Icaraizinho!!! - Icarai de Amontada

Icarai de amontada is a very small place, 180 km away from Fortaleza, on the beach and full of natural beauty. This village is having a narrow access to the main road via a sand road which is as long as 20 km! If you are coming for first time to Icarai, you will feel like entering to 17th or 18th century. Unlike everyone I loved this place at first go. This place is in line with what I really love. There were no bars, no nightclubs, no parties, no high volume surrounding, etc which is just the heart of Brazil. This was the first place in Brazil where I could listen to my inside voice, sitting on the beach in the light of moon. I could listen to the breeze, to the coconut leaves, to the sea waves and feel like complete in myself. If I could leave India one day and want to live in Brazil, I will come to my beloved Icaraizinho!!!

The town was not having much advanced facilities to accommodate and eat but I was happy with the pousada I got. The town was small enough that I soon came to know about many people living there. I got familiar with them and it was the place where I could make some relations to come back. Our lunch place and dinner place were fixed. No much options indeed. But I loved both the places. The food in Hibisco was so nice that I love it more than any type of Indian food. There in particular I missed India least. I am in fond of that place.

"Lunch and dinner places"

I got a company of very nice people there. The shop owner Sonia, the waitress Rosiama, my so called daughters Andrea and Messia, the restaurant girl- Jamile, Cristina's mother, the cook from Hibisco and many others from town were the wonderful people. Only the pousada owner Petrick was not a person to whom I could really like. But it was not his fault. After all he was from France. Sonia has given me free garlic breads and coffee many times. I used to play pranks with Andrea and Messia. The cook in Hibisco used to care for taste of my food like my mother. Cristina's mother many times gave me fruits. It was always nice to stop on the lane and talk to these people. Those were the wonderful days! I used to go alone on to the beach late night a little longer from that small place in moonlight. I used to sit there on to the beach and feel the blessing of natural breeze and clamness. I loved to do that.

When I reached Icarai, the only Indian who was living there alone was waiting for me. Jatinder was his name but we called him JG. We really had nice time together and we were close that time. I liked his way of thinking and he was in line with most of my thoughts. After I came there a lot of things become easier for him and I also had a good company. Aprat from JG one more personality was waiting for me at that place and she even claimed to have seen me in her dreams!! She was Rebeca. This girl had an everlasting impression on me and I will cover her story in my next chapter.

"Rebeca and JG"

Over a period of time, I have customized my food here too. The pizza I ate became an Indian pizza on menu of a restaurant! We have played cricket across the lane besides the church and even on beach too. Even we had local players who liked to join us. Later more Indians joined us in Icarai as well. We had nice times. We had few barbiques and festas!! All memories are so wonderful and close to my heart. Finally when I needed to leave Icarai, it was really heavy. I never received a see off like that in my whole life. I will need to cover it in another chapter as well!! Icarai has carved everlasting impressions on my heart and mostly I will visit that place again.

Jeri-Caocaora!

Those were my last days in Camocim site before I would move to the next site. There was a project party for successful completion of most unsuccessful project on the weekend. It was more for “at last it is over” than some achievement. I had been long in Camocim site and because of the constraints of the place, I could hardly cover any of the nearby places which are very famous for tourism. Santosh was having the same feeling when I talked with him. So we decided to bunk that “sigh of relief” party and blast to Jeri-Caocaora which has been referred as one of the most beautiful beach on the earth by most of the tourist magazines. The Greek brave man, Palis who was also tired with this site and work over there, joined us with his innocent and beautiful girlfriend-Carlene.

The place was nearly 60 km away from our place but the road was full of dunes, rivers, back waters which we needed to cross with natural ways. It has been kept that way just to preserve the natural beauty of the place and that’s where it has been remained untouched since many years. So we decided to hire a buggy car and journey turned out to be as interesting as the destination. The buggy car picked us up in the afternoon and the first thing we needed to cross the river at Camocim with a boat. We all along with buggy boarded the boat and crossed the river. After river we started on jumpy, bumpy dunes with ups and downs at great speed. The water stored in between the cavities of dunes was making that place very beautiful. We enjoyed high speed buggy drive on the sand and were rushing through the natural roads. The droplets of rain were playing hide and seek with us and making our moments very special. The first place where we stopped was Tatajuba. I thought at least Tata reached here(:D). We had snacks there and continued to our journey.

