No more pictures please

Well everybody we spent the weekend at the lake with no internet.

Just Family, Food and Fun.

And tonight we were able to go to Giovanni's First Communion.


It's going to be a long day tomorrow and I have to give back my internet connection.

Soooo.....

It is going to be sad to leave but we look forward to seeing everybody on Tuesday.

Tchau

Beijos

The Adventure Continues

Thursday May 13

On Monday I thought we were going to have a little break and sit tight for a while. The plans change quickly down here and you never know what surprise is around the corner. Adriana called and said that she had a friend that could show us a few more possible sites for our wedding. But he could only do it right now. I was just starting to review my plans for a blog post and it was time to close the laptop and hit the road. This friend of the family knows everybody. He works a police officer here in Marataizes. Our first stop was a pretty rundown house. I didn't understand what was happening. He talked to someone in the house but did not enter. Next we found ourselves going up an old dirt road to another place on the hill where our guide spoke with another man. Apparently this man owned the house near the ocean where we first visited. It was a really nice place near the ocean with a fancy pool with a hottub and a water bar.



But as we looked around, we did not see a place that was really suitable for dancing. A dance floor is a must.
So our guide took us to another pousada near the Bellinelli's home. It was fancy too with a huge room with plenty of space for dancing.



To be honest, we still like the camping place on the beach. But it was a nice day to explore possibilities.


On Tuesday Elaine and I found ourselves in the kitchen with Mrs. Bellinelli. We were trying to go for a walk on the beach. We almost left Mrs. Bellinelli to clean about 50 ears of corn to prepare a special dish. But as we tried to go for a stroll on the beach, it started to rain. We opted to return to the kitchen and pitch in and help.




It became an adventure again. I had the opportunity to learn how to make Pamonha. I can't believe Mrs. Bellinelli was going to spend the morning making Pamonha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamonha) by herself.
It seemed like an incredible task for the three of us combined. First we had to remove the outer husk from the corn. Then carefully peel the nice inner husk. One of us had to wash the inner husk while Mrs. Bellinelli cut the corn from the cob.





It seemed like forever washing the tender husks. As I did that Elaine used a hand held food processor to grind the corn up. It actually took three food processors to make the ground corn. The handheld one got too hot to continue. And then we smoked Mrs. Bellinelli's blender.



Mr. Bellinelli called Adriana and she brought a third one to almost smoke. When we finished grinding up the corn Mrs. Bellinelli added sugar to the great bowl of corn and blended it again.



Once she was done with that we had to make little pouches out of the many husks and fill them with the corn mixture. It looked like a task that was going to take forever. It actually got easier after the first fifty.




We had enough food for an army.




Luckily Mrs. Bellinelli took over the cooking while Elaine and I had to go check on the lake house.
When we returned it was time to go sightseeing again. Giovanni and I went up on the roof to take some night time photos of the town.



Adriana saw what we were doing and suggested that we drive up to the top of the village on the hill and take more pictures. I really needed a a panoramic camera to really take in what we saw from the top.

At any rate it was time to go out for more barbeque. It was 9:00 pm and we were going out for dinner. This time I got smart and took the camera to record what it is like to have a Brazilian Barbeque.



We had to get up early on Wednesday. Mr. Bellinelli made arrangements with a former business associate for me to see a machine shop in Brazil. The man said he was very busy but would show us around if we got there by 8:00 am. We had to travel to Cachoeiro. It was about 40 minutes away.
When we got there Elaine told me not to expect too much, that it was a small business. Mr. Bellinelli used to do business with the man many years ago when Mr. Bellinelli worked at the sugar cane plant. This man started a business with a partner about twenty-five years ago. The name of his business is Itamil. And it isn't small either.



