**The moment that I saw Francisco at the airport, hiding behind the first row of people. One of my friends told me that seeing him for the first time after such a long time apart would be awkward. But it totally wasn’t. I felt flustered, after just getting off the plane and switching my thoughts to portuguese, but it certainly wasn’t awkward. It was a little unreal, though.
**Christmas Eve: Francisco’s family had a big party where I met most of the family members. I love the family, and Francisco helped me minimize the awkward interactions when they arose. The food was delicious and made mostly by his mother.
**Within the first week I was there Francisco and I went to the center of the city to walk along Beira Mar, the famous beachfront promenade. It was a pleasant walk and we covered a lot of ground in not very much time. We saw fishing boats anchored on shore, groups of people hanging out on the beach, a series of little places to snack and get some coconut water or beer, a few statues, and a LOT of sky scrapers. The skyline could be from any number of coastal cities, since the land is so flat, and there aren’t that many distinctive buildings. That aside, it was really nice to be a tourist with Francisco, and hear him pointing out the other foreign tourists that passed us.
**Francisco’s brother came to visit for a few days and all three of us drove into the mountains to visit their grandmother and the family of one of his aunts. They live in a small town called Baturité. While we were there we went to see the Jesuit Monastery that sits on a a hill a little outside of the city. It was really adorable to see the interaction between Kiko and his younger cousins. Really affectionate. I remember sitting on little stools outside on the sidewalk (a common place to hang out at night) and listening to Kiko read a book to one of his youngest cousins. Super cute. Shortly afterward, he convinced the whole bunch to come out and get a pastel at the town square. These women (his grandmother and aunt) don’t go out very often, and even going the three blocks was a big deal and deserved a fresh dress and combing of the hair. It was also really nice to get away from the stiflingly hot air of the city.
**New Years: We spent a little over a week at a beach house and that’s were we celebrated New Years. Lot’s of food, music, dancing, and socializing. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, once I got over my personal issues that followed me to Brazil (i.e. Fulbright and future paranoia). Francisco helped a lot with that and made me realize how much they were suffocating me. There was also a nice moment after midnight when we stood in a circle and everyone got a chance to say something about the new year. I wish I had said something in english, seeing as I was not very eloquent in portuguese in front of the large group.
**The beach house was situated a few blocks from a beautiful beach with white-sand and a great view. There was also a series of sand dunes not too far away. One night we walked up them to watch the sunset and play in the river that cuts around them. On the way there, Jako (their supersweet dog) ran away, chasing off after some female dog. Kiko had to run quite a way to catch up and get him. This was also after he’d already bit through his leash a few days before. At the top of the dunes there was a beautiful view of the distant mountains.
**A few days later, Kiko’s sister came to visit. We got along really well and the three of us met up with her friends a few times, for dinner and to go to the beach. We went to Praia do Futuro, which was packed with people, mostly just hanging out in the shallow water, or drinking beer under shade of umbrellas. The sun is really strong, if I hadn’t already mentioned it, so it was nice to just sit at the table and venture out once in a while. The waves were also really strong, and I didn’t have courage to go out too far. The ocean and I don’t get along too well. She is a fickle mistress. Kiko, on the other hand, went way out and rode the waves. He told me, though, that a guy next to him couldn’t handle it and needed to be rescued by one of the lifeguards. Scary.



** The biggest city adventure day was when Kiko and I went to the Centro. We got off the bus at Beco da Poeira and spent the entire day walking from one point to the next and eventually ended up at the Ponte Metalica to have dinner. Beco da Poeira is a huge market that just sells clothes. It’s compact and disorienting, but you are bound to find something that you like. In fact, I found my white Ivy Day dress there. Next, we walked across the plaza to the Theatro José de Alencar which we explored and found a very strange-looking cat. From there, we walked a few blocks to the Catedral, with popsicles in hand. The Mercado Central is right next door, so we did a thorough walk through and bought some presents for my family. A few more blocks and we hit Dragão do Mar which is the cultural center of the city. There wasn’t very much open, but it was fun to see. It was getting dark at this point, so we made our way to the Ponte Metalica and grabbed some pizza before taking the bus back home. It was, needlessly to say, a long day.
**With only a few days left before I needed to head back to the States, we decided to fit as much as we could in just a few days. So, we finally made it out the Museum of Cachaça which is a little outside of the city. It is not just a museum, mind you. It is a fazenda made for tourists. There was tandem biking, kayaking, ziplines, food, drinking, and many more activites that I don’t even know how to explain. It was like a big playground for adults. And the history of this particular kind of cachaça was really interesting too. We caught a bus back in the afternoon.
**The very next day, we went on a three beach tour package with another couple that was visiting. We got on the bus at 7 in the morning and didn’t get home until around 8 at night. It was an intense day of sun, beach, and sand. At one point we took a dune buggy tour so we could see a few of the natural sites of the area: caves, dunes, and cliffs. So much fun! Unfortunately, there was also the tone of sadness because we both knew that this was going to be the last fun excursion of my trip. We made the best of it and crashed and relaxed until my plan left two days later.

**And thus ends a great trip. I wish I could’ve stayed longer, but a month was pushing it anyway. It’s hard to be so far away from him, but it’s obvious to me that this will last a very long time. A certainly hope it does. He’s wonderful. xoxoxox






