My First Day in Brazil. Bom dia, Fortaleza!

Before taking the leap

No jacket needed where I'm going as the weather is either hot or very hot. Today is the first day of the World Cup 2014 but more importantly, it's the day I start my first trip out of Europe to Brazil and South America, this is a big day for me.

My dream was coming true, I was waiting for more than a year for this day

After a sleepless night in Milano, I am looking forward to my first 9-hour long transatlantic flight as I start my journey to Fortaleza. I feel a complex mix of things going through my mind, excitement, fear of the unknown and of language barriers as the little portuguese I learned so far has never been practised with native portuguese speakers before. Also, there are a lot of safety rules to remember and I wonder how fast am i going to switch to a 6 hour time difference from European time.

Here at last

Finally, here I was after two weeks in Brazil, writing about my first 24 hours in this amazing country. Of course, what better time to do this than during the Brazil - Chile match.

So let me start with the long, cold and uncomfortable flight from Milano to Fortaleza where I landed around at around 1 am and where I waited in the airport until morning. I don't understand why they had to turn on the AC all the time and have everyone almost freezing in the plane. They give you a small sheet to cover while you try to sleep on the chairs. This plane was different from the mostly low cost ones I took in Europe, had three lanes of chairs and had 3 small TV sets where they showed some stupid films that I did not watch. Food was ok but just enough so you don't starve until you arrive. Overall for the price I paid for the one-way ticket, it was well worth it.

After a long queue at the customs, where I met the Costarican fans, I got my Brazil stamp in my passport and first thing I did was to find a left luggage place, only to find that this means a bunch of lockers outside of the airport entrance. Did not think it was too secure but given it was the only option I found, I left the bags there and went to find a spot to rest until morning when I took a bus to the main beach in Fortaleza.

Access in Brazilian buses is by these gates, after you pay your ticket inside

At 6 am I left the airport where I was to return in about 10 hours to catch my next local flight in Brazil. I had my small backpack with me, laptop and camera, things I thought were too important to leave at the airport.

My idea was to take some photos with my old phone from the bus as I was passing through the neighborhoods of Fortaleza on the way to the beach. First things that shocked me were the many children sleeping on the sidewalks, on some cardboards, that were just waking up. I also saw some houses that were falling apart, some missing windows, some even missing a wall. This was what a favela looks like, I told myself and put the phone back in my pocket so I would not attract attention to myself.

As time passed, I got to the beach front area, full of tall hotels and business building, in total contrast to the poor areas I just went through.

A long, wide, beautiful beach which was empty at around 7 am when I first placed foot on it. I bought some exotic fruit juice, guava and just sat on the beach looking at the ocean, trying to figure out in which part I came from just a few hours ago. Where was the old world I left behind?

As I was enjoying the weather and calm of a busy city walking up slowly, I noticed a your guy coming my way and who came and sat next to me, on the sand. Hi eyes were tired, like he also hadn't slept last night. His face was rough, he looked as a teenager but his hands and feet were worn down like older man's. You could tell he was one of the many street children of Brazil. With my bit of Portuguese, I told him that I just arrived and also my first impressions, we talked a bit about football too.

I admit I was a bit scared after reading all the stories online and because I had my valuables in my backpack next to me. I gave him the rest of my guava juice and as I saw some others coming from a distance, I decided it was better to leave my new friend and go to the tourist filled areas. He ask if I could give him 1 Real, I gave him 2 and left. Panic was over, I managed to leave safely and began exploring the wider beach area, fanzone, bars and restaurants.

Nice to see Brazilians working out outside during the evening when it was less hot. There was work out music playing and they were synchronizing their moves with their coach that was on stage.

Time to head back to the airport and continue my journey.

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This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0