My first question through my interpreter (Elaine) was how many people did he employ and the answer was about 150 people. The man was really kind and let me take many pictures. He fabricates big equipment used in the granite processing industry and more. He has a lot of big machines, including some CNC equipment. Our conversations were very interesting. Thank God Elaine didn't sleep in and leave me on my own. We compared what kind of work we do. Much of what he does is large fabrication of weldments and his company ISO 9001 certified along with other certifications. At present his company does not do manufacturing like I do but the owner said he was looking to the possibilities of venturing into the toolroom type manufacturing.
After our tour of the machine shop Mr. Bellinelli took us to the sugar cane plant where he used to work. We couldn't go in because if we did Mr. Bellinelli said he would never get out of there. The plant is preparing for the processing of sugar cane. They were in test and if anything was going wrong they would ask him to help fix it. That was not something Mr. Bellinelli wanted to do. From experience I agreed and took as many photographs as I could from the outside. Apparently business is very poor these days. It is a family owned business that was operating 30 facilities across the country. When we drive along the roads, the biggest crops we see is sugar cane for miles. The business is now struggling to keep just one facility operational. They produce over a million gallons of alcohol along with sugar.






We got back to the pousada at 10:30 am. It was another beautiful day and we wanted to spend it at the beach. Elaine called Adriana and asked her to take us to the beach. Adriana jokingly said her employer was going to terminate her if she left work early. Adriana runs Mr. Bellinelli's hotel and he has been gracious enough to allow her to be our chauffer for the last couple of weeks.
Off to the beach we went again.



The tide was rising and the water was a little rough. They say the water is cold. I think it is great. I spent quite a while body surfing. I'm getting better at it now and I can ride a wave into the shore. I have learned how not to be rolled in the beach and eat sand or lose my shorts. The waves can be so powerful that they will scrub you on the floor like a rag. If you don't lose your shorts you are still guaranteed to fill them with the abasive sand.


We skipped lunch with the Bellinelli's and took a tour of the coast. We stopped at a little restaurant that was built by a lake that just bearly touches the ocean.





It is off season so all that we saw was piles of chairs along the beach and no other customers. We had a fish fry with french fries. I made the mistake of asking for ketchup. I don't know what they gave me but it was far from resembling ketchup.

We got back to the pousada with just enough time to take a shower before going to Adriana's. I thought I would be funny and mimic Elaine when she finishes her shower. The joke was on me. She took a picture of me and now everybody has seen it. I forgot to remove it from the camera before the family saw it. Oops.



On this evening we were going to Adriana's for dinner. She was making special pancakes that Luciano likes very much. I think they reminded me of crepes filled with a chicken based filling with hearts of palm, covered in a sauce made with mayonese and conac. Elaine and Adriana worked in the kitchen together for a couple of hours making this dish for the evening.




At the end of the evening, Elaine, Adriana, Giovanni and Luciano presented Mrs. Bellinelli and Adriana with gifts. They were the Mother's day gifts that they bought before Sunday. We were so busy and it was so difficult to get everyone together long enough to celebrate, that we postponed it until Wednesday night.

A day of sightseeing and waterfalls

Sunday May 9, 2010

I wasn't afraid of Spiders until....



Our day started out very interesting. As if the mosquitoes and the black flies weren't enough. Giovanni had a little spider jump on his sandled foot as we were preparing to leave our rooms at the Pousada. The spider wasn't exactly little. This spider probably was about three inches across. My first thought was "Tarantula!" The spider was big enough to quickly get his attention and thank God he shook it off before it bit him. We knew it was venomous but I don't think we knew that it was the most venomous spider in the world. Accounting for over 42 percent of the insect bites in Brazil. It was a Kodak moment for sure. We looked it up on Wikipedia and personally I think my photo is better than theirs. Our little spider friend is called Aranha Armadeira.


Our first stop Sunday was a nice quiet little Italian village built around an old railroad station. Apparently the people celebrate and dress up in authentic clothes every time a train comes by. Unfortunately there was no train Sunday. But we did get to tour a couple of museum's while we were there.




Our next stop was a great waterfall that was tucked away on the hillside. It is a bit of a hike down to the waterfall. But it is well worth the trip.



This is Matilde Waterfall and it is one that you can truly walk under and appreciate its greatness. I wasn't able to take my camera down to the bottom because you are guaranteed to get wet.




Our trip was about seeing waterfalls and our next stop was a sweet little spot with a swimming area at the base of the falls. Elaine quickly jumped in and encouraged me to join her.



I felt like Chevy Chase in National Lampoon's Vacation as he jumped in an exhilarating pool with Christie Brinkley. Cold - cold - cold. I have to admit that it was a blast.
Luciano showed us the way to place to jump from on the rocks near the falls. At one time they had a rope to swing from. He and I did that a couple of times as Elaine tried to photograph us. Finally we encouraged Elaine to take the plunge.




