Where's That You Say?

One of the interesting things in Recife is that people rarely use proper addresses to indicate location. Of course, everyone knows the main streets and thoroughfares, but very few people – including cab drivers who drive around town ten to twelve hours a day – seem to have a strong notion of either numbers or the names of the side streets. Instead, people talk in terms of reference points and landmarks.

In fact, in many parts of Latin America, it is not usual for addresses to be given in terms of reference points. I live in the green house two doors east of the post office or I live in the apartment complex with the red door one block west and one block south of the old oak tree. While this type of reference system often exists in rural areas or cities that are more rural than urban [read: Managua, Nicaragua], it is a little less common to find this system in urban settings. One of the exceptions being Recife! Even on official correspondence like my telephone bill, a reference point follows my street address and number.

Now the funny thing is that not only have I started to talk in terms of reference points, I even use references that don't actually exist anymore. The most frequent reference point that I use is the plot of land where the Pão de Açucar grocery store used to be. The Pão obviously existed for many years even though at the moment it is a pile of rubble [lots of those here!] waiting to be turned into an Extra grocery store. The question is, will I, along with the rest of Recife, manage to change the name of the reference point? Or will we simply continue to confound and annoy out-of-towners who hopelessly search for the Pão de Açucar? Only time will tell! Until then, I continue to hold on to the past and speak the secret language of the Recifenses.