Yummy

There are days when it pays to be a preacher’s wife! Today was one. The doorbell rang and there was this super giganticous (is that a word?) fruit basket. Usually these baskets are loaded with sweets and things I can’t have, but in this case there were some cookies (my favorites – arrowroot) and the rest were these oh so gorgeous fruits. All must have been hand chosen for they are scrumptious. I have eaten grapes and kiwi and tangerines. I made strawberry, kiwi and pear juice that was to DIE for this evening. I will make some grape, apple and well, let’s see, what do you suggest I add, for my breakfast? I even have an beautiful avocado. Sissy said I should draw them. Not me. I plan on eating them.

This lovely gift was thanks to the Women of the church (WMU) to João in recognition of Pastor’s Day (which was last Sunday). Also it was kind of like a welcome back gift. It really was for him, but he is generous in sharing. I’d like to see him eat all that fruit by himself. I owe the ladies a huge THANK YOU. I can’t wait to give the president a big ‘ole hug on Sunday. In fact I can’t wait to get back to church on Sunday. I think I’ll go munch on… purple grapes!

PS - Didn't wait for your input. I made juice with a kiwi, apple, tangerine and threw in some kale leaves. Yum, yum. What's next for my afternoon snack? Passion fruit with....?

Proud as Punch

We arrived home safely from our wonderful vacation. We travelled slowly, visiting along the way. We left on Sunday and arrived home on Tuesday night. The only serious adventure on our return trip was on the very last leg, which was only to be about 4 or 5 hours. As we passed by a rest stop we debated on stopping and eating lunch and using the restroom, but we thought there was another one about 30 minutes away that was better. Why, or why do we make these decisions? Just a few more miles down the road there was an overhead sign announcing an accident ahead. That concerned me, as we were close to a mountain pass where the highways divide (Serra das Araras) and there is a very steep downgrade. If a truck overturns there (as VERY frequently happens), you are just plain stuck, as even emergency vehicles have a really hard time getting through. Well, that was what happened, as a chemical truck overturned, the highway was closed and there we were in the middle of nowhere. I had food and my computer, so I was fine for a while. But after an hour, I began searching for somewhere to go to the bathroom. There was a steep embankment and so I had to decide if I wanted to be miserable for a while or risk my neck. I chose the former. Finally they opened up one lane down the mountain (they actually had to close our side and let us drive in the other lane that came up the mountain) and lo and behold just a few yards from where we were was a restaurant. I could have walked there easily. But who knew? Fortunately all’s well that ends well. We got in a lot later than planned, of course, since we also hit traffic in Rio because of the delay.

I know the photo to the left gave you a chuckle, right? Last year João let his beard grow during vacation. This year he shaved it off when we got home and I got a shot of him in mid progress. Isn’t it hysterical? My own little Hitler.

Last night was a great cause for celebration as Elly and her fiancé, Bernardo, graduated from the university with degrees in engineering (remote control and automation). Most of the family was there, although I had a hard time getting decent photos. But I loved the photo of Elly with Sissy and her Mom and Dad. I think it’s a nice shot. The ceremony was not too long and all the speakers were interesting, so it was a good evening. It was a long 5 1/2 years of study and work and they were both radiant with joy. There were tears, as you can see, since they will miss their friends and professors. Since they are now graduates, as of next week they will have the paperwork that makes them official engineers (and not just students) and hopefully that will bring them a better salary at their jobs. After graduation, the whole clan went out to eat at a very nice Italian restaurant. I know I made it an old joke, but we were such a modern family. Elly had her mom, grandparents and aunt and uncle and cousin there, as well as her dad and step mom. Bernardo’s parents are separated as well, so he had his two families and everyone had a great time visiting and talking. It’s nice when everyone can get along and celebrate together. I commented one time, though, that Christmas will certainly be complicated for them. Where will they spend it? We agreed that they didn’t have to worry about us, we would have our Thanksgiving celebration guaranteed, since no one else celebrated that here in Brazil.

