You, me and a place beginning with 'P'
Trip Start
Nov 03, 2008
1
14
Trip End
Dec 31, 2009
Natal, State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
So today I am flying with TAM and am pleasantly surprised. The plane looks like it is from this century, the staff seem pleasant and I manage to get a quick squizz at the pilot, and he seems old enough to have experience but not too old that he might have a heart attack!
The majority of the flight is actually quite comfortable, little turbulence and I manage to get a little bit of shut eye. This flight is not direct so we have one stop en route in Recife, and the landing is not text book by any stretch of the imagination.
Now I know that I have a tendency to freak out, but everyone that I could see on the plane looked somewhat perturbed as we came into land.
We were rocking all over the place from side to side and as we got closer and closer to the runway, I really am having 'an oh my god we are going to die moment'.
As the wheels touch the runway, it seems that we are going way too fast to stop in time before the run way finishes and the landing was so clunky and clumsy, that when we did finally stop, there was a collective sigh of relief from all the passengers......can I just get off here please and get a bus the rest of the way.
So after some of the passengers disembark and new ones board it is time to complete the rest of the journey which I am so not looking forward to.
Again most of the trip is bearable but again as we come into land things seem to take a turn for the worse and pretty much repeat the same landing that we had in Recife....OK, this pilot needs to go back to school and take a refresher class in landings!!!
By the time I disembark the plane, my nerves are shot and I have aged 10 years, thank god I can relax now and not have to deal with the hassle and hustle and bustle of a big city like Rio.
So I collect my bags and come through the arrivals lounge without incident and am really disappointed to find that Ed is not there waiting for me with a little sign that says 'welcome Helen'.
In fact I am almost tearful, I really wanted to be greeted with a little sign to make me feel nice and warm and gooey inside.
I wait 10 minutes or so, still no sign of Ed, so now I start to frantically look for the phone number for the Pousada.
Ed is one of the American guys that owns the Pousada and very kindly agreed to collect me form the airport but because the plane was delayed in taking off I am concerned that it was too long to wait and he had gone.
So I tried to use the phone but to no avail and after 10 minutes I give up and am wondering what to do next as I have no idea what the automated Portuguese voice on the other end is trying to tell me AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
I then spot a guy that kind of meets the description I have been given, so I kind of casually approach him in a non-stalking manner, and there is my scribbled name on a piece of tatty card, well, typed and in colour would have been nice with some kind of graphic design, but this will do.
I apologise profusely for being late and he says that I am not late I am bang on time and then explains that Pipa is only 2 hours difference and not 3, DOH!!
So my limousine awaits me, well actually it is a Fiat which could do with a bit of a wash and brush up, but I am so tired that quite frankly Ed could have put me on a donkey and sent me on my way to Pipa and I wouldn´t have cared.
Unfortunately it seems that I am not the only one who is tired and not working properly today, it also seems that the Fiat is having an ´off ´day too and a journey that probably should have only taken one and a half hours took twice as long as it spluttered, jolted , jumped,stalled and ground to non stop grinding halts along the journey.
The only god send is that I am so unbelievably tired that I drift in and out of unconsciousness most of the way.
So I am staying at Pousada Cavalo Marinho which I just happened to come across accidentally in someone else's blog and thought it sounded really appealing, and first impressions are good. Clean, good location, nicely landscaped gardens, quiet, great swimming pool and 2 funny American dudes that own the Pousada who speak English, well American English, but that will do.
So I am given a range of room options and seeing as I have just spent the last 25 days sharing a room I decide to upgrade and get myself a nice little chalet and if you stay here then I highly recommend booking room 8 and of course haggle on the price.
Nice large room, double bed and a single bed if I feel like extra visitors, nicely decorated, located near the pool, large hammock on the porch, not a bad little spot I have found myself to spend a few days unwinding.
I don't have a definite plan but I am thinking 3 or 4 days here and then onto Olinda, Recife, Maceio, Penedo etc and make my way to Salvador for the 13th Dec when my placements commences.
So by now it is about 3pm and I just can´t keep my eyes open so I decide to have a little disco nap, why not?
It turns out to be more than a nap and I wake up 6 hours later only to get up ,clean my teeth and return to bed.
So the next day I hit Pipa and instantly I fall in love, it reminds me of ´home´and I feel really comfortable here just walking round, hanging out and chilling, I feel like a ´local´already.
Praia da Pipa is a beach destination South of Natal and North of Recife, on the North Atlantic coast of Brazil.
The town has developed fast during the last few years. What used to be a town where surfing enthusiasts met, has ended up being one of the most popular beach destinations in Brazil.
In Praia da Pipa you will find some of the nicest beaches in Brazil, and plenty of activities to entertain you. People in the area say you will come to Praia da Pipa for a weekend, and spend the rest of your life here!!!! little did I know how true this would be a few weeks later.
