Olinda

My friend, Julie, in Sao Paulo came to Recife!!!
This is the third times to meet her in Brazil. She came with her friend, Mariana, and staying with her family. Today, they borrow a car from Mariana's uncle to visit Olinda and invited me to join them! Since roads in Olinda are very steep, I'm grad I could go with them by car!! Thanks to them!

There are so many old churches in Olinda and many souvenir shops around them. Olinda is also known as a town of artists. It's very old town but buildings are painted colorfully and the town is very cute!

Today was a very hot day but we went out in the late morning. I don't usually go out around this hour, since it's really hot in Recife. Julie seemed to be beaten by this heat, too so we decided to go shopping mall to get cool down. Anyway, we wanted to do some shopping for a new year, too!

In Brazil, people wear white clothes and something new for a new year's day . Also there are different color ribbons for wishes. For example, "white is for peace", "red is for love", "green is for hope", "blue is for health", and "yellow is for money"...something like that. ( I'm not sure if they are right, so I will make sure which color is for what when I meet the host next time!)

Which color ribbon should I get?!!

By the way, when we were walking around in Olinda, someone called my name "Ayumi~!!!"... there is no one who knows me in this area and I was wondering who it was...

It was Micheline, the first daughter of the host family!! She was smiling and waving her hand to me!
I didn't expect to meet her or anyone in Olinda so it was really funny!!!

We are going to the beach called "Port de Galinhas" and another beach that I can't remember the name of.
It will be about an hour and half drive from here. Since we don't have a car, I thought it would be a bit difficult for us to go there this time, but Mariana is again taking her uncle's car so they invited Masami and me to join them!! It will be my last beach in Brazil!!

サンパウロの友達、ジュリーがヘシフェにやって来た！
これでブラジルで彼女に会うのは３回目！ジュリーはサンパウロの友達と一緒にやってきて、その友達の親戚のお家に泊まっている。今日は車が借りれたという事で、彼女達の観光に便乗して、オリンダへ連れて行ってもらった！！！
坂の多いオリンダ、車で行けてなによりであった。

古い教会が至る所に建っていて、その周りにはお土産屋さんが立ち並ぶ。そして、ここはアーティストの街としても知られているらしい。古いけど、カラフルな建物が建ち並び、とっても可愛い街なのです！
お昼前から観光に出かけ、炎天下の中歩き回っていた私達。普段こんな時間に外を出歩く事があまりない私、ジュリーもこの暑さにはやられている様子で、結局午後早めに切り上げて、冷房のきいているショッピングモールへ、お正月用のショッピングへ出かける事になった。

こちらのお正月は、白い服を着て、何か新しい物を身につけるらしい。それに加えて、願い事別に色分けされたリボンがあってそれも身につけるらしいのだ！
赤が「愛」、白が「平和」、緑が「希望」、青が「健康」、黄色が「お金」とかそんな風に別れているらしい。。（これは確かではないので、今度ホストマザーにもう一度確認してみますね）

私は何色のリボンにしようかな？！！

そうそう、そういえば、オリンダの丘の上に車を止めて、ぶらぶら歩き出したところで、どこかから。。。「Ayumi~!」と叫ぶ声が。。。
いったい誰がこんなところで私を知っているのか？？

振り返ると、ホストファミリーのところの長女のミッシェリーニがニコニコしながらこっちを見ている！
まさかこんなところでばったり会うなんて！！！
ちょっとローカル人になった気分！（笑）

明日から、１泊２日で、Port de Galinhas というビーチと、もう一つの（名前を思い出せない）ビーチでのんびりしてくる予定！きれいなビーチだと話には聞いていたけれど、ここから車で２時間ほど。車のない私達にはちょっと行きづらいと今回はあきらめていたけれど、ジュリーの友達が来るまで連れて行ってくれるというのでお言葉に甘えて！楽しんできま〜す！！！

Pic.1: Church in Olinda
Pic.2: Julie in Olinda
Pic.3: The view of Recife from Olinda