ilhabela - literally, beautiful island

i decided to take the bus. all the way to the coast to an island called ilhabela. it was an adventure - i took the bus
from campinas (navigated 3 stations), a ferry to ilhabela from sao sebastiao, and accepted a lift to my posada (small hotel) from a great couple i met on the ferry over. it is winter here, but the weather was perfect. the pics speak for themselves on this post. when you come to brasil, make sure you allow time for this trip.

foods I grew up with...

as luck would have it, I had the best meal since I've been in brazil in lindoia @ a roadside restaurant. the name pururuca is the name of the pork once it is cooked and the whole pig is deep fried. the restaurant also had homemade potato chips like I grew up with. well, i didn't really grow up with the deep fried pork, but it was cooked in vinegar which reminded me of my family's traditional christmas eve meal. Brida was my family's house keeper/nanny/3rd grandmother growing up (btw.. she's still there) - so I was right at home with this comfort food.

now for foods that I didn't grow up with... I went to a churrascaria this week. fogo de chao popularized the idea in the states. the concept is the same, but the meat is better here. typical meats such as picanha are served, but I also tried chicken hearts and a variation of the world's largest rodent (the capybara) which was kinda spicy but tasty.

aguas de lindoia

so I finally left campinas... but only after taking a colleague to the hospital for some sort of rash she picked up. like I was of any help. for example, she is from little rock, arkansas - so when the doctor walked into the waiting room (and I use the term loosely), he called for little rock. he actually thought that was her name. rock-ito is now her name.


once i got away, it was like a good road trip. it was interesting traveling through the region towards minas gerais and experiencing lindoia and aguas de lindoia. the views are great from the 'naked mountain' (no trees for you wandering minds) and there is even a smaller replica of cristo redentor overlooking the little alpine village. huh? yes, there is a european style village in brazil. this region is known for it's queijo minas (cheese) and doces (sweet jam-like spread eaten with said cheese).


learned more portuguese - most notably the difference between apple and pasta) and i picked up yet another language teacher. mariana's uncle and his family were there in aguas, too, and he spoke little to no english. therefore, I had the makings of an interested teacher. definitely the most interesting thing to which he introduced me and the other two guys [rafael and bruno (his son)] - the making of cachaca (used to make caipirinhas). it is one of brazil's most shining accomplished creations (liquor from sugar cane). that, and the radioactive water they insisted I try from -- naturally, aguas de lindoia.

portuguese classes - or lack thereof

it was great to get away from campinas for a bit.. and to see how some of the rest of the country lives (since I had a couple of slight episodes the past few weeks -- no returned e-mails from language classes, not able to retrieve laundry from lavandaria, no money due to lack of international ATMs, etc. etc. etc.).

actually, one morning i awoke early in hopes to start with yet another portuguese language course. as with everything else that week, not only did I wake early and walk 30 minutes to arrive @ 7 a.m. (nothing like the first day of school!), but the center was closed. the definition of irony is to arrive @ a language center to find the door locked and only the cleaning service there (who speak only portuguese). In my broken portuguese I was able to decipher that my contact there was coming in -- but not until 9:30.

I have picked up some random words here and there (my colleagues say I'm doing good), but I've got a long way to go -- and a short time to get there.

festa junina

invited to festa junina by Simone and Marcello (a couple of colleagues who are engaged to be married in august) on a small farm (farmito - my crude attempt at a joke) outside campinas. as you can tell by the photos, it is customary to wear farm clothes, plaid shirts/dresses, and straw hats to this fest. the ladies often add freckles to complete the look.

festa junina is a festival in brasil to celebrate three saints in june - Antonio, Joao, and Pedro. as it is winter here, the typical foods for the fest are popcorn, cao quente (hot dogs, but not any ordinary dog - more on this later), corn on the cob, canjica (sweet popcorn), more food including peanuts, and tons of homemade sweets. as for drink - it is typical to serve vino quente (akin to a hot sangria) for the fest along with a quentao (spicy ginger drink with a strong kick of cachaca) and lots of brasilian beer. more on my discoveries with cachaca and caipirinhas later.

back to the cao quente - literally, hot dog. first, the dog buns here are deep to hold a lot of food. with the dog in the bun, it's customary to pile on small fried potato strips, a kind of salsa in vinegar, corn, and smashed potatoes (yep! smashed potatoes!).

once the festivities got really going, the fireworks started and continued well into the night. one of the highlights was alighting and launching tissue paper balloons (see photo) -- and attempting to shoot them down with real, live fireworks. along with the fireworks, we had a huge bonfire and the neighbors did, too. after a few rounds of english vs. portuguese (yes, i was the main attraction for a few minutes and lost miserably!) and dancing a jig, the fest continued...