It was time for us to head home but we had a beautiful scenic trip down the mountain.



I am having a lot of fun watching the cows along the road challenge the cars as they approach. Back home we worry about hitting a dear. Around here you have to worry about hitting a cow.




We stopped at another nursery along the way. This one was a little more interesting to me. The man had a huge variety of various kinds of plants. Like the Venus Fly Trap. Cool.





I think we go out to dinner about every other night. And tonight we stopped at a nice place called Ancoradouro.



It was my first opportunity to try a real Caipirinha. Mmm... gostoso.



It was so good, I had to have two.


I think it took about two hours for our dinner to be prepared. We arrived at about 4:30 or maybe even 5:00 pm. It was actually between lunch and dinner hour. That meant that the cook was on her break. So it was once again a great time to just and enjoy time with the family.




Elaine and I enjoyed a dish together that was called Bobó de Camarão. We all had so much food that we were able to sample each other's dishes. I didn't try too much. There is always a lot of food to be had at lunch and dinner.

Time to catch up on the last three days

PEEK-A-BOO

Do you see what I see?

Monday May 10, 2010

Time to catch up on the last three days. Last week Elaine's father caught a cold. I thought maybe we brought it with us from New York. Since Elaine and I were on the back side of a cold coming down here. A day later Mrs. Bellinelli caught the cold too. Then Adriana and then of course I ended up catching a cold as well. But there was no way we were going to let a little cold interfere with our plans for the weekend.

Thursday night Mr. Bellinelli took us to a little restaurant that they called a churrascaria. It was my first real opportunity to see what a Brazilian barbecue was like. The restaurant has a grill with a very unique rotisserie. The rotisserie has two levels for roasting. Everything is cooked on long skewers. Our first dish was Mozzarella Cheese grilled on a skewer. Our server presented the grilled cheese right off the skewer onto a single platter. When we finished with the cheese, the server brought us toasted garlic bread served again on a skewer. And then when we finished the garlic bread, we were presented with the steak on the skewer. The server would slice off pieces of the steak a little at a time and return the skewer of beef to the grill to continue cooking. Dinner time is a good time to relax and talk. It is quite different than in the states. There are no crowds or lines of people waiting to be seated. And when it is time to leave, you have to ask for the bill. The waiter will not bring the bill until you ask for it. Tips are always included in the bill and so you don't leave any money on the table.





On Friday we took a trip to the street market to get some fruit and vegetables. The street market here operates much the same as the one at home. Quite often we have Hearts of Palm in a salad. You can buy it at Wegman's pickled in a small jar. I got to see how it looks on the street market before it is all cut up.




Another delicious dish here is fried manioc. Graca knows that I like it so she has made some for me a couple of times. On the street it just looks like a huge root from some tree.




At the table it looks like french fries and tastes a lot better. I would love to try manioc with some good old Heinz ketchup. Ketchup is not popular here. They have ketchup but to be honest every dish is quite salty and already has a taste that does not need supplementing.

In the evening Elaine's brother Luciano took us out to dinner at a restaurant that serves sushi once a month. We were all going out for Sushi. I was a little bit nervous at first when they told me that the restaurant was a churrascaria that served Sushi once a month. But I had nothing to worry about. The chef is very experienced in what he does and we could watch him work. In between the many special orders he took, the chef filled a refrigerated case with a variety of samples.
It would be my first chance to try a new drink called Caipisake de Kiwi. When I first started to learn Portuguese in my book called Portuguese for Dummies, I learned the phrase "Quer uma Caipirinha?" The only answer to that question is "Sim, Eu quero." Elaine has been telling me of a special drink that is called Cachaça. We can't get it at home. Cachaca is used to make Caipirinha. If I was to try to describe it then I would say it tastes much like whisky. It is pretty strong.




Saturday morning we got up early to take a trip to the mountains. Luciano came by to pick us up. It was five of us in his hybrid car. They let me ride in the front seat, so that I could take in all the sights. There is so much to see here. We drove for about two hours. Aside from the fact that I had a runny nose and a cough, I didn't say much in two hours. My mouth was open in awe at the many sights of colorful buildings in the cities between the mountains.
As you go into the mountains, you can really appreciate what they mean by "mountain grown" coffee. The mountains are filled with plantations that grow coffee on the hillside. Some of them even grow banana trees in between the rows of coffee on the mountain.




