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I just got back from Brazil. I didn’t “just go to Brazil”; I went to Paradise, which is another name for Brazil.  I had wanted to go there since I was eight, so this was a pilgrimage for me. I had read about it, looked at maps, listened to the music, watched movies and dreamed of Brazil since I had been a small child; it was only fitting that one day I should go.  Like every good American, Rio de Janeiro was the obvious destination. After watching Fred Astair and those 20 beauties on the wing of a Pan Am Clipper “Flying Down To Rio”, where else could I go? I wanted to see it all. However, after telling a neighbor of mine who was from Brazil that I was planning on going, she suggested another destination: Fortaleza, Ceara. I had heard of it, but that was all, but with the help of a World Atlas, several travel books and the Internet I soon became familiar with it, or at least that’s what I thought. The reality far exceeded the fantasy.  Fortaleza, Ceara is the number one destination of Brazilian tourists and the number one millionth destination of Americans. Americans don’t even know it exists. Everyone that I told about it looked at me as though I had just mentioned going to a planet in a far-off galaxy (There are less than fifty Americans in Ceara, a state of over seven and a half million people). In order to go there, I had to become a Brazilian for two weeks. It was ABSOLUTELY wonderful.  Even though I didn’t speak the language (Portuguese), not only did I make it, but also I had the most wonderful time I could ever imagine. The first thing (which was the smartest) I did was line myself up with a very established and reputable Tour Company, OceanView. They have been around for several years and are experts at this sort of thing. I never felt out of place the whole two weeks I was in Brazil, thanks to Flavia and her wonderful staff. They arranged everything from the first step I took in Fortaleza until I climbed on the airplane leaving Sao Paulo heading back to Phoenix, Arizona.  I never felt alone; I always knew there was someone available if I was in need. They arranged all my tours; both in Fortaleza and the one that I took in Sao Paulo, they saw to it that I had good hotel accommodations, they introduced me to good restaurants, and were professional at every step. All the tour guides spoke English, so I never felt as though I were totally alone.

Fortaleza has sand, palms, lakes and wildlife.

While I don’t want to go into a day to day dissertation of my vacation, I do want to include some impressions that I had while I was there. Some are mine alone, some have been explained to me by friends I met in Brazil, both Brazilian and American (I met a wonderful American woman while I was there that had lived in Fortaleza for more than twenty years and knew the Brazilians as though she were one). 

BEACHES:  The beaches of Brazil, and especially Ceara are perhaps the most pristine in the world. Fortaleza is three and a half degrees below the Equator; therefore the water is always warm. The water temperature remains at a constant eighty degrees. The sand is perfect for swimming, wading, or just looking at. The dunes of the Northeast are a sight to behold. They rise four, five, six hundred feet above and drop as rapidly. The sand is as fine as an hourglass and white. Because of the sand, the water, the sun, most Brazilians from the Northeast have that healthy, hearty look of someone whose life is the outdoors.

WEATHER:  Daytime temperatures are usually around the ninety-two degree mark (32C) while the evenings cool to about seventy-six degrees (24C). There is always a nice sea breeze and evenings are very comfortable (I slept every night with my window and door open, listening to the constant ocean waves beating against the shore). In Fortaleza, the mornings have some low-lying clouds that form over the ocean, but by nine in the morning the clouds have burnt off and the sun has begun to dominate the sky. From then on until early morning, it’s clear skies and ocean breezes.
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Fortaleza by night.

FORTALEZA:  While Fortaleza is big with many, many skyscrapers, it is totally different than American cities. The downtown area consists of many small shops together. It is very typical of Latin American cities in that the streets are narrow and crowded. Glass is uncommon; most shops are open and have large steel doors, which close when the shop finishes its business for the day. Streets are two way, then all at once are one way, and it always seems to be the opposite way from which you are going. The drivers are different from the drivers in the United States; even Brazilians say that the drivers of Fortaleza are the worse in all of Brazil (My American friend said that she couldn’t get a driver’s license in California after driving in Fortaleza for several years; they said that she didn’t follow the rules). The most disappointing thing was the graffiti; it is everywhere. It is on every wall in the city; nothing is safe from it.Talking to Brazilians, they say that they don’t even see it anymore. It really was a shame, because many of the streets and buildings are very beautiful; but the graffiti detracts from it.  PEOPLE: The people of Brazil are wonderful, and I personally think those of Fortaleza are the finest the country has to offer. Brazilians are a warm, wonderful caring people with humor and beauty abound. Any country whose primary emphasis is sun, sand, dolphins and music has to be wonderful. They say the people of Sao Paulo work too much, the people of Rio play too much and the people of the Northeast are too laid back to do either; and in some ways it’s really true. The people of Ceara have found a wonderful combination which allows them to work hard, but never too hard to enjoy all those things around them. They laugh a lot, smile a lot and it is quite obvious that they enjoy life a lot.  Even the people in the Favelas (slums) appeared to be content. Brazilians seem to have found their niche in life and accept it as it is. While they are hard workers who desire to get ahead, they don’t have the cutthroat, step on your brother attitude that other people have. The whole time I was there, I only saw three people bordering on obesity.  Brazilians eat right and exercise right to maintain a more healthy figure.

