Another Mystery

The Statue Code in Fortaleza

Once again I got a question related to one of my photos on Fotothing. And once again I needed to refresh my memories and search for the answer. This time I got the answer in less than 1 hour. From Visit Fortaleza in Brazil. As I say: The world is flat, in the sense of never sleeping. And by finding answers to questions from blogger friends, I do learn a lot. And I'll share it with you, my dear reader.

Here goes the story:

I received this comment and question to the photo above:
From: jceca PRO

wonderful looking sculpture ... but .. what is she exactly doing ???

Well, there was something there, in my brain, but blocked (have you also felt that kind of blockage?).
Searched the web. Not there, nothing here, Fortaleza, art, guide, sculpture.... Without result.
Well, to whom can I write asking the question. Some tourist organisation? Yes. Search again.
Find a clue and wrote this e-mail:

Dato:	Mon, 29 Jan 2007 22:37:42 +0100 (CET)
Fra:	"Tor aabo" Se kontaktinformasjon
Emne:	Questions about a beachfront statue
Til:	webmaster@visitfortaleza.com

Hello,
some years ago my wife and I had the luck to visit
your beautiful city.

As most tourists do, we also took some pictures, of
which I have posted some on my Photoblog.

One of the pictures shows a modern sculpture - a woman
with a "bow".
You can see it here:
http://www.fotothing.com/taaboe/photo/9f971d9c3da88f102359e7b0c6fb6446/

Soon after this picture was posted, I got a question
related to the sculpture:
What does it symbolize and who's the artist and where
to find it in Fortaleza?

This I took as a pleasant challenge, but
my searches on Internet have so far been without
result.
That's why I'm adressing Visit Fortaleza and kindly
ask if you can help me.

I've done similar researches before and afterwards
posted an article in my blog.
Like this one after a question about an inscription on
an altar embroidery in a Norwegian 1150 century
church:
http://toraa.blogspot.com/2007/01/mystery-in-church.html

Best regards and thanks in advance

Tor Aabo
(Norway)

Now then, look at the Timestamp on the answer, and you know what I mean by "Flat world".
How long did it take until I received the Answer? Look further down.

Dato:	Mon, 29 Jan 2007 19:56:37 -0200
Fra:	"jose issamu yamada" Legg til i adressebok Yahoo! DomainKeys har bekreftet at denne meldingen ble sendt av gmail.com. Lær mer
Til:	"Tor aabo"
Emne:	Re: Questions about a beachfront statue

Hi,

This is one of the several statues of Iracema in Fortaleza.
I put some info about Iracema here:
http://www.visitfortaleza.com/beaches/iracema.html

If you need more info, let me know (if you could place a link to the
page, I would appreciate it).

Thanks,
Issamu

Correct answer to my question: It took 19 minutes.
I refere the first part from the link above:
The name Iracema refers to an Indian female of the same name, who became part of the History of Ceará.

The New Statue
of Iracema

History books say that a Portuguese called Martim Soares Moreno was one of the greatest heroes of the war against the Dutch invasors, in the first half of the 17th century; Martim Moreno chose to live in Ceará, among the Indians.
In the 19th century, José de Alencar, one of the greatest Brazilian writers, wrote a book called Iracema; in the book, Iracema was the wife of Martim Moreno.

Iracema provided the strenght that Moreno needed to fight. The name Iracema doesn't appear in the History books, but Alencar said that his novel was inspired by tales he heard since childhood.
Iracema is so entrenched in Fortaleza History that there are five statues of her in the city. The oldest one was dates back to 1965, when the novel Iracema was turning the 100th anniversary, and is located in the beach of Mucuripe.

I am overwhelmed by this quick and precise answers. That's what I'm calling Quality Service.

If you want to read more about the history of the region and Fortaleza, click here.

Here are some pictures from our visit to Fortaleza and surroundings some years ago, around Christmas and New Year (What a fantastic arrangement at the Beach on New Year's Eve - Es do Brasil- I did not bring the camera).


The picture to the right, courtesy of www.visitfortaleza
Alle pictures to the right and from Cucumbo, taken by Tor and Anna.
Right from top:
1) Anna in our roof-top pool - very pleasant 'cause of the slow breeze.
2) View from entrence to the appartement - Praia Meireles and Atlantic Ocean in the background
3) View from Balcony to the Meireles Beach .December 26 - 2002
Meireles is the stretch of beach which surrounds the Feirinha de Artesanato (Handicraft Fair). The area is packed with hotels, restaurants, small shopping centers and other tourism oriented businesses.
Meireles has also a large concentration of barracas (rustic restaurants) by the beach; these restaurants serve good food and drink.
4) Anna at Ponte dos Ingleses (Bridge of the
Englishmen) - Praia Iracema
5) Christmas tree made entirely by plastic bottles
For more information, please click on the link given in the answer from VisitFortaleza.

A day-trip to Cucumbo - 30 minutes to the West of Fortaleza
Ask for Tours at your hotel or in tourist kiosks at the Beach (Meireles)

First stop en route to Cucumbo, was this charming Lake. You can rent Jet-boats, windsurfers and have a sightseeing sitting on huge rubber-sausages. Or just take a swim and/or a lunch. Chickens and Ducks are slaughtered just in front of you. Garanteed fresh. (We had Fish).

The Beachbuggies have a stop on this Sandhill from where you can glide on Sandboards down and into the Lake. It is sand, not snow. Beautiful view from up here. And, of course, you can buy different sorts of refreshments, fruits and snacks.

The Beachbuggy Tour in the large, snow-white sandhills in Cucumbo is a must. Here just before going down the steep hills. You can also see the Vikings have been there.

If you want to, or feel it safe i.e. you master riding, you can ride for miles after miles on white sand.

This is a Jangada - typical fish boat, or more correctly a raft with sails, from Ceara. Cucumbo.

After a long day in Cucumbo, it was wonderful just to sit down and zip to a drink

=^.^=
tomorrow