Hanbo: Bemvindo a Brasil.............Fortaleza!

Adios Venezuela e bemvindo a Brazil..........!

A new country, a new currency, a new language, a new culture (well many various cultures), a new environment and tons of new challenges!!!!!!!!!

When travelling and arriving in a new country, it presents numerous challenges and takes a few days to acclimatise. The most difficult thing for me so far has been the language difference, in particular the different way they pronounce words in Portuguese. I spent just over 2 months trying to master Spanish and towards the end was really starting to feel that I was making progress and then I gotta start all over again with Portuguese in Brazil!

Pretty much anyone who knows me is aware that I am a big fan of Brazil though.........hence why this is my 4th time here! Just for those who are not fully aware of the basic stats on Brazil here´s a few to chew over.................you can call it 25 things to know about Brazil!

BRAZIL STATS

1 - By far largest country in South America (think it takes up c 2/3rds of the entire South America - if you took Alaska out of the US they would be pretty much the same size)

2 - 5th largest country in the world by Geographical and population size with a population of c 190 million people

3 - Language is Portuguese and only country who speak Portuguese in South America

4 - Bordered by every South American country bar 2 (Ecuador and Chile)

5 - Deemed to be the 8th largest economy in the world but readily agreed that it´s economy is growing at a rapid rate and is expected to be in world´s top 5 economies in next 10/15 years - they also recently made Oil discoveries offshore, which have been a huge advantage to the domestic economy

6 - Won independence from Portugal in 1825

7 - Capital is little known Brasilia with a population of c 2,5 million people

8 - Most populated city is Sao Paulo with c 11 million inhabitants........Rio de Janeiro is 2nd with c 6 million

9 - One of the few main world powers to have a Female Leader, Dilma Rousseff

10 - Famed for its humanitarian assistance worldwide and very generous donations to the World Food Programme

11 - Made up of 26 separate states but unlike USA, the country pretty much abides by the same rules and regulations throughout the country

12 - There are c 2,500 land airports in Brazil, second only to USA

13 - Predominantly Catholic country but is currently experiencing a surge in growth in the Evangenical faith

14 - Culture has a mix of Portuguese, Indigineous, African and other European influences creating huge diversity and is incredibly unique. Their culture is very much reflected in their food, music, play and pretty much their way of life!

15 - Brazil is world famous for its Football expolits. They are probably the only country that plays many variations of the game including footvolley, futsal and beach volley. It is the only country to win the World Cup 5 times and they have produced world famous players like Pele, Garinzcha, Zico, Romario and more recently Ronaldo. It is safe to say they are fanatical about the sport, male and female, and you can spark a conversation with any Brazilian about the game. Keep an eye out for Neymar c 18 years old, who is the player most expected to make the breakthrough as their next star! Touch of the Cristiano Ronaldo´s in his play and attitude though!

16 - Brazil will host the next World Cup in 2014 and Rio de Janeiro is also hosting the Olympics in 2016 after London in 2012

17 - Brazil is famous for "Carnaval" which in essence is a week long street party (and public holiday ie nobody works) with a huge variety in activities, music and dance depending on the location. It is held every year the week before Ash Wednesday. My understanding is the idea is to celebrate and experience all the things you are supposed to give up during lent.......ie an excuse to go mental! The Carnaval is held everywhere throughout the country and not just in Rio as a lot of foreigners believe. Some places celebrate for c 4/5 days, others for a week and some other places for anything for a week to 1 month! Most tourists head for Rio, most Brazilians dream of going to Salvador but in my experience the best was Olinda/Recife in the North-East. Without doubt the most enjoyable week of my life!!!! (Carnaval starts this week, March 4th by the way!!!!!!!!)

18 - Brazil is also famous for its shanty-towns (mostly existing in the hills) or known here as Favelas where a lot of people live in poverty but it also has a strong reputation for drugs and theft. Cidade de Dues or City of God is the most famous film depicting a Rio Favela. Pretty much every big city has it fair share of Favelas and Rio probably the most.

19 - Brazilians love cold beer and as a result they drink beer out of small glasses, which are constantly being filled from a freezing cold large bottle, which they share between friends. It is a really cool and social way of drinking and much better than drinking pints separately.

20 - You can drink alchool pretty much anywhere in Brazil.........ie on the beach, on the street and you can even bring a beer into a restaurant and get away with it!

21- In Brazil you get to choose from arguably the most varied and wonderful mix of juices and ice-creams. Definitely something I will miss when I leave.

