Praia de Jurere

Today we had class at 10 in a different classroom. In class today we discussed chapter 1 and 3. Raul then went over assigned stories that we needed to write (one a week). He suggested that we go around the campus and try to find student who spoke english (so they could translate our interviewees)and maybe even had a car (so they can take us around). Matt and i ventured off a little lost looking for anyone who spoke english. We met a few but they either had school or other plans. We began getting closer to what we needed and finally struck gold in the parking lot with a student named Guilherme who knew very good english. he told us to call him Gee (later we began calling him G-money). He told us that he had a hotel, where we could stay for the night, in the north of the island and that he would take us there and bring us back the following day when he had class. On the way to his hotel (-20 min) we stopped at Ponta de Forte which is one of three fortresses that was used to protect the entry ways in channel between the island and mainland back in the 1700-1800s. We saw massive cannons and great views. We then went to his hotel which is really nice. It is called Pousada dos Chas (www.pousadadoschas.com.br ) It was a beautiful hotel, very white, with lots of paintings and homemade soaps and candles. Gee needed to study for his evening test so we got our room, changed and headed for the beach which was 1 block down. The beach is amazing. A few boats in the water, some fisherman. Pretty vancant though. It is really busy in the summer but it is winter now, so the city is a ghost town literally. matt went in the water which was not very cold. We headed back after an hour or so to watch the game at this beach restaurant. There were a bunch of old local men (salty dogs) who were playing dominos. I asked to play with them and we did. We lost one game but came back to win the second. It was fun. In the evening we went to the open shopping area which was dead (ghost town) but got advised to eat at this restaurant on the water called Pimenta Limao (they do not have an website). Fortunately there was an english speaker named Renato, who was the chef, who helped us with the menu and recommendations. We ended up getting a shrimp cocktail, a salad with bacon and parmasan cheese and a traditional Brasilian meal called carne seca (shredded beef). It was really good. After dinner Gee picked us up and we met his father, mother and sister. All very nice and welcoming. Gee then took us to Sambaqui which is one of the original Azzorian villiages (the people who were here first). He showed us his grandfathers house which has original azzorian architecture. From there we went back to the hotel well i slept heavenly on the queen sized bed.

****picture of matt and i at Ponta de Forte riding the cannons****