Jellyfish and Brazilian Hospitality

On our last day in Itacaré, Daniel and I were convinced that we just had to see some of the other nearby beaches. For R$15, we were put in a van with two couples and carted off to two different beaches. They were both very pretty, but to be honest I think I preferred the beaches closer to town. I prefer the rocky little coves as opposed to the wide, open expanses of beach. Itacarezinho, the second beach we went to in the afternoon, was at high tide and there wasn't much sandy space to speak of. So we went straight to the water and swam for about an hour, the water was the perfect temperature, the waves were just right, and I was thinking the entire time how pleasant it was to be swimming worry-free and not thinking about any of those nasty little sea creatures that can so easily ruin a trip to the beach.

When we got tired of swimming, we retired to the shore, letting the rising tide wash over our feet as we stood and talked in the last golden light of the afternoon sun. All of a sudden, I felt a burning on one leg and seconds later on the other. I looked down and there was a tiny little jellyfish, clear and bright blue in colour, with one single tentacle wrapped around my legs. The tentacle was almost like a string, about the width of dental floss but wet and sticky. I can only imagine being a small seahorse or something of the sort and getting wrapped up in that long, stringy thing. But alas, I am not a tiny little seahorse, and although my leg felt like it was on fire and I now have a friendly red welt wrapping around my leg as a reminder, I did get to discover that peeing on a jelly fish sting really does work.

We left Itacaré last night and arrived this morning in Trancoso, a small town about 11 hours down the coast. The town sits atop a grassy bluff looking down on the fluffy white sand and blue water below. The town square is a big sandy area lined with restaurants, bars, and upscale boutiques and at the far end sits an old, white little chapel. There's a full moon tonight that lights up the entire area and it's beautiful combined with the twinkling lights and colourful buildings surrounding the car-free square.

Daniel and I spent all day down at the beach, enjoying our last few days of carefree tanning time before heading to Rio. I took a quick dip in the water to cool off, and I heard the first American accent I've heard during my entire time in Brazil. I wandered a little closer and saw a father and daughter playing in the waves and not only speaking in English, but sure enough, with an American accent as well. I went over to ask where they were from, and as we got to talking he mentioned he was there with his Brazilian wife who owns an inn here in town. He offered us a room but I said we had already found a place that suited our barely-scraping-by student budget. His wife came out a few minutes later and we all talked for a long time and then they invited us to have some beer with them back at the beach. Over the next hour, while enjoying cold beer and sun-dried meat with yuca chips (a Brazilian specialty), they offered to host us for free at their inn for two days. Turns out, they have a daughter about our age who loves to travel, spent a summer in Spain, now lives alone in Florida, and they sympathize greatly with the young student traveler trying to make due on a small budget.

The inn is like a palace for us, we have our own room and bathroom complete with airconditioning, a little porch with a hammock, and there's a black lab called Lola. The couple has two daughters, 8 and 10, who speak non-stop. They gave us a tour of their own house on the property and invited us to come along to dinner with them. Their daughters, apparently, had begged them to invite us and they refused to take no for an answer. They treated us to a delicious pizza dinner while we entertained their daughters, and told us that breakfast is included with staying at the inn as well. They also ordered an extra pizza for us to take back in case we got hungry later. The family couldn't be nicer and of course we haven't stopped saying thank you since the second we stepped foot on their property. They just tell us they remember what it was like when they were young and ask, "honey, would you like more beer?" in their thick Boston accents. So they next two days we're saving a little money, staying in a nice place, and keeping company with, who would have thought, AMERICANS in Brazil!