Thursday, Feb 14 – Day 59

Absolutely no sign of Valentine’s Day. Not a single heart-shaped sign, red flower, or greeting card to be seen anywhere. Now that’s refreshing.

I have to leave my pousada tomorrow as my week is up and my unit is already booked. Bara is too nice to leave right now and I want to stay longer, so I looked at some other opportunities today. Mar do Leste is one of the more expensive pousadas, which was OK, but I’m sure there is a better value out there.

I talked to a local “broker” who had a couple of decent units for R$70.00 per night, and Evandro put me together with someone that charges R$90.00 per night – a nice place, but I don’t really care about nice. Clean and cheap is all I want.

There’s a lagoa, or lake, in the middle of the island. Lagoa Conceicao, or just “Lagoa”, is a community on the other side of the lake and just a few kilometers away from Barra. For some reason, it’s larger and nicer than the oceanside community of Barra. I thought there would be cheaper accommodations there since it’s further away from the ocean, and I found a deal for R$50.00 per night (less than US$30.00). I’ll spend R$5.00 per day to get to the beach, but Lagoa is where the nightlife is, and it will all be within walking distance.

I told Evandro that I’d found a place and would be interested in more lessons. After I told him the details, he said that if clean and cheap was all I required; I could have his mom’s small rental house in Barra for the same price. It’s about 5 blocks from the beach. Now that’s convenient.

We went to check it out, and it’s pretty cool. Evandro has a building in the back where he shapes boards during the winter. I’m in!