One week in Fortaleza, Brazil during CoronaCrisis, and why I chose to leave Latin America

The world is currently in panic and apocalyptic mode due to the COVID-19 virus, and I have a lot to say about it, and about my current trip to Brazil. So I figured this would be a nice way to share my thoughts. 

I just spent a week in northern Brazil, in the state of Ceará, where there are only three confirmed cases. First, let’s start with the goals of my trip: I just quit my job, and wanted to take two months to travel in Brazil or Mexico. I decided on Brazil, where I found an opportunity to work in a hostel a few days a week in exchange for room and board. I was going to stay there (Fortaleza) for one month, and then head east to get to know more of Northeastern Brazil - maybe Natal, Recife, Salvador, and surrounding towns. Then, I’d head to Rio and fly back to the states from there, or fly somewhere else if my two months hadn’t passed. I was excited! Especially to spend time in a seemingly amazing hostel with a pool, and to meet up with some dear friends - more like family - in Rio. 

So I get to the hostel last Wednesday, and long story short, it was a total fucking dump in a terribly dangerous and deserted part of Fortaleza. Within minutes of arriving, I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay there for a month - or really, any significant amount of time. Luckily I met several angels who were volunteers there, who spent some time with me that first night, and told me everything. They encouraged me to follow my intuition and ditch my hostel commitment. And so I did. I reserved a humble room in an apartment in a nice area of the city, spent one night in the hostel, with a moldy pillow, and then I left in the morning after telling one of the French owners that I was outta there. I instantly felt relieved. 

The weather was hideous. I now understand the significance of the very popular bossa nova song, “Águas de Março,” which literally says “it’s the waters of March, which bring the close of summer.” All of Brazil, but especially the Northeast where I was at, is extremely rainy during March. I failed to think about that when I planned my trip. I knew I didn’t want to stay much longer in Fortaleza, because it’s even rainier than other cities in the Northeast. Not only was it so rainy, but also no sun. At all. As a triple fire sign, this is my nightmare [year-round, lol]. 

But, I did end up spending four full days enjoying the city of Fortaleza and eating really good food. I saw those hostel angels on every single one of those days, and quickly developed intimate, lovely friendships with these girls. I eventually decided to leave Fortaleza and head to another city, and eventually just decided to go to Rio to evade the rain almost entirely, as Rio is much more sunny and a bit more dry than the Northeast at this time. I was going to visit my friends since they had cancelled their March travel plans to Europe. Long story short, between Saturday and Monday (today, March 16, 2020), the coronavirus responses changed dramatically and rapidly. Borders started closing, and globally, things started shutting down. I bought my ticket to Rio about 30 hours before the flight was supposed to leave. And within that time, my friends in Rio informed me that the situation was not good in regard to travelling to the part of Rio they live in, and that people were in obligatory quarantine. 

So then I was like, okay, it’s time to leave Brazil. Good thing I’m already going to Rio. Now, do I go to Mexico (Puerto Escondido) or come back to the US? This is a decision I made last night, and it was really difficult. The pros of Mexico are that the situation is really calm there, especially on the Oaxacan coast. Really - all of Latin America is really chill - for now. Another pro is that I just wanted to be there. But ultimately, I would have to leave and head back to the US - and with things being so unpredictable, I had no idea when that would be. So I decided that it would be more responsible to take the two flights back to LA from Rio versus two flights to Puerto and then eventually, two more to LA. The public health professional in me really came out, saying stay put. I would have loved to stay put in Mexico, but again, who knows when I would need or want to go back to the US. Also, while I have people in Puerto that I love, I didn’t have some stable housing situation figured out. So, I decided to come back and now I am in Rio on a 12-hour layover before heading to Houston and then LA.

I had so many cute moments in Fortaleza; I don’t regret going at all. While I didn’t really want to be in a big metropolis on this trip, I liked Fortaleza - it’s a fun city with tons to do. While people are relatively calm [about COVID-19] in Fortaleza and Rio as well, you can see the panic starting to creep in. I can attest - this is a global connecting force right now. I agree with most of my friends on the whole situation: this needs to be a global and collective pause, a reflection. Things are terribly unhealthy in our world right now - economics, health, sociality, and more. There is beauty everywhere but systems need dismantling and innovation - this is where politics, praxis, and economic/racial reform come into play. And we need to learn how to act from love - all of us - and not fear - this is where self-work comes into play. And these are intertwined, of course. As I mentioned in a recent Facebook post:

I'm in a phase of my life where I hope to let my decisions and actions be guided by mostly love and hope, and not fear. This extends to every aspect of my life, including my health (I have not been sick since 2009). Fear and panic is more contagious than this virus. Statistics and numbers can always be viewed in a different way, and what we choose to highlight matters. Trust me, this is 75% of my profession in public health, LOL. Humans have a psychological bias called "negative credulity bias." Basically, we are more likely to remember bad things because it helps us survive. But most of us humans don't live in times where that is useful anymore - in fact it's more harmful in many environments. Anyways, this is the reason why most news is bad news, and why reviews can mostly skew negative. Keep this in mind with the content you consume, the conversations you have, and ultimately, how you choose to live your life and make decisions. Especially if you are middle class, living in a middle or high income environment.

And... the most beautiful message from Kitty O'Meara:

"And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently. And the people healed. And, in the absense of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless and heartless ways, the earth began to heal. And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they has been healed." - Kitty O'Meara

This is not to downplay what’s going on right now, and it can be extended to so many life situations. We are so used to lives of trauma, scarcity, war, famine, death. But many of us don’t really live in environments like this anymore. We need to be aware of these psychological mechanisms and biases we have, so that we can accept them, but then think and act differently. So anyways, pray that I get back to LA safely tomorrow, since shit is wild out here. I look forward to taking a long hot bath with essential oils, eating green salad, working out, painting, and DJing. Take care everyone. This is showing us the ugliest sides of humans - but it’s also showing us the most beautiful. Shine on, cuties. Stay grounded, safe, and healthy. I’m here if you need me.