22 - Their national dish is feijoada, which is in essence black beans made of meat. When you see it for the first time it doesn´t look that appetising as it looks like something you may have distributed off at the toilet before but despite that it is quite nice.

23 - Brazilians love their nicknames. Pretty much everyone has one and in a lot of cases they take on these apellidos (nickname in Portuguese) as their real name. A good example would be Pele. Another good example is the tall footballer Grafite (means Giraffe) who plays in Germany and a friend I have in Rio who I know as Boca (means mouth). I was told he was called this as he had a funny mouth when younger and I have never heard anyone else call him by anything different.

24 - Brazilians are world renowned for their friendliness, relaxed nature, love of fun, love of beach, love of speedos & g-strings, love of football and most of all their love of love! Probably the only negative connotation to Brazil is the lack of security and huge poverty and murders in the favelas and surrounds.

25 - In essence Brazil is a Country of huge variety including the Amazon/Jungle, lots of preserved and unique wildlife, numerous mountains and different terrains, large production of unique fruits, large coastline with beautiful beaches, incredible mix of races and looks (further north more African and further south more European) and probably the only country where they all take a c week long public holiday just to party!!!!!

I have been in Brazil for the guts of 6 weeks now and have yet to update the blog so I must be too busy enjoying myself then!!!!!!!!!

I arrived in Brazil from Venezuela and immediatly flew from Sao Paulo to Fortaleza in the North East of Brazil. Fortaleza means "Fortress" in Portuguese by the way!

I had not been to the city of Fortaleza before and had heard it was famous for its beaches so was looking forward to chilling out for a week or two while trying to brush up on my Portuguese, hopefully getting some lessons while there.

Unfortunately it didn´t work out just like that! I stayed for nearly two weeks and it rained c 60/70% of the time which ruled out the beaches! The rain was unreal, much more than we get at home. It was actually ok weather for first 4/5 days but it pissed every day after that. And despite my best efforts I could not find a Portugese teacher when there. To top it off I was then sick for c 3 days when there and spent most of that time in bed.

I think the best way to describe Fortaleza would be in line with the famous film "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" and not really what I expected.

There are some very beautiful aspects to Fortaleza, in particular the beaches in the city and the surrounds. It also has a very classy cultural centre called Dragao do Mar which always seemed busy, with lots of activities and tons of things to do.

Beautiful Coastline Fortaleza

When I was there it was the middle of the Brazilian summer holidays so there were tons of Brazilians who were there on holiday. The area surrounding the beach is full of top quality big Hotels, nice but expensive restaurants and nice bars. It is a really nice area, very safe but unfortunatly on the back-packers budget..........ie a bit out of my league!

Outside of the beaches, there really wasn´t much to get excited about. I spoke to a few Brazilians since and they agree that the only attraction to Fortaleza are the beaches. The city centre reminded me of being on the set of "Thriller" (Michael Jackson song) as you felt at any moment someone or thing was going to appear from under the ground or drain or wall. It was dirty, pretty ugly and I think "creepy" as we called it in the hostel was the most apt way to describe it.

The ladies in Fortaleza are a real dissapointment for Brazil. Some of my Brazilian mates I made there would describe it as "Fortaleza fea", which means Fortaleza ugly. It was also really sleazy with tons of prostitiutes in the bars.

There is a lot of poverty and homelessness in Fortaleza. And it can feel pretty unsafe a lot of the time. A Polish guy in our hostel was stabbed one night when spending time on the beach with a friend, while the guys were only looking for money. He probably should never have been on the beach so late but that´s hardly excusing what happened to him.

Fortaleza for me does not have much to attract the back-packer but then again if you are looking for a two week chill out holiday in Brazil, it is not a bad place to go!

You will probably wonder why did I stay there for two weeks then. A combination of being sick, laziness and the cool people in the Hostel kept me there!

The Backpackers Hostel in Fortaleza would be far from the most salubrious location I have ever stayed in and had its own little intricacies like getting no towel, being a bit disorgansied and deshivilled and all those who stayed having to buy and of course use your own toilet roll. But maybe the lack of organisation added to its character and also attracted characters to the hostel. I met lots of cool, interesting and fun people when there. The strange thing about the hostel was that we nearly always drank beers in the hostel each night and rarely if ever ventured outside.

There also was a nice mix of Gringos, other South Americans and Brazilians but everybody really mixed well and was always very welcoming. I made some really good friends when there who I hope to meet again.

