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Fortaleza was the unbelievable city where we spent our 6-week program. It boasts a city of 2.1 million people, beautiful beaches, wonderful food, nightlife, people, 2 soccer teams, and rests three degrees south of the equator. Upon returning to Fortaleza after traveling around Brazil for ten days, I realized how much I missed it. After living there for six weeks, making friends, learning the bus system, the best place to get ice cream, the coolest spots on the beach, and having the comfort of a loving family, you truly feel at home. And the Midwest can't compare.

Just look at the weather:

Man, that is nice!

The Beaches

A typical night at the market on Beira Mar

First, there are the beaches. Fortaleza is kind of on a point, which means it's surrounded by beaches. To the north is Praia Iracema, which is more touristy. Most of the pictures you see of Fortaleza are along this strip, because this is where the high rise hotels make for a picturesque skyline. The locals don't hang out at this beach, I think due to the high level of tourism, and the fact that the water there is dirty. But still, it is a beautiful place to go for a walk or a run at night. Beira Mar is the wide boardwalk along Praia Iracema which has a market at night for trinkets, little touristy things, t-shirts, jewelry, souvenirs, and some musical instruments. I bought my berimbau there (see picture). Also, there are plenty of good seafood restaurants on Beira Mar where you can eat and look out over the Atlantic Ocean at the same time.

A berimbau

Now, for the true beach lovers, there is Praia do Futuro, comprising the eastern coast of Fortaleza. This is a 3 mile stretch of sand, surf, beach soccer, attractive women, and plenty of service from the barracas, or huts, that divide up the beach. The barracas are less like huts and more like open bars, with chairs laid out in the sand under palm frond canopies, where you can buy everything from jewelry to cds to fresh lobsters and crab (logosta e caranguejo) from the peddlers walking by. The barraca of choice for our circle of friends was Biruta, which means windsock. The surf at Praia do Futuro isn't bad. If you want to try surfing, or windsurfing, this is the place to do it. I tried it a few times, but it takes commitment. Jon and Tyler, for instance, would get up and be at the beach by 6am for surf lessons from a professional surfer before work each day. So it's possible to get good at it, as they did, if you really want to.

Praia do Futuro: the place to be if you are going to the beach

Praia do Futuro's barracas also often have parties at night, either with bands or music, another awesome way to enjoy the beach. And, it leads me to my next topic.

Night Life

I don't know if there is more that you could ask for, in terms of things to do at night. I think the only day of the week where you can't something exciting going on if you want to is Wednesday night. Other than that, you can stay up as long as you want (the bars don't close at 2am, for sure). If you want to go a club and hear techno, you can do that. If you want to see some Brazilian music, it's all over the place. And if you just want to sit outside, hang out with friends and wile the night away with drink and conversation, there are countless bars that are there just for that. A few of the places I came to know and love:

Mr. Babao awes the crowd with his axé music at Mucuripe

Mucuripe: an enormous club (boate). It is the first place I went to in Fortaleza at night, and I was blown away. There are two separate rooms for techno, complete with dj and smoke, and strobe lights. Then there is a room for axé music, which is a Brazilian style that I loved, sort of like samba. I'd say each of these 3 rooms could hold 200 people. Then, encompassing all, was a gigantic common area for buying drinks, hanging out, and a much bigger stage for a featured band. It costs 18 reis I think to get in. Definitely worth a visit.

Orbita: it seems like I went here most of all. This bar has a band that plays reggae to 1:00, and then picks up with techno until...I think the latest I stayed was 5:30 once, and it was winding down.

Mais ou Menos: A vast open space with a dirt floor, and a stage up front. Another cool place to go. When I went there, there was a pagode (like axé, more drums) band playing. It was also cool because it was packed, it was raining, and nobody cared. Mais ou menos literally means "more or less", and be used as "so so", which is a very useful expression.

Zugs: Pronounced zoo-gees, which I always thought was funny, this was a great place just to hang out. Always low-key, there is usually a small band playing bossa nova or Beatles covers. Most of the seating was outside, making it a great place to order drinks and hang out with friends under the stars.

Restaurants

You can eat for very cheap if you want to in Fortaleza. Make sure you don't miss out on these:

Churrascorias - churrasco means barbecue, and churrascorias are barbecue restaurants. These are all-you-can-eat meat extravaganzas where the waiters just keep bringing meat on swords to slice off on your plate. Not that I ever counted, but I imagine before the meal is done, you are presented with 20 varieties of meat: different cuts of beef, pork, chicken, lamb, and maybe more, complete with sausage and chicken hearts.
Seafood - fresh seafood isn't a luxury we have in the Midwest, so live it up. You can get pounds of shrimp for next to nothing. I also recommend getting some crab and lobster at the beach. But, most importantly, take advantage of the sushi. It is always delicious, and unbelievably cheap.
Fast food restaurants - as part of the cultural experience, you should try fast food when you're in Brazil. You'll be pleasantly surprised that McDonald's has much nicer burgers. They also have Pizza Hut, but it is a lot more upscale than in the US; pizza as you know it (like Pizza Hut's) is hard to find. They also have their own fast food joints. Habib's is the preferred place to eat when you're coming back from a long night and want a burger, pizza or pasteis (deep fried cheese and meat, mmmmm).

Bus System

The bus system is pretty crazy. It is all privatized, which makes the routes unpredictable, and the service competitive. I couldn't find a map of bus routes, and I am not sure it exists. I tried asking for one and I just got confused looks. The most reliable source of information on the subject was my maid. She seemed to have a pretty good handle on what busses I needed to take to get to wherever. Some of my favorite busses were Siquera-Papicu, Circular II, PC-Unifor, and Caca e Pesca. These took me to school, work, and the beach. Your family should help you out with which bus to take.

If you are adventurous and want to just jump on a bus to see where it goes, don't make any plans for the next couple of hours. I got on a bus whose name I didn't recognize (but it had the street where I lived listed as one of the stops) and ended up on a 2 hour journey away from where I wanted to go, all the way outside Fortaleza. I was prettied worried at the time, as we were jetting down the highway in a bus packed full of Brazilians leaving the city, but luckily I was dumped off at a bus terminal, Conjunction Ceara, in the middle of nowhere, and found a bus back. The moral of the story is, the buses are safe, but it can take a while to get where you want to go. They cost R$1.40 to go anywhere, but I got a free ride once because they couldn't make change. It takes practice to catch naps on the bus, because I think the shocks were blown on every bus in a city riddled with potholes, but if you are tired enough, you can do it. The busses are the best way to get around, although splitting cab fare isn't that much more expensive.

The good old Campus do PC / Unifor which took me to school ever day

Soccer Teams

There are two soccer teams in Fortaleza, each with their own stadium. Their fan bases are mutually exclusive. If you like one, you hate the other. The team called Fortaleza is the more popular right now, because they are in the first division, and doing well. The underdogs Ceara fell out of the first division and aren't doing so hot in the second either. My host brother is a devout fan of Ceara, so much so he would probably be upset that I mentioned the Fortaleza team at all. I never went to a game in Fortaleza, but I would recommend it if you can. I managed to see Fortaleza play Flamengo, one of the Rio teams, when I was in Rio, and it is cheap to get in and exciting to watch, especially if you love soccer as I do.