seekingmygreaterperhaps

Oi gente! It is summer vacation! I have 3 trips planned for the next 6 weeks, and I’ll be coming back to Brasilia in between trips to spend time with Kya and to take care of myself. Traveling is amazing, but it does get draining if you don’t practice some boring self care, like laundry. Alas, let me tell you about my first trip. I’ll split it up into 2 posts, one city focused, and one focused on the main event, the Lencois Maranheses. They were pretty different aspects.

Sao Luis is the capital of Maranhao, in the north east of Brazil. It is the jumping off point for many to get to the Lencois, and lucky for me, there was a direct flight from Brasilia! I stayed in Sao Luis for 2 full days to see the city. I went in early June, which was perfect timing because Sao Luis and Maranhao as a greater location is known for their Festa do Sao Joao- otherwise known as Festa Juninha. They really do up this festival, and have something going on every weekend in June (and July too, because why stop a party if you don’t have to, especially in Brazil?)

Festa do Sao Joao is traditionally a harvest festival. While the months of June, July, and August may forever be cemented in my brain as summer, in the southern hemisphere, it’s winter. May and June are harvest times, and essentially Festa Juninha is where people where plaid and eat lots of corn items. I can dig it, and I love getting to experience anything culturally authentic.

Both nights I was in Sao Luis, I went to the big dance event in the evening near the historic center, where I was staying. I love all the colors, and I love the music and dancing, so this was a fun way to spend time.

I also explored the historic center of Sao Luis, because I was staying right there. I had a great hostel, and they even did a samba party on Friday night. One thing I wasn’t prepared for is that Sao Luis is hot. I was in a full body sweat constantly, and if you are smart, you don’t try to do touristy things outside during the day. When I arrived it was around lunch time, so I was scoping out food. And even that made me sweat, so I thought, why not, I’m already sweating let’s do it all.

Walking around was absolutely fabulous. I ended up going into many museums because they are free and relatively quick to walk through. The cultural museum had a display for Festa Juninha, and I learned about the “bumba meu boi” which is the fake decorative bull that someone stands under and dances with, and I ended up seeing it during the performance. I also went to the Reggae museum because it’s very popular here. That one was lame, but slightly air conditioned. I went to the gastronomy museum and ended up buying some jam made with local fruits.

One of my favorite aspects of the historic old town was all of the tile work. It adds color to all the buildings and gives them personality. This is a unique thing to Sao Luis, that I have seen so far. I’m sure Brazil will surprise me and I’ll go to another town and I’ll find tile clad buildings. These tiles are super beautiful, and it made walking around sweating a lot more fun.

On my second day, I felt like I had seen a good amount of the historic city and started off nice and slow. I went and got a pedicure and “foot spa” which turned out to be a huge mistake, and I think my big toenail-bed is still suffering for it almost a month later. But that also could be lingering effects from my half ironman, so I won’t put the blame on her.

Afterwards, I ate lunch at a very typical Brazilian restaurant. And what I especially enjoyed is that all the food seen here cost ~$4 USD. As a visitor, you tend to miss these places if you don’t speak Portuguese, or aren’t willing to be a little adventurous. The food was delicious and filling.

After lunch, I took an uber across the bridge to a beach, where I relaxed for the rest of the day. I attempted to watch the sunset, but it was very cloudy and nothing ended up really happening. I’m spoiled, because while this beach was huge, it isn’t the nicest beach in Brazil. However, this country-hearted girl always appreciates a chance to dip my toes in the sand and ocean.

I want to give a special shout out to Guarana Jesus. It is a soda that started in Maranhao as a family business. Eventually Coke bought them, but people here are very proud of their Guarana. If you’ve have Guarana Antartica, it is a very different taste, and G. Jesus almost tastes like cotton candy to me. Thumbs up from me, give it a try if you can.

Signing this post off with some pictures of the women’s costumes during the dances. I have some pictures of the group of men, but the women’s were cooler.

Thanks for reading along!