Fernando de Noronha Pt 2: Partying Like Rockstars with Models, Skaters & Locals

The saying "it's a small world" really came true when Mads ran into Barbara on the beach before snorkeling in Fernando de Noronha. Barbara is a trade show model for Vix (Mads' old company) and they used to share a hotel room together in Miami every year. Barbara hung with a different crop of locals, i.e. really hot boys. After spending Monday morning tanning our bodies while sipping caipirinhas and beer on the beach we all went to watch the Brazil v. Chile game. In addition to Barbara's local hottie boyfriend, Cachorrinho or "little dog" whom by the way owned the Dog Bar which we frequented, we also hung out with a group of pro Volcom and Hurley skaters in town for an exhibition. After the amazing victory we went to a festa de São João where we partied in the streets til the wee hours of the morning.



The next day was Dia de São Pedro. Mads and I woke up only to do it all over again early morning style. Today there was to be a church procession honoring the fisherman saint, São Pedro ending in a regatta. Barbara's boy had invited us on a private boat to celebrate. Promising he would get us back to shore on time for our 4pm flight. Getting on the boat was quite a challenge. The first dinghy they sent with our friends capsized because it was too heavy. By that time the procession had arrived and the port was super clogged. So Cachorrinho had us scaling rocks on the other side to avoid the traffic jam. When we finally got on the boat it was rad, Mads set her alarm so we could party in peace for our last few hours on Noronha. Everything was flowing, the regatta was awesome, everybody dancing on their boats and even jumping ship to get on ours. Every so often we got to cool off in the pristine coves, life was sooo good. When it finally came time to catch our flight, we said our goodbyes and swam ashore. While Cachorrinho gallantly swam with our bag on his head so it would not get wet. I don't know if this trip can ever be topped but Noronha definitely will always be paradise in my mind.



On the flight home I won a lottery and got to sit in the cockpit with the pilots the whole way!!! It was super cool.

Ivete

On our first day in Fortaleza Mads saw a billboard for an Ivete Sangalo concert for the coming Saturday. Mads was super excited because she loves Ivete. She had gone to one of her concerts three years ago in Rio and had an amazing time. Ivete is one of the most popular musicians of Brazilian Axé (music from the state of Bahia). We were able to get tickets for R$50 (~USD$27). We were given these shirts called "abadás" which we were required to wear in order to enter the event. Celina (our "Fortaleza mother") took us to her seamstress who turned the ugly over-sized tanks into cute little tops.


The concert was suc h a fun experience!! Ratherthan performing on a stage, Ivete played on top of a trio elétrico - a semi-truck equipped with a high power sound system and the musicians on top of it, playing for the crowd below. The truck started outside the concert grounds and made its way into the center of a huge outdoor plaza. As it drove, the crowd followed behind/beside screaming, dancing and signing. Once in the center, everyone crowded around the truck signing and jumping around the entire time while Ivete put on one of the most high-energy shows I've ever seen. We didn't bring a camera as we didn't want it to get stolen, but I have included some pictures I found online from some of her other shows so you can get an idea.

It was such a great night until Mads tripped and fell onto the ground. It was so crowded I needed to have some random guys help me pick her up. Mads attempted to play it off as if she wasn't too hurt and tried to continue enjoying the show. However after a few minutes she could not pretend any longer that it did not hurt and we had to leave. We decided as the show was pretty much over anyways as Ivete had already been playing for over two hours. Outside the venue several taxi men waited. I tried to get a few to carry Mads to the car, but no one would. I am not sure if it was because they were too lazy/weak or because they couldn't understand what I was saying. My guess is it was probably a little of both, but more of the former than the latter.

The next morning we woke up to find Mads ankle completely swollen and black and blue. Sure enough she'd sprained it pretty badly. Celina and her husband Rodrigo took charge to make sure Mads was well taken care of. They wrapped her foot in an ACE bandage and made her walk around in a boot with crutches all day. Anytime she tried to walk without either of the two they would start yelling at her. They even made her sleep in the boot!

It is all pretty funny but also sad. It's kind of put a damper on the end of our Fortaleza trip. Mads was unable to enjoy the fun surf at the beach and had to sit sedentary with her leg elevated during the entire Brazil v. Ivory Coast game. Regardless, we were able to enjoy the day as best we could and the win was definitely a silver lining to her day. GO BRASIL!!!!!

Hopefully her foot will heal quickly as we're about to go on two trips to Jericoacoara- a beautiful beach town about 4 hours outside Fortaleza and Fernando de Noronha- these beautiful islands off the coast. It will definitely suck of she can't play with me.

Brasil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here are some key highlights from today's win:

1) Starting the day drinking carpirnhas at 10:30am

2) The amazing Brazil gear we got from the local bar

3) Two words: Alcohol to-go

4) Three words: two to one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Feliz aniversario Madá

Saturday June 12 was Madeline's birthday. It also happened to be Dia dos Namorados (Valentine's Day) in Brazil. We left the hotel at 1pm not knowing that we would stay out for the next 12 + hours. The day started at a feijoada- traditional brazilian cuisine with live samba (see video). A few hours and caipirinhas later we wandered into a bar to watch the USA v England match.

After the tie (which was more like a win for the US as it was a lucky goal)
we decided to keep the party going. We met up with 15 of Manuella's single friends and completely took over one of their favorite restaurants. All around us couples were trying to have romantic dinners while we sang, laughed and drank. The running joke was that the manager offered to pay our entire tab if we would leave. The beer did not stop flowing, every time our glasses were near empty they would magically be refilled. I never heard anyone ordering more yet there were no complaints. The more we drank the funnier the jokes got and the louder we became not your typical V-day. I can't remember the last time I laughed so har
d, ironic being that I do not speak the common language at the table.

Just when we thought the night was ending after a 6 hour dinner, Manuella decided to stop by another party to say hello to some other friends. 20 minutes later Mads and I were off to a reggae show with our new found friend Manuella' s neighbor, Ulysses. São Luis is well known as the Jamaica of Brazil. Since Mads loves reggae and she is the birthday girl, we were not going to let the looming 6 am wake up call stand in our way. It was a surprisingly great show, we danced non-stop to the band Raiz Tribal at a cool beachside venue.

All in all it was very long and randomly amazing day. Mads says it was one of her best birthday celebrations, and we both agree it was a phenom Valentine's Day!