Friday, April 23, 2010

Top 20 of Joao Pessoa

Some of you know and some of you don't know that it's been a tough last month for me here in Joao Pessoa. And now that I'm leaving tonight, I thought I would focus on the things that I enjoyed most while I was here.

1) Field excursions looking for seahorses with Gabi and the girls from the lab

2) Running by the beach at night

3) Morning breakfast at Pao de Praia with fresh squeezed orange juice, pao (bread) com ovo (egg) and coffee (without sugar!! they put sugar in almost all coffee here so it's great to find it comes with no sugar!)

4) Finding the fruit market after 2 months of looking for it

5) Getting my first piece of mail (It was my CPF card or Brazilian Social Security number card)

6) The special bike lane in the road that runs along the beach. Great for biking with a view and also safe!

7) Discovering Acai na Tigela (Acai sorbet served with granola, dried berries, sliced bananas, seemingly cookie crumbs but probably something else, and honey)

8) Finally going diving in Brazil, seeing 3 giant sleeping turtles at night and discovering I love my new BCD (scuba vest).

9) Walking on the beach from Tambaú to Bessa (6 K) with Muri

10) Learning that there is free wireless internet at the mall while wondering why there is free wireless internet at the beach (yes that's right, in a certain area at the beach, if you bring your laptop, which I personally think is asking someone to steal it, you can get free wireless internet. although it won't work at any of the retaurants or beach bars with tables, so good luck keeping the sand out of it)

11) Recognizing someone on the bus and realizing Joao Pessoa is indeed a small city

12) Giving my first powerpoint presentation on my research in Portuguese!

13) Singing the Beatles and Mama Mia songs in the car late at night with the Professor!

14) Finding out I can watch GLEE, here in Brazil, yes this one's a bit pathetic, but GLEE rocks!

15) Talking politics and teaching/learning portuguese and english words with my roommates

16) Going to the movies and surprised by the fact that the movie was in English!

17) Buying an inflatable kayak for research purposes

18) Finally getting a Brazilian cell phone

19) New beach clothes- sarongs and dresses of course!

20) Being able to swim in the ocean, even though Joao Pessoa is a city with over 1 million people. I'm always leary that the beaches in downtown Fortaleza are dirty and polluted but in JP they are always nice and never give off that feeling!

No comments:

Post a Comment