Last Sunday was Mother’s Day and we celebrated it a little different this year. Usually, it’s breakfast in bed, homemade cards, beautiful flowers (usually calla lilies since they’re my fav), and lunch and dinner that I didn’t cook. This year we celebrated the day with Ms. Ellis and her family, Chris and Liandro with little Davi and Daniel, Ms. Sarah and the interns. We all made sides and Liandro and Trevor grilled the meat. Since I knew everyone would come with traditional Brazilian sides such as rice and mandioca, I went American and made broccoli salad, sweet tea made from tea from America (don’t even get me started on what they call iced tea here), and brownies. I knew I was taking a gamble but it panned out. The interns loved having tea and the Brazilians loved the broccoli salad. We ate and played games. Let’s just say that the heat is starting to shrink my clothes or that all the salt is making me swell. It couldn’t be the meat and carbs I’m constantly eating, right?
The boys did make me homemade “cards.” Although, from the looks of it they were made last minute, I still appreciated getting them.
Monday was a regular day of Portuguese lessons and volunteering with the kids.
Early Tuesday morning we left for a road trip south to the State of Paraná. Roberto had a speaking engagement at a camp just north of the little town of Lapa. He invited us and made it a family road trip with us and his family. It was about an eight hour drive to our hotel in São José dos Pinhais, which is about 30 minutes from Curitiba; the capital of Paraná and the largest city in southern Brazil.
We took the bypass around São Paulo but we were still greeted by the vast favelas, as we zoomed down the road. As we were driving, he causally mentioned that the road we are on for most of the trip used to be one of the deadliest roads in the south. He promised us that since an additional lane was added, the road was much safer. However, I still have my doubts.
We stopped at a bakery for a potty break and I grabbed one of the special cakes they make around Easter called Colomba Pascal. It tasted more like bread with chocolate chips in it with a thin layer of chocolate on top, than a cake. They also make one with fruit inside; think Italian panetone.
We stopped at a popular roadside restaurant/gas station called Graal. It was big, clean, lots of potties, a playground, a dog area, a convenience store, and a large buffet and food court. Tell me you’re a tourist without telling me you’re a tourist, would be us taking a picture of ourselves outside a gas station. Ha! Mason loved getting his picture taken in the parking lot.
The drive was dotted with small cities and lots of pretty countryside.
I tried to take numerous pictures but they just don’t convey the beauty of this country. Also, snapping pictures at 60mph in the rain doesn’t lend itself to the best pictures either but, hey, I tried. The rain that had flooded cities to the south was slowly working its way up to Curitiba.
We arrived at our hotel and chilled for about an hour and then headed out for dinner. The hotel, as it was a chain of nice hotels usually found around airports (we could see them landing and taking off from our windows), had a familiar American feel to it.
After dinner, we stopped by the market to grab bottled water. Let’s just pause here and talk about water. Before we visited Brazil the first time, we tried to research whether you could drink the water or not. I say tried because there was no definite answer one way or the other, which can be frustrating as a traveler. I drink bottled water even in the states, much to Trev’s dislike. So it wasn’t an issue for me but I wanted to make sure my kids were safe. Turns out the answer really is – it depends and it depends a lot on where you are. In Atibaia, we drink the water. We brush our teeth and cook with the water. Most of the time it’s filtered at restaurants and stuff so it’s safe. We have a well at our house and we drink from the tap. (We meaning Trev and the boys. I have a water cooler that thankfully came with the house). Our Portuguese tutor says she doesn’t drink the tap water because they use too many chemicals and it tastes bad not because it is necessarily unsafe. But when were are in the big cities, like São Paulo and Curitiba, we don’t drink from the tap. If the Brazilians don’t, we don’t. So we bought bottled water to drink while at the hotel and out sightseeing. Some areas it’s not safe to drink but for the most part, it’s ok. If in doubt, don’t.
We got up the next morning and drove about an hour to the camp where Roberto was speaking. Couple of things here: 1) we drove through Contenda, which means to argue, and boasts of being the potato capital and 2) construction of the housing in the south is more wood and less block/concrete.
The camp was pretty, quiet, and very peaceful; the students not so quiet, as this is where the Emme students reside. If you remember, this is the same group that we saw preform in Atibaia at Easter. They walk around campus signing ALL day long. Thankfully, they are very talented and sing well. Life for them really is like a musical.
Check our those trees. They made me think of something out of a Dr. Seuss book. They are called Paraná pines (or brazilan pine or candelabra tree). They are critically endangered and it is illegal to cut one down. They grow to an average of 130 feet tall and are fast growing; growing over 3 1/2 feet a year. The seeds are called pinhãos, and often eaten boiled as a snack.
While Roberto spoke, we made ourselves at home on campus. The boys completed the ropes course, tried their hand at fishing in the pond, and we walked around inside the chapel. It was much cooler in Curitiba.
It was the first time I had been cold since we moved down here. Look at those stairs. Steep, twisted and no rails. Brazil, obviously, doesn’t have the same building codes as the US.