And so ends our vacation. We are unpacked. The laundry is done. I have grocery shopped (I think Sissy was down to one package of Ramen noodles and cat food) and have lunch in the oven. Tomorrow is our last day of vacation, but for sure João will work on his sermon for Sunday. We are anxious to get back to work, to see our friends and to worship at our own Church. The two best parts of vacation are its beginning and its end!

And now the end is near…

Very soon we will be leaving our idyllic vacation home and beginning the trip back home. Right now we are working on packing and cleaning, so that we can head out tomorrow and begin our trek home. We will stop along the way, so who knows what day we will arrive, but we wanted to get through the city of São Paulo on a weekend not a weekday. The traffic jams in São Paulo often extend into 100’s of miles, if you can believe that.

This past week we have devoted most of our time to visiting people and not places. Sunday we visited a couple of churches, ran into old friends and ended up eating out with them (photo on right). We spent one day with João’s pastor friend. The next day we spent the evening with a seminary colleague (musician), the next we went out for sweetheart’s day banquet with  João’s cousin’s church (photo on left). We had a great time, although we didn’t get home until 1:30AM! The next night we actually stayed home. We spent the day (a holiday here) just enjoying our little piece of paradise – feeding the fish and chickens and just walking around and enjoying nature. It was cloudy, but since it was in the 50’s, we were not freezing for a change.  I wish you could have seen the fish (tilapia) jumping in the water to grab the food. Even the rooster seem to lose his fear of us as he and the chickens drew closer and closer and I finally got a great photo of him.

Friday night we spent the whole day out doing a little shopping and then meeting another old friend of João’s for supper. Turns out her neighbour (who was also there) was an acquaintance of mine. Of course the Baptist world does tend to be a small one. Today, Saturday we are going to a cookout with our neighbors and then… well tomorrow we are leaving.  It’s been grand. And we still have 6 days left to travel, visit with Marilene, get home and reorganize our lives and enjoy Elly’s university graduation.

Vila Velha

I know you recognize the words Vila Velha as the name of the town where João’s parents live, but it is also the name of state park here in Paraná that we visited today. I don’t know if I can explain it, but it is a region that was once attached to Africa (before the Continents separated), covered in ice since it was almost at the South Pole. Once the ice melted, it was exposed to the wind and elements that began forming very interesting shapes in the very red rocks. They sit on top a hill and you can follow a trail to look at the rocks. They look like they have been sculpted into shapes, but that is not the case  , as it as been done by nature. I have never ever seen anything like this. Can you see the camel (on the right) and the boot on the left (below)?

The symbol of the park is the “Wine Glass” sculpture that is everyone’s favorite. As you can tell, it was a gloriously beautiful day. The sky was blue and temperatures just perfect. I keep taking off layers of clothes and stuffing them into my purse. We couldn’t stop taking photos on the 40 minute walk.

We hadn’t planned to make this trip today, and so we slept very late. As we were talking, around 11 o’clock, João said, why don’t we go to Vila Velha today. I thought it was a terrific idea, since it was such a perfect day. We jumped in our clothes and took off. It was about a 90 minute drive. We realized we hadn’t eaten, so we did stop along the way and eat something so we didn’t faint from hunger along the way. But isn’t it great to just be spontaneous? 

There were very few visitors at the park, so other than two other couples, we had the whole place to ourselves to thoroughly enjoy the day.Of course my husband made friends immediately with one couple. The gentleman is of Korean descent so I also had a great time talking with him and remembering my tourism in Korea 35 years ago.

After our visit to the rocks, we also visited some other parts of the park, including some very very deep craters (over 100 meters) and a “golden pond”.  By the time the trip was over, we were ready to head back to our cottage in the woods and finally get something to eat. We got in slightly after dark and now that we have filled our tummies, are seriously thinking about sleeping. I will confess it’s been a long time since I have had such a very enjoyable day. 

Survival

So you thought we froze to death, did you? We didn’t, but we did get “frosty” as you can see by this photo. We made national headlines in Brazil with the cold weather. When it hits below freezing (we could scrape the ice off the clay tiles on the roof here) in a tropical country like Brazil, it is big news. Fortunately, as you can see, the sun has been bright and warm so the house warms up a bit during the day. Hasn’t kept us inside much, that’s for sure. Let’s also hear it for ceramic space heaters!

