Day 2: Tiradentes and BBQ
It's absolutely beautiful here. I forgot to talk about this in my last entry, but the views here are breathtaking. As our plane was descending into Rio yesterday and we were breaking through the clouds, I felt like there was a transparent veil over the entire land because it was simply too clear and picturesque to be real. Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain, and I felt blissfully happy just lying there, listening to the rain and snuggled up warmly under my comforter. Though I was inside a hotel room, I could still feel, hear, and smell nature. If nature had fewer bugs, it would be perfect.
Irene and I woke up at 9:45 this morning, but surprisingly nobody else was awake yet. We were the first ones in the dining hall (aside from Michelle and her parents who had to wake up at 7am), and people started trickling in a bit later. The breakfast buffet had its ups and downs. Of the two hot dishes, strangely it was the chopped up hot dogs that tasted the best. It had a really yummy sauce that had a slight non-spicy kick to it. I was excited about the honey jar because the lid has a honeycomb-shaped attachment from which you drip the honey into your cup. Quite awesome.
After a post-breakfast nap, we waited from 11am-2pm for Dani's cousins to come pick us up for our day trip. Unfortunately, they were delayed for so long because they didn't have enough cars to bring our entire group of 20, so they found a guy with a 15-passenger van to help with the transportation. The historical town of Tiradentes is actually not too far from our hotel, about 5km, but the very old cobblestone roads made it a longer and bumpier ride.
The town square was small and charming as expected. Irene, Clarence, and I first joined eight of the cousins (we pretty much collected them all!) for a delicious, traditional Brazilian meal. One dish was a plant root of some sort, and another was a long swirled sausage link. The third had cubes of beef in the middle of the plate surrounded by tomatoes and onions. All three dishes were very, very good. Of course, the meal was accompanied by beer and Caipirinha, which is a cocktail made of Cachaca (sugar cane rum): http://www.epinions.com/content_2882773124. The Caipirinha was super strong and reminded me of tequila shots.
After stuffing ourselves, we proceeded to peruse the shops. I bought some beautiful decorations adorned with cast iron flowers for my future home. These flowers are popular locally and are even featured on many of the fixtures in the hotel. They're also handmade, so I couldn't resist! One of Dani's cousins helped me shop, ask for prices, and get a discount for buying two items. She was so helpful since I obviously don't speak Portuguese, and it's not Rio so English is uncommon. Some people in my group at least took Spanish in high school or college, so they can guess and get by on the similarities between the two languages. I'm definitely aware of my status as a foreigner here.
On our way back to the hotel, I hopped into one of the cousin's cars for the experience and had an even bumpier (but faster) ride back. I napped for a few hours before heading down to the poolside catered barbecue. The meat was apparently rolled in rock salt - SUPER salty. I had like one cup of beer and about five cups of hot tea. Some people decided to go in the pool, Steven entertained us on a guitar, and everyone was basically just hanging out and talking.
This is only my second day here, but it actually feels like it's been much longer. I'm glad the overall itinerary of this trip is extremely chillax; it feels like a real vacation! Except for the fact that I have to get online at night to do work...but at least I can catch up with my doc during that time too.
Tomorrow's the wedding! We'll be partying all night at the reception, so I probably won't be updating again until the following night. Until next time....
Irene and I woke up at 9:45 this morning, but surprisingly nobody else was awake yet. We were the first ones in the dining hall (aside from Michelle and her parents who had to wake up at 7am), and people started trickling in a bit later. The breakfast buffet had its ups and downs. Of the two hot dishes, strangely it was the chopped up hot dogs that tasted the best. It had a really yummy sauce that had a slight non-spicy kick to it. I was excited about the honey jar because the lid has a honeycomb-shaped attachment from which you drip the honey into your cup. Quite awesome.
After a post-breakfast nap, we waited from 11am-2pm for Dani's cousins to come pick us up for our day trip. Unfortunately, they were delayed for so long because they didn't have enough cars to bring our entire group of 20, so they found a guy with a 15-passenger van to help with the transportation. The historical town of Tiradentes is actually not too far from our hotel, about 5km, but the very old cobblestone roads made it a longer and bumpier ride.
The town square was small and charming as expected. Irene, Clarence, and I first joined eight of the cousins (we pretty much collected them all!) for a delicious, traditional Brazilian meal. One dish was a plant root of some sort, and another was a long swirled sausage link. The third had cubes of beef in the middle of the plate surrounded by tomatoes and onions. All three dishes were very, very good. Of course, the meal was accompanied by beer and Caipirinha, which is a cocktail made of Cachaca (sugar cane rum): http://www.epinions.com/content_2882773124. The Caipirinha was super strong and reminded me of tequila shots.
After stuffing ourselves, we proceeded to peruse the shops. I bought some beautiful decorations adorned with cast iron flowers for my future home. These flowers are popular locally and are even featured on many of the fixtures in the hotel. They're also handmade, so I couldn't resist! One of Dani's cousins helped me shop, ask for prices, and get a discount for buying two items. She was so helpful since I obviously don't speak Portuguese, and it's not Rio so English is uncommon. Some people in my group at least took Spanish in high school or college, so they can guess and get by on the similarities between the two languages. I'm definitely aware of my status as a foreigner here.
On our way back to the hotel, I hopped into one of the cousin's cars for the experience and had an even bumpier (but faster) ride back. I napped for a few hours before heading down to the poolside catered barbecue. The meat was apparently rolled in rock salt - SUPER salty. I had like one cup of beer and about five cups of hot tea. Some people decided to go in the pool, Steven entertained us on a guitar, and everyone was basically just hanging out and talking.
This is only my second day here, but it actually feels like it's been much longer. I'm glad the overall itinerary of this trip is extremely chillax; it feels like a real vacation! Except for the fact that I have to get online at night to do work...but at least I can catch up with my doc during that time too.
Tomorrow's the wedding! We'll be partying all night at the reception, so I probably won't be updating again until the following night. Until next time....