Diving Buzios

Diving in Buzios was cold. Very cold. Even with two wetsuits and a hood it was cold. The dive itself wasn't that great and my dive buddy wasn't quite up to snuff, but I finally got my little underwater camera working (without it leaking). So I was able to take a few photos.

The highlight of the dive: seeing Hippocampus erectus, the other species of seahorse found here in Brazil. And boy was it HUGE!! So much bigger and fatter than my little longsnout seahorse I study up in northeastern Brazil.

This is a big 'ole male seahorse. Here is where I found him. And then here he is swimming. I also saw a female and a smaller male of the same species.

This is the female, quite a big 'ole gal.

And I also took some photos of the other creatures found under the water. Two starfish.......

a pipefish.....related to a seahorse....

a flying gurnard....this little guy was really interesting. He has these wings, with the blue tips that he uses to kind of glide underwater from place to place. The front part of his pectoral fins he uses kind of like hands to dig in the rubble looking for food. Fascinating!

a flounder....

a seafan......

a moray eel watching a fish from his hiding spot....

and once again my favorite!

Mom and Dad in Brazil

Yes that's right. My parents came to visit me in Brazil. After 7 long months of reading and hearing horror stories about Brazil, and listening to me complain about the hardships of living here, they swallowed their fear and trepidation, and boarded a plane for Rio de Janeiro! My dad had the impossible task of trying to organize our family vacation to include things that every family member would enjoy. The final itinerary: Rio de Janeiro, Iguassu Falls and Buzios. And I have to say he did an excellent job planning the trip. It was a fun-filled, great Brazilian experience for all.

The trip started off in Rio. I had never been to Rio. All I knew about Rio was that it had awful slums called Favelas, that it could be dangerous, that many Fulbrighters were in Rio and that it had the famous Copacabana beach, which is featured in the most amazing Barry Manilow song ever "Her name was Lola...." But other than that I didn't know much about it. Everyone had always told me, Rio is so beautiful and I thought yeah, right. But after having been there with my family, I must admit I was wrong. Rio is indeed beautiful, a city between the sea and the jungle.

Highlights of the family trip from Rio included seeing the statue, Jesus Cristo Redentor, {who knew it was on a mountain overlooking Rio and that you can see it from many locations when the sky is clear?...... ok so perhaps the answer to this question is that many people know....obviously I was not one of those people.} going to the top of Sugarloaf (famous place with Gondala and great views), and eating at the Churrasqueria with my parents.

My dad, in his frivolity at discovering Brazil's all you can eat meathouse (churrasqueria) and enjoying a delicious bottle of Tannat (Uruguay's best wine) decided to make friends with the waiter and was brought back into the kitchen for a special tour!

With a successful and enjoyable time in Rio behind us, the family flew off to Iguassu Falls on the border of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. I will write another blog about Iguassu because it was that awesome, but needless to say it was amazing.

Finally we finished off our vacation in Buzios, a trendy little beach town about 3 hours up the coast from Rio. Buzios was made famous because of some actress....I still don't quite know the full story except that her name was Bridgette Bardot and she was a heart throb...... Anyway here is her picture, you can judge for yourself......

........fun filled adventures in Buzios, included a ladies night in the Jacuzzi with champagne, a cold scuba dive where I saw the biggest seahorse ever, and THAI food!! Or at least those were the highlights for me, for Buzios, my parents would probably say a lovely little town on the water with great restaurants, great views and great shopping (oops sorry Dad, did I let the cat out of the bag that Mom and I did lots of shopping while there?)

Ladies Night in Buzios

I had a blast trying to teach my parents some portuguese.....my dad could almost never remember the word for check......(hint: it's CONTA dad..) almost like he was purposefully trying not to know.....sadly he never could get me to pick up the check. My mom learned that acai (a type of fruit) is now her favorite type of juice, ata (pronounced ah-ta) is a deliciously sweet fruit, and that otimo is indeed a fun word to say. It was a great Brazilian family vacation with memories to last a lifetime!

5 AM Couscous

I have a new neighbor in Prainha, a baker named Ismar. He moved in with his family while I was traveling at the end of June. Over the last month or so I’ve gotten to know him and his family. He has a three year old son, who is quite cute and at times mischevious; I often see him running naked in the street with Ismar or his wife chasing after him. Ismar’s bakery, which is right underneath my apartment, is my normal place to go and get a quick breakfast. To my delight they normally have tapioca, which his wife informed me she wakes up at 4:00 AM to make fresh every day.