Yesterday João said he finally understood women in a shoe store. We are in the land of chimarrão (his green tea) and when we went to a specialty stop of chimarrão, I thought we would never get out of there. He couldn’t decide what “cuia” (gourd), “bomba” (straw) or “erva” (tea) to chose. He had chimarrão to his heart’s content. He was one happy camper.

Today was my turn as we visited the botanical gardens. I can hardly decide what pictures to post, as everything was just exquisite. The crystal greenhouse was my very special delight. We had perfect weather, as it was sunny and about 68 degrees. Our tummies were very full as well. We are also in the land of “churrascarias”, those famous Brazilian restaurants where they serve meat on a spit, as much as you can stand to eat. We saw one offering lunch for only R$8.90, which is about $4.50. To top it off there was also a great buffet with every kind of vegetable and salad imaginable. We definitely needed to do lots of walking at the gardens! I tell you the chances of me losing weight grow fatter and fatter. The afternoon at the botanical gardens was grand and our hearts were full of the beauty and peace we felt in the place. At the end we just sat on a bench and listened to the birds, looked at nature, and watched the young couples in love.

Although it was nearly 4:00, when we left there we decided to take a risk and trust the GPS (we have reason to say it is a risk, because more than once “she” has told us to turn off the highway, in the middle of a mountain where there were no roads) to guide us to the “Wire Opera House”. Fortunately there were good road signs and we found it. It is a theater out of glass and wire and we enjoyed another leisurely walk and a great cup of coffee. 

It is an interesting place and I would certainly enjoy seeing a show there. Tomorrow we are looking forward to dinner with João’s cousin who he has never met! That promises to be as enjoyable as today. Right now João is building up a good fire on the stove and I will be putting on some pine nuts to cook for our supper. Oh, how I will miss those when when we leave here!

Br-r-r-r!

We are in a cold wave here in Brazil and of course this would be the year when we came to a very cold part of Brazil. Of course, that was on purpose, but I don’t think we expected it to be quite this cold! So you can see why I was bundled up for my morning walk. It was a mere 3 degrees (Celsius) this morning (roughly 38 F), and tonight they are predicted that it will fall below freezing. There is even snow in some parts of Brazil. So much for global warming, as my brother-in-law would say. It was a challenge to get out of bed this morning. I had hung blankets at the windows and doors to cut down on drafts, because with no heating, things get quite chilly inside the house. It was so dark, we didn’t realize how late it was, but after all it is vacation and if we want to sleep until 11:00, why not? There were beautiful blue skies today and I enjoyed being outside, but not my husband. I found this beautiful Calla Lilly buried in the woods. I clipped and brought it inside, since the frost would get it anyway. We decided to stay at home and leave the cookstove on all day to keep us warm. It  was nice all day, but this evening I will confess that I am uncomfortable, since we finally let the fire die down.

Yesterday we met friends at a downtown shopping center and I was happy to eat tacos. Mexican food – what a rare treat!  I teased João that even on holidays, he can’t get away from shepherding a flock, as I snapped this photo of him in front of the sheep. I think he must be missing preaching as I photographed him preaching to the chickens from the front porch this morning!

I have been doing reading, but for the past couple of days, just haven’t been in the mood to paint. My drawing is not progressing well either. Must be the cold that puts me off. I did watch a wonderful old movie, “The Nuremburg Trial” last night and loved it. I am still thinking about it and thinking there is not way Hollywood would make such a morally upright movie these days.

Well I think I will be trucking off to bed, just to find someplace warm. Tonight may be a two space heater night, if the electrical lines can handle that! I’ll let you know if I survive my first frost in Brazil.

Small Things

João and I are not, by nature, terribly adventuresome. You won’t see photos of mountain climbing or even lots of sight seeing. We enjoy and nice meal with friends, a good book and doing the things we enjoy. Consequently the cold and the rain make little difference to our enjoyment. And chilly and rainy it has been. There are places we would like to go and things to see in our area, but as long as it’s overcast and rainy, we will just stay put. Last night, for instance,  I was able to finish another water color and I just loved working on the Green Goddess Lilly. I think (but am unsure) that I watercolor is my medium. I just seem to feel at ease and am able to dominate the use of the paint and produce pictures I really like.

