Oi from Recife!

Nearly 24 hours and three transfers after leaving Minneapolis, we arrived in Recife early in the morning. We were warmly greeted at the airport by Mary’s aunt Rosangela. We began a short tour of Recife in her car, stopping to get a coffee and an empada at a padaria (bakery) before heading to this park, where we relaxed a little on these swings. 

One of the first things Nick noticed was these retro-space-age looking phone pods with “Oi” written on them. Mary used them all the time on her last trip to Brazil, but they are fast becoming obsolete as everyone switches to cell phones. Thankfully, they can still be seen (and photographed) everywhere you go.

After the park, we stopped at the University of Recife where we met Mary’s cousin Camila and were bombarded with introductions to various people at the Ministry of Education. This was a good opportunity for Nick to learn the Portuguese word prazer (honored), although he understood absolutely nothing else that was being said. We then stopped at the school where Rosangela works as a director in a suburb called Abreu e Lima. Nick got to further fine-tune his ability to say prazer, smile, and nod, while Mary and Camila figured out how best to catch hamsters.  After two fine specimens had been caught, we headed home to Paulista and collapsed into bed, ending our first day in Brazil. 

The next day, Rosangela took us on a walk around her neighborhood, including this beach a few blocks from her house. Among the fishing boats and men repairing nets, we encountered a dog who appeared to be practicing yoga. We caught him here in the up-dog position. He must have been a fan of the camera because he rushed Nick shortly after this photo was taken. Luckily, he was just curious and not vicious – probably the yoga helped.