Country Roads

I was planning on going to the beach today with Amanda and her surfer friends, but I forgot that I had already told the doctor at the clinic, Sandro, that I would go on a hike with him in the mountains. Just as I was about to leave, he called me and so I waited at the house and got all my homework for tomorrow done. At about 12, Sandro and his wife, Tatiane, picked me up at my house and we headed north from Vitoria into Vianna. Sandro's father and family own much of the country in this direction of the city and we stopped by one of his fathers's cow ranches where they were just about to slaughter some cows. I asked if they shot the cows to kill them, but I forgot that Amanda had told me that you can't have guns in Brazil. Apparently they cut the whole head off and string them upside down... yummy.



We crossed Rio Jucu (named after Indians in this region) and into Domingos Martins. This area was settled by the Germans and Swiss which is evident by the architecture. In the words of Daniel, "They are waiting for the snow." We ate at a really great restaurant and I had my first taste of Minero food (food from the state of Mineas Gerias). The food here is pretty fatty, but they just consume a lot smaller quantities. Apparently, Sandro and Tatiane think that almost all Americans are really fat and thought that I was some kind of an exception. I tried to explain to them that America has a lot of fat people (especially my state) but that you can't make a generalization like this. Once again, the language barrier was very interesting.

We met the dentist from the clinic, Carla, and her husband Sandro at the restaurant and then toured the small town after the torrent of rain passed. The town is almost like a slice of Germany, but looks very out of place when you consider the geography and climate. After leaving the town, we slowly made our way back out of the mountains into Campo Grande where I met Tatiane's mother. She, like all Brazilians, is still crazy in her old age. We toured the port and Sandro showed me around most of Vitoria downtown. I really like Vitoria and I hope to come over here for the weekend and stay in their apartment. He showed me the nicer neighborhoods in Vitoria and it almost looks something like Florida. After this we stopped by his apartment to pick up his dog (Laurel, you will appreciate this, his dog is a pug and its name sounds like A Breezy), and then they dropped me off at my house. It was a full day but I really enjoyed it. Also, I was able to talk to Mom, Dad, Josh, Adeline, Laurel, and Caleb tonight on the internet. Caleb is going to try to come with us to Rio in two weekends since he can fly here for only $50.