Monday, March 9, 2009

Random adventures in Natal and Pipa, Brasil

After Carnaval in Salvador, Ben convinced me to head north to Natal and Pipa, about a 20 hour bus ride north of Salvador, to relax and recover on some of the most beautiful beaches of Brasil. His older brother had visited the area a few years before and highly recommended it. We met Itamar, another Israeli at the bus station whom Ben knew from before, and ended up joining us along for the ride. Av-Sharon, Doron and Avi decided to head south, eventually towards Bolivia. I'm sure by now, Doron's probably been arrested, Av-Sharon's got one glass eye, and Avi probably lost his mind, if all goes well.

It's been an interesting and positive experience to have met so many Israelis during my time here in South America. They're all over the place, as South America and India are the top two destinations for the 20-somethings coming out of their 3-year military obligations in Israel. When I asked my friends why that is the case, (as opposed to Europe, or Australia, or even Asia) they all said matter-of-factly, "because it's cheap, and Israelis are cheap!" The guys were extremely keen on hearing what life in America is like, especially college life. When I recounted stories of my experience as a frat boy, Av-Sharon simply stated, "You see, that is why I want to live in America, while you guys drink beer, have parties and hook up with girls, we have to go to the military and risk getting our legs blown off!"

Towards the end of our 20-hour bus ride from Salvador to Natal, our bus stopped in front of an overturned truck with its cargo strewn all over the road. Tons of people were running out from all over the place and I originally thought they were coming out to check out the scene, and maybe help the poor guy lying on the floor. Turns out, they were looting the truck of all its cargo-- not food, not plasma TVs, not anything of value, but rather, plastic rubber booties and random medical supplies that were really of no use to anybody. As we passed the truck, Ben noticed that the fuel tank was leaking gas. I have no idea what happened after we left but I hope the driver is ok. As far as whether or not the truck blew up and hurt anybody looting it, I leave that up to karma and the powers that be.


The next day, we decided to hop on a dune-buggy excursion along the sand dunes of Natal. I think I had about two near-death experiences riding on that death buggy. One of them occurred when the death-buggy took a crazy turn and I was literally hanging on with all the strength I had to keep from falling off. If anything so much as a butterfly landed on me, I would have certainly lost my grip, I kid you not. Here's a clip of a more tranquil part of the ride:



We went to Pipa a couple of days later, a beach paradise most famous for the dolphins that swim, feed, and rest there. I could technically say I swam with dolphins, but they were about 30-50 feet away from me... Supposedly, they will come up to you if you go out deeper and hang out for a bit, but I didn't really want to tread water for that long during the sunset and into the evening when they normally come out. I also didn't want to serve as the inspiration for the next Jaws movie, "Dolphins Gone Wild!"

Unfortunately, just one day before we arrived to Pipa, a 59-year old Swedish tourist was robbed and shot at his hotel. He later died in a hospital. In a small town almost entirel dependennt on tourism, this was big news, and apparently is the first time any tourist has ever been killed in Pipa. I am not sure exactly what really happened but according to those who heard the commotion, they said he may have tried to resist the robbery, a big no-no in Brasil, where thieves will kill you for nothing at the slightest provocation or resistance. Despite the somber news, though, none of us let that deter our mindsets, in terms of how we were going to enjoy the place. You just have to keep on doing what you were planning on doing and let things happen as they should. If anything, Pipa was probably the safest place to be in Brasil after that murder. If I planned my trips to avoid "dangerous" places, I'd end up doing absolutely nothing but watch TV and play Rock Band in my living room in Santa Monica.

One evening, we were approached by a local Brasilian, who spoke perfect English since he lived in Canada for a bit. He ran a day-long boat excursion for tourists like us, and offered to take us out for about $80, including all you can drink and eat. A fairly high sum, we all thought, so we politely declined and told him we'd think about it. He didn't even have a business card so it seemed a bit sketchy. We saw him again the next night, and he asked us if we made up our minds and we told him $80 was a bit out of our budget and that we were thinking more along the lines of $20 per person just to get him off our backs. Not surprisingly, he said that it was feasible-- and that's when we realized this guy was probably going to just take our deposit and leave. Over the next week, however, we saw him everywhere, and he asked us everytime if we were going to do the tour. He would catch up with us on a bike on our way back to the hostel at 3am, he popped up in the club we partied at, he showed up in the bars and restaurants-- you name it, we saw him there, which only confirmed our suspicions that this guy was really just nuts (or a persistent scam artist.) One sunny afternoon, I was swimming in the ocean and I heard someone yell out my name from the beach, waving his hands in the air, trying to get my attention. I looked and saw that it was the same crazy guy, "Daniel, do you still want to do the boat trip!??" Finally, one night at a club, I told him off and said that he was freakin us out. I may have even given him a lecture on sales 101, and that his methods were a bit too stalker-ish. He never harassed us again!

Travelling with a couple of guys whose English was not their primary language was hilarious because many times, something would seriously get lost in translation. Here are a few examples:

"I want to shuffle my face in her butt." Ben, commenting on a beach babe walking by us.

"I am not so straight...." Itamar, when I told him to talk to the girl he was eyeing from afar. To his defense, he did immediately correct himself afterwards, and said that he's not so straightforward. Right.

"I like to splash the water in my face when I am shitting." Ben, trying to explain something that, to this day, I have no idea really, what he was trying to say.

"I don't swim in your toilet so don't piss in my pool." Itamar, using this phrase incorrectly to describe something totally irrelevant to the conversation.

"I was going down on you when you were passed out." Ben, saying something no man should ever say to another man. Apparently he was trying to say something to the effect of coming down the stairs while I was passed out. Either way, I still cry in a fetal position on some nights.

"Like a molk, you know, a molk? You don't know what a molk is?" Ben, attempting to explain this non-existent word by cupping his right hand against his neck. Apparently, he meant leech.

In a nutshell, Pipa is definitely worth a return visit for me, despite the recent murder and crazy day-boat excursion nut. With $2.5 lunches, $130/month rent, friendly locals, and a small beach town vibe, it's a nice contrast to the more expensive and cosmopolitan beach areas of Rio and Salvador. Speaking of Rio, as most of you have figured by now, I can't seem to shake myself out of Brasil-- it is a huge country after all, and definitely plenty to see. I will be going back to Rio for a couple of weeks and decided that I will most likely be skipping the extremely expensive Galapagos Islands and hanging here until my 33rd (gasp!) birthday on March 23rd with my friends here. Besides, I am sure even Darwin would agree that watching giant tortoises in their natural habitat for your birthday is not as interesting as hangin' with thong-clad Brasilian babes on the beach!

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