Exploits & Escapades of a Neophyte Anthropologist: Floripa, Brazil: A City on a Tropical Island

It is hard to believe that it was a week ago today that I flew out of NYC. It is even harder to believe that only two days ago I was in the tropical city of Florianapololis, Brazil. The last week has been rich with new experiences, emotions and lots of small adventures. I arrived in Floripa in the late afternoon of Wednesday the 2^nd and immediately as I stepped off the plane and down the stairs onto the runway I was welcomed by incredibly green mountains and humid air that my thirsty desert skin readily soaked up. My first small adventure was getting to the address I had written on a little scrap piece of paper. After two days of travel I opted out of exploring the local bus system with my backpack (my how things have changed since my old backpacking days), and instead took a taxi. Even though the taxi driver actually didn’t know exactly where the address was he managed to deliver me to the door without a problem. My hostess in Floripa was Guigui (pronounced not like Gigi but Geegee), a beautiful young Cape Verdian woman studying at the local university. Guigui and I became fast friends and I was very grateful to have a home to stay in since inn prices in Floripa (a big tourist destination due to its endless beaches) are quite high. Thursday morning I met Vatu, another Cape Verdian and fellow yoga teacher training student, who after exchanging several emails invited me to stay at Guigui’s. Soon Guigui, Vatu and I became a little troupe making trips around the university neighborhood to the local grocery store and shopping mall, around the center of town and taking long afternoon naps on the couches. I couldn’t believe how tired I was after my travels. On Friday I had my second adventure of getting to the Federal Police station to register myself as a temporary resident of Brazil. This time I opted for the bus and inevitably got lost. The bus driver left me in front of the Civil Police instead of the Federal Police and it took some walking, and three sets of asking directions before I made it to the right place. But it was all part of the fun. Considering that it took four hours before I was even able to get in and see someone at the police station to process my paperwork I could have gotten lost a few times more and still been okay [smile]. After the paperwork was taken care of (woohoo) I somehow managed to find my way to the bus stop to take the bus back home and then Guigui, Vatu and I hopped on a different bus to a popular beach neighborhood that ended up being a stunning tour of the island. In the neighborhood, walking along the water with a strong wind blowing through my hair and the still humid air nourishing my skin, I felt like I had finally arrived in Brazil. Saturday contained much of the same feeling of euphoria with more small adventures with my new friends trying to get to another remote beach to see Ben Harper play, followed by being on that beach in a crowd of Brazilians, in the rain, only barely able to hear Ben Harper. Somehow it was still a good time, aided by the beauty of the beach, although after 2 hours in the rain we headed home. On Sunday I woke up with the anticipation that I would finally be heading to the yoga teacher training center, meeting the rest of the trainees, and settling into a new home for a month. It had been only 11 days since I passed my comprehensive exams, said goodbye to my friends in Tucson, headed to NYC, said bye to my family and friends there, and then spent four nights in Floripa, but I it felt like I had been living out of my backpack for long enough (something else that has changed from my backpacking days) and the idea of being settled somewhere, and a beautiful place at that for a month was a welcome change. Add to that that the month would be devoted to yoga and I was extremely excited to get there! Although almost two days have passed since we arrived at the Enchanted Mountain yoga center and I have so much to express that I could burst, I am going to hold off on writing for now. But I promise to share with you my experiences here very soon!

Floripa- A city on a tropical island...