After going out late the night before, I was surprised how the whole dozen woke up on time to catch our appointment with the early boat ride. Luckily no one was really hung over, as if the boat ride and ocean freshness overcame oncoming feelings of sickness. The trip lasted most of the day as we covered three islands: two with fortresses and one with nothing much but a restaurant.
The two fortresses provided Portuguese history and beautiful pictures. They were built with the help of slaves around the 1700’s to protect against foreigners. We had about half an hour to explore each. The random island had a restaurant and a couple of scattered houses. I’d say that whole small island had no more than a population of 60. As I left the restaurant and even saw a girl selling tourist souvenirs, I wondered how it would be like to live your life in such a small island. Even though our tourist ship might come in everyday someone born there might not have the resources to leave the island and make a living. Relate it to a trapped bird inside a cage. As a spectator it’s nice to appreciate the island and its people, but someone inside its isolation might not appreciate it so.
Later that night I and another three went to a party at the local university. Literally, it was at the university right outside the communications department were students had music, drinks and food. Around Florianopolis, drinking alcohol isn’t as restricted (perhaps because people don’t binge drink as much) and the drinking age is merely eighteen. The party was hosted by the journalism department and most of the students that I met surprisingly spoke good English. In fact, many of them had already visited the US or had studied English since they were children. With the advantage of making new friends, many students were delighted to practice their English and keep me company as the party kept going.
Sunday morning I took my time to find a descent place to eat, and walked around to see if I found a church. Numerous businesses are closed on Sundays so finding food was no easy task. Finding a church was only a matter of asking local people but when I did find one, it was closed. Being Sunday I thought I could at least walk into the church, but all the doors were locked and no mass was in session. Across the street, I found a small complex of stores, which were all closed, and an upper level with a food court, which was mostly open. I enjoyed a calabresa pasta and went on back to the hotel for our next planned event.
That afternoon the group visited the mall and watched Oceans Thirteen, a recently released movie. The highlight of the movie was probably the freshly popped caramel corn that I and a friend bought. Later that night we went out like locals do, getting to the night club around 12. I enjoyed the music and the strobe lights that lasted most of the night. The atmosphere was energetic and concentrated with people, the club reminded me of that 21 & over club that I’ve never been to. My friends were mostly drunk, and I the younger one helped get them back home.
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