8/15/14

Today was a free day in Floripa, and we wanted to go back to Lagoa to try sand boarding, but there was rain in the forecast and we weren’t able to coordinate a group move. Instead, we just walked around the centro (downtown) area of Floripa, exploring some shops and restaurants. We ate at a small sandwich and juice place where I tried Suco do Maracuja (passion fruit juice) and a traditional Brazilian style sandwich with meat and cheese cooked inside a doughy roll. We also checked out some of the local stands set up throughout downtown area which consisted of hand made artwork/gifts and locally grown produce. Right beside the public marketplace, there was a band performing a full on concert on a big staircase in the center of town. I thought it was pretty cool that they had a full sound system set up in the middle of the town without having any sort of permit, or getting any grief from local law enforcement, as would happen in the states. After we were tired of walking around, we went back to the hotel and made plans for a night out. We ended up going to a club called 1007, where we met up with another group of american students who spent the whole summer in Florianopolis through ISA. The club was lots of fun, and it was great to hang out with some fellow Americans (who knew way more Portuguese than any of us). They also introduced us to some of the locals who they had befriended over the course of the summer. Pretty much every English-speaking Brazilian that I’ve met so far has been extremely kind and welcoming!