Fortaleza

After our extended trip to Jeri we had a few days to kill before our flight to Manaus from Fortaleza. In Jeri we were lucky enough to stay at the same Pousada as Baukje and Marleen, two Dutch volunteers who were taking a long weekend away from their jobs in Fortaleza. Baukje is finishing up a degree in Physical Education and will be a teacher when she gets back to Holland. Marleen is also volunteering and in Holland she works as a psych nurse for convicted murderers with mental disorders. Baukje and Marleen were kind enough to invite us to stay with them in Fortaleza. They live with two other volunteers from Holland and a French and Brazilian, we all had a great time.

On our second day Baukje took us to her job as a volunteer PE teacher. She goes into the favelas in Fortaleza everyday and teaches kids 3-15 years-old new games and sports. The kids were broken up by age group and played a variety of sports and games led by Baukje, her roommate Isabelle, and other Brazilians. The older kids were a bit rowdy but everyone had a great time and the kids were very appreciative. I wish I had some pictures but I was nervous about bringing my camera into the favela. It turned out the safety was not an issue at all and everyone in the community was really friendly.

Another great thing about staying in home rather than a hostel was being able to cook with a full kitchen, which we took advantage of both nights. Heres a photo of Alexi, Isabelle, Baukje, and Marleen.