Snow instead of Sand & 40°C Change In Temperature

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.

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!

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!

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!

What To Do: The Non-Windy Days in Jeri Part II

Answer: Build a massive Sandcastle.

The wind has still been nonexistant in Jeri and everyone has been getting anxious waiting and watching the water. It was alright to rest for one day, and nice to have time to bag some rays at Club Ventos, go surfing and read my book. But now the novel is done, the waves are small and I'm tried of just sitting at the beach in the hot sun with no wind to cool me down.

Many new activites have been popping up here and there to pass the time. One of them is beach volleyball. It started off small, usually only three teams of two were playing, but now word has spread and it's become a new hit. The competition has heated up and always draws in a small crowd. It's fun to watch and play, there is usually one team that dominates but everyone rotates through and get a chance to play no matter of their skill level. I put up a few new pictures including some of the volleyball action.

One can only play volleyball for so long, which resulted in a new idea brought to the beach by the Swedish guys: Lets build a massive sandcastle! Jen and I joined in the construction after a nice foundation had been laid. The castle was a 6'x6' square and built to be about 4'-5' tall. There were even trussels and a deep moat around the perimeter. The whole process was filmed with one of the boys' Go Pro camera, it took a picture every 5 seconds. You can find the video on facebook and watch as the tide quickly washes away our work.

Come back wind!

What To Do: The Non-Windy Days in Jeri

The wind has been down for the past few days here, yesterday and today it hasn’t even been windsurfable. It's a bummer to have our last week so light, but this way we get to enjoy the town of Jeri more.

When you know the wind will be blowing tomorrow a good nights sleep, big breakfast and stretching your sore muscles is essential for a great day windsurfing. Last night, after a fully non-wind day here everyone decided to have a good night when we realized the forecast for tomorrow called for even lighter winds. Most of us gathered for drinks at Pousada do Maurizio. They have lots of tables, hammocks and free finger food from six to nine o'clock. We sat around and had some good conversation until someone pulled out a deck of cards and started a game of slaps. After a while of playing Tom and Marco were the only ones left, were very evenly matched and it seemed the game would never have a winner. Then Arrianne stepped in and within a few minutes had well over half the deck of cards in her hands and proceeded to win the rest.

We hung out at Maurizios until they began to dim the lights around 12:30. At this time it was time to get some drinks from the barrackas on the beach. Our usual barracka boy, Rudofo was there making drinks as usual. We hung out, made some drinks of our own while many people we knew filtered by, usually stopping to join us for a drink. At 2:45, I called it a night and went home. When I was getting up in the morning around eight, Jen was just getting home. It turns out after dancing Forro until five in the morning, a few people decided to go for an early surfing session. So after watching the sunrise, they hit the water and surfed the waves. Jen and I had breakfast together then she went and slept half the day away.

Shark attack!

The fishermen here go out in boats whose seaworthiness is debatable. They are purely powered with cloth sails that are attached to makeshift masts and booms that look to be make from long and skinny logs that have drifted in from the sea. The boats themselves are usually about 15 feet long and 5 feet wide and have quite a number of bailers sitting inside. The fishermen set out early in the morning and sail to a spot about 22 miles off the coast line. On boats with no motors or electronic devices of any kind this feat is very impressive to me. I’ve been told it takes 6 hours to get out to the fishing location and back. The toughest part is the home stretch: coming in over the waves. Just the other day when the waves were 3 meters high, a boat was flipped as it was trying to come in and lost all of its fish and tools sitting in the boat.

The nets are all hand made and hand cleaned. After a day of fishing it’s common to see the fishermen sitting in the shade beside their boats mending their nets. Back home all the net casting and hauling in is done by large cranks and mechanical arms, but here it is purely the talent of the fishermen which brings in their catch of the day. Before Jericoacoara became known as an elite windsurfing destination, it was primarily a small fishing town.

