Well Jen and I are well into our journey home, hitting the 37th hour of traveling. The trip has been good so far, nothing to out of the ordinary.
Jeri to Fortaleza: The bus ride was quite smooth and we were only a little tired once we arrived at the Fortaleza bus station at 4:11 am. We decided to taxi to the airport instead of walking which turned out to be a god idea because it was quite a long and confusing drive. We checked through to our gate where we had the longest wait of our journey: 8 hours to kill. Luckily there were Lazy-boy chairs which Jen and I took full advantage of as we watched many people and flights come and go.
Sao Paulo Airport: It took us awhile to find the right lineup to stand in but once we were directed to the right place everything went smoothly. Our friend Tayna on the other hand seems to have bad luck. She was flying from Eastern Canada and was supposed to be arriving in Fortaleza at 6:30, the same time we were in the Sao Paulo airport. When we were checking into our flight I saw a board bag sitting next to our counter with an Air Canada tag on it. I joked to Jen, how funny and terrible would that be if that was Tayna's bag? She already has had back luck this year and was now returning to Jeri. When we walked past the board bag, guess who's name was smartly written across it? Poor Tayna, I sure hope she finds her bag fine.
Chicago Airport: Well, it was a long 10 hour red eye flight but when we arrived in Chicago at 4:30 am we still ran outside to play in the snow and shock ourselves in the -11°C temperature. After checking in through security, we finally felt we arrived back to civilization when we each ordered a Grande Gingerbread Latte from Starbucks. The drinks welcomed us into the holiday season and along with the snow we sure felt half a world away from our life in Jeri.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Last Jeri Day
We had a busy morning of organizing, packing and culling all of our posses ions. We sure have a lot less room to spare now that we have our hammocks from Fortaleza, Brazilian goodies and a pack of Farofa each. Some how we made it all fit and were able to enjoy the rest of the day. Due to the heavy rain the night before the streets were hard packed and plenty of the bricks and stones usually covered with sand were showing. The thick rain clouds were still hanging around and not letting the wind pick up, Jeri was as still as I've ever seen in. Jen and I walked over to Tom's and Arrianne's pousada to see what was going on, we relaxed and watched a few windsurfing clips with them and Emmi while waiting for the wind.
Jen and I had our last lunch at Ponto do Big of course, and had the usual picadinho and sucos maracuja. We joined Joao who was already eating there, he teaches kids Capoeira classes after our english classes and was the one who set up the kids english class. It's nice how we met and got to know some of the Jeri locals. I will look forward to seeing them some time in the future when I make it back to Jeri.
The wind finally picked up nicely at 1:30 and I had a great last session on a 4.7m^2 sail and my usual 90L freestyle board. I sailed until I couldn't sail anymore. The sun set early into thick clouds but it was still light enough to surf until six o'clock. It's sad to think it will probably be quite awhile until I get to windsurf again and it already seems weird to wake up and not check the wind forecast.
We joined a few people eating at Pousada do Maruisios then went to Queijo Pizza for dinner with Arrianne, Emmi, Chris, Tom, Simon, Al and Maeli. We then invited everyone to our pousada where Emmi baked a delicious hot fruit salad with white chocolate melted on top. It was a great send off, and the Swedish guys showed up right when we were leaving so we had a big goodbye with everyone before we were on our way.
Tchau Jeri!
Jen and I had our last lunch at Ponto do Big of course, and had the usual picadinho and sucos maracuja. We joined Joao who was already eating there, he teaches kids Capoeira classes after our english classes and was the one who set up the kids english class. It's nice how we met and got to know some of the Jeri locals. I will look forward to seeing them some time in the future when I make it back to Jeri.
The wind finally picked up nicely at 1:30 and I had a great last session on a 4.7m^2 sail and my usual 90L freestyle board. I sailed until I couldn't sail anymore. The sun set early into thick clouds but it was still light enough to surf until six o'clock. It's sad to think it will probably be quite awhile until I get to windsurf again and it already seems weird to wake up and not check the wind forecast.
We joined a few people eating at Pousada do Maruisios then went to Queijo Pizza for dinner with Arrianne, Emmi, Chris, Tom, Simon, Al and Maeli. We then invited everyone to our pousada where Emmi baked a delicious hot fruit salad with white chocolate melted on top. It was a great send off, and the Swedish guys showed up right when we were leaving so we had a big goodbye with everyone before we were on our way.
Tchau Jeri!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Epic Last Night in Jeri!