Most of the crew at the Hostel

I had a cool day on the sauce with a real mixed bunch of guys and girls from the hostel. I was walking the beachfront one late afternoon (one of the days it wasn´t raining) and I bumped into two lads, Pedro and Schineyder, from the hostel who I had only just met the night before. Little did I know then that I was going to need me drinking boots. The two boys had limited English and even despite my limited Portuguese we had no issue communicating. We started off boozing on the beach, a cool Brazilian trait, and then headed on a pub crawl but with no particular plan. Eventually we finshed back in the hostel and I hit the hay around 4am pretty drunk. The next thing I knew I was back up again at 7,30 and the boys had gathered up a crew who thay had come back from a nightclub when I was in bed to hit the beach and continue drinking.

We bought a few beers on the street and then headed for the bus station.

Starting early - 8 am and people are heading to work!

We were having gas craic getting funny looks from those heading to work while we were messing on the street including me walking behind people imitating their walks much to all the guys amusement! Once we got to the beach we setlled into our chairs and drank the whole day! We had mad craic with tons of mad stuff happening including always taking the piss of each-other etc...... For example if a good or even reasonable (not many good lookers in Fortaleza) looking girl passed by we all broke out in the Inxs song........"Beautiful Girl Stay with Me"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone of us on the beach was given a nickname including a few below:

1 - Schineyder Holanda was christened "Wesley" after Holland football player Wesley Schneider due to the resemblence of his name. Wesley Schnedier also scored a headed goal that knocked Brazil out of the last World Cup so every time we joked about the name "Wesley" imitated the same goal celebration that the Dutch player did by patting his head!

Wesley!

And patting his head!!!!

2 - Alina was christened "Chefe" as this means the boss in Portuguese and there was no doubt this lady was the boss and not to be messed with. Very funny as other people in the hostel afterwards actually though her name was Chefe for the rest of the time she was there!

The Boss aka Chefe!

3 - Alejandro was given 2 nicknames as in 1- Alegaga due to Lady Gaga´s song about his name or 2 - Juan Sebastian Veron as he looked the image of the Argentine ex Man United footballer. A cool guy who loved the nicknames.

Juan Sebastian Veron in the yellow shirt!

4 - I was christened Edward Norton supposedly due to the resemblence and even somebody on the beach approached me with a picture of Edward Norton asking me what this me. Not sure though if the guys didn´t set that up though!

We went back to the hostel all prettty drunk and poor Wesley and Pedro had to immediatly leave to catch a bus home to their cities. Reckon they may have slept on the bus! Hopefully I will see the boys in Ireland sometime soon as they are really cool people. They brought loads of people in the hostel together and create a party environment. It wasn´t the same place after they left. I have included a few photos of the all the guys just here alongside the text but most of the photos of the day and a half on the sauce are at the bottom of the blog!

Pedro and Schineyder aka Wesley

I also met tons of other cool people including:

1 - Alejandro, Juan Pablo and Tomas - three really sound lads from Beunos Aires who were also on the beach with us that fun day. The lads have already been in touch about meeting up in Buenos Aires. The lads used to love the English footbll chants I thought them but Tomas was the only one though with a bit of footie intelligence as the others two boys were River Plate fans.

Juan Sebastian Veron and Juan Pablo on the left of the picture!

2 - Jooe and Fabi - two other cool Brazilians who were on the beach with us that day. Joao started to copy me calling all the characters selling stuff on the beach "Howaya George"!

Howaya George or Howaya Jooe!

Fabi.........Juan Sebastian would build a very close relationship with her later on!!!!!!!

3 - Roberto - Roberto was a chef and he often would cook for us! Unfortunately I have no photos of Roberto as a young lady I met after Fortaleza deleted my photos. All these photos here are Wesley´s!

4 - Lyell - cool Amerian guy who was working in the hostel. Poor Lyell had to deal with a lot of shite as the hostel wasn´t really well run by the owners.

Lyelly.........finally off duty!!!!!

There were tons of other cool people but these guys stood out and I know people are not really too keen to read lots about people they have never met so I will leave it at that.

And for all those who keep asking me "what about the women Hanby" well sorry lads nothing to report in Fortaleza. But then again maybe I was lucky to escape the Fortaleza ladies!!!!!!!

Over and out,
James.

ps will have next blog update on Salvador completed in next couple of days

PICS OF A DAY AND A HALF ON THE SAUCE