem to matter one little bit. If you can’t stop laughing together you know you are speaking the same language. I thanked her for the good time and I went on my way. I walked around a bit and enjoyed the beautiful scenery that the vast ocean provides. After an hour or so I decided to turn back, I passed the same cafe and I was feeling a bit hungry. A woman in front of the cafe was politely showing me their menu so I decided to go there again. And behold, that same woman of before was sitting there still. She laughed about my return and I asked if I could sit with her. No problem ofcourse! We had some fishfingers toegether, she tried to learn me some Portugese (the first thing i understood was: no intenti = I don’t understand), she showed me her children (mymy what a daughter…) and grandchildren and told me she was a teacher. I replied with uhuh’s and hmhm’s and a lot of laughs, especially when I tried to learn her some dutch words. When she tried to pronounce them we had the most fun together. After this second session of a lot of laughter I said thanks and goodbye again, this time for real.

I went back to Paulo’s house again and waited for him to get home. I said I would cook dinner and so I did, A very nice spaghetti carbonara it was. This was immediately a good foundation for the evening to come because we would have some drinks with other couchsurfers and afterwards get to a club with live music. And so we went tot he couchsurfingmeeting, we had some laughs with those guys and after that, PARTY.

In the club, first things first, so that meant a couple of shots. After that, check out the dancefloor,  a lot of fine women ofcourse. The liquor and the dancemoves were abundand, what great way to start your trip in Brazil. Finally we went home, fried some eggs and got to sleep.

The next  day, Hungover… Paulo went to work, I slept in… All day just relaxing a bit, checking out the social media and watching movies. Around 17:00 Paulo came home. He looked at me and said: “I’m dead’, and went straight to bed. A few hours later he woke up because he had an appointment with his girlfriend to go for some drinks. She wanted to meet me too so I went along. There was this nice little cafe where they had live blues music. The musicians were really good so we enjoyed the evening. Not for that long though, we still felt the last day a little…

Saturday. Paulo didn’t have to work and I had seen a commercial on the tv that was at the bluesbar the night before. It was advocating ‘Beach Park’. I asked Paulo what that was and he replied:  ‘The biggest waterpark in latin-America’. I said: ‘then let’s go there’. He said: ‘Ok’. And so we did.

A couple of things inside the waterpark; 40 meter high slide that goes straight down, multitude of slides with tubes, crazy chaotic waterspraypark (for the kids, but adults can enjoy too…), enormous waterfalls, etc, etc… We tried most of the slides, but there were so many, and some also had long lines we couldn’t do them all. So there’s a reason to return someday. At the end of the afternoon we took a final picture of Paulo and me together. There was a beautiful scenery with palmtrees along the beach where more people took pictures. I saw a couple taking pictures. And then I heard them speak… Dutch. But not regular Dutch, I heard Dutch with soul, Dutch with a Surinam accent that is. I asked the couple if they could take our picture. ‘Maar natuurlijk m’n schat’ (surinaams). And so she did. I returned the favor and we headed back home.

My days in fortaleza were over, I bought a busticket the day before to get to Teresina and so Paulo dropped me off at the busstation. I had a trip of about ten hours ahead of me. He waved me goodbye and I stepped on the bus at around 20:30.

The busfare went fine. I allmost slept all the way and I arrived in Teresina around 06:30. When I was in Fortaleze I managed to get another host via couchsurfing. His name was Franciluz. He left me his adres and so I took a taxi to his appartment from the busstation. When I got to his home he wasn’t there himself but his nephew waited for me. Franciluz himself had worked that night so around 09:00 we picked him up.

I’m kind of tired typing now so the rest in a quick fashion…

We got back to his house and he said that his family would stop by. When they came we had a great time together. They thaught me a bit of Portugese, I thaught them a bit Dutch, we played domino’s and overal just laughed a lot.

Paulo had a friend in Teresina aswell so he gave her my number. I had a whatsapp message if we would meet up and so we did. Two girls picked me up and we would meet with two other girls to have lunch. They brought me back to Franciluz place where we said we would meet later to have some drinks at a bar. We went there the evening and had a lot of fun. You might say I had a lot of fun with one of the girls aswell.

The next day I went to see the city with the girl that I had the most fun with, Samantha. She showed me some nice nature of Teresina and we also bought the busticket together for me to get to Brasilia the next day. I stayed at her place the night and we again had some fun…

The next day in the morning we went for a tall lookout point on one of the bridges in Teresina. After that it was time for me to get to the busstation because my THIRTY! hour trip from Teresina to Brasilia would start at 14:15. She dropped me off, we kissed goodbye and there I went.

This busride was a bit harder then the one I made from Fortaleza to Teresina, mainly because it was three times longer. Apart of the fact that it just took really long, the trip went wel. I typed a lot of this story that you’re now reading; I read about a dozen times the stories that my friends and family left me in a little journal they made for me (big thanks again you all!); I looked out the window to the Brazilian countryside, varying from pretty arid to green hills but also miles and miles of cotton farmland; and I slept a lot. I think I must have slept twenty of the thirty hours, which was nice. I arrived in Brasilia around 20:00, I took a taxi to the youthhostel I am staying right now and here I am typing to you guys the next day.

My plan is now to stay here a couple of nights, maybe meet up with some couchsurfers and then head further for Bolivia. As said before, my main focus is still getting to an orphanage. I haven’t made contact yet with one in Bolivia but the stories I hear is that there is enough to do over there so finding a place to help won’t be that difficult.

Another thing what has been on my mind is trying to get the donation system up and running. A friend of mine who has been constructing this website is having some busy days lately so the donation system is a bit delayed. Hes trying to get it up and running. If anyone has any skills in programming you might be able to help him. Just send me a message and I’ll send you his contact.

Because let’s face it, I’ve already put a lot of kilometers in this trip. Ooij – Frankfurt ~400 km; Frankfurt – Fortaleza ~8000 km; Fortaleza – Teresina ~600 km; Teresina – Brasilia ~1600km… total of ~10600km. If someone would sponsor me 1 cent per kilometer the kids in Uganda would be about 100,- Euro’s, Dollars, Yens or whatevers richer!

I’m trying the best I can so keep checking this site out, it can succeed only with your attention!

So far my experiences, I love you all!

Tchau!