A month in Brazil

I spent a month in Brazil, Aug. 6-Sept. 5, 2011, to study Portuguese (June ’12, pg. 16).

When I visit other countries, I like to travel on the weekends, so on the first weekend I took a taxi to the rodoviaria (bus station) and, from the company Real Alagoas, bought a ticket to Recife for $30.

About 4½ hours after leaving Maceió we arrived in Recife. I took a taxi ($30) to my hotel, the Canarius Palace ($120), arriving at about 5 p.m. It was dark and raining.

After taking a shower, I walked around the beach area and found a super restaurant, Parraxaxá (Boa Viagem, Av. Fernando Simões Barbosa, 1200, Recife, PE, Brasil; phone [81] 3463 7874), which served authentic Brazilian food.

When you enter the restaurant, you’re issued a computer card. You dish out food from a large table, then a girl weighs your plate. After you have dessert and drinks, you take the card to the cashier, who gives you a bill. When you pay, she issues a receipt, which is collected as you exit. Good food and good security! My meal cost about $35.

Arriving back at the hotel, I was thankful I had showered early. There was no water in the sink, the shower or toilet, and the TV was flickering. I suggest never staying in that hotel.

On the second weekend, I went via the Bomfim bus company to Aracaju, a trip of about four hours. (The round trip cost about $80.) This bus was far more advanced than the Real Alagoas vehicle and even had a movie screen.

I arrived at around 4 p.m. and stayed at the Atalaia Apart Hotel (Avenida Beira Mar, 1140, Treze de Julho, Aracaju, SE, 49032-000, Brazil; phone 79 3243 1616) for about $145. Wonderful and modern! I had booked this hotel and the one in Recife on Booking.com on short notice.

I had a super meal at what is called a chopperia, and the next morning I had to dip into the Lomotil to ensure that the inside of my body was not totally on the outside.

At the bus station in Aracaju, the girl from Bomfim was very helpful, spoke a little Spanish and guided me to the right office, where I had to pay a departure tax of BRL3. (It is unclear why there was a departure tax from this city but not one from Maceió.) She then led me to the right departure gate, which was nowhere listed in the terminal.

When I returned to Maceió that night, I resolved to take no more bus trips in Brazil.

On this whole trip to Brazil, the only time I ever felt in danger was on the taxi ride to the airport in Maceió. A drive that should have taken 45 minutes was done in 20. When we arrived, the driver uttered his first words to me, “Rapido, ne?,” and smiled.

Each of us, in his own way, looks for that one special place on Earth which he believes will give him the greatest happiness. Up to now, I thought that was probably going to be Medellín, Colombia, but Brazil has changed my thinking.

The ocean, the beach, the food, the gorgeous women, the friendly people and the peaceful way of life would be hard to match in any other corner of the world. Of course, their insistence on serving beer only ice cold could have something to do with my decision.

For me, it was all brought home in a video for the song “Dona Cila,” cut number 5 on a DVD titled “Multishow Ao Vivo” by the singer Maria Gadú. I first saw this video on the TV in my apartment; a friend had bought the DVD from a vendor selling pirated discs on the beach. Afterward, I went to the local mall and bought the DVD for myself and one for each of my children.

As Maria sings, a little white girl covers herself with black paint so she can look like her black grandmother. She is very upset that they are of different colors, but then the grandmother washes off all the black paint and basically tells her to just be herself.

For me, that is the essence of Brazil. Almost every family has a black person in their background. Your taxi driver could be a white guy with a black ancestor. Or your bank manager could be a black guy with a white grandfather. Color just doesn’t seem to matter there. It’s probably the way it should be everywhere.

RALPH McCUEN
El Paso, TX