Fortaleza. Strength in God. God given paradise.

When I arrived in Fortaleza late at night on Friday for IBM CSC Brazil 17, I was impressed by how efficient the aiport was.  I think Fortaleza should not have a problem to welcome visitors in the upcoming World Cup.  Fortaleza has been chosen as one of the host cities of the 2014 World Cup in June 2014. Built in 1973, the Plácido Castelo Stadium, known as Castelão, was completely renovated for the event and would be ready for a crowd of 63,903 people!

On the way from the airport to the hotel, I caught sight of a wedding party at 10pm.  I hear that weddings in Fortaleza starts only in the evening and the party continues all night and sometimes, the drunken bride and groom, together with best men and bridesmaid would adjourn to a local 24-hour café to have supper to sober up.  Our CSC co-ordinator Fabiana from Pyxera told us a story that a flower seller that could not finish selling her flowers saw her at the café without her bridal bouquet and gave her all her flowers.  Fabiana then proceeded to throw her donated bouquet to the girls at the café.

The moment I got into the hotel room and opened the balcony, the night scene that greeted me was breath-taking.  That Fortaleza is called the city of lights and her fame for the longest coastline makes a perfect combination of life and serenity, soothed by the ocean waves that makes you sigh with content.

We are very fortunate to be able to stay in a small boutique hotel on Avenue Beira-Mar (which literally means in front of the sea).  It is difficult to imagine that Fortaleza has the highest demographic density in the country.

Fortaleza is the capital capital of Ceará. It not only boasts of being the largest city of Ceará, it is also Brazil’s 5^th largest city in terms of population.  Given the size of 313 km² and a population of close to 2.55 million, Fortaleza has the highest demographic density of 8,001 per km².  Residents of the city are known as Fortalezenses.  The current mayor is Roberto Cláudio, a doctor who graduated from the Federal University of Ceará.

On Saturday, we met with Team Brazil 17 members.  We were told that the sea at our hotel is not suitable for swimming in as the city drains its dirt into this sea.  So, while there were people on the beach, they were mainly tourists or Brazilians from the peripherals who are not aware.  However, the Fortalezenses do jump into the sea this beach on New Year’s Day after partying all night long, as it is believed that one gets good luck if you get into the sea on the first day of the new year.  So, we decided to have our first team board meeting at another beach called Praia do Futuro, which is safe for swimming and bustling with beach eateries and beach vendors.

Another interesting fact of Forteleza is that it is the most Catholic city in Brazil, with nearly 80% of residents as Roman Catholic.  On Sunday, I walked over 1 km to a local church. The mass was one of the most beautiful mass I ever attended.  The psalms that were sung with simple guitar and voice resonated through the church.  Many of the congregations raised their hands during mass which is a more charismatic way compared to the Singapore traditional churches. That to me is a sign of surrender.  And in the prayers before “peace be with you”, the lady beside me just reached out to me to grab my hand and raise it together with hers in prayer.  Her open hearted acceptance warmed this stranger’s heart to the land of Brazil.

On Sunday, we started our team session to share about ourselves, our projects, challenges that we anticipate and how to be able to deliver the projects within the short time of one month.  I shared with the team that the organization ITEVA that I will be working with is actually not within Fortaleza, but it is towards the eastern side of Ceará called Aquiraz.  It is an hour’s drive away, and the client had arranged for transport pick up at 6am to beat the morning traffic to be in time for their working hours of 7am to 5pm.

Within the North-east region, Fortaleza is one of the three leading cities together with Recife and Salvador. Within Fortaleza, to the north of the city lies the Atlantic Ocean; to the south are the municipalities of Pacatuba, Eusébio, Maracanaú and Itaitinga; to the east is the municipality of Aquiraz and the Atlantic Ocean; and to the west is the municipality of Caucaia.

I believe that Aquiraz probably has a different profile from Fortaleza, and would be keen to find out more.  I will also share in the next blog on the CSC Brazil 17 kick off meeting with all the clients and project team.  I can’t wait to meet the clients face to face!