We crossed many flowing waters with natural wood boats and at last near evening we reached there nearing dusk. We rushed our check-in in a good hotel and came out to observe the beautiful sun-set in Atlantic. Jeri is the only place where you can see the sunset in Atlantic because of its peculiar location. The sun-set, although we were little late was wonderful. The moment was eternal.There we walked through the sand roads of the town observing beautiful craft and restaurants around for dinner. We choose a typical restaurant where the food was delicious. Our pousada was nice enough to give us rest so that we can be charged up for the next day. Next day, waking up early we hired horses to go to the monumental place of Jeri-Caocaora. As we walked through the meadows over there, the surroundings were so beautiful and green that I could have just spent my life over there! Lastly we reached to that place where a rocky gate has naturally been formed and it looks like a welcome gate to Jeri. We approached to the beautiful gate and backed by Sun all the way, we hardly could resist ourselves from entering the cold and roaring water of Atlantic. We spent a good hour there and started returning to the hotel. On the way back to the home, we went to see preserved forest where in back water, first time in my life I saw a real sea horse! I always imagined that it should be like a hippo in size but I was amused to know that the big one from them is less than of size of my palm! The one, the local guide with us had caught was a female pregnant seahorse fully grown in size and he caught it within half portion of a water bottle! We also saw the red colored crabs which were the unique feature over there.
As we backed from there, we were very tired but the mood which was tired because of our stay in Camocim was refreshed for a new site. Enthusiasm was back in place and we became ready for a new challenge.

P.S. : Friends can have a view of more photos on my orkut profile.

Recife, State Paranambuco, Brazil

Recife is one of the most prominent and dangerous city in Brazil. I was lucky enough that nothing went wrong with me there too! It was great time being there in Recife as I had great fun in great city.

I booked a bus ticket to reach Recife as it was an overnight journey from my place Aracati. But my journey became more comfortable when I came to know that my sweet friend Adriane is going with his wife on same day, same time!!! I needed to cancel my bus ticket and to my amazement it was a pleasant experience unlike in India. Then I joined him on the way and it was rainy night with thundering and the road was full of adventure. At least a 50 km of road was under construction and the diversions provided were so typical that anyone could get an accident! I thought when I saw Brazil that India is well behind in road safety, but this journey relieved me that there is something we do better on roads in India!

"Adriane, his wife-Christiane, My friend-Silvia and Me"

I still reached safely in safe and fast hands of Adriani! He dropped me at the university where the cultural programs were waiting for me where I wanted to start! Programs were good and I had fun watching them. Next morning, I went to Recife beach, which is a beautiful rocky beach which gave name Recife to Recife city. There was a long row of rock wall in the Atlantic, which made the beach water calm near shore. It was crystal clear water on the beach where we can see clearly till bottom. Typically like every beach city, Recife has a long rows and rows of buildings, hotels and shops aligning beach. It was a very hot day and I could not last long on to the beach. Comfortable AC room was the best place for afternoon.

In evening I could not locate a single restaurant near beach! Later I came to know that it has been in line with the policy of local municipal to keep the area trouble free but indeed I got so troubled to find a restaurant till the level that I lastly did a taxi and asked him to take me where they serve food in the city!!

The next day I booked a cab to take me to the city tour and nearby places. We started with the beautiful and historical city situated on and around two rivers with beautiful and ancient buildings, eye-catching riversides, calm gathering places, a perfect blend of ancient and recent developments. Further on the way we saw a very ancient church built in year 1535. There was a drum like thing in which people of those times used to put their children if they cannot afford them. Then they used to rotate this drum and it used to open in church where people of the church used to grow those children! It was hard and soft reality at the same place.

