Week 6:
Hello everyone,Week 6 was another week for great exploring. It was Beth’s birthday this week (17th June) so we did a couple of trips to celebrate. On her birthday we went to a beautiful beach called……which was around an hours drive from
Rio. The area was really good for surfing, but as none of us surf we chose to set up camp near the calmer waters at the end of the beach. The view was beautiful and we had a nice swim. Unfortunately due to under currents we weren’t able to swim for very long before the lifeguard told us to get out. We also went to have lunch at a restaurant called…..which was more inland. It was set over a marsh area so we were able to watch crabs that were in abundance scurry around the marsh. They didn’t look like sea crabs; they had dark brown bodies and bright green claws, so they blended into their surroundings. We had a really nice lunch and sampled a lovely Brazilian dish, made with prawns and coconut milk, it tasted similar to Thai red curry….lovely.In the classroom this week the middle group were keen to do some drawings. We decided to teach them body parts and give them a piece of paper each, each with a different body part, they then coloured them in, cut them out and stuck them down on a large piece of paper. The result was a little harrowing, It looked like a baboon spliced with an ork, which made another interesting wall display.The usual tranquility of the convent went out of the window this week with the arrival of a few big groups staying here at the same time. There was a group of indigenous Brazilians who were here trying to document their people’s history and a big group of internationals who were here to discuss world issues such as racism and xenophobia. The international group had people from Sweden, Spain, Holland, Latvia, Brazil, Bolivia, and
Mexico and was extremely friendly and keen for us to join in on all their social events, these took place every night! So we went to their cultural evenings and tried our hardest to keep up with their dance moves and also got to sample traditional drinks!On the Saturday we went along to the mountains with Beth and her husband Eduardo, it was only a few hours away and was in the area that the Swiss settlers had made their own when they were brought over to spread their agricultural techniques in the 19 century. The scenery was amazing, forested mountains as far as the eye could see! We stayed in a lovely cabin overlooking the mountains and had a pretty busy few days trying to squeeze in all the sights. These included a walk along the river to see the waterfall. Unfortunately as it was dry season the falls were usually more pumping but they were still very impressive and we spent some time getting great photos and watching a few guys rafting through the rapids. We also had a look round the underwear shops for which it is famous, this is the area where all the lingerie is made and there are skimpily clad mannequins in every shop window in the whole town. We wandered around the many crafts shops and sampled the locally made Cachaca, which inevitably led to us purchasing some. That evening we went out to a pizza restaurant that Beth and Ed had been going to for years, and we could see why….the pizza was fantastic, afterwards we went to a German pub and washed it down with a few beers. The following day we went to a honey shop, where all the products had been made from honey or one of the other by-products of bees. We also went to a goat farm, where we got to make friends with some friendly little goats and I even got to hold the youngest one, he was only two and a half weeks old and was just as shocked as I was when the farm boy scooped him up and thrust him into my arms. The setting was amazing, with great scenery all around, and humming birds flying around our heads like insects. We spent some time trying to get the perfect photo, but they’re pretty camera shy and dart around very quickly, but with a bit of patience we succeeded. Once again, the tasting session after the tour lead to us buying some goats cheese, it is absolutely lovely, and is currently still stinking out our fridge. We then went on to the ‘Finger of God’, which is a mountain range in the shape of a hand held up with a clasped fist and outstretched index finger. This was a busy spot and we got to experience men preparing, and then crushing sugar cane to make a delicious syrupy drink. Before heading back to
Rio we went to a big market and ambled around. So it was a busy couple of days and would have been completely impossible without Beth and Ed, so thank you again guys, we had an amazing few days!