I got invited one day to make tapioca with her, and after moaning when the alarm went off at 4, I stumbled downstairs and had a delightful time learning how to make tapioca and watching Ismar bake the day’s first bread. During this first tapioca session, Ismar asked if I had ever tried couscous. And with his accent and the fact that it was 4:30 in the morning, I didn’t quite understand, and said I wasn’t sure if I had ever tried couscous. To which Ismar’s reply was oh, come tomorrow morning at 5 AM and I will make you couscous. I inwardly groaned, another morning of getting up ridiculously early. UGH. These days were one of a precious few I got to spend in Prainha and the best time for sleeping is between 4 am and 8 am when there’s a slight morning chill and the streets are pretty quiet. However, in not wanting to appear rude or ruin my new budding friendship with the baker and his wife I enthusiastically said great! I can’t wait for couscous at 5 AM!

As the next morning rolled around and my alarm went off, I cursed myself for having accepted his offer. I went downstairs and helped the wife with the tapioca. I got upgraded from observer to participant and I got to flip the tapioca, kind of like how you flip pancakes. After Ismar got the day’s first bread baking, he turned to me with a grin and said now for the couscous. When we had talked couscous the day before I thought he had talked of couscous with garlic and butter and I was somehow dreaming of the best couscous I had ever had…..I was to be much disappointed. Ismar took out a little packet of couscous made from corn. Hmm…I thought to myself this looks more like the couscous my roommate in Joao Pessoa used to eat platefuls of, that looked bland and disgusting. I began to dread having to try my 5 am couscous. Ismar showed me how much water to put in the pot, a special couscous pot, and how much couscous to put in. He then said that eating couscous for breakfast is a normal thing for some Brazilians, like eating tapioca and coffee (which is delicious by the way). Then 10 minutes later, Ismar stirs the couscous and pronounces it ready. He gives me a quick little taste from the pot, so I can know the consistency of “ready” couscous. My initial reaction with that first bite, yuck! This is like putting dry, rough flour in my mouth. Ismar’s wife puts a large heaping amount into a bowl for me and asks if I want it with butter or with milk. I have no idea which choice would make this 5 AM couscous more appealing, so I say that I’ll have it however she’s having it. She gives me a big grin and says ok with milk! She pours milk all over my big bowl of couscous kind of like how we add milk to cereal, so that there is more milk then couscous. I take a few tentative bites, trying not to grimace as I eat it. Ismar’s wife is perceptive and says I don’t have to eat it if I don’t like it. I say the proverbial, oh this is interesting to try to buy myself some more time before having to fess up that I am not a fan, not at 5 AM and probably not at any other time either.

Ismar’s wife says she likes to dump her coffee in with the milk and the couscous. She does as she says and now she has what looks to be a plate of scrambled eggs swimming in chocolate milk. Not knowing what to do, but thinking the couscous couldn’t taste any worse, I also add my coffee into my couscous and milk. Now this didn’t fix the texture problem, but it did make the taste more tolerable. I sat and chatted with Ismar’s wife while we ate couscous soaked in milk and coffee at 5 am and we agreed that the next time we do breakfast, I’ll do the cooking :)

The Female Bicycle Ride

I have taken many interesting modes of transportation to arrive at study sites. I have arrived on foot, such as walking from a pousada to a river, where I have moved around by my own two fins. I have gone by fishermen’s boat, one of which had a motor, many of which have only had long sticks to push the boat. I have gone by my trusty Kayak, which I have named Furioso. Furioso has done me some good, but he has a hole, encountered on the first day of use, and therefore slowly leaks air, until about every 30 minutes I have to re-inflate part of him. I have traveled by taxi to get to study sites and by bus. But by far, one of the most unique ways I have gone is by the Brazilian Bicycle.

(Colin with Furioso my Kayak)

So I’m in Cumbe, a small little mangrove community of mostly fishermen, which is on the Rio Jaguaribe. I am staying with an environmentalist and school teacher named Joao Luis, and on our first day leaving his house heading out to do research, he asks, do you know how to ride a bicycle? Me thinking this is a strange question, says of course. I’m wondering if it is uncommon for women to ride bicycles here, perhaps this is a strange brazilian cultural thing I have yet to encounter. He grabs his bike on the way out of his house and down the dirt road. We stop at his sister’s place and I think oh we must be picking up a bike for me to ride. Because clearly there is one bike and two of us. However, he just stops to switch bikes, trade the one he has for a bike with a little rectangle metal piece on the back. You know, like if you had a backpack or a crate you could use bungee cords and strap the thing you had to carry onto the back of the bike. However, once we hit the street, he says hop on the back and let’s go to the mangroves.