Our first stop was a plantation that opened their place up to the touring public. We could see how they dried the beans on the pavement.




The plantation had a little visitor center that sold a variety of snacks and Cachaca to make Caipirinha. Mr Bellinelli had his hands full as we prepared for the evening.



Oh yes let me say "Ky-pay-dean-nya" That's an English phonetic version of Portuguese. As time goes by the pronunciations get easier. Elaine's mother is helping me pronounce the words properly. She would read the names on the road signs aloud as we passed them. I'm beginning to understand better how to say things. I am a long way off and have just one year to learn. ¡Ay, caramba!

After our stop at the plantation we stopped at a place called Claudia's. What a nice name, don't you think? Claudia knows and remembers everybody. She greeted us at the car as we approached and invited us into her tiny little store to browse and talk.



From there we went to nursery that specialized in growing Orchids. Elaine's family loves Orchids and apparently her brother Luciano has about 100 different types. The nursery was huge. I can't say that I appreciated seeing so many plants until I heard the owner say that he paid $12,000.00 for one that he got from Mexico. In one area we saw thousands of plants and none of them were for sale. (They are the matrix that supports the supply of plants for sale)



After our tour of the nursery it was time for lunch. I don't know who was hungrier. Us or the mosquitoes? They have mosquitoes in the beach and black flies in the mountains Let me clarify that the black flies down here are known as borrachudo. They are smaller than mosquitoes and love ankles. There are many natural repellents in the mountains. I can tell you that the repellents last fifteen minutes at most. They don't work and now I will be itching for two weeks. I even have bites in places I can't show in public.

Our destination was Pedra Azul National Park. We had reservations at a pousada (bed and breakfast) that was at the base of the great rock that at times appears blue with a lizard formation on the side.





We arrived at Pedra Azul just before sunset. Now remember we are going into fall and sunset is somewhere around 5:30 pm. We had just enough time to go for a hike up to the side face of the rock.



Hiking here is just like hiking at home. Luciano enjoys hiking as much as I do and knows the area very well.



Late in the evening Adriana and Giovanni joined us in Mr. and Mrs. Bellinelli's room. We had wine and snacks that Mr. Bellinelli bought at the coffee plantation. The night ended with much laughter and happiness. Unfortunately I gave my camera a rest for the evening. Giovanni has the pictures that tell the story and Elaine just might pay to keep them from being published.

Thursday May 6, 2010 Day What? Eu Nao Sei

Last night the whole family got together for dinner. Graca made a very special dinner out of tripe.



Elaine's brother Luciano joined us for dinner. Apparently Graca's tripe dish is a favorite of his and he made a special trip to have it with us. The name of the dish was Dobradinha.



Today we made bacon and eggs with homefries for Adriana and Graca. It was a bigger breakfast than they were used to. But apparently Graca liked it and said she was going to make if for breakfast at home.



For the last week everyone has been asking me if I went to the beach yet. I thought it was a bizzare question because Elaine's family lives within walking distance of the beach. We have walked that beach a few times now. This time we really went to the beach. Adriana, Elaine and I went to Elaine's beach. We took some folding chairs and a six-pack of beer at about 11:00 in the morning and stayed until about 2:30 pm.


It seems like it took us about 15 minutes to get to Elaine's beach. I was facinated by the scenery along the way.



I got a little carried away with the camera. What a beautiful place to be. It has a bar that is open weekends and summertime.



We had the fortune of being there alone without the crowds. Elaine and I took a nice long stroll down the beach and in the ocean.



As we walked along the beach we could see the turtles just off shore feeding. Their heads bobbed only momentarily and I had no hope of photographing them.





As we walked along the beach there were little holes dug in the sand and once in a while a little crab would poke its head out.



In Portuguese it is called Siri. These little crabs actually were everywhere if you looked closely.


We had to leave the beach a little after 2:00 pm. Adriana had a nice little place to show us.



It was a camp ground at the ocean with a Pousada and a restaurant with a dance floor.



It is a nice place and we are considering having the wedding there with the same caterer as we had at Mr. Bellinelli's birthday party. I am getting really excited as I listen to Adriana and Elaine plan for our wedding next year.