Home to wild dolphins and sea turtles the beach belongs to the municipality of Pipa Tibau do Sul, indigenous name that means "between two waters" (as it is surrounded by Lake of Guaraíras and the Atlantic Ocean).
Located in the biggest ecological sanctuary in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, chosen by the Guia 4 Rodas as one of the 10 most beautiful beaches of Brazil.
www.pipa.com.br
I feel pretty good about being on my own, in fact having just spent 25 days with a group, it is nice to have some time to myself and march to the beat of my own drum.
It´s never the days that are a problem but I do find the evenings can be a drag, not having anyone to talk to about my day or just hanging out and having a beer with someone, and I have never enjoyed eating on my own.
So my first few days are just spent on dolphin watching trips, some serious beach time, reading, hanging by the pool, nothing too hectic.
Have built up a really good rapport with Ed and Laz of the Pousada and spend a lot of time with them and have become friends very quickly so am spending a lot of time just chatting about life, love, the universe and just hanging out in general.
So on my first night I am really hungry after a mammoth internet session and I tempted just to get a bag of chips and hide in my room because I really do dislike dining alone in a restaurant.
However this is a journey and I have to push myself to do things that make me feel uncomfortable so Ed and Laz recommend a restaurant for me to try called Tapas and if you ever get to Pipa, this is the best restaurant here, it is fabulous and you must go!
When I arrive it is quite late and is heaving with big groups of friends, chatting and drinking and laughing and I have a pang of envy at them, that I can´t be here with my friends and for an instant I don't want to go in but the food looks to good to miss and no one is staring at me like I am an alien so in I go.
Anyhow I am just drinking my beer and enjoying my red fish curry when I notice another single girl come in and find a table. She looks Brazilian to me so I am guessing that maybe she works in Pipa and is grabbing a bite to eat after working late.
But just knowing that there is another girl there eating on her own makes me feel more comfortable.
There is also a table of 3 next to me and they are speaking English, well one of them is doing most of the talking, I am guessing he is from London and he talks with a really loud snobby I went to ´Eton ´voice, quite unbearable to listen to actually, but I cant help but eavesdrop because it is not often that I can listen to anyones conversations and understand!
He is banging on about Thailand and the sex industry and actually just sex in general, it is quite a weird conversation but I still continue to listen in he!he!
Now he is on to the topic of aids, delightful dinner conversation.....
Anyway the girl that I had noticed earlier starts talking to me and she ends up coming over to my table and we just instantly hit it off and are the last ones to be ejected from the premises. Her name is Rosana and she is Brazilian but she is married to an American and has been living in New Jersey for 7 years and is currently awaiting her green card which she has to collect from Rio.
She knows people in Pipa and tends to hang out here when she comes back to Brazil.
She is great and we actually spend the next few days hanging out together, so that night when I very nearly stayed in my room eating a bag of chips was totally worth those few initial moments of uncomfortableness and embarrassment at being on my own.
So I am ADORING Pipa, I have now been here for 3 days and have just told Ed and Laz that I will probably stay until Friday at least and have looked into getting a bus to Recife on Saturday morning.
I really really love this place, it just feels so right to be here. Its like a beach village with a great sense of community and friends and has a great energy but is totally laid back at the same time.
Have been travelling for one month now and am feeling really comfortable and content and extremely happy
Anyhow one night I am just relaxing with a Caprioska ( so my favourite drink right now) and just talking with Laz when this guy comes in. He obviously is a friend of Laz and they are talking in Portuguese.
It turns out that his name is Felix, and he was married to the sister of the on/ off girlfriend of Laz so they are friends and it seems that he is a very good chef and comes to cook at the Pousada on occasion for Ed and Laz, and on this occasion I get invited to.
He is really cute, nice kind face, kind of wise looking almost, twinkling eyes and a really nice smile. He notices me and gives me a big smile and seems taken with me instantly as I am with him.......dinner is going to be interesting!!!
I don't really think that much more about it, though when I get ready that night I do take some extra care and consideration to my hair,make up and dress and I arrive at the kitchen and there he is cooking, no top on, and his jeans just hanging down ever so slightly that I catch a glimpse of his white boxers.
I have to stop and catch my breath, this man has one hell of an amazing body and he is cooking lobster pasta and Laz has just put a Caprioska in my hand, HELLO.....does life get any better than this???
He is sooooooooooooooo flirting with me, compliments me on my dress, and says that I have the best smile ever, anyhow I still really don't pay that much attention as S American guys most likely say this to all women.
So the evening develops, dinner is a lovely affair, eating by candlelight by the pool, amazing food, good company....perfect.
