It wasn't quite ripe but it tasted very good. It leaves an after-taste that makes your mouth feel very furry when the fruit is not ripe. With that said, Graca had to show me how to clear the feeling in my mouth. Basically you need to roll your tongue over every surface and suck at the same time. I found myself doing this for quite a while.I must admit I drink a lot of coffee. Back home I don't think about it much but everything is much smaller here. The silverware is half the size of anything we have back home. I know that serving sizes are supposed to be much smaller than anything I am used to. Here I have half a cup coffee several times over at one sitting.
I wont forget the moment after breakfast and three days into our trip when Bela said to me, "Dear there is something I forgot to tell you..... You don't flush the toilet paper down the toilet. If you are brave you can use the sprayer next to the toilet. But the toilet paper goes in the garbage can next to the toilet." I think this was the moment I first reflected on how Ben Stiller felt when he first met the parents and heard the rules of the house in the movie "Meet the Parents". I wont dwell on this but I will tell you that when I first arrived in Rio and used the restroom, I thought the toilets were funny shaped and the seats were rather large with wide square openings. Now I know why. LOL
I had the opportunity to have the house to myself and explore while Elaine and Adriana were away. It wasn't long before Elaine's father showed up and asked me if I wanted to take a tour of the neighborhood.
I think Elaine called him and asked him to keep me busy. She seems to worry that I am bored. There really hasn't been time to be bored and I think she gave me a great idea when she said I should blog about our trip.We walked around the outside of the Motel and saw what it looked like during the day. Mr. Bellinelli showed me his garden on the other side of the street from the Motel.
It is quite a little bit of property with a wall that stands more than 7 feet high to protect it. Everywhere you go, you will see that the properties are gated and locked. The garden I saw was much different than what one would expect. It has several different types of fruit bearing trees. I can't recall all of the fruits. I do recall that Mr. Bellinelli showed me two types of Manga. Manga is also known as Mango back home. And of course he has a coconut tree.
It became a very busy day as Adriana and Elaine had to prepare for the party. Our first stop was at the Posada to have lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Bellinelli. After lunch Mrs. Bellinelli gave me a tour of the Posada.
The posada is a bed and breakfast. Right now it is off season and the posada is closed. The posada has about 10 rooms for customers. Every room has a tv and its own bathroom. Some rooms are layed out for families and some are layed out just for couples. Some rooms have a beach view. The posada is about 300 feet from the beach.After we finished lunch we had to meet with the man that was organizing everything for the party on Friday.
He has a very nice layout with a dining area next to the dancing area which had a nice little pool next to it. The place is huge. I was able to take photos of several plants and flowers on his property.
When we finished with the meeting we went shopping in Cachoeiro de Itapemirim. Back home Elaine bought a beautiful dress for the party.
We decided to go to the mall and get a nice shirt for me along with a few other things while we were there.
Our first stop was at the bathing suit boutique. Oh yes, we both bought another bathing suit. This time though I got a more fashionable sunga. (Trivail fact: According to Ultralinqua on my I-touch, sunga is defined as jockstrap) The speedo's come in basically two sizes. You might say one is like a bakini and the other is regular size. Of course, I needed the bakini sunga. Down here people aren't self-conscious about what they are wearing.
Our next stop was a men's clothing store. I needed a nice shirt for Friday night. The people here are so nice and so helpful. The clerk readily brought me some nice shirts to look at. I got sticker shock when I saw the first price tag said R$300.00. After a little bit we did find the right shirt. And it only cost R$165.00.
Our final stop was at a shoe store where the manager knows everyone by name and never forgets a customer. We stopped here to get a pair of sandals for me. I spend every day just barefoot. When we go out somewhere I slip on my flip-flops. Everyone just wears flip-flops all the time. But in the event that one could anticipate a lot of walking, sandals are the prefered shoe of choice.
It took us a little while to find the right sandal. In fact I think it took us more than an hour. We found the right shoes but that store didn't have my size. So they sent an employee by motorcycle to pick the shoes up at another store. At the same time Adriana had to take Giovanni to the doctor for an apointment. Giovanni has migrane headaches and they are trying accupuncture to ease the pain.
While Adriana and Giovanni were at the doctor's, Elaine and I sat at a cafe in the mall and enjoyed a few refreshing beers as we sat and talked. Later Adriana and Giovanni joined us for a little time and conversation. Apparently Giovanni really enjoys having Pao de queijo as a treat when they go to the mall.
It was about 9:30 when we returned to Marataizes. We joined Elaine and Adriana's parents at a favorite pizza place. The pizza here is very much like the pizza at home, except that we have a few choices not found at home. Our first pizza had Hearts of Palm on it.
It wasn't long before Elaine's brother Luciano joined us. We sat street side enjoying pizza, wine and fine conversation. Obviously I don't talk much but at times I can follow Elaine's conversations as she talks about our experiences. I don't know what time it was but I would guess that we didn't leave the pizza shop much before 11:00.
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