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.