Then we went to “Piexe Boi” museum which literally means bull-fish museum where I saw the biggest fish of my life. These fishes are calm in nature and are protected as they are on the verge of extinction. There we saw an informative movie on them in an auditorium which is also shaped like them. It was a great project to visit!

Lastly we visited the Itamaraca. I will refer this place as a real paradise. It was very clean beach and because of some land extension in ocean it has just formed a natural swimming tank where we can enjoy swimming as like home! The water is also very clean and boat services are available to cross these tanks and visit the nearby island sort of land extension. It is a feast to eyes and great feel to body to be there on this beach! Restaurants here are pleasant and local craft is cheap enough to bag!

Near the beach another attraction is a sea fort named “Orange fort”. If you have visited mighty forts in India, you won’t find it so attracting but for a country as recent as Brazil it is something typical. We wondered insides of the fort and then went to a government store inside there where you can bag a lot of cheap craft items which will make you remember the good memories of the paradise forever!!

While returning we were tired, more than expected as it was a hot sunny day which we spent roaming in the paradise. But the beauty of the place was such that I could not feel tired till I started my return journey.

I had less time to cover other famous attractions of Recife but I wish I could re-visit the place in future. It was really a great time spent in Recife!

PS: For more photos, friends can visit my orkut or facebook profile.

Camocim- An interesting journey!!

Camocim was the second largest project we had and the worst example in all kind of work conditions. These severe conditions and tough times, left many memories which now we can laugh at!! This place has imparted in me a lot of knowledge and developed me in all terms. I got connected with many people and some of them are worthwhile to remember forever. They will be covered separately in coming posts.

Camocim was a bigger town than the places till date we worked in. The first impression of this town was very disappointing to me and it remained forever. I still remember the day I reached Camocim. Unlike other sites, I reached there in the evening and the atmosphere in Centro of Camocim was full of nervousness. Dim lights around restaurants, instead of sea it is situated on the calm bank of river which is in term used to farm fishes and shrimps and was smelling very bad. I felt like giving up. Dinner had really no choices for me and I understood I need to really discover this place for my choices which I did later in my stay. The only pleasant thing in the middle of all these was I met again with Santosh Narayanan, Sunny in short, an important individual who has left everlasting impressions on me by his distinct personality which I will try to give justice to in my upcoming posts. After dinner we entered our pousada named Ilha. Reception was at least pleasant.
From next day the work started. The site was considerably long and we needed to wake up extra early to be there on time. This was the worst thing for Camocim. We had a bigger town to enjoy but no time to wonder in city. Everyday one and half hour was wasted just to and fro. Working hours were always long in Camocim. The day when we could see the sunset in the city will either be a Sunday or a very very lucky day!! At work we faced all possible kinds of problems ever possible in our kinda work. But crossing through them made us better professionals and smiles run on face when we look behind towards it.

With passing time, I got my food customized, pousada was changed to the most wonderful star hotel, I gathered people and things were becoming better. The best thing in Camocim was this that most of Indians were together and we did not had time to think about other feelings than work. So the time ran so quickly and left many impressions behind. I will be covering many things about these in separate posts.

Hope soon it will be! :)

Gauramiranga and Baturite trip!!

It was my first day of second visit to Brazil after I came back from India. Also it was a day before Niraj was supposed to leave for India. We were all together and decided to go to a short, one day trip to the place called Gauramiranga which is more or less like a fun park at some height on a hill. People over here call this place as a hill station but being an Indian(being visited hill stations in India) I could not feel it. Although the temperature over there was a little less but still it was hot enough to be called as the hill station.

I loved the road to Gauramiranga. It was a narrow road, having curves, going uphill slowly , crowded with trees on both sides and to my amazement trees were full of fruits which are ready to eat and easily accessible to all unlike in India. There were stalls of these fruits from places to places on this road where we stopped and had mangoes, corns and other varieties. It was fun all together.

