Moto-taxi

At the bus stop, on the way to the IFCE for a Portuguese lesson, the Circular #2 drove on by. Any bus stop in Fortaleza may have several routes on it, and in order to get the bus to stop, just stand on the curb and stick out your arm. Anything else would just slow down traffic and the service. 

Fortaleza Mudancas

Luckily, a moto-taxi was waiting on the side walk near-by. When communication quickly became confusing for us, I was lucky to have connected with Vitor, my Portuguese professor from the IFCE. From the Moto-taxi drivers cell phone we called Vitor for translation and we were on our way. This was my first ride as a passenger in about ten years and at first it was a white knuckle ride. Once I relaxed I really began to enjoy the ride. Walking and Tour Buses have their merits, but I believe that a Motorcycle is the best way to explore a city. Those of you who ride will know this to be true; that the feeling of the wind in your face, and the cement beneath your feet can be a much richer, connected experience than the comparatively separated experience of the view through the TV like, air conditioned windshield. 

Girád the Moto-taxi driver

The very skilled moto-taxi driver took us through lots of new territory at speed. Once we stopped at an intersection and a pretty lady on a small black Honda drove up, she and the Mototaxi driver began to talk and continued to talk at around 60 KM/h along the side streets of Fortaleza. 

Beira Mar

Globally, locally, internationally, or next door, I’ve found that a consistent key to network and relationship building has been connecting about something you both love and are passionate about.  Whether it’s socially or professionally this is a main factor when connecting with local people and partners. One thing that I love is motorcycles. 

In the eternal summer of North East Brazil, motorcycles are an economical, practical and fast way to get around the city. It’s faster than any other type off vehicle because the rules of the road differ greatly from Canada’s comparatively orderly roads, where I’ve been driving a small CC motorcycles for 10+ years.

Light Bikes, built with dirt bike like suspensions are favoured by most riders; however I’ve also spotted the rare 1200+ CC guzzler roaring by. From what I’ve observed some of the motorcycles driving conventions include:

1.    Using the horn to notify other drivers of your location. It’s expected, use it frequently. 

2.    When coming to a red light with no oncoming traffic, pass as many stopped cars as possible before re-entering the lane to avoid oncoming traffic. 

3.    Lane-splitting is acceptable, similar to California, and driving between cars stopped at an intersection to get to the front of the line of cars is the norm. It may also be the safest option in order to avoid being rear-ended, it places the motorcyclists ahead of traffic and it’s common to see half a dozen motorcycles racing ahead of a group of cars where they are most visible in traffic.  When exiting and re-entering traffic stopped at an intersection riders signal to the left.  Conventions regarding signaling lane and lane position changes are less clear, not unlike many North America drivers.

4.    Lane position when riding on open streets is similar to North America. The rider in the left lane rides on the right side of the lane near the lane divider and the driver in the right lane on the left side of the lane. These two positions normally ensure greater blind spot visibility and a smoother ride.  One difference is that some riders will drive side by side and converse, which has been an interesting difference in the way local people connect. 

Once I arrived for my Portuguese lesson, one of the first things that I learned was some basic phrases to use when negotiating a Moto-taxi ride.

Good Day!
Bon Dia! 

Please take me to ...
Por favour meleve para...

What is the cost?
Qual  é o custo?

Thank you.
Obrigado/a.

Grant Dalton

Small Investments, Big Returns

In Travel writing, pictures of landscapes from aircraft windows are as perennial as the grass; bordering on clique.  Despite this, I will include snapshot of Salvador, Brazil to show the red clay roofing tile that are rare to see in North America and I imagine that in Brazils climate it outlasts most 30 year petroleum based shingles that crowd the North American market and later pollute the environment. 

Salvador, Brasil

While on the flight to Fortaleza, one of my seats was in the middle of a group of 60 students returning from touring NYC and Miami. Among the abundance of I(Heart)NYC T-shirts one trend was unmistakable, Apple's products seem to have captured this market segment, that being young, traveling, bilingual Brazilians. I-pads, phones, and pods were abundant and there was not a Blackberry to be seen. If this small sample group is any indication of Brazilian tastes and values in consumer electronics, Canada’s Blackberry will need to adapt to be able to capture any market share. I must explain that my view is coloured in part by several years of experience selling and providing technical support for cellular products prior to starting the Bachelor of Applied Business Program in International Commerce and Global Development at Niagara College in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada.

July  26^th

Small Investments, Big Returns

I’ve arrived and from where I’m sitting, here in a 12^th floor beach apartment in Fortaleza, it looks as though someone has dropped a piece of Toronto, or Manhattan onto on one of the most beautiful stretches of sandy coastline in South America. 

The city is rapidly ramping up its capacity to handle increased tourist traffic. Fortaleza will be a site of the 2014 World Cup (soccer) and is in the process of doubling the capacity of its international airport and numerous large hotels are under construction.

The volume of creative, entrepreneurial, small enterprises along the waterfront deserves note. While exploring the waterfront with Veronica and Amber we came across ventures as diverse as roller-blade rentals out of cars parked on the wide boulevards’ ($5 Reais/Hr), techno brega party advertising (Sub-compact cars with 4’x4’x2’ speaker/sub woofers boxes on top pumping bass and advertisements), to coconut water vendors ($2 Reais), to fresh fish market’s ($25 Reais/Kg of fresh shrimp). This list only scratches the surface as you could purchase nearly anything. 

Later that afternoon, the hungry entrepreneurialism of some of the beach vendors became unavoidable when Veronica, Amber and I stopped for drinks and snacks at one of the beach restaurants. The enthusiastic and verbose owner was excited to have us. I was unable to comprehend what he was saying but that did not slow him down one bit. He was an excellent host. 

Veronica and Amber on the edge of the Ocean, Beira Mar

While enjoying our meal we were approached by no less than 10 sales people carrying touristic items along the wide sandy beach. A few simple “Obrigado, no’s” was enough for even the most persistent to move on to the next table. However, it’s much harder to say no to the street kids; as we walked to an busy intersection in the Irecema Beach area we saw two kids. One kid, with the other standing their lower back in front of the cars at a stop light, was performing with Devil Sticks (aka flower sticks, rhythm sticks, or juggling sticks). I remember playing with these myself as a kid, but these kids were far more talented than most of the kids on my playground who had never needed to go pro. After their brief performance in-front of traffic, they ran to each window, collected a few coins, and then to us. I think that I now see part of the reason that Leeann Curren was inspired to start and film the kids surfing program in the Titanzinho neighborhood, near Praia de Futuro about 4 km from where we live. The Favela is located on a great surfing beach and her organization provides support for aspiring professional surfers. Her film is called “Titan Kids”, and here is a link to some previews.

This is a few images captured during this first week in Fortaleza, Brazil. 

Week One in Fortaleza! Moto-Taxi ride, Bolinhos cooking class with Mulhars Mil Projecto, brilliant street art near the Instituto Federal, what turned out to be a No Parking sign, coconut water on the beach, Portuguese class with Vitor and Erilan, Praia de Iracema (Fortaleza) and Iracema Statue on the Beach et al...