Thanksgiving Weekend in Paraty

Dean had some work to do in Paraty and Grace was off for the Thanksgiving holiday so we spent a non-traditional Thanksgiving weekend in Paraty.

Our first day there, we went on a walk to a waterfall. On the way there, we had to cross this old rickety bridge. I was not too thrilled about it, but what choice did I have? The waterfall and surrounding area made the trek worth it. Grace and Dean went for a swim (the water was too cold for me) then we watched a group of kids sliding down rocks. Some of the kids were standing while sliding down these rocks and we joked that this was downhill skiing, Brazilian style!









Our second day in Paraty was spent on a schooner ride. For about $14 a person (Grace was free) we took a 4.5 hour schooner ride out in the ocean. The boat stopped at various places to take a swim or visit a beach. Grace and Dean did some snorkeling. Once again the water was too cold for me, what can I say, I am a wimp. In my defense, Grace’s lips were a little purple when she got out of the water. Grace has become an expert snorkeler, she’s fearless.









Speaking of fearless…most of our third day was spent doing a ropes course. Naturally, a six year old would never have been allowed to do something like this in the US, but hey we’re in Brazil. After a quick training session we were up in the trees doing various activities. I must say, I was terrified the majority of the time but pretty proud of myself when it was all said and done. Grace also had some moments where she was pretty nervous but overall she really impressed us.








We are looking forward to making a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for some Finnish and Brazilian friends in a couple weeks, but this wasn’t a bad way to spend the holiday!

Pizza!

Everybody loves pizza, and Brazilians are no exception. Many restaurants turn into all you can eat pizza restaurants (called Pizza Rodizio) at night. You will never find pizza here before 7:00 pm, but after 7:00 it seems every other restaurant is serving pizza.

Much to my delight, the pizza is not served buffet style here. Waiters bring around fresh pizza from table to table and ask if you are interested. The pizza is always hot and fresh and I know that 25 people haven’t coughed on it or touched it. You will never see a Brazilian eat pizza with their hands-they always use a knife and fork.

Of course, since we are in Brazil, the pizza here is a little different. You will find very little to no sauce on the pizza, kind of a bummer if you ask me. There is no thick crust, thin crust, etc. It is all middle of the road, same style crust. The toppings here are also different from what you see on a menu in the US. You can find the occasional restaurant that has pepperoni, but you will never find sausage. They have this fatty Brazilian sausage called calabresa, that is somewhere between pepperoni and sausage. They usually pair the calabresa with onions and hard boiled eggs and call it a Portuguese Pizza. A few other kinds of pizza you won’t find in the US are tuna, shredded chicken, carne seca (dried beef), and garlic. Dean and I enjoy the garlic pizza as long as we are both eating it. As Rachel Ray says, “Two garlics cancel each other out.”

As I have mentioned, Brazilians love their dessert, so dessert pizza is a must. They have a lot of different kinds of dessert pizza: strawberry and chocolate, banana and chocolate, doce de leite, chocolate, white chocolate etc.

Pizza Rodizio is very affordable, usually around $10 (US) a person. For an additional cost at many places you can also get Pasta Rodizio. Talk about carb-loading!

Pizza (like anything here) can also be delivered. The first time we had pizza delivered, the pizza came whole. We assumed they just forgot to slice it, but every time we order pizza it comes unsliced. We have ordered it from several different places and it always comes unsliced. We can't figure this mystery out.

Fashion Show

I haven't had a chance to post all week because Grace has been sick, and if you have kids you know that sick kids take up all your attention. Thankfully she recuperated just in time to go to the Fashion Show that her school put on. It was a charity event and the children all dressed up in different costumes based on their grade. Thankfully Grace's class had to dress up as Fairytale characters. Grace was in her element, that's for sure! While she probably has about ten princess dress-up outfits, she decided she wanted to sport her Halloween costume again. We assumed this would be a low-key event, but we forgot that we are in Brazil and the word low-key just does not exist. There was a DJ and someone else working the light-show. Grace seemed a little nervous at first (as you can see in the video), but quickly pulled out of it and strutted in her Peacock Princess costume!

Mosquito Fogger

Here in Brazil, mosquitoes can be a big problem. Not only do they carry West Nile here but they also carry Dengue fever. This is a flu-like illness that can be fatal. We know somebody who got Dengue and they were REALLY sick. We always wear insect repellent if we are out at night or anywhere where there is a lot of vegetation.

Here in our condominium, they take extra precautions against mosquitoes. They spray this fog every evening at dusk. There is a guy wearing a hazmat suit, complete with gasmask, in the back of a truck spraying the stuff. Obviously they know this stuff is toxic. Just look at the chemicals pouring out of that thing, it's disgusting.

We were walking home one night from dinner and had the unfortunate experience of ending up behind the truck with nowhere to go. If we get cancer in a few years, I know who I am hunting down.

I took a few photos from our apartment for this blog, but usually I stay as far away from this stuff as I can.

A Brazilian Birthday Party

Grace and I attended our first Brazilian birthday party yesterday. Although I would not call it a birthday party as much as I would a birthday event. This party (for a six year old) was more like a wedding than a child's birthday party we think of in the US. I had heard about these parties so I decided to bring the camera, knowing this would be a blog-worthy event.

We have received a lot of birthday invitations. In general, people here invite everyone they know to these parties and there have been times that Grace brings home an invitation from school and we have no idea who the party is for. We could go to parties almost every weekend.

Scattered about Rio, you see these places specifically designed for birthday parties. No Brazilian hosts a birthday party in their own home. The one we went to yesterday had a movie theme, which you can see in the photos below.









The invitation said 11:00 but of course we’ve been here a while and know that nobody is going to show up for a party at the actual start-time. Grace and I got there around 12:00 and there were very few people there. By the time we left, I would say the crowd had reached about 250 people.

There were waiters handing out an assortment of appetizers and drinks as we arrived. Of course there was a fully stocked bar as well as freshly squeezed fruit juice, water, and soda. Lunch was served around 2:30 and there was a complete buffet plus a carving station. There was also a dessert buffet with about 15 different kinds of desserts.







The birthday girl and her family were followed around all