Today we awoke to blue skies and a warm sun. Before heading to church, we visited historic Curitiba and the art fair. We bought several things and I really enjoyed looking at everything at th e fair, but I especially enjoyed seeing the colorful old buildings. I just cannot get into drawing buildings, but these made me want to be able to do so.  The church, by the way, is Presbyterian. It’ beauty made me want to worship there. I have decided I am becoming a stick in the mud. I like “old” things. I like liturgy. I like hymns. I like worship with a certain order and formality.

Speaking of worship, I had an interesting experience, as I attended the English speaking church, which meets at First Baptist of Curitiba. I enjoyed singing hymns and reading the Bible in English. I was even treated to hearing an orchestra play. After church, we went to Madalosso, at one time the largest restaurant in the world. What a place, with room for 2500 people. As you can see, by this time it was rainy and had become quite chilly. Inside, however, it was lovely and cozy, as they served us family style. I won’t go into rapture of the fried chicken, pastas (served family style as much as you wanted to eat), risoto, fried polenta, etc., etc. You can just drool imagining it.

We with any good Baptists, Sunday afternoon was devoted to … naps! Our caretaker left us a big bag of pinhão (pine nuts) and I cooked them and we cracked them of our afternoon snack. Like I said, a very FAT chance of me losing weight these days. What a very lovely day, however. I will confess, I missed my own church, but that is good for me, for gradually I will become anxious to return home. Just not yet…

The Last Rose of Summer

We continue to have a marvelous time here in our “little” vacation house. It is so lovely and nice, makes us not want to do anything except just “hang-out” at home and snap a lot of photos. This rose is just one of many of the flowers and plants around here. Since there is so much glass in the house, I just pull up a rocker by the windows and sit and look at the beauty. I have a heard time finishing my books. I find myself just stopping to gaze out the window and just sit and be quiet.

Yesterday we did get out to spend the day with a pastor who studied at the seminary with João. What a fun visit we had together. I loved hearing the old stories.

Today our wonderful neighbors invited us to a barbeque, so we enjoyed great food, as well as good company. Nothing like meat/chicken cooked on on a spit over wood. It is delicious. Our lunch lasted until almost 5, as we sat and visited and drank coffee. I am drinking lots of coffee and tea, as it’s nice just to hold the warm cup.

Tomorrow we have plans to hit an art fair before church, attend First Baptist, and then eat out at the largest restaurant in the world (according to Guinness) here in Curitiba (Madalosso), so I don’t know if I’ll get back with you, but you can be sure we’ll have a great Lord’s Day.

Suzy, Pioneer Homemaker

Today it poured rain here and the temperatures dropped some and so the house was chilly. I decided to light the wood stove. Yeah, right, that was easy for me. I shredded paper, I used a lighter, I burned more paper and then more paper. Did it light? Well let’s just say there was a lot of smoke and no fire. As you can see, it did get lit, but no thanks to my efforts, unless you count the fact that I put the wood in and the smoke drove my husband to help me. He got it going in no time and soon things were quite hot around here. I put on the soup to cook and in no time at all it was done. I had to finish it over on the barbecue because I was afraid it would burn. I heated up some of the wonderful provolone cheese bread in the oven and it was all crusty and hot to go with the soup. What a fun way to cook … well fun after the smoke got cleared out of the room and the stove heated up. I am currently boiling water that we will cool and can use to drink tomorrow. I NEVER imagined that I would use a wood cook stove. It’s actually just a novelty, for it’s a lot of work and not very practical, but I suppose I would eventually get the hang of it.

Today I worked on painting and was very pleased with the tulip I produced, albeit copied from one of my art books. I did it in red rather than the original purple, because I just like red better!  I am currently working on a still life with bottles. The owners of the house must have been heavy drinkers as there are lots of interesting wine and liquor bottles all around the house.

Just so you can get the idea that it’s not all work on and no play, you can see the hammock we both use to do our reading.  I guess you have figured out that although one week of our vacation has already been spent, we are not anywhere near finished having fun.