Brazilian women accept their body; they realize that it might not be perfect, but it’s theirs and they do the best to keep it healthy and presentable. I only saw one or two “perfect” bodies while I was there, but almost every woman I saw was trim. They are very clean; my friend laughed when she told me the average Brazilian takes three showers a day. They have very white teeth and very golden bodies. In Fortaleza, most of the Brazilians are from Indian/European heritage; therefore, their skin is a beautiful golden color with dark hair and dark eyes.  Most have high cheekbones and long eyelashes. Their bodies are generally petite and toned. Even middle-aged women look beautiful. 

Unlike America, in Brazil a very strong part of a woman’s status is her relationship with a man. Machismo rules and women are very aware of that. Women treat their mates with great respect and dignity. They know that if they don’t treat a man right, there are three women waiting in the wings to take their place; therefore, it is necessary to please their man. They tend to be the aggressor in the relationship, taking his hand, kissing his neck, beginning a conversation. When married, they not only watch over the children, but they tend to their husband’s needs as well; they’ll get his coffee or desert, see to it that he’s comfortable and generally make him feel secure in the relationship. Their attitude is one of partnering as well as loving; they usually marry for life.  Because of this, they choose more carefully and have a different selection process than American women; material things don’t mean as much as substance does to Brazilian women.
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FOOD: The food is wonderful. It is, of course much less expensive by American standards. Breakfast usually consists of juice, fruit, cold cuts, eggs, potatoes and breads of sorts. Lunch varies, but I ate at a place that if in the US would have put McDonald’s out of business in three seconds…for half the price. The hamburgers were delicious.  Lobster can be bought on the street; tenderloin steak is so tender you can cut it with a dull spoon. Seafood was plentiful throughout the City and especially at the beach villages.  Then there’s the coffee! Of course, coffee comes from Brazil, but that’s only the beginning. It has a flavor that is different from anything bought in the United States; even at the coffeehouses. It’s hard to explain the taste, but if you are a coffee lover, you have to go to Brazil. The only problem is that you’ll never be able to drink American coffee again and enjoy it.  COUNTRYSIDE: All I can say is that the countryside is beautiful.  There’s lots of foliage, lots of sand, lots of little lakes and ponds and lots and lots of palm trees. There are two kinds of coconut trees; yellow and green. Both have coconuts, but the green coconuts are used primarily for the milk whereas the yellow coconuts are used for both the milk and the meat. You can find the green coconuts almost anywhere. The houses are usually made of a red brick, mortar, wood, red tile and stucco. One of my fellow tourists from Sao Paulo said that if it wasn’t for the brick and wood, there would be no houses in Brazil. The homes don’t have glass windows; instead just an opening and shutters. Since it only rains a little (February 15 through April 15) there really isn’t any need for glass. An interesting side note is that I saw a total of four flys, one spider, and three ants the whole time I was there. The constant ocean breeze keeps the insects to a minimum. I’m told that in the interior they are quite plentiful.

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SAO PAULO: In a word, BIG! There are nine million people that live in Sao Paulo and another nine million that live in the surrounding suburbs. Sao Paulo is the financial as well as the industrial capital of South America.  Everywhere you look, there are skyscrapers; mostly apartments. The streets are wide and much cleaner than Fortaleza. Sao Paulo has freeways and large wide avenues. It seemed to me that every corner had either a church or a statue on it. I was able to see several of the Garden Districts, which were extremely beautiful, and it was easy to see the wealth that surrounded the area. Sao Paulo is much greener than Fortaleza, and there was grass and trees everywhere. I saw the largest stadium in the world, and it was impressive. The food was wonderful; I ate at an Italian restaurant that was better than anything that I have tasted here. Sao Paulo is quite cosmopolitan; you can tell that money rules there. The people were of lighter complexion and more serious that those in Fortaleza. Of course, the women were beautiful there, too.

All in all, Brazil is wonderful. The thing that surprised me the most was how similar Brazil is to the United States. It’s the dominant country in Latin America, yet it feels alone because its people speak Portuguese instead of Spanish. The rest of Latin America shuns and resents it. Brazil has more natural resources than any country in the world, it has the eight largest GNP, it is the fifth largest country in the world in both size and population; it has a 90 percent literacy level, the largest army in Latin America, produces more technical as well as industrial products than anywhere in Latin America; yet in terms of recognition, it falls far down the line by countries that have far less to offer the world. The question that was asked to me the most was why the United States doesn’t recognize Brazil as having the potential that is there. To try to explain the reason to Brazilians is almost impossible; the Northern Hemisphere is too wrapped up in itself to realize that there is anything south of the Tropic of Cancer except Australia and it’s only recognized because English is the first language. 

If you want a unique experience, go to Brazil; if you want an experience unlike any you might have ever thought you would have, go to Fortaleza. I once heard a man say, “There are two worlds on earth; Brazil and whatever is left”. Another said, “Brazil is the soul of the world”. Once you have gone and experienced Fortaleza, home will be a place just to place your hat; Brazil will be the home of your soul.
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