So just to clarify, his definition of knowing how to ride a bike, was really asking if I could sit on the back of the bike, on the metal rack, and balance myself, my backpack of field supplies and my fins while he pedaled us to the field site. Now this is very tricky. Picture a bumpy dirt road, filled with potholes, trash, and poorly constructed speed bumps. Now picture a rusty old bike with tires that are far from full. Are you also picturing a couple of spots on the road where there is soft sand? So the bike kind of swerves? And to add an extra challenge I am not sitting facing the same direction as Joao Luis, I am not sitting like I am a second passenger on a motor cycle. Oh no. I am sitting facing the side, with my legs awkwardly crossed trying to keep myself from falling off the bike, trying to keep my feet from touching the ground, or the pedals or the wheels of the bike, while Joao pedals us slowly up and down this pot-holey road with spots of soft sand, to the mangroves. Now after hearing this story, if a Brazilian were to ask you, do you know how to ride a bike? What would your response be?

Me & IBAMA Out in the Field

My day with IBAMA (and it was a good day!)

While doing fieldwork in Fortim, I received a phone call from my contact at the IBAMA (Brazil Environment Department) office in Fortaleza. She said she was coming to Fortim and wanted to organize spending a day in the field with me. I was slightly nervous, what if I don’t find any seahorses while she’s with me? Will she think I’m not qualified? What if she doesn’t like my research metods….will she delay my permit even more? Will she think I need to add more safety precautions into my work? I mean some days I just swim to the other side of the river, about a 10 minute swim. Since she is coming do I need to try to organize a boat? Will she get in the water? Ay, ay ay!

When we met up in Fortim, I was surprised to see that it was not only her, but also another guy I had met named Livio, and an intern. Wow! Three quote unquote official IBAMA people, meeting with me. This is crazy. They told me that there was a guy requesting a permit to fish for seahorses who lived in Fortim and so we all got into the IBAMA-mobile to go hunt him down. After driving around this small town, and for me experiencing the hilarity of how everyone hides from the IBAMA-mobile for fear that they will be questioned, we finally found our man. (Although one person when we were trying to ask for directions literally ran inside the house and shut the door, refusing to talk to us….hmmm I wonder what activities he was up to…)

Anyway Mr. Seahorse Fishermen, arranged a boat for us to go out on for the day, and I began a fun-filled day of fieldwork with the IBAMA crew. Livio got in the water and helped me to transects, while the intern and my official contact, remained on the boat. It was also a little funny, because the Official, brought a life jacket, and she wore it. On this tiny little boat, at low tide, in a river that got maybe 4 feet deep at low tide. I tried to stifle my chuckles as best I could. The first day, sadly, we found no seahorses.

The second day, we went out my motorized boat, to a location farther away and low and behold, I spotted a juvenile! Hidden in the mud and oysters. Whew! What a sigh of relief. I was able to show the crew from IBAMA how I do research in the field and everyone was on board! They started calling me the seahorse champion for finding the juvenile seahorse on the second day. A great experience for all and my first successful collaboration with IBAMA! Hopefully more to come!

Fish Market Prainha

I have been to several fish markets to watch the process of fishermen unloading catch and wholesalers, retailers, and consumers haggling over fish and prices. In Hawaii, I was blown away by the large amounts of tuna and billfish (relatively large fish) that were brought in by the fishermen. To see some pictures and read the Duke blog about this class in Hawaii click here. In Fortaleza, I was amazed by all the shrimp and snapper (see earlier blog in January on fish market)

The fishmarket in Praina, my home town here in Brazil, is an entirely different manner. The fish market is based around the tide table. At high tide, the boats return from being out at sea, sometimes for up to three days! Can you imagine on this tiny little boat? Other fishermen help to drag the boat up onto the beach while the waves crash in the background.

After the boat is safely up on the beach, the crowds, although when I say crowd I don't mean the 50 to 100's of people you'd see at the Hawaiian fish market, I'm talking about 10-15 maybe 20 people on a crazy day, that gather around to see the catch. In the crowd, you have a combination of people, children, teens, father's, mother's and even grandmother's there to inspect the day's catch. About half the crowd is from the local restaurants there to inspect the best of the best, to buy fish for the beach going crowds. Another large part are the locals trying to buy good fish for dinner that night. And a small majority, myself included, are merely onlookers.

The biggest shock, or biggest difference, at this fish market, at least for me, is the size of the fish. These fish are TINY! Small! Nowhere near the size of any fish I saw in the Hawaii fish market, the Boston fish market, the DC fishmarket or any other's I've been to. Another shocker was to see that this one fishermen had a catch of eels! I have never heard of people eating moray eel! Crazy, but I guess they do here in small coastal towns. I asked several people standing around me how they cook it, and couldn't get a consensus. Although it does make me wonder what fish I am eating , when I eat fish stews here!

