Soccer

Last weekend we went to a soccer game. Yikes. I've been to soccer games here in Brazil before, but somehow I manage to forget just how diehard fans here actually are.

We arrived in the general vicinity of the stadium about an hour and a half before the start of the game. This was our first mistake. There are only two things Brazilians are punctual for: Flights and Soccer Games. There was no parking available ANYWHERE! So Brandyn (Karl's cousin who is living with us for a few months) and I jumped out of the car to get tickets and left Karl to park the car miles away. To get to the ticket booth, we walked past the square full of fans filling their bellies with street food and raising their blood alcohol levels to the desired pre-game level. (Technically there is no alcohol allowed in the stadium, so I guess you have to go in prepared.) Then we saw the line to buy tickets. Erp. It was more than a city block long and about 20 people wide. I was really not sure we would even get in to see the game. After about 20 minutes of waiting in this line a security guard came out with a bullhorn "Sorry folks, we are all out of the regular price tickets, but if you want, you can pay full price for the discounted ones." Not entirely sure what that meant, or even if it was allowed, I decided we would take our chances and keep waiting. So after another 20 minutes in line, we finally made it to the security check point. Here we were thoroughly patted down and our bags were searched. Pretty sure they had more security for the game than most airports have! Next stop: The ticket booth. Even though they were out of the regular price tickets, for some reason the attendant was more than happy to sell us $15 tickets for $30. No problem there! After another 20 minutes of waiting for Karl, and convincing the security guards we were not a security threat loitering outside the gates, we all managed to reunite and enter.

Now, I thought it was pretty noisy outside the stadium. Walking up the ramp was like opening a door to a wall of noise. And the game still wasn't to start for another 10 minutes! In the stadium, every sense was stimulated. My ears were ringing, my eyes did not know where to focus in the sea of red and blue (Fortaleza's colours). My nose told me fried cheese, hot dogs, beer, sweat and cigarette smoke were near. I could still taste the lingering saltiness of my own fried cheese on my lips, and I was being physically accosted on all sides as people frantically jostled for seats as opening kick time drew near. 

We found seats about eight rows up, near the corner of the field. It was a great vantage point! 

Immediately we were swept up in the excitement of not only the game, but the fan clubs as well. There are two main clubs for the Fortaleza team. And they are passionate. Like, weekly meetings to practice chants and cheers sort of passionate. Each club filled an entire end of the stands. Every single person was decked out in their club's uniform. And they do not sit down. Not even for a minute.  They do not stop cheering. Not even for a minute. They have flags that unravel to cover a section of seats 50 wide by 30 high. They have drummers. One club even has a women's league. I cannot even begin to compare this to anything I have ever seen in North America. It is truly a Brazilian sight to behold.

I should also mention that before we left home, we made sure we were not wearing the visiting team's colours. That could prove to be a fatal mistake. (I would like to say that is an exaggeration, but the idea is not so far-fetched.) There was a fan club that came with the visiting team. There is a special entrance and section for them to sit in. Like, surrounded by bullet-proof glass and 30 armed guards sort of special.) Suffice it to say that we decided we would cheer for Fortaleza. 

The game didn't start off that well. Fortaleza was loosing 1-0 for most of the game. But the last 15 minutes? Hands down it was the most exciting soccer I have ever witnessed. Fortaleza scored three goals within 10 minutes and ended up winning the game 3-1. And here's a little tidbit about Brazilian sports psychology: If their team is winning, they cheer like crazy. If they are absolutely destroying the other team, the fans go nuts. If they are tied, people are apathetic. If they are loosing, people just give up and go home. So by the time it was 3-1, I was fairly certain my eardrums would just burst!

After all that, though, I have to say that the highlight for me was seeing Brandyn's expression after Fortaleza scored their first goal and the complete and utter stranger next to him swept him up in a bear hug and danced around with Brandyn flopping, befuddled, in his arms. The second highlight occured after the second goal when Brandyn took the lead and gave this guy a giant hug. By the third goal, he was just like every other Brazilian screaming and hugging and dancing with anyone within arm's reach. When in Rome!

