Countryside Voyages

Alrighty, we are going to do a bit of backtracking, as I was a stinker and never blogged about some pretty fun events.

Within our first two weeks here, it was time for our group to split up: four of us to teach in Recife (at UFRPE), one to teach in Garanhuns, and one to teach in Serra Talhada (all federal universities). The two guys in our group volunteered to venture to the countryside towns. The weekend before starting classes, Eric departed for Garanhuns by bus, leaving Brody here to be transported by car. Wellington, Annelise, and I went along for the ride, as it was a wonderful opportunity to see the countryside (plus, Wellington needed to help Brody get settled in). Thus, the adventure began.

For reference purposes, here is a handy map of Pernambuco, which includes each location mentioned in this story.

Alright, reference established. Note, 'tis quite the distance from Recife to Serra Talhada, our first destination. Around five to six hours, give or take. Wellington, Annelise, and I left the apartment at 8:20 am (far later than we intended) to catch the metro. Of course, at that time the metro collective was on strike, so we had a little less than ten minutes to book it to the metro station before the doors closed. Sweaty as all get out, we made it in time. After a slight wait, we got on the metro, disembarked after a few stops and transferred to another metro line. From this metro, we transferred to a bus (nope, our trip hasn't even started yet), which eventually got us to the university, probably around an hour late. At the university, we waited for our driver, who finally rolled up in a pickup truck. It was going to be a close-quarters kind of trip!

On the road! We only had to drop by a nearby apartment to pick up Brody and the actual trip would begin. Oh, wait, got my hopes up too soon! After about a two minutes in the car, we pulled over, and Wellington leapt out of the car, saying he would only be gone for a bit. After about five minutes, Wellington returned with another driver! Apparently, our first driver needed to return by 6:00 pm, that same day, and we had been planning on doing an overnight trip.

After the driver change and Brody pick up (which wasn't easy, as no one had the correct address... not to mention, we were two hours late at this point), we were off! The landscape changed so quickly as we headed west. First hilly, then jungly, then dry shrubbery. Soon, the land was completely barren with random rock formations and isolated mountains. We passed through the occasional town or two, but they were quite infrequent, as the dry conditions of this part of the state were not favorable for living.

One of the towns we passed through.

Why hello, gorgeous rock formation!

We stopped for lunch at a gas station restaurant, which was super classy (even taken out of the gas station context). It was a self-service restaurant, as most restaurants are, I am finding. Oh, and this place had the nicest bathrooms I had found yet. I was pretty excited. This gas station, like many others we passed on the highway, were also home to hotels above their adjoining restaurants. Makes sense!

Once lunch was finished, we had about three more hours until arrival. Our driver did manage to shorten that time, as he was a little speed demon, passing trucks left and right (okay, maybe not right, but he did seem to be all over the place!). Eventually, we requested that he tone it down... a lot, especially after we passed two dead horses and a motorcycle wedged under a truck. Enough convincing! The rest of the trip was mainly spent driving through this amazing, dry landscape. Each of us got in at least one nap, as it had been a long day. Just as the sun was setting, we arrived in Serra Talhada. What a beautiful town! Set beside a huge, sharp mountain, this town was just picturesque. First, we drove into the university, just outside of town, to meet up with Brody's new coordinator for the summer. Again, so lovely. The campus was tucked behind the mountain alongside a lake.

Serra Talhada campus

Brody seemed pretty stoked to be living in such a gorgeous place, and we could not have been more excited for him! His coordinator, Paulo, was pretty awesome, too. Such a young, fun guy. When he spoke English, often times he would have a British accent. Paulo took us to a local restaurant for dinner, where we tried many meats and cheeses typical to the area (the countryside is very well-known for their meats!). We had sun-dried beef and Coalho cheese, among many other delicious things. After dinner, we bid Brody goodbye, and he went off with his new family. Since it had gotten so late (it was already around 8:00 pm), we decided to spend the night in Serra Talhada instead of heading on to Garanhuns. According to Wellington and our driver, the road to Garanhuns is not the safest at night, mainly because of the high number of stray goats wandering around. In any event, we found a lovely little inn, where we only had to pay 90 R$, which is around $45ish USD. Our room was super clean and had air-conditioning. Such a treat! Plus, we got to hop on the internet for a while, which was always a blessing. Before heading to bed, I went out by the roof-top pool to do some moon-watching. The sky was so clear and unobstructed, and the town became quite dark at night. 

Daytime version of the pool area!

In the morning, we had the pleasure of eating a delicious, traditional Brazilian breakfast, including Tapioca, fruits galore, cakes, pastries, rice, and couscous. Oh, and not to mention, coffee and juices! All of my favorite things. By 8:00 am, we were off again, as we needed to get to Garanhuns as soon as possible (Wellington had some important business to take care of there). The drive was relatively short, especially compared to the day before. Three hours, and we arrived! Garanhuns is a larger town than Serra Talhada and is in a very different geographic area. In Garanhuns, the terrain was quite mountainous and the temperature was slightly cool (honestly, it felt pretty perfect). Upon our arrival, we met up with Eric, his coordinator, and host. He seemed to be settling in well, which was great to see. After Wellington handled his business, we got back on the road (yep, we were only in Garanhuns for maybe an hour). We made a few random stops on the way back to Recife, like at a random gas station/hotel in the middle of nowhere, where Wellington handled more business and then a restaurant for a full-blown beef and cheese spectacular meal (the food was served on a raised skillet above a fire, very traditional). With full stomachs and cramped legs from another three hour ride, we returned to Recife around 6:00 pm, just in time, as that's exactly when the driver needed to be back. Phew! We covered so much ground in so little time. Ay ay ay. I so enjoyed the trip, though, as I never knew there was such great geographical diversity within Brazil. One does not usually picture vast expanses of desert, especially so close to the rich tropical zone of the coast. Eye-opening, for sure! 

Seeing as I've done an overload for a post again, I will stop here. One last picture, though! 

Driving up to Garanhuns. 

Thank you again, my dear friends, for reading (and putting up with my sporadic posting habits). 

Blessings and Peace!

Rachel