Maceió

THE TIP

To make up for not tipping the cab driver, that night I tipped a waitress 100%.

I sat outside the restaurant called Bahia Café at about 9:30 PM and about 12 minutes later she came outside and took my order.

Half an hour later I asked for the check and she said one Real. I gave her two and said goodnight.


THE LAND ENDS HERE

I visited the easternmost tip of South America. It is in João Pessoa, just in case you get on a quiz show that's not rigged.

From that point, if you go east without fishing gear you probably have Africa on your mind.

I took a bus, walked about 200 yards on a lonely road with two sets of barriers, with a stone just in case dogs or pirates appear ... and, suddenly, there it was. There were people, there was a commemorative searchlight, if that's what it's called. Farol in Portuguese, maybe in Spanish too. Those people had taken a more conventional route by car and tourist bus.


TRICK OR TREAT

Brasilians always seem to correct me when I introduce myself:

"Patrick."

"Oh, Patricky!"

In fact, rather than being tricky, I'm just about the most naive person you can find at this age.

But the truth is that I find it charming to be called Patricky.


WALK DON'T RUN

If I look through my hotel window at 5:30 in the morning, I am bound to see health-nuts walking and running.

And if I look through the window again at 11 PM, I can see some weird guy lying on his back pedalling away as if he were trying to get to another city.

These people are quite sane, because if the sun dares them to their antics during the day. You can hear the sun actually saying: I double-dare you.

Yesterday, I saw a man tempting the sun to send a sun stroke flying down from the heavens.

PBB