Cycling and couchsurfing are two things which will most certainly take you to unexpected places. Why? Because both of them take you where locals are. And unless you are equipped with an amazingly good imagination, staying with locals will always have some surprises in store for you. And why is that? Because you have just no idea what locals do (at least on that specific day you end up staying with them). So what could possibly happen if you were to combine cycling and couchsurfing..?! My experience: a Brazilian wedding, a glass house of an artist I never met (not before nor after staying at his place), 1,5 months with friends of a friend and much more! Let’s concentrate on that wedding for now.

Case: cycling and couchsurfing to a wedding in Brazil

In April 2016 I was cycling towards Campos Novos from Florianopolis, in the state of Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil. I had estimated my velocity to Campos Novos quite optimistically and my future couchsurfing host, Maiara, came to pick me up as I was already close enough by car, yet too far away by bicycle. (By the way, as I was waiting for Maiara, a man from the only local pub in town came to propose to me.) I stayed in a Campos Novos for a couple of days as Maiara took me to visit some local farmers and to a “baile gaucho“, a typical, local dancing event. As she was on her way to visit her parents, Maiara also invited me over to her family home in Palotina, Paranà and as by this time I was down with fever and dying to meet a Brazilian family, I happily accepted the invite. In Palotina, the women of the family had made a towel for me reading “Sissi” without even knowing me, the mother kept cooking the best possible meals, we went for a shopping trip to Paraguay and only a couple of days from my arrival, I found myself at a Brazilian wedding. Why? Because a friend of Maiara was getting married. And as Maiara’s guest, I too, was invited. (Not a minor detail: as I went to Finland for my “mid-term break”, I left my bicycle at Maiara’s parents’ place. That where it still is at this very moment as I am writing this.)

Strangerless observes:

• The wedding cake is usually fake (it’s only there for the pictures)
• Women are given flip-flops when the party starts (or they bring them from home)
• The wedding bouquet is not always thrown (at this wedding, the bride cut silk laces until only one was left uncut)