Jen and my last night in Jeri coincided with Ginger Chris's birthday, so after teaching our final english class we headed to George's Finance's Mother's restaurant to join everyone in the birthday festivities. Al took Chris away to give Maeli a chance to collect money from everyone to surprise Chris with a birthday cake. However the surprise failed after Arrianne accidentally said "No I don't want any more food, I'll just eat cake!" while sitting right next to Chris. The cake was delicious anyways and was quickly consumed by everyone. Almost as soon as the cake was gone, it started to pour rain forcing everyone under the small overhang next to the restaurant. Everyone included: Jen, Myself, Chris, Maeli, Al, Arrianne, Jona, Tiloh and his girlfriend, Emmi, Will, Jamie, George, Tom, Julien, Jonathon, Tim, Simon, Leo and probably some other people I missed.
Soon after the rain lightened up a bit half the group went down to Planeta Jeri and the Barrackas and the other half (myself included) stayed near the restaurant for a bit. We watched the usual sandy and dry streets be washed down with water. We soon followed everyone down the street to have a last Caiprinhia, then it started to seriously pour. Tom danced with the Serbian girl in a stream of water while everyone cheered him on. It was raining so hard that there were flash floods raging down the narrow street and into the ocean. So of course we started jumping through the flooding street, getting soaked to the bone but having a great time all the same. There was thunder and lightening a ways away and we walked down to the ocean to check it out. (In retrospect, that probably was not the safest decision.)
When it was close to one in the morning we were wet and cold and in need of some food so we went to Jeripan, the 24 hour bakery. Only myself, Jen, Jonathan, Simon, Jamie and Chris were left. After having some semi delicious bake goods Jen, Jamie and I decided to hit up the late night bakery: the one that opens at 2 am. We got there about 5 minutes before two and all we saw was water seeping out from under the door. I was worried it wouldn't open but luckily it did and amazingly hot and yummy chocolate bread ensued.
It sure was an awesome Jeri night!
Soon after the rain lightened up a bit half the group went down to Planeta Jeri and the Barrackas and the other half (myself included) stayed near the restaurant for a bit. We watched the usual sandy and dry streets be washed down with water. We soon followed everyone down the street to have a last Caiprinhia, then it started to seriously pour. Tom danced with the Serbian girl in a stream of water while everyone cheered him on. It was raining so hard that there were flash floods raging down the narrow street and into the ocean. So of course we started jumping through the flooding street, getting soaked to the bone but having a great time all the same. There was thunder and lightening a ways away and we walked down to the ocean to check it out. (In retrospect, that probably was not the safest decision.)
When it was close to one in the morning we were wet and cold and in need of some food so we went to Jeripan, the 24 hour bakery. Only myself, Jen, Jonathan, Simon, Jamie and Chris were left. After having some semi delicious bake goods Jen, Jamie and I decided to hit up the late night bakery: the one that opens at 2 am. We got there about 5 minutes before two and all we saw was water seeping out from under the door. I was worried it wouldn't open but luckily it did and amazingly hot and yummy chocolate bread ensued.
It sure was an awesome Jeri night!
Monday, December 13, 2010
What To Do: The Non-Windy Days in Jeri Part III
Well, the wind was OK for two days. I went out for power sessions: 5 hours on a 5.0 each day. The wind was still patchy at best and most of the time it was a fight to stay on a plane, but it was nice to be windsurfing again. Today is a different story. The wind hasn't even stirred the palm trees at our pousada.
The still air is due to the massive torrential rain cloud that passed through here last night. I was out at what is referred to as 'the French Pousada' when suddenly it was raining. Not just the light rain that we've had a few times at night for a few minutes, this was like the west coast - get soaked in under a minute - type of rain. The alleys became streams and the main street a river rushing down to the ocean. I can't believe how fast the streets emptied out, everyone took cover for the storm. The thick clouds remained overnight and are staying for the day, not letting even a breeze cut through the humid air.
But I am making the most of it: I did some of my souvenir shopping, got caught up with emails and had a left over lunch with Arrianne, Tom, Al, Maeli and Jen. (It's the first time that we had leftovers in the whole three months!) We decided to have a cake competition tonight. Teams of two are each going to bake a cake and someone will decide whose cake is the best. Jen and I are teaming up against Al & Maeli and Tom & Arrianne. I'll let you know the results!
The still air is due to the massive torrential rain cloud that passed through here last night. I was out at what is referred to as 'the French Pousada' when suddenly it was raining. Not just the light rain that we've had a few times at night for a few minutes, this was like the west coast - get soaked in under a minute - type of rain. The alleys became streams and the main street a river rushing down to the ocean. I can't believe how fast the streets emptied out, everyone took cover for the storm. The thick clouds remained overnight and are staying for the day, not letting even a breeze cut through the humid air.
But I am making the most of it: I did some of my souvenir shopping, got caught up with emails and had a left over lunch with Arrianne, Tom, Al, Maeli and Jen. (It's the first time that we had leftovers in the whole three months!) We decided to have a cake competition tonight. Teams of two are each going to bake a cake and someone will decide whose cake is the best. Jen and I are teaming up against Al & Maeli and Tom & Arrianne. I'll let you know the results!
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