Sobral: Family, Human and Nature

On Saturday (24.2.) Ági and I left Fortaleza at noon to take a very comfortable, air-conditioned bus to Sobral for about 4.5 hours to visit our uncle Marci and his wife Val.

Sobral is a small town, about 235 km west of Fortaleza with a population of 150,000. However, the city covers an area of 2,000 square kilometers, which is mainly due to the construction style of the houses.

The houses are mostly one-story, if at all, small, with a wall (high burglary rate), an iron gate, and usually one or more guard dogs.

There are also the dreaded Favelas, where the poorest of the poor live. As a tourist, it is hardly possible to enter such a residential area, as the Favelas are mostly controlled by drug cartels or other mafia gangs and you are not allowed to enter, robbed or worst-case scenario, actually killed.

Sobral is about 150 km away from the equator, which is particularly noticeable in the tropical climate, which is, however, clearly different from the rainforest climate in Porto Velho. Dry air, shimmering heat, almost 40 degrees during the day, between 25 and 30 °C at night.

Ágnes and I slept in a small room with air conditioning, a bed, and a hammock :-)

During the day it was so hot that you could only leave the house in the morning or after 6 p.m. when the sun had set. In the evenings, we would go to a restaurant, listen to samba music, take a walk along the Rio Acaraú, eat ice cream (there are often about 50 flavors of ice cream, as much fruit ice cream as the heart desires), enjoy authentic Brazilian Churrasco (you go to a Churrascaria, order a certain amount of meat, e.g. 500g, and the grill master brings the grilled meat to the table on a skewer and cuts off pieces for you. You do this until you burst or until the meat is gone! It tastes delicious!), go shopping at the market (as a tourist, you always get cheated and they tell you double the price, but you just have to calculate that in), or simply buy a coconut and drink Agua de Cocó. That's what our everyday life in Sobral looked like. More relaxed and quiet.

Speaking of relaxed and quiet: Marci and Val have 2 cats, Ophelia and Plato, with whom we have become great friends :-)

I have to admit that I have actually grown fond of Plato :-)

One of the highlights was definitely our aunt's cooking skills. She is simply charming and cooks wonderfully. Another highlight was the visit to Marci and Val's Sítio (property with a house), where all my favorite fruits were abundant, on trees, and bushes. A dream come true!

A very special and actually the most touching moment was the distribution of food to the homeless and the poor, in which we participated on Sunday with Marci and Val. Their community regularly organizes such distributions. I did not take any pictures because I found it ethically wrong, and the images and experiences have burned into my memory. Perhaps you can get an idea from my description. When we arrived at the square where the distribution would take place, Ágnes and I were approached by a very old man, who had no teeth left, was terribly ungroomed, and had obviously sunburned skin. He hugged us and told us his life story (unfortunately, I hardly understood anything), but it was very important to him that we listened. Many of the people who came to the distribution have drug problems. For the first time, I consciously saw what the new drug Crack does to people. The users are far too calm, completely indifferent, and their bodies decay from the disintegration of the brain and the resulting failure of various organs, from the inside out. The addictive potential is immediately there from the first use of Crack, and many people here fall into criminal activities or even prostitution just to be able to continue consuming. Another problem that the people we encountered have is alcoholism, which has marked almost everyone. Many drink cheap liquor, homemade schnapps, or otherwise illegally acquired drinks, which quickly destroy them, blind them, and cause physical complaints. Some had nothing but rags, others were well dressed, unemployed, and simply did not have enough to eat.

We spent a total of 4 days in Sobral and then embarked on a long journey back on Tuesday evening (27.2.) at 11:00 p.m. A 4.5-hour fully air-conditioned long-distance bus ride, a nighttime taxi ride in Fortaleza from the bus station to Pinto Martins airport, 3 hours at the airport, followed by an emotional farewell with Ágnes (she won't be back until July), a 3.5-hour flight to Sao Paulo, eternal waiting for my luggage, missed bus, finally a one-hour airport bus into Sao Paulo, half an hour metro ride to Villa Marianna, and finally a good and safe arrival at my great aunt's house. At that point, I had been awake for over 30 hours, had back pain, and was very hungry.

Today (1.03.) after a lot of sleep, a good breakfast (what a luxury, really!), and no vehicles moving under or with me, life feels really good :-D

That's all about Sobral. My experiences with the Indians and from Fortaleza will be delivered later, but somehow last week I hardly found time to write down my experiences and wanted to spend as much time as possible with Ágnes.

Warm greetings again from the mega metropolis :-)