Back on the Ranch

Last night once Vanessa got home from school we all hopped into her car to meet her aunt (Tia Maria) and her dad (Nivaldo) at the farm! It was just after rush-hour but it was still really busy; took us just under two hours to get there when normally it should take about 45 minutes! Once we got there we chatted with each other over a few glasses of wine and some chicken soup - delicious as always. Later in the evening we played Othello. It's common everywhere but I think Nivaldo was the only one who had played it before. I never could get a grip on it... Pretty sure I lost every game!

In the morning we tried to wake up with everyone else but once again we rolled over and had a late start. It was probably a good thing though because we had a day full of adventures! First we had breakfast and some coffee and then Nivaldo took us for a walk to a small water fall that's on the property. This 20 minute walk turned into a huge tour of the land! We walked down the side of the road to sit on some rocks on the river at a couple different spots and then further down we crossed the river so we could walk back to the farm by the land instead of the road. We learned a lot of different plants and trivia about Brazil and the land. I asked Nivaldo later how long the farm has been in the family and he told me that they've had it since about 1850! He is the 4th generation to grow up there. We even saw the house that he was born in! He told us the whole area used to be his fathers but he sold everything on the upper side of the road. Everything on the lower side is still theirs though. You'll get an idea of how much this actually is when you look at the pictures!


Once we got back from our walk Maria and Vanessa had lunch all ready for us. We had cassava, potatoe pie, and pork - almost everything was raised or grown right there in the yard! It was all so delicious; I wish I could post a taste on this blog so everyone could try it. Once we were done eating we toured some more of the property including the cauliflower field, onion patch, the pig, and the chickens. By this point we had already cleaned everything up from lunch and it was about time to head back to the house so Vanessa and Nivaldo could get all cleaned up and rested for a play they are going to tonight. (which they are at right now actually)

While Tracy and I wait we're blogging and getting ourselves presentable as well! There is supposed to be a university party tonight that Joao wants us to go to with him. His cell phone is broken however so he left us with a phone number to call when we got home... After thinking about what to say and who should phone and trying to get the courage up to call it was determined that Tracy would do it. It didn't work out the first time though and we had to try again. This time I did... how embarrassing! I used my little portuguese to talk to one of his friends or maybe his mom? It was very loud in the background and a little hard to hear but I was pretty impressed with how much tracy and I could actually understand. The hard part was figuring out what to say... After a couple of non-descript mumbles coming from me I decided to say "Desculpe, eu nao falo muito portugues". Translation - "sorry, i don't speak much portugues". Apparently it was close enough for her to tell me that she could not speak english for us either! But we did determine that Joao wasn't there. So here we are!








Ate logo! (until later)
- Karen