Today I was sitting reading my book on the beach when I noticed a large crowd amalgamating around a boat that had just come in on shore. I walked over to see what the fuss we about and along side the usual pile of freshly caught fish was 8 foot hammer head shark! Anyone want to go swimming? It was very cool to see the shark up close, how massive they can be. One fisherman cut out the jaw to show people the 15 cm wide bite full of crooked 1 cm long pointy teeth. I wouldn’t want to be swimming with that shark anytime soon! The fishermen cut off the fins and threw the guts in the water and proceeded to sell the large shark steaks to local restaurant owners. A few of the windsurfers watching the gutting and cleaning process joked we should borrow one of the fins and swim in the water where everyone windsurfs to try to scare people away from the busy areas.

I think I’m going to follow the theory: If you don’t eat it, it won’t eat you!

Amazing 'Home' Cooked Meals

Recently I’ve grown a bit tired of the usual PF meal of rice, beans and meat and have been craving some veggies. It seems quite a few people have been feeling the same way, because Bas, Jen, Tom, Safia (sp?), Al, Maeli, Arrianne, Floor and myself cooked up a huge pasta meal the other night.

We decided to go very gourmet and had appetizers of hot garlic bread right out of the oven as the chefs worked away in the kitchen and others mingled and relaxed before dinner. The sauce included at least two of every single vegetable sold in the grocery stores. It had the usual onion, tomatoes, peppers, carrots along side with zucchini, egg plant, delicious sausage and spices. Once all the ingredients were in the pot, there was so much sauce we thought we’d be eating off it for two nights and we had already cooked up enough pasta for a small army. Clearly we under estimated ourselves and how hard we had windsurfed because it turned out we cooked up the perfect amount. I don’t know how we finished off so much food, but I think everyone went home at least 5 pounds heavier and very satisfied that night.

It’s great sitting around and having fun with so many other people from such different backgrounds, and everyone is here because windsurfing is what they love to do. I love listening to stories of people from previous years in Jeri or other prime windsurfing locations around the globe. It makes me want to travel to new locations and windsurf 365 days a year!

Sailing on Lagoa Azul

Jeri has great wave sailing and recently the waves have been reaching new heights. Wave sailing is tiring, and due to the amount of people on the water causing bad chop and well, there can be too many people on the water at once which it makes it hard to learn new moves. So, after sailing for over two and a half months in the Jeri waves Jen and I took a slight detour to Lagoa Azul for some flat water sailing.

Lagoa Azul is a small lagoon about 40 minutes by truck away from Jeri. It turns out there were 12 people wanting to go so we all piled into one truck. Now that doesn't sound too impressive, but imagine 12 people with all their gear plus the driver. Thats 12 people, 12 boards, 24 sails plus all the booms, masts, etc, etc. Once we got everything on top or piled in the back, there wasn't much room left to sit. Some of the people we went with were: Maeli, Al, Arrianne, Floor, Anna, Emmi, Thomas and three other people I haven't a clue how to spell their names.

The wind was a bit gusty, but I loved the flat water for a change. Also the fact that we were only 12 people on a large lagoon was great, especially once everyone was spaced out. I was able to work on my tacks and air gybes, hopefully getting close to landing the latter soon! The day was quite cloudy, but we made the most of it and hopefully got some great action shots with Anna's high tech camera. When I get the pictures she took, I'll make sure to post them!

During lunch time all the girls (which there were a lot of, we joked that all the windsurfing girls went to the lagoon!) helped Al with the windsurfing movie he's making. We sat in a circle around him in our bikinis and sang along to a song about living in paradise. Not too far from the truth! I can't believe we have under 2 weeks left in Jeri! Time to make the most of it and enjoy every minute.

Jazz Festival in Jeri

Recently there has been a lot going on in the main square outside of Jens and my pousada. A large stage has been set up in preparation for the Jeri Jazz festival, complete with lights, a huge sound system, two hundred or so chairs and a make shift bar. The entire square has been sectioned off which means the main street is void of the usual stream of cars, trucks, buggies and motorbikes. During the day this means the main street is much quieter then usual but once the sun goes down and the music starts, it is anything but quiet. The jazz music is great to listen to, it's like being back at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Idaho I used to go to with my school band.

Our pousada is in a great location to listen and enjoy the music, it's like having box seats! The only downside is after windsurfing all day it makes for an awkward obstacle when you're trying to fall asleep. Closing the windows doesn't help keep the volume down when the concert is right outside! Although if this is my biggest complaint of the day, I don't think its too bad.

Happy Birthday to Dad yesterday!