Brazil Day 11: Arraial

 I like my early morning walks and devotions on the beach. Today I walked to Praia Grande.

The water is not quite as cold as Lake Superior, but almost. The current here comes from Antarctica.

After breakfast we went back to Prainha. Much warmer than Praia Grande, but still refreshing and wonderful waves. You have to be careful of the undercurrent, but as soon as I lay on the water the waves quickly carried me in.

I love the little houses, climbing up the mountain side.

I took this picture for my grandson Alex, who loves turtles. We saw several, poking their heads above water for a breath of air.

I bought my last Brazilian treat on the beach--a churro rolled in cinnamon and sugar and filled with creme de leite. Mmmm! (He also sold pipoca--popcorn.)

OK, so maybe a churro wasn't my last Brazilian treat. We went into Cabo Frio for dinner, this time bife for four--fabulously seasoned and grilled steaks with the Brazilian BBQ trimmings.

Came home to another nap. This is becoming a habit.

This evening we head back to Rio and start the journey home, so you won't hear more from me until our next adventure. Not looking forward to the hotter temps in Rio. We'll miss this breeze.

Whoops! I misspoke. More to see in Rio.

Brazil Day 10: Arraial

 This morning I took my phone (that holds my Bible, prayer list, etc. along with my other ebooks) and walked to Praia dos Anjos before breakfast. We used to avoid the water there because a canal dumped raw sewage. The canal has now been blocked and the sewage only overflows into the sea in heavy rain. The old canal is now covered with this walk.

There are more fishing boats and pleasure boats than ever so Queila still avoids Praia dos Anjos because of the motor pollution, but it was a great place to sit on a bench and pray.

New high rises with hotels and apartments line the other side of the street. The snack kiosks that didn't used to be there were closed in the early morning.

Some efforts are being made to re-establish plants in the dunes.

After breakfast, Vicente dropped us off at Prainha, which was always our favorite beach for its deep turquoise water and strong surf and the view of the islands out to sea, although it was the longest walk, not counting the beaches reached by hiking over mountains.

Steve headed out to play in the waves. I soon joined him.

In case you are feeling overwhelmed by all these wonderful beaches, here is a map. We stay just about where Av. Da Liberdade turns into Av. Paulo Moreira (that acute angle in the middle of town.)

Yesterday I saw octopus on the menu at dinner. (In Brazil the larger meal is at noon.) In the end we ordered together, and I "settled" for shrimp in a sauce made with squash. Today I ordered grilled octopus in a sauce of passion fruit. Wow!

After a nice afternoon nap, we went into Cabo Frio for snacks at a shop on the river owned by a cousin of Queilas. It started with her selling brigadeiros (a traditional chocolate candy) from her garage. The business quickly took over the front of her living room as well, and now the whole house has been remodeled into a kind of coffee shop selling "salgadinhos"(savory snacks) and "doces" (sweets).

Afterwards we stopped on the beach to look across at the lights of Prainha in Arraial.

Brazil Day 9: Arraial do Cabo (Village on the Cape)

We flew into Rio last night and came down to Arraial this morning with Queila and Vicente. We first came to what was then an undeveloped fishing village when I was pregnant with Erika I-wont’-say-how-many years ago. (Suffice it to say her son will soon turn 13.) We had become friends with a Brazilian family in Mato Grosso do Sul that was from here. In the end, their daughter Queila came to live with us in the city to go to school and eventually lived with Steve’s folks and graduated from high school in Cambridge, MN. We came here often for summer vacation when we lived in Brazil.

Both Queila’s parents have now died, but the family maintains the house. It hasn’t changed much although the walls are now finished instead of the bare brick we knew ‘in the day.’

 

 

I’ll show more pictures for the sake of family who have also been here over the years.

 

Queila in the kitchen window.

 

Living room that now has plastered walls.

Queila in the kitchen. The wall that used to separate cooking and eating is gone.

 

In the late afternoon we walked to Praia Grande to see the sunset like we used to do. Tourists have discovered Arraial, and it’s a lot more built up than it was.

 

A cement path follows the side of the mountain to an old Salinas pump site. However, since the salt production ceased, it has not been maintained.

 

I used to imagine a castle built on this island.

We sat and watched until the light faded. 

Temperatures are hovering around a hundred in Rio, but we're thankful that it is only in the 90s here with a great breeze.

Brazil Days 6-7: Pedra Azul do Aracê, Espiritu Santo

 We came here to visit our old friends, Lúcio and Rosalee.

They were Brazilian missionaries in Mozambique at the same time we were. Their girls were the same age as ours, and we met together weekly to pray for each other. They too are now retired. Their daughter Eunice and family have a house in the same little community. Marcos and Eunice are missionaries with YWAM in England, teaching English to missionaries from non-english-speaking countries. The point of teaching in England is for the new missionaries to be immersed in the language.

While they are gone, their house is an AirBNB that sleeps 8, and we are using it these few days because the sleeping arrangements are easier than in Lúcio and Rosalee's house. This was our view, waking up the first morning.

Thank you, Eunice e Marcos!

Lúcio and Rosalee's house is much more traditional. I love their yard, which is like a small farm. 

