Residency July 11-22 - Part 1

Two become four and the adventure really begins 

The weather has changed dramatically since I have been here for the better with lots of sunny days. My house mate Diana and I have been getting used to the town, taking the bus and going on an adventure to wash clothes. She has tapped into some of the happenings on the island so we have gone to a couple of small festivals and a farmers market. Diana is currently living in Montreal but she is originally from Lebanon. She is working on a personal project about processing grief and what happens to a community when they try to forget and move on when war has occurred. She is working on how to tackle difficult issues with the use of art. It’s been really interesting to talk to her and get to know her. 

Early last week, two additional residency artists arrived; Fausto originally from Italy currently living in Amsterdam and Yoly living in Miami and originally from Haiti. We all immediately bonded. Fausto was only here for a week as he is going to a conference and is preparing for a talk while he is here. Yoly is working on a project involving her family and preparing for a big family reunion in late Aug. On our first day together, we went to a restaurant on the beach called Balena. Balena is whale in Italian. And we had drinks and appetizers while we watched one of the World Cup Games. We returned back to the house and our hostess Marina prepared a tasty vegetarian meal. We talked and drank hot tea into the night then headed for bed.

The next day we did a group hike into the jungle to see a few rainfalls. The jungle is a magical place. Plants/ trees are growing everywhere and on top and intertwined with each other. This was a very difficult hike. I relied on a walking stick, sometimes two. We hiked up a side of a mountain and then descended into the jungle. We had to keep our eyes out for snakes. Luckily we didn’t see any. When you look closely at the vegetation in the jungle it looks like plants and roots sewed into trees. There was a plant that had perfect symmetry and its young leaves felt sharp like metal. It took us about 3 hours to complete the hike. I forgot to mention it is a much cooler environment in the forest. It was a very humbling experience. After we made it back without incident, we showered and went out to a different restaurant on the beach and had a wonderful meal. One particular dish I like was almost like a warm crab dip but it had small round balls as a topping. I thought it was couscous but it was fried and had a great crunch. It was actually rice shavings. We enjoyed the refreshing local drink Capirinhas. It has cachaça (a Brazilian sugarcane liqueur), fresh lime, and sugar served over ice. You can get it with fruit as well like passion fruit, strawberry or pineapple. We hung out in town for a bit then headed back to the house.

A few days later, I went on an all day whale watch. We did not see whales but we saw lots of dolphins, spotted dolphins. It was my first time seeing them in person and we also saw a sea turtle. The mountain ranges around started to look like giants sleeping. It was lovely being out on the water and they served a wonderful meal on the whale watch. Near Ilhabela is a superhighway for whales traveling up and down the coast to breeding and feeding grounds. Whales are all around Ilhabela in their art, clothing and displays which I love. I may try again before I leave the island. This post is getting long so I will end it right there. More adventures to come. Here are some photos and videos from the last couple of days last week: https://photos.app.goo.gl/WzDBsn3WRM6BB1SYA