We all left the game with veins pumped full of adrenaline, sore throats and the distinct odour of sweat drying on our clothes. We decided to top off the night with all-you-can-eat pizza, where instead of getting up to a buffet, the servers bring it around to your table!  What a fun day!

After all this, I need to address those of you who are now thinking, "There is no way I will ever, EVER go to a sporting event in Brazil." Please, rest at ease. I have never felt unsafe at all at a game, and this is truly a unizqely Brazilian experience that should not be missed.

Here are a few pics from the game. Photo credit goes to my hubby, Karl. (www.outtafocus.ca)

You'll notice two things here. #1 The opposing team fans are sitting in the opposite corner. See the buffer zones and armed guards? #2 The police chopper must have had Fortaleza fans on board.  It spent a significant amount of time hovering over the field, checking it out. 

I may have been the only person in the stadium wearing pink!

The giant flag I mentioned. It got unrolled and then rolled back up following each of Fortaleza's goals.

One of the fan clubs is sitting at the end. 

The other fan club at the opposite end.

Lulu... Part 2

As I mentioned in my previous post about Lulu, our tortoise, Lulu is feeling a little put out about his home being upgraded to human living quarters. I've noticed him hanging around the house area the last few days, something I hadn't really seen before. 

I'll also mention that in this tropical climate, doors tend to stay wide open to help with air movement inside. 

I'll bet you can see see where this is going... I didn't. 

First he took the liberty of relieving himself in the corner. Then he tucked himself into our cupboard. The brown liquid? One litre of insanely sweet, thick, sticky sugar cane honey. 

Guess I might have to start closing the doors. 

Lulu

When we bought our property here, we inherited Lulu, and I have to admit that I have grown rather fond of him. He's pretty cute, eats our rotten mangoes, and you never know where he will pop up next. Lulu is a tortoise. I do believe he is a red-footed tortoise to be exact. And I think he is a he, although I may be wrong about that.

The sad thing is there used to be a Mrs. Lulu, but she and her babies have somehow escaped the confines of our wall. I think they are living next door in an overgrown area, so maybe we can reunite the family one of these days. 

I've never had a tortoise before, and have only recently begun doing a little bit of research about them. I have, though, spent some time observing Lulu. I've discovered that he is a persistent fellow. Before we started doing renos on the property, Lulu lived in the back apartments. From the amount of poo we found back there, I'm guessing that had been his home for a long, long time! When the major construction was happening, Lulu tended to hide out away from the action, and we didn't see a whole lot of him. Now that things have quieted down, though, he's coming out of his shell again. (Sorry, I couldn't resist!) The thing is, he's not happy about giving up his living quarters. If we leave any of the bedroom doors open for more than 5 minutes, I can guarantee that Lulu will have snuck in and will be hunkered in the corner. We move him to the opposite corner of the yard to munch on all the fallen mangoes, but 5 minutes later, he has made the trek back and is getting into the rooms again! Painting posed an interesting challenge. Let's just say we had an albino tortoise for a few days! 

Before I met Lulu, I didn't think tortoises were that smart, but I am convinced he is learning. It used to be that when a door was closed, he would just walk on by to check on the next one. Now he stops and pushes on it with his head to see if it is latched or not. He also understands physics. I used to wonder how he was able to climb and descend stairs. Then I saw it. To get up, he extends his neck way out, puts his chin on the step and lifts himself up. Getting down is the funny one. He walks to the ledge and lets his font legs dangle. Then he thrusts his neck in and out until he is rocking on the ledge. Eventually he tips over and slides down. Smart, eh?!

So if you come to visit us, be prepared to find Lulu in all sorts of places!

Me and Lulu

Freckles, Lulu and Sandy. They get along fairly well!

Lulu Jr.

