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| Overlooking Ceará on top of a mountain in Maranguape |
Unrelated to the post title (that'll be clear later), Ben and I climbed a mountain in the nearby city of Maranguape with Yury on Saturday. I wasn't entirely sure whether or not I'd make it to the top, considering I have never hiked a mountain before and definitely felt my heart pounding to the point that if I were obese, I'd have been on the edge of cardiac arrest for a majority of the 2.5 hour ascent, but it was definitely worth the risk. We took an hour bus ride from near the hotel to the city of Maranguape, marking the first time we'd left the unsafe confines of Fortaleza since we got here a month and a half ago. I noticed how remote and relatively calm the town felt. People were friendly and sparse and also for the first time in awhile, I let my guard down and enjoyed walking down the street without having to constantly check over my shoulder for a stranger to swipe at my neck. It was quiet and peaceful on our treck from the bus stop to the mountain base. Instead of a big neon arrow reading "enter here," we just started walking up a steeply inclined stone road that kept winding higher up the mountain. At a point, the road just sort of ended at a house, and a dirt path led off to the side into the depths of the mountain. After walking exposed to the sun for so long, it was a relief to enjoy the shade of the densely forested mountain, although the novelty was quickly overshadowed by the rough, narrow trails.
I feel like my post about the trip up the mountain should be extremely long winded and have its own bibliography to reflect how long and exhausting 2.5 hours of climbing can feel, coupled with Yury's constant suggestions that we were almost there and his spider-monkey abilities shooting him far ahead on the path. Instead, I'll just paint this picture: there was a lot of dirt, trees and grass so imagine seeing a lot of brown and green for awhile until the mountain finally opened up right at the peak. But I will say that the peak was beautiful and, while I may never desire to climb a mountain again, it was absolutely worth the trip that day. We rested at the top of the mountain for about an hour, where I treated myself to a tangerine of deliciousness. After feeling reenergized with sugar and water, we cut an hour off our our ascent time on the way down, almost taking the wrong path at one point but quickly finding our way again. My body was sore and exhausted after the climb, but it was worth the feeling of accomplishment.
Now we can talk about the namesake of this post, Brazilian liberation. It has become a running "joke" between the three of us that we aren't actually here for an internship, but instead to liberate the people of Brazil and annex them as the 51st U.S. state. Naturally, we selected July fourth as our official day of liberation, instructing everybody that we work with that nobody had to come into work on the fourth because as new Americans, they would have to accept our national holidays too. Much to our dismay (including the fact that we showed up at work too), this didn't work. On the way into work, we passed the security guard at the gate and I exclaimed "Happy Liberation Day!" to which he replied "Bom Dia" (Good Day). I took this as a willing acceptance of his new patronage. Following an exhausting day of liberating, we traveled by bus to the best food in Brazilica (the country's new name following its introduction to U.S. statehood). To make sure we celebrated the fourth correctly, we ate burgers and Matt and Ben picked up fries from Habib's which, like America, is also sadly racist toward people of middle eastern descent. Following dinner, we went upstairs at our friend's nearby apartment where we filled the little remaining room in our stomachs with cake and watched one of the Lord of the Rings movies to the soundtrack of fireworks in the background. People tried to tell us that the fireworks were in celebration of the Brazilian Corinthians soccer team winning its first Copa Libertadores (ironically translates to Liberators Cup), but it was pretty obvious that the Brazilians were happily accepting their new statehood. Now the post title should make sense... if it doesn't, I really can't help you.
All kidding aside, as much as it was difficult to be away from home over the fourth of July, it was comforting that we had the company of each other and our friends, and made a special point of enjoying a lot of the activities we normally do with our families back home.
-David Rood