Then after dinner we go and hang out a few local bars round the corner and Felix and I end up sharing a kiss or two or three......maybe we made it to ten.
I am smitten instantly, we just seem to have this instant connection and we then basically spend every day/ evening together after this evening when he is not working and I end up making the decision to extend my stay and I book a flight from Natal to Salvador leaving on the day that my placement starts in order to have as much time with Felix as possible.
He has been married twice and has a 3 year old daughter called Bruna who is really very cute and lovely and who I have met a couple of times. And when I say ´married´, it is not like legally married, there are no official papers to mark a marriage or a divorce so I am not sure if marriage is quite the correct terminology, maybe common in law wives...who the hell knows in Brazil, they are a law unto themselves.
He is 35 and in his lifetime has had an amazing array of jobs from a farm to running a gym and now he just has a number of ´beach´businesses......chairs, umbrellas, jewellery, refreshments etc
He is trained in Jujitsu, has surfed for over 10 years and likes all the things that I enjoy....music, theatre, galleries, travelling, reading.
His English is better than my Portuguese and although it is far from fluent, we seem to get by on what he knows, my limited Portuguese and Thank God for the Lonely Planet phrasebook........
Everyone in Pipa knows who he is and he seems really well liked and connected and he calls me his ´Popstar´. Whenever we are out together, people are just always coming up to to us and trying to have conversations with me, young, old, boys, girls, he says that it is my ´smile´ that attracts everyone to us and that it is like being with a `Popstar´, it´s funny and very cute, sick bucket please!!
It´s strange but since my last relationship finished I have really only spent one night here and there with a number of boys, nothing more than one night stands really because no boy has interested me enough to make it to the second date.
Also those single girls that live in Sydney will know what I am talking about when I say that there is a severe lack of good men in Sydney and if they are there then they are very hard to find.
So it is weird that I am with this guy, we have only just met and it just feels ´so good´even right down to those moments of comfortable silence and I have spent more time with him than any other guy in the past 2 years.
Am fluctuating between modes of knowing that it can only be a holiday romance and falling in love, so am just trying to keep an open mind and enjoy the time that we have together.
He is already sure that he wants to be with me and wants me to come back to Pipa which I have to say I am currently entertaining as a realistic possibility, I really love this lifestyle and would be happy to accommodate a more simplistic lifestyle.
But he knows that I have to finish my trip, this is my dream and I cant let him or anyone stop me from completing thís journey because I think this would only lead to resentment even though I am flush and stupidly giddy with the idea of being in love and getting married, I have to push those temporary insane moments aside and remember reality.
And then of course there is listening to your intuition and seeing the signs.
When I was on the tour from Bolivia I was talking to Julio our tour leader about my onward trip and he had highly recommended these other places that I should visit in the far North of Brazil and to forget about my intended itinerary which would have meant not going to Pipa.
Basically I had made the decision to go to Sao Luis and the surrounding area and then to fly back from Fortaleza to Salvador, I was happy with my decision but in the end when I tried to book a flight, just the fare from Rio to Sao Luis was going to cost a fortune so I went back to my original plan.
Then when it came to deciding on a Pousada to say at in Pipa I had a short list of 4 and the Cavalo Marinho hadn´t even registered on my accommodation radar, I didn´t even know about it and only found it when I was googling another Pousada.
So I am certainly inclined to believe that I was meant to be in Pipa at this time in this Pousada and to meet Felix, though it would have worked out better if I had met him towards the end of my trip.
Oh well am going to just try and go with the flow and not over analyse and just enjoy these moments, it has been a long time since I thought that I might be in love so am happy to just enjoy these heavenly teenage moments of euphoria.
So we have nearly 2 fantastic weeks together and despite the obvious language barriers we actually manage to talk about a great deal and I temporarily lose a grip on all senses and even for one insane moment consider having a child with this guy P L E A S E E E E E E.
Though I have advised him in no uncertain terms that I do not want, nor ever want a child, I have been strangely happy to consider the slim possibility of having a kid but also happy to entertain the fact that Bruna would kind of end up being a child to me should Felix and I stay together.
I think it is the lifestyle here, just so simple that I think the environment is actually a nice one to bring children up in, as opposed the the harsh reality of a big city.
We have also chosen a place where we would get married!!!OH MY GOD, this is totally ridiculous! but it just kind of seems nice right now to float along with the fairytale.
He has even told his family about me already and his Mum keeps ringing up to find out when she will meet me, and I mean ringing up like twice a day!
I have also met one of his best friends who tells him....congratulations Felix you have met someone really good and lovely.
Of course there are things that concern me, work..what would I do, having to make the decision to live here and be away from my friends and life in Australia because he couldn´t leave Pipa because of Bruna and Pipa, well it is very very different to life in the big City, so how would I handle that in the long term.
