Wow! Time went by so quickly, since I arrived in Brazil. I have been here almost three months, and all this time I have left my home state, Minas Gerais, only once, to go to my mother's 80th birthday in Petropolis, a mountainous quaint city a couple of hours from Rio de Janeiro. It has been a blessing to be around my mother and my family in Belo Horizonte, Brazil's third biggest city, with 3 million people and over 5 million in the metropolitan area. The city has grown a lot since I left, and although it is great to recognize places of my childhood everywhere I go, it is a little odd and irritating to realize I no longer know how to navigate the city.
There is always something going on around my family and friends: weddings, graduation, birthdays... I have been away from Belo Horizonte only a few times to places close by, within Minas Gerais state. We went to Pocos de Caldas, where my mother, Bya and I enjoyed thermal baths and drank mineral water from public fountains. Then I visited a friend at her father's farm in Uberaba, where I fished with her son, enjoyed the slow pace of the country and lounged at the great mineral baths only ten minutes away from the farm! What a blessing... This is a state not only of cattle, cheese, coffee, precious stones, amazingly delicious fruit, steel and industries, but also of lots of thermal baths and mineral water - I love it!
Lastly, I accompanied Bya to her friend's house in Tiradentes, 20 minutes from Sao Joao de Rey, beautiful colonial towns that boomed in the 17th century. Besides strolling on cobblestones and admiring the unique architecture of these two towns, we managed to find public mineral water fountains and more mineral/thermal pools where we lounged for a day.
Now I am on my way to a two-month trip in northern Brazil, Bolivia, Peru and Chile. Peter will join me in September and the plan is for us to return to Canada together, March next year. Attached are some photos and a film of me being made-up for my cousin's wedding - an experience in itself. I hope all is well with all of you.
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| Brazil poupourri |
3 comments:
Oi Marisa,
Such lovely fotos of you and your family! I was waiting for a Brasil post from you. It sounds (and looks) like you're having a great time.
I was up at Wilbur a couple weeks ago for my birthday and was thinking about you. How do the hot springs in Brasil compare to California?
I'm hoping to get down there this winter but it sounds like you'll be off on another adventure.
Keep the posts coming!
Beijos,
Tim
Hey Tim:
Thanks for your note. I am in Bolivia now. Just left the Brazilian Pantanal, an amazing area. Look out for the photos if you are interested. I am not leaving S. America until next March, so I may be here when you arrive. Let's stay in touch. I hope all is well with you.
bjos,
Marisa
Marisa,
Seeing the film made me miss you (and I hardly know you!) I know that Brazilian women are beautiful - but you are definitely the most beautiful in the film - bar none!
If things go well (financially) for us - we are hoping that we can visit South American (Venezuela and Brazil probably) this Jan or Feb and once again meet up with you and Peter for a week or so - but I guess it will depend on your location and arrangements. Not to mention, whether you can stand a few days of us. I love reading your posts - had missed them for a while as I was not blogging and so didn't get the message that you had posted new ones.
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