The day started like any other work day, but little did we know that it would last for 23 hours non-stop. This is how it went...
 |
| Yacht being lowered into the water |
We woke up around 6, showered, ate breakfast, and headed to the shipyard for a regular day of work. After we clocked in, we headed over to the boat lift to watch a yacht being lowered into the water. By 4 PM the engineering office had emptied out as if it were memorial day weekend here as well. Ready to go catch the final rays of sunlight for the day at the pool, Ben and I got ready to meet up with Matt and head home before getting sucked into a great conversation with Tatiana who we've nicknamed Dona Boba (silly lady in Portuguese)... jewish goodbye initiated. Finally we got back to the hotel, swam for a bit in the always warm pool water, and got ready to head out to explore Fortaleza with one of our new Brazilian friends.
After trying Fortaleza's chinese food... it's no TK Wu, Flavio's cousin Felipe and his friend Pedro drove us to Órbita Bar, a club featuring a Beatles cover band that kicked major ass. After arriving there sometime after 10 (not exactly sure because we left our watches at home to avoid the possibility of theft), we got through the entrance doors, paid the $R 20 cover charge, and bought drinks. We enjoyed drinks (keeping this vague so I have plausible deniability) and listened to a local group opening for the Beatles. Of course as we travel, we have a knack for finding the only people in a place who also speak English in three students working as cultural exchanges in local schools before continuing in their careers. Of these, there was an Irish, Russian, and Italian girl but it was the rapport of the Russian (let's call her Becky for anonymity) with the bar tender that proved exciting. The bar tenders are simply crazy at this club as they light fires, ring bells, and jump up on the bar to yell at people to "drink up mother fuckers" while wielding a beer bong used for hard liquor instead. As Becky finished the bong of straight vodka, the bar tender told her she drinks like a girl, to which she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him close to yell that she drinks like a Russian.
We've learned from our friends that in Brazilian culture, kissing is not seen as a same sort of commitment as it is in the U.S. It is very acceptable to make out with somebody that you've just met and I saw plenty of people around the club going to town with each other's mouths. It may seem strange and I certainly didn't partake because I would very much like to avoid losing my girlfriend, but Brazilians are much more comfortable with being close to people than Americans are. The way of meeting females by kissing both cheeks in a social setting alone makes you feel instantly more comfortable as you've already violated a personal bubble in the first instance of greeting. Similarly, men pat each other on the shoulder all of the time for all sorts of reasons, and it's endearing enough that I've been practicing whenever I have the chance. As a whole, if you can get over the fact that a personal bubble only exists in a theoretical world, the physical closeness of this culture is very enjoyable.
By 3:30 AM we were getting pretty restless and headed out (with sober drivers) to Pedro's family's apartment where we hung out for about another half hour and hydrated for the long ensuing day. A cab took us back to the hotel and we passed out by 5 AM for some much needed, albeit limited sleep.
 |
| Barefoot soccer at the shipyard's field |
Ben and I woke up a mere three hours after we went to bed so we could play futibol (soccer in
Portuguese and pronounced foo-che-bol) with a group of engineers that we work with. A bunch of glasses of water later and we were on our way to the shipyard to play a bit hungover. We all met up after 8 AM, removed our shoes and kicked the ball around practicing taking shots on goal.
After two hours of shirts vs. skins 5 on 5 soccer later we were exhausted, not to mention the fact that we were still a little dehydrated coming into the game. What was the remedy? More cerveja as we watch Brazil dominate Denmark in a great soccer game. We were taken by some of our coworkers to a small, very local outdoor restaurant/bar around the corner from the shipyard. One of the guys ordered a chicken soup that seems like a Brazilian twist on a traditional tortilla soup and offered Ben and me a taste. We had so many tastes, that he wound up ordering a second. Perhaps it was a taste I will later regret as this wasn't the finest eating establishment, but well worth the potential use of Immodium.
Here the incorrect time zone placement means that they take the concept of "it's 12 o'clock somewhere" very seriously as they started ordering cerveja when we got there at 10:30 AM. Our coworkers kept ordering pairs of Skol 40's, which was fine and refreshing for awhile but became difficult as you have to drain your filled cup (at least it's a tiny cup) every time Brazil scores. They just so happened to have made three goals in the first half... so Ben and I left at halftime out of pity on our livers.
The following five hours in the pool area, swimming to cool down then sleeping under shade on a couch was what we needed to recover from a chaotic, sleep deprived 30 hours.
Until next time,
-David Rood
No comments:
Post a Comment