Lúcio grows his own coffee organically.

Bananas and other fruits.

After lunch at a local restaurant, we drove around the "Blue Rock"that gives the town the name.

The story is that the marks on the side are from the claws of the panther trying to catch the stone "lizard" to the right. This is a state park. The building to the right has a sod roof like Al Johnson's in Sister Bay, WI.

I spent a delightful Sunday afternoon relaxing in the hammock on their varranda.

This was my view lying down.

The second morning I went for a walk on the mountain behind Lúcio's house to the Acampamento de Juventude para Cristo (Youth for Christ Camp). They have a lot of home made equipment that looks like a ninja gym.

There is a trail behind it.

I thought I had set my BaseMap to track where I went, but I goofed it up. I was very glad when I made it safely back to camp.

We've had quite a few meals out. Most are a system of buffet that weighs your plate and charges you accordingly. It takes a lot of discipline not to pile my plate with all the yummy Brazilian treats.

Today after lunch, we stopped by the grocery store. Even the grocery in Pedra Azul has a beautiful view. And a coffee shop.

Tomorrow we are off to our foster daughter Queila and family in Rio, where the forecast is 106. The snow at home sounds really nice about now.

Brazil Days 3-4: João Pessoa

 The purpose of this trip was to visit old friends, including some in João Pessoa, in the NE part of the country that sticks out furthest into the Atlantic. It is beastly hot, but a nice breeze blew when Ildemar  (director of one of the schools Steve has worked with) took us to the beach one morning. He told us it wasn't very crowded because the locals considered it "cold" (upper 80s.)

 

 

We enjoyed fresh cold coconut water sipped from straws.

 

I took a walk and wet my toes. These catamarans were loading to take people on day trips to sandbars that are only accessible at low tide. The boats are complete with snack bars and water slides.

 

 

Friday evening Adriane (a former student and translator as well as director of the distance learning program at a different school) and her husband and mother took us to Praia do Jacaré (Alligator Beach) on the River Paraíba near where it empties into the Atlantic to see the sunset. Traffic was heavy and we missed the exit so we didn’t arrive any too soon. 

 

 

 A sign said the area had lots of alligators until about the 1960s. At this point in history we had to content ourselves with fun representations.

The hats reference famous outlaws from the 1930s.

 

A busy tourist promenade lines the river with lots of shops.

 

 

We had supper at a place called “The Treehouse.” 

It had delicious local food, including swordfish, and a great view of the fading colors.

Saturday is a travel day to more friends in Espirito Santo.

Brazil Day 1: Atibaia

We had barely boarded the plane when the familiar accent of the attendant making the announcements made me homesick for the country where our children were born, where we lived for nearly six years, and had so many friends. We left 6 or 7 inches of snow at home and arrived to the heat of summer. I wore a sundress over leggings and turtle neck that I could strip off in the airport before leaving the air-conditioning. 

We were met by two of the faculty at Palavra da Vida (Word of Life) Bible Institute and Steve was soon engrossed in discussions of best practices, the history of accreditation in Brazil, and catching up with who is where now of old friends.

 

Palavra da Vida is in Atibaia in the mountains of São Paulo state, about an hour’s drive from the SP airport. Even the favelas we passed (slums clinging to the hillsides) made me nostalgic. Steve has been to Atibaia many times; me more than once although the friend I last visited has retired and moved away. (Not surprising when you are our age.)

 

We had lunch with a faculty family of Japanese origin, but thoroughly Brazilian. I got a kick out Japanese style noodles with Brazilian farinha (a garnish of toasted manioc flour). Sort of like putting peanut butter on lefse.

 

Because of the cooler climate of the mountains, this is a resort community. Lots of São Paulo missionaries in our day had summer cottages here. There’s a man-made lake at the bottom of the hill, surrounded by beautiful (and expensive) homes. While Steve gave his first session of faculty workshop, I went for a walk. If it weren’t for grandkids in the States, we could seriously consider retiring here. I even saw a for sale sign on a lot by the lake.

 

There is a park at the far end of the lake.

Near the playground was this aviary.

 

 

 

An avenue of pine connected the two sides of the lake.

When I came out of the pines, I found a family of capivara, a large rodent.

 

Most of this trip is to visit old friends, but Wednesday Steve taught a workshop a short distance across campus. I spent the day winding up the front matter and afterword for my next book. I was engrossed. I can only claim that my body clock is off from the three-hour time change. I was supposed to walk over to where they were meeting for a churrasco (BBQ) at 12:30. Steve came in a car to get me at 1. I had been glancing periodically at the clock in the upper right corner of my screen and not noticing that it was still on Central US time. Delicious churrasco and good time visiting and a simple walk back to my computer when they returned to their meeting.

Our evening meal was with a Brazilian missionary family who have been 15 years in Mozambique. They (with their kids ages 10, 11 and 14) were evacuated the end of December due to the post election violence. They're hoping to go back the end of the year, but at the moment the country has two competing presidents and frequent street protests which turn violent when the party in power begins to shoot. With our experiences in Mozambique during the civil war of the 1980s, I think we were the right people to listen to them process.  I left them a copy of The Wooden Ox.