chegamos em recife! we've arrived!

we arrived in recife yesterday afternoon.

& we are loving it! 

our host mom & two sisters were at the airport to pick us up 

& we were so excited to meet them.

they brought us back to their home & it is so beautiful.

they live in a huge apartment building on the beach in recife & their apartment is right above the water.

There are two elevators to their apartment & it literally stops right at their 

"front door" & "back door"

the boys are calling this home "the james bond house"

they have a balcony that looks over the water with a hammock & a huge front room & dining area.

the ocean breeze fills the home & it really is very relaxing.

jordan and I have a beautiful big room that includes a bathroom & we can see the ocean from our bedroom window.

we've only been here a day and we feel so comfortable here, this family is just so hospitable and kind.

last night our host mom made us this beautiful, authentic brazilian meal.

her friend helped her make this casserole of mandioca (yucca root)

which is actually called macaxeira here.

it was this casserole with charque, mandioca, parmesan cheese & mozarella cheese.

she also made us pao de queijo & salada de fruta. 

& malorie, the youngest daughter, made us real suco de maracuja.

ohh how we are spoiled here!

today we went on a walk on the beach,

strolled the town & had lunch at "santo cristo"

we then laid out and went swimming for a while.

later our host mom took us to the supermarket & showed us the praia de boa viagem.

this really was a relaxing day for us and we took full advantage of it.

next week life will get more hectic when we start having to be at school at 9am or at our internship.

we will be busy then.

also, it was perfect weather today.

it didn't rain & it was of course nice and hot.

bem vindo a recife.

some photos of the apt & our bedroom.

our lunch at santo cristo. we tried "cuscuz" which is soo popular here.

it was kind of bland I thought? maybe it's an acquired taste.

yes & we bought coconut to try.

surprisingly it was really good.

the view from our bedroom.

things I have learned about recife so far:

-you can buy anything at the beach. including: nuts, fruits, vegetables, sunscreen, medicine, jewelry, shrimp, drinks...& we were offered all of it!

-there are tons of sharks so you cannot go past the reef.

-we leave all the windows open & don't have to worry about any mosquitos. that's nice

-the nordestino accent is hard to understand. this woman at the airport spoke to me and I only understood like half of what she said. I'm getting better at understanding but i'm wondering if people understand me.. I have a rio grande do sul, gaucha, american accent! I might have to change my portuguese skills.

-there really is a mix of people here! 

-brazilian women really do wear the tiniest bikinis on the beach! & the men rock the speedos. No matter what body types they have, they have no shame!

-there are tons of different types of fruits here. Lots of passion fruit, lots of caju, acerola, etc. I can't wait to try it all!

-it's very common for people to sell things on the street at stoplights when cars are parked. We bought strawberries & gum..& today this cute little boy was playing with sticks for some money.

-oh & the word "oxente"is very popular.

we are loving being here. we love our host family & can't wait to get to know them more.

until later!