We reached the Gauramiranga park and some of us started fishing. Me, being a humanitarian, could not support the idea and timidly tried to resist the same. But my efforts could not convince the enthusiastic meat monsters and my fate was to see the last efforts of those fishes caught by one of our workmate, Partha. He got three of them. I was believing that, eating animals when they are cooked and in form of a dish is one thing and killing them is other. I thought later one will be harder, but Partha proved it totally wrong.

So the 'achievements' from the pond were given to kitchen to cook. Partha like a won solider must have felt proud in serving his catchings to the group. The food was good and so the people around. Brazil is naturally beautiful. Generally you see beautiful creatures around, be it with flora and fauna or be it with human beings!!

Then we went up a little more to the hill where they believed to have a hill station. Under a construction of a communication tower, we could see hills all around from that place. The view was beautiful but the heat was considerable. We could be there for taking one or two photos, but after that the AC of the car was preferable.

We got back after a nice trip. The place is worth for a short trip and specially when you are with your friends or group like I was!!

Beberibe- Morro Branco!!!

After getting through with Canoa and Aracati, the next milestone was Beberibe. It was a very nice place and the pousada where we used to live was named Ibitu. This place was remarkable and was on a hill near the ocean. It was amazing view in the morning and very pleasant evening there with the breeze flowing all the time. Me and my Indian work mates, we used to sit usually on the wooden chairs that allow you to bow backward. We used to enjoy the cool breeze from the ocean and talk about various topics of interest. Life was not in need of anything else there. Food in Ibitu was not having much choices but whatever they had was cooked best there!! I had only one option but it used to taste just similar to "Dal" and I was more than happy to have rice with it.

"Cool Atlantic and Pousada Ibitu"

Near to the this place, there is a small town name Morro Branco. There are naturally formed dunes which form a very nice view. The first time when I was there I just felt like to be in the set of a Hollywood movie. It was too amazing for me to believe that it is real. We used to be there in meantime and have a lot of fun. It was near to the beach and one of the tourist attraction. Having an agwa de coco at beach was one of the greatest pleasure for us. It felt so nice after the tiring walk on the beach with lot of humidity and hot sunshine. Really small small things contribute to a perfect moment and happiness is just series of such events.

"Morro Branco- Wonderful place with cool people"

Overall it was fun to be in Beberibe and Morro Branco.

Second Milestone- Aracati and Canoa

After getting customized to Brazilian food, weather, people and international work culture at Paracuru, the more confident feet moved to Canoa Quebrada. It was better than Paracuru, one of the famous tourist location from state Ceara.

We worked under a German installation manager, Rainer. A tall, handsome man with blue eyes and impressive looks. He knew six languages and that was the most useful thing about him for me . Although German, he was reasonable. He was very good at work and having a very good sense of humor. He was peculiar in his habit of listening. He will hardly pay attention to what others saying. You can never be sure about whether you conveyed him the message or not! All of a sudden say after 20 min you said him something, he can ask you the same thing again! The time I spent with him was very nice. I loved him for his work. In all my days in Brazil, I never came across a better manager than him on any site. I always liked to work with him, although most of us were having a different opinion.

"The Rainer"

Kirit and Partha, both were with me all the time here in Canoa and as they had more international exposure than me, they were always a supporting hand to me. They played important role in my stay here. Apart from this, two persons helped me a lot in Canoa and that too because of the fact that they knew a bit of English; namely Veronica and Fabio. Both of them used to work for our contractors. Veronica's mother used to a make a "Baba pizza" so nicely that I missed that pizza everywhere in my stay in other places of Brazil.

"Partha and Veronica"

I enjoyed my work here in Canoa and with passing days my heart was being customized here the Brazilian ways. I started learning their language, culture, food habits, people knowingly or unknowingly. I was liking Brazil by this time.