February 2012 Update

September Update

Neighbours

I love our place here. To me it is a piece of paradise. Yes, it is a ton of work. But when we take a couple of hours off and just chill, this place is perfect. One thing I struggle with, though, is living behind a wall. Yes, our entire property is surrounded by an eight foot wall. While I recognize this is culturally expected, and probably somewhat necessary here, the country girl in me who loves wide open spaces and would rather choose to trust people is bothered by it. One of the greatest challenges of living behind walls is getting to know our neighbours. Here we cannot just chat with our neighbours as we work in our backyards.

Several of our neighbours, though, seem to hang out on the street corner outside our wall. Occasionally we try to join them. Oddly enough, we discovered that we already know one of our neighbours! Three years ago when we were here for a few months, I trained in Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art. Our neighbour is one of my fellow students from that class! It's a small world! 

Anyways, we decided that we need to be intentional about getting to know our neighbours. We don't want to be perceived as standoffish rich white North Americans, plus we really are truly interested in getting to know as many people as possible in our area. So we thought about the best way to meet everyone, and came up with one answer... FOOD!

 Last Saturday we hosted a giant barbecue for all our neighbours. We put the word out to a few people and told them to invite neighbours as well as all the people who have worked here on our renovation project. (Most of them also live within a few minutes of our place.) And word spread! About 40 people showed up for an afternoon of relaxing, visiting, eating, swimming, eating, playing soccer and eating. It was a great time! While I still don't know most of my neighbour's names, I have at least seen many of their faces, and they have seen mine. We hope they know they can come by to chat or hang out, and we hope that these relationships can continue to grow as we become more settled in this little community of Jardim Icaraí.

All set up, waiting for people to arrive

A bunch of the guys who worked on our renos

Chef Karlos preparing the most important part of the meal... MEAT!

We loved that people brought their families!

Just a little bit of the meat we BBQ'ed that day

My Less-than-Favourite Task

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not really a city person. Ok, I admit it, crowds actually turn me into a crazy person pretty quickly. I am perfectly happy spending 90% of my time in our beautiful, tranquil yard.(And about 8% of my time on the beach!) Don't get me wrong, I am not a hermit. I love hosting people here. Our kitchen is the perfect place for whipping up tasty meals, and there is nothing better than chatting with friends around the pool. But every now and then I must leave this paradise and take care of a necessary task... Shopping. In Caucaia (where I do pretty much all my grocery shopping), it's not usually too bad. I can be in and out within an hour or two. But there are times when small town shopping just doesn't cut it. Not when there are better deals to be had in downtown Fortaleza (a city of roughly 3 million people). And we are shopping for our business, essentially needing everything a small hotel, or pousada, would need. So this morning, I am psyching myself up for a day downtown. When I say downtown, please, do not picture Manhattan, or any other high powered, North American urban centre. I'm not talking about incredible high rises and people strutting around in business suits. I am talking about gritty cobblestone roads jam packed with cars, trucks, horses, donkey carts, pedestrians, motorcycles, stray cats and dogs, street performers, family run shops overflowing with merchandise, street vendors selling all sorts of goods and snacks, horns blaring, people shouting, church bells ringing, and donkeys braying. The kind of city where every one of your five senses is assaulted. We are on a mission with a shopping list that would realistically take us a week to finish checking off. Off we go with high hopes, nerves of steel a quick prayer for an extra large dose of patience today, and a stack of cash. The day will be full of asking prices, making a surprised/disappointed expression upon hearing the price, then waiting to hear the new offer as we politely make our way to the exit to repeat the process next door. Then we know we can start bartering from there. How do we choose a store to buy from? It is a precise calculation of: Original price offered, Percentage the original price drops in the first few minutes Availability of stock, and a gut feeling of "I like this sales person". Now in a way we are fortunate, because as chaotic as the city seems, there is a distinct element of organization to it. You see, first, we will go to the kitchen district, where 99% of the stores within a couple of blocks all sell the same kitchen supplies. Then we will move on to the light district in search of fixtures, and so on. See? Organized! I anticipate that we will come home with lighter wallets, a heavier car trunk, heavier steps, and a sweaty, grimy stench to top it all off. But you know what? We will go to bed smiling, knowing we got the best price in the city, and that we are one step closer to opening our doors to guests.