I am sure most of my friends would dearly love a reason to visit Brazil and I have relocated once beforehand and ended up calling that place ´home´ and the cycle of life is forever changing, friends will always be friends no matter the distance.
There is also the fact that even though I am not rich by any standards in Australia and am probably the lowest paid of all my friends I would be positively well off here, and that makes me nervous as that could create a bit of a divide between me and Felix as his life is very much hand to mouth. Now money doesn't bother me but I have been in a relationship before where money has been an issue so I am just naturally cautious from making the same mistake twice.
However as much as all of this stuff has played out a fleeting moment in my mind I don´t really have to worry about these things just yet as I have a whole year ahead of my travels remaining and well, anything could happen.
I am also sure that should I eventually choose to marry a twice married Brazilian ( with child) beach vendor my parents would have something to say on the matter.
Though the whole been married before ´topic of conversation´ doesn't have the same connotations here, after all most Brazilians that I have come across have been married and divorced by the time they are 25, so finding someone that is nearer to my age without baggage in any country quite frankly would be a challenge!
It´s funny because most Brazilians when they know my age just can´t believe that I haven't been married or have children, in fact they find it quite odd which then in turn makes me into a freak!
When it finally does comes to our last day in Pipa together it is perfect!
We head off to a nearby area called Tibau do Sol about 20 minutes drive from Pipa, it is quieter, less people and very pretty.
And we just spend the day at the beach swimming, sleeping, sun baking and eating fish.
There are a number of small rustic restaurants at the waters edge and as the tide changes, the beach almost disappears as the sun begins to set and as you eat and enjoy a cold beer the water laps around your feet, it´s just wonderfully romantic.
Then we take a quick walk round to the lagoon where you get a really great view of the sunset or as Felix calls it ´Sundance´.
And it´s a beautiful perfect Sundance, as if it knows that it will be mine and Felix´s last one for a while to enjoy together.
There is guy in the bar playing the guitar and singing romantic ballads in Portuguese and Felix is singing them to me and we are just gushing love from every fibre of our being.
As day gently turns to night ,2 stars appear in the sky, just 2, as if they were representing me and Felix.
I know pass the ´sick bucket´, I hear you but it really was that perfect, that it could have been written for Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in the ilk of one of their sappy romantic movies that we all love but will never admit, a la Sleepless in Seattle.
Before I know it Ed and Felix are driving me to the airport.
At the airport Felix comes in and waits with me and when the time comes to go through into the departure lounge, my good intentions of not crying or showing emotion give way as I cry hysterically at the thought of leaving him.
So there and then on the spot I decide that after my 3 week placement I will return to Pipa to see him before my voluntary placements starts in Rio.
So as I go though security and into the departure lounge and I feel like ´shit´ I really don't want to leave and I feel miserable as hell and have no idea what Salvador Will be like, the people, the placement and everyone has been warning me that Salvador is crap, that it is fully of aggressive people, there is a lot of crime, bad energy......so at a time like this there is only one thing to do.......
Off to the Duty Free shop where I buy myself a really large bottle of Moschino perfume to cheer myself up!!!after all that is what credit cards are for!
So today I am flying with Gol and as the lovely stewardess announces has the newest fleet of whatever planes that we are in on the whole of S America, well that´s a good start I guess and someone who can speak English.
Though I love that on all of the safety messages that they give out about the life jackets, oxygen masks etc, they proceed them all by saying that they will only be given in Portuguese.....mmmmm, does that mean if we were to crash and I survived but was injured, I could sue them because I didn't know how to put on my life jacket correctly because I didn't have a proper explanation in English??? If anyone knows the answer to this I would be interested to hear.........
So because my emotions are shot to pieces at leaving my lover and Pipa behind I am not handling the flight very well and I am sat right over the wing so convince myself that one of the engines has just failed and I cant help myself but I have to ring the bell to get the Stewardess.
Thankfully she speaks English but I think she and the passengers around me who can understand English are thinking that I am a bit strange, as I sit there crying asking if everything is OK and normal and that I shouldn't be getting ready to take up my emergency landing position anytime soon.
Anyway Suzie as she was called spoke excellent English and was totally totally lovely and was from Sao Paulo and she told me that when I was there then I had to give her a ring and we would most definitely have to meet up!!
These are most definitely the sorts of things that can only happen to you when you are travelling solo.
So I cheer up considerably and start to relax and shut the window blind so that I do not have to look at the wing which quite frankly is looking just a bit odd, why is that bit at the end turned up, surely it shouldn't be like that.............
So just 2 hours later we touch down in Salvador ready and I make my way through the arrivals lounge to be met by my Cross Cultural Solutions representative.
So Helen, chin up, smile and prepare yourself for what will surely be a challenging few weeks mentally & physically.