"Mirante Das Gambosa" - Living place in Aracati

We, all Indians used to live in Aracati and our work was near to Canoa. We lived in same Pousada (this is how they call a resident hotel here in Brazil) named "Mirante Das Gambosa". The only good thing about this place was the swimming tank there. That was big enough to have fun.
Everything else there could make the life miserable. The first thing was it was too big with very less illumination . In the night, if you open the back window of your apartment, you will have a feel of staying in the graveyard. The noises of unknown animals in that darkness can be stressing. Bathrooms of the Pousada were free home to lizards, frogs and spiders. I feel lucky not to see any snake there! The trees planted there were the trees with very small leaves and many thorns. The seed carriers were yellow in color and used to fall all around in the ground. They never appeared green!

"Kirit and Partha with the only good thing in the pousada"

The walking track there was around a pond which used to smell worse than the garbage place. The range of internet was just enough to cover the reception so that more incoming suffers could come. There in reception we were gifted with mosquitoes who will not let you sit more than five minutes in rest. If I were the governor of state there, I would have declared that place for jail without any doubt!

I came to know that we are staying there because one of our colleague, very choosy about living places did not like in Canoa and he requested to shift us there. At that time I thanked him that if he is happy here, what could be Canoa!!!!!! But later I came to know Canoa was much better place to live. There I remembered a phrase from my mother tongue, people who are too choosy, generally end up with the worst!!!

Paracuru Rocks!!!!!!!!!!

"The landmark at Centro, Paracuru, Ceara State, Brazil"

Paracuru.. the first site where I started my work in Brazil. Although I visited Canoa Quebrada site before Paracuru for a little while, the actual work started in Paracuru.

Paracuru was the perfect place to live. The Pousada Vento Brasil was having every reason to be satisfied with. The beach was reasonably close to the hotel and was very beautiful. Niraj was with me and I never felt lonely. I was lucky in my tour of Brazil that I was never alone at any site in Brazil and specially in starting days where it was more important.

I had a lot of fun in Paracuru with Niraj. Niraj was a good company because most of my habits resembled him. He, just like me, never liked the headache of high decibels(which people call party) at the hours where human are supposed to sleep! We together were a good company to each other. We used to walk every evening in the small town starting from the Centro of Paracuru. Centro here in Brazil is a nice place for everybody. Generally it is like an open space in front of the main church in the town where many people sit together, talk and share their happiness and sorrows, children playing around, girls roaming, etc overall a happening place!
We used to walk and come back to the centro to become a part of life there. Niraj used to look at small children tirelessly finding them cute and innocent and I used to stare to their moms!!!!!!! For me, it was more important to look at them who gave (or in future are going to give) birth to such a cuteness and innocence!!!! Sundays were passed together roaming on the beach and water of Atlantic was real attraction to us.
We drove cars to and fro to the site in Paracuru. We both new learners of car were completely in fond of driving. We used to like the car we got and that was a truck called duplo. We used to drive to the restaurant near the site named kite surf which was really a place to give a chance to your tongue. Everything in that restaurant tasted good. It was also a center for kite surfing which I only saw in TV in India before.

"A beach view of Kite surf restaurant"

The actual lessons were learned since starting in Paracuru. As I was aware that things will be different here in Brazil and it was my first assignment outside India so I was quiet nervous at first. Then as I went along with, I realized the things and became confident. I have seen confident Europeans, slow Brazilians, cautious Indians and all blinds of people at work, although there were people to fall in exceptions as well. I realized the way people are today, are because the way they grown up.

Europeans became confident at the cost of availability they got in their lives to live with. Brazilians became slow as they did not need more than music and seafood which is available to them as the boon of nature. Indians were cautious always because they faced scarcities in their lives and were hold responsible for whatever they would commit!!!!!! Everybody got a reason to be the way they were. So I learned a lesson not to expect the way we are from others but to find out what they are and how to go along with them.

That's the reason I was comfortable with almost everybody (except for few Indians, sorry to say this but was a fact) and we reciprocated a lot love. Almost all people I met were nice and they found me nice too. I remembered the saying several times in Brazil that the world is the way you look at it!

"I am in pain, without nails"

Paracuru took me along with it, to give my heart a Brazilian touch! It was a place which I will never forget in my life. Thanks to all Gods who contributed this to happen!!!!