At lunch we were treated with three traditional snacks. The top snack tastes like a cinnamon sugar doughnut (but not as sweet) and is called, if you’re from São Paula, Cueca Virada, which means inside out underwear. If you’re from other parts of the country they call it inside out pants. Tucker definitely found the first name the most amusing. The students boiled some of the pinhãos, 2 inch long pine nuts (bottom right), for us to try. I thought it tastes like a boiled peanut. Not my favorite. You put the whole thing in your mouth and bite the outer covering and push the pinenut up and out of the shell. The last snack was canjica; a brazilan sweet dish that was kind of like a soupy porridge served warm. It was good on a cold day. They say it was made with corn but it was really more like hominy (which they didn’t know that word, maybe you just need to be from Georgia to know it), and was made with milk, sugar, and cinnamon. The picture above is from Wikipedia, as I forgot to take a picture before I ate mine.
Roberto was originally supposed to speak two days but instead they moved both talks to the same day, so we had an extra day of sightseeing.
We started our day at the Botanical Garden of Curitiba. We had to pay to park but the garden was free.
The flowers were beautiful. They boys were bored and Daniel tried to convince us to drive another 1 1/2 hours to go to an amusement park.
Afterwards we headed to downtown Curitiba to Rua 24 Horas (24 Hour Street but they are only open from 9am-10pm) for a bite to eat. When it opened in 1991, it was the first covered street in Brazil. It has a 24 hour clock at the each end, hence the name. (I didn’t notice that the clocks were 24 hours at the time or I would have taken a picture).
The plan was to go to Pátio Batel to look around. This neighborhood is known for its shopping- think more Gucci and less GAP. Shopping malls are still a pretty big deal in Brazil. They’re safer than street stores and its a easy place to hang out and socialize, and they’re air conditioned. However, Anna wasn’t feeling good so we went back to the hotel and chilled instead.
After resting that afternoon, she was feeling better and we headed to an Italian rodízio (a rodízio is restuarant where they continually bring various dishes by your table to sample). We were too busy talking and eating to take any pictures. I have a love/hate relationship (but mostly love) with these type restaurants as I love not having to decide what to order, I get to sample a lot of different things, and there’s no buffet to deal with. The hard part is they come by so often I feel rushed and it’s hard to keep a conversation going as the servers are stopping by so often. Dinner, service, and company were great. Emily recommended Marlós but it was only open for lunch. It is supposed to be a really good Italian place. If I go back, I’m definitely trying it.
The next morning we headed out to the Municipal Zoo. Admission here was also free. The sign on the bottom left is warning of snakes in the area and if we come in contact with them, we’re not to harm them. All I could think of was, I pray we didn’t see one because my family does not like snakes…at all.
The bear was very entertaining and was the boys’ favorite animal we saw. The zoo used to be home of the oldest giraffe in Brazil and the the fourth oldest in the world until it passed away at 33 years old in 2022.
After the zoo, we ate lunch and then headed to the Oi Panoramic Tower.
Standing at 359ft the tower provides 360 degree views of the city. It was quite impressive. That is the Serra do Mar mountain range in the distance.
The tower, which opened in 1991, originally served as a hub for telecommunication antenna and equipment. However, the municipal government only approved the building if a public viewing station was placed up top as city zoning rules did not allow such tall structures in the area. It costs 10 reais, which amounts to about $2/person (12 and under only 5 reais).
Right down the road was the wonderful shop MaryAnn Apple Factory and if you like apples, you have to stop. They have a wonderful apple pie and fantastic apples in assorted flavors. They cut the apples for you once you’ve ordered so you don’t take a bite and all the goodness falls off. We tried the Rocky Way (caramel, peanuts, and chocolate) and the Cioccolato Madorlato. I don’t know everything that was on the apple but it was DELICIOUS.
Something that’s common in the bigger cities, are people (in this case a lady above and her son who is not pictured) who walk down the lanes while traffic is stopped at a red light and hang items off your side mirror. Then, before the light turns green, they will walk back buy and either take your money if you took the item or they will grab the item back if you left it on the mirror. Just a little tidbit of information, so you’ll know what’s going on if it happens to you.
We really enjoyed Curitiba. I would go back if it was closer. Like any big city you have your beautiful places and your not so beautiful places. As the evening wore on, I started noticing a different crowd of people hanging out on the sidewalks that I hadn’t seen much during the day. You just have to be aware of your surroundings.
Tuck’s tummy hadn’t felt good the last couple of days so he didn’t eat much when we were at the Italian restaurant. Plus, most of the dishes they served had melted cheese and you know how he is about melted cheese. Mason and Trev were still full from lunch so Tuck and I went down to the hotel restaurant and got him some pasta without cheese. It’s nice when I get to have these little moments with each of the boys separately. We really get to talk and enjoy each other’s company.
And just like that, we were heading home. But not before we stopped for some little Banana Ouro or Golden Bananas. These bananas are only found in this area. They are small (only about 4 inches long) and spoil so fast, most markets around us don’t sell them. They are small, sweet, and yummy. Brazil is known for a large variety of bananas: silver, apple, dwarf, plantain, and our little gold bananas. We are used to eating the longer cavendish bananas in the states.
And then the trip and the week was over. The only thing left to do was get home and get laundry done. Trevor took at turn at driving home and the boys well…
NoHurryCains 
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