I watched the fishermen filet and gut the fish. An interesting practice was that several little boys lined up to put fishing line through about 10 fish each, then tied up the fishing line and started walking around trying to sell the fish to people on the beach. One fishermen had caught a huge ray. Stingray stew, muqueca de arraia (moo-kay-ka de hiya), is a popular beachside dish all up and down the coast of Ceara. I watched him gut the stingray and then carry it off to one of the beach side restaurants. Talk about fresh fish! Yumm!

It was an interesting experience watching this small beachside town in Brazil carry out it's fish market in comparison to the larger, bigger, fish markets even in Fortaleza or the US. A memorable experience and for me, a charming characteristic of life in a beachside town in northeast Brazil.

World Cup

What was it like to be in Brazil for the World Cup? Unbelievable. Or as they say in Portuguese, OTIMO (the ultimate?)! I had never been a big professional soccer fan, had always thought the games were boring to watch on tv and knew next to nothing about it, except how to play soccer from back in the day. Well being in Brazil for the World Cup, was quite the educational experience for me and I really got into it. In the days leading up to Brazil’s first match, houses were painted the colors of the Brazilian flag, side walks were painted, alleys, streets and telephone poles were decorated with green and yellow tassels. Sales of Brazilian attire, t-shirts, shorts, and sarongs went through the roof at the little neighborhood store that is next to my apartment.

The first Brazil game, I watched with my friend, the pousada owner, her whole family, father, mother, sisters, brothers, their families, pousada guests, and Brazilian friends. Total number of non-Brazilians in the room, me included: 2. They basically threw a huge superbowl-esque type party for the first game. They brought out the churrasqueria (grill) to make meat in the living room, and Brazil’s favorite beer was served, SKOL. My contribution, some guacamole, which wound up being a big hit, but also was quite strange for Brazilians because they eat avacado as a sweet dessert, as a mousse. They mush it up so it looks like guacamole but instead of tomatoes, garlic and spices they add sugar and milk to make it into a mousse. Ok so back to game day, everything closes in Brazil for the games. I was so surprised when I ran to the store to pick up some guacamole, to see a big sign at the entrance saying, sorry the grocery store will be closed for these two hours to support Brazil in it’s world cup game. WHAT?!! Whoever heard of a grocery store closing for a big sports event? And it was not only grocery stores that closed, convenient stores, banks, some restaurants, gas stations, I wouldn’t be surprised if even the airport closed to watch the Brazil game. (I’m sure it didn’t, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the least)

The second and third Brazil games I watched on Fernando de Noronha, where the dive shop had big Brazil parties for the games. This added a small town feel to some of the Brazil games because of the multiple nationalities present at the parties. One dive instructor was from Argentina, and there were good-natured jokes about the rivalry between these two teams and which team was better. I’m not a big soccer fan, but I also found myself rooting for Brazil and for the US team in its games. Soon enough I too began wearing Brazil colors on game days. For the US games, it was funny to be be the only person jumping and yelling when the US scored a goal. I got lots of smiles and also strange looks from the Brazilians while watcing with friends at the local bar.

One of the biggest players on the Brazil team is named Kaka; he is number 10. All throughout the world cup, there were tv commercials with him advertising this cologne or that telephone company. I would say the adoration of the soccer players is much like the adoration of any professional athlete in the US.

It was so cool to see all Brazilians into the world cup. People dressed in green and yellow on Brazil game days. There was such nationalism during the world cup. I can’t think of any sporting event in the US that unites the entire country like the world cup unites Brazil. Probably the coolest thing about the world cup was when Brazil scored a goal you could hear GGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL and screams and shouts and firecrackers and blow horns and car horns and a ruckus of celebratory noise all through the streets. However it was also tragically sad, when Brazil lost to Holland, the streets were silent. No noise, no car horns, no firecrackers. There was no one in the streets and the streets seemed to take on a desolate feel to them. The Brazilians I was with, were crying, it was sad.

The next World Cup in 2014 is in Brazil and as soon as Brazil lost this was all anyone could talk about. Fortaleza is one of the 9 or 10 capital cities were World Cup games will be played. There’s already talk and speculation about the next Brazil world cup team, who will stay and who will get cut and what next players will be added. All in all the world cup was quite the experience here. I got into professional soccer for the first time, and I too had Brazilian National Pride during the world cup. I can’t imagine what it will be like here in 2014. Perhaps I’ll have to apply for another grant to study the impacts of world cup tourism on seahorses in Brazil to find out!