Local flora, fauna and other things [by Anna]

So last Friday I went out with a bunch of the girls. We met some people we know on the Main street (unavoidable) and were a group of around ten people in the end. There was a lot of dancing on the bar counter (the good old Hungry Duck style), samba dancing and just dancing. “The more the merrier” principle never fails me.  We stayed out all night. When the place closed and the dawn was breaking, everyone went to padaria (bakery) to get breakfast which is a pretty common thing to do here after a night out, and I went home cos I was too tired by then. I had a lot of fun! Don’t remember when was the last time I had so much fun with non-rugby people!

I’m still doing the physical work around. Last week I finally finished hanging the infamous hangers! We have them up in all the rooms now. This week is the second week that we split the shifts and write down the hours. Last week we did around 80 each in six days (we started noting them on Tuesday). This week it’s a bit more relaxing. I have the late shifts that start at 3 p.m. So today in the morning I went to the training, took a nap, went to the beach (finally!!!) with my friend Sarah and then and only then started the shift. At last I’m reaping the advantages of living one hundred meters away from the beach!

There is a six day jazz festival in town that started today and we are getting filled up again. Four rooms out of six, and only European tourists, me likes!

Meanwhile a couple of words about the local flora and fauna.

So we’ve already written more than once about the toads. Here is the last time, I promise! The toads are still hooked up on the cat food, even though there is no cat food anymore. And since we started closing the door between the reception and the kitchen, they cannot get in anymore. The other day Marina witnessed a toad continuously throwing itself onto the door, real Jean Claude Van Damme style! A couple of days I saw another one walking back and forth along the door, getting up and down on its paws (legs?) as if it was trying to think of a way to get it. Maybe the toads are more intelligent than we give them the credit for? Or maybe it was just a she-toad?

Then there is also a tiny frog that lives behind the sink. It only comes out in the dark and it crawls the walls as a roach and it also jumps to the ceiling and to the glasses and all over the place like a spiderman! I think it’s mega-cute.

Then there are lizards. Also two types – big ones that are out during the day, and the lizard answer to the behind-the-sink frog. Those live somewhere under the roof and only come out to the walls when it’s dark. They are also tiny and cute. Both lizard kinds are very easily startled so I didn’t manage to take a proper picture, but you get an idea.

Two days ago we had this guest at the reception. Marina claims she saw a bigger and hairier one, but this is my personal record so far. Looks scary, but I think it was more scared than me when I was trying to take pictures of it.

Some days ago we saw a huge butterfly. It probably had more than 12 cm of the wing span. It looked totally surreal, like one of those artificial butterflies in the old time movies, where you can see the string it’s attached on and that flickers its wings with a veeeery-sloooow-frequency. Amazing!

Talking about the wings flickering frequency, hummingbird is a frequent guest on one of the bougainvilleas, which are omnipresent here in the village. I wish I could take a proper picture of a hummingbird! Well here you can see the bougainvillea in front of the entrance that is frequented by the hummingbirds.

Out garden is not enormous, but I’m still discovering new plants in it. The coconut palms and papaya I have already mentioned. We also have a lime tree (without limes). The other day I also found a cashew tree in front of the fence. Cashew is pretty much everywhere here. They are mostly used for juice – the upper part of it, but the flavor is very astringent so I don’t fancy it much. Then there is one of those exotic fruit trees with hedgehog-like green fruits, but I don’t know what it’s called, I’ll have to get back to that. Also with a picture of a cashew fruit.  

On  side-note – I talked to my Mom the other day and mentioned to her that we don’t have glass in the windows, and she found it surprising. If anyone should be interested in what the windows without the glass look like – here it is. Depending on the size, the windows (and doors for that matter) have one to four individual shutters which can be opened or closed separately. Very practical!

Ribbit! [by Marina]

I can't help but getting impressed by our toads!
As mentioned by Anna before, they come into the house at night for cat food.
There's one which likes taking a bath after it's meal.
First it eats, then it fits himself into cat's water bowl (cut from a plastic bottle) and sits there for hours.
Human presence doesn't frighten it (or, shall I say "him") at all.
Last night Anna poured some more water on top of him, and it looks like he enjoyed it ;-)

Then we changed the location of the cat food from the kitchen into the garden to keep our kitchen cleaner.
The toad actually discovered the new eating spot before the cat did *lol*

Night shift [by Anna]

so, the lady who is normally here during the nights is off to Pipa and i've taken over the night watch. the reception is facing out to our street - Rua Das Dunas, or the Dune Street. during the day we have a very good overview of the street from here. during the night, you're in the spot-light, as it's pitch-dark outside. during the night the cows and donkeys start walking in the street and the toads come in the house for the cat-food.

it's the first time i put on long pants - not cos it's cold, it's 1 a.m. and still +29, but because of the mosquitoes. they are smaller and less mean here than in Europe - you're only itchy for a short while. still, i prefer to feel hot, than to be eaten up.

at out end of the village it's pretty quiet, but there is always a party somewhere - it's a resort after all. we try to stick to going out only on Fridays and Saturdays - that is our meager attempt at having at least some kind of a routine. having your own business means there are no week-days or week-ends anymore, every day is a Monday. on the brighter side, if you decide that today the most important task is to work on the tan, no one will tell you otherwise!

today one Swiss guest asked Marina - so you've been here for a MONTH?? aren't you dead-bored? we laughed a bit about it. i guest boredom is a very relative term. Jeri is certainly not like any other place. i still adore Moscow and cherish Paris, and Oslo will always be in my heart. but here there is a different pace, there is a different feel to it, different things matter. it's more down to Earth if you wish. i guess at the bottom-line it all comes down to personal priorities and life-style choices. what will i choose, how long will i stay? we'll see.

oh yeah, and i did run into the same Swiss guy later today. he told me he'd been around and loved the place, and could easily imagine staying long...