Well, Beach Park turned into a rather Wally World moment for us, as we were on the road for 45 minutes when the guide got a phone call that the water park was closed for the day. Our souls were crushed, but we decided to make the most of the day by going to the nicest beach within the city of Fortaleza, Praio do Futuro. It was my first time in the Atlantic Ocean on this trip and the water was amazingly warm and it was a perfect beach day – sunny, warm and a light breeze. (Not to mention incredibly affordable drinks and food being brought to you all day long – fabulous!)
The whitest guy on the beach at Praio do Futuro!
Michael and Sandrine, the cool French couple Tiffany and I hung out in Fortaleza with. I think they’re planning on going to Recife for Carnaval and then Salvador after that, so we may be seeing a bit more of them. (They also gave me a great opportunity to practice my French a bit!)
After leaving the beach Wednesday evening, we collected our stuff and headed over to the bus station for an overnight bus to Natal, with an onward connection to Praia da Pipa. I wish I had an easier time sleeping on buses, because this was basically just sitting in a small seat for nearly 12 hours in total darkness, sort of zoning out but never really falling asleep. :-(
On the last leg of our bus journey to Praia da Pipa.
Just outside Praia da Pipa
Pipa is a hip beachtown of about 3,000 people in the Northeast of Brazil. In addition to Tiffany and the French couple, we’re also traveling with a couple of German guys and a Swiss guy. It looks as though we’re all going to be here at least a couple of nights before continuing down the coast towards Recife, where at least some of us will be for Carnaval (which begins next week!).
More shots of Praia da Pipa.
But the big news from today is that I just got word that I was accepted into the MBA in International Business program at HEC, a short distance outside of Paris, to begin this September. I’m incredibly excited, as this was my first-choice program. There are about 200 students from 55 different nationalities represented in the program, which runs through December 2008. Usually, the classes are all taught in English, but I am now toying with the idea of committing to a bilingual MBA, which would require me to complete about half the coursework in French. My French language skills are definitely not up to snuff right now, and I’m not sure they will be by September, so I need to think a bit more about that. But for now, the exciting news is that I was admitted!
I really owe a huge debt of gratitude to Lori and Sarah, who wrote amazing letters of recommendation on my behalf, thereby ensuring my acceptance into the program. They rock!
In other news, in exactly 4 weeks I will be flying back from Rio to New York City. The rhythm of my trip really seems to have suddenly changed, as I feel as though I am coming into the home stretch and feeling really sad about having so little time left in South America. It has been such an incredible experience, and there are so many places where I would love to spend more time (e.g., Chile, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, etc.). I really hope to come back for a large block of time in the future at some point.
For now, I’m just trying to figure out how to spend my last 28 days. I think I will be here in Pipa for a few more days, then will continue on to Recife for a few days. Then Salvador, follow by Rio before flying back to New York. But, although I’m excited to see all these places, they are all on the coast, and I would really like to break that up a bit by traveling inland a bit – perhaps even to Brasilia. We shall see… ;-)
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