Sit down, grab something to write and put together a short writing about your last 3 weeks. Soon you will find yourself cutting out on more or less important happenings in order to fit the length you decided upon. The fact that three weeks we are going to write about happened in a foreign country, living in an eco-hostel built according to bioconstruction principles while doing volunteering for the first time is not helping us at all :) It all started back in Fortaleza when we applied as volunteers at the Raizes eco hostel in Barra Grande over the platform Workaway. Guess what... our host José happened to know the owners because he stayed there for a couple of days last year. He immediately wrote some nice words about us and as we later found out it actually helped out with our application. Raizes is run by a family from Sao Paulo that moved to Barra Grande in northeastern Brazil to escape the chaotic tempo of a "normal" life in this giant metropolis. Tati, Denni and little Iris are the biggest reason why the place stands out from the numerous accomodation offers in this kite-surfing mecca. Well, the crazy shapes and layout of the building that somewhat remind of the works made by Hundertwasser or Gaudi in Europe help as well. We stayed for three weeks in a place that does not offer a lot to do if you are not a kite-surfer. Our jobs (if we can even name them so officially) included helping out with the breakfast and doing some maintenance works. Remember we mentioned something about being adapted to the brazilian rythm. Apparently this didn't count for working as well. Being used to the german working style it was really hard to adapt to the tropical way of thinking when it comes to work. Yes, something needs to be done, but today is a beautiful day to go for a beach walk and the work can wait until tomorrow :) Pretty soon however we were sucked into the way how things work in the village and started to enjoy the relaxed athmosphere. We were happy to see a very connected community and how well the local people are getting along with the immigrants that have settled here to start tourist business. In free time, we were exploring the surroundings either on foot, by bike, with canoes or even with the volksvagen van that Tati & Denny borrowed. By the way, these vans have been produced in Brazil till 2013 and can be seen everywhere. It is still possible to find a good specimen for a decent price and we were really thinking about getting one and continuing the journey on wheels. (We still didn't fully give up at this point :) ) Another part of our stay at the hostel that we couldn't omit is the incredible food we were eating all the time. If you think that Brazil is a paradise of tastes and savours you might be disappointed with the offer of food in regular restaurants. A typical meal for a brazilian, especially here in the north, is more or less the same every day. Rice, beans, salad, farofa and meat or fried fish. The meals are so monotonous that people who go for a daily meal in a restaurant don't even ask what is on the menu because they already know what is waiting for them. This is curious however regarding the abundance of fresh ingredients that can be found on the markets. We took advantage of the kitchen facilities and the fresh local ingredients and really went for it: ceviche, grilled fish, home-made coconut milk, variety of tapiocas, fish curry, galinha and many more - cooking was an important part of our daily routine. But all of the sightseeing and the beach life we have enjoyed values little compared to the people we have met during this time. We are trying to avoid the cliches of a travel blog but we cannot avoid this one. It is really the people you meet on the way and their ways and habits that enrich you the most. We loved to talk to the guests of the hostel, fellow volunteers and especially to Tati, Denny and their local friends that have settled for less comfort that they had been used to in order to live a more peaceful and nature oriented life. They are starting a very nice community together and are involved in some social projects as well to help improve the education possibilities of local children. After three weeks, we understood why people from all over world are able to find their place to live here. It was a bit hard to say goodbye to what already started to feel like home but on the other hand we were looking forward to continuing our trip more than usual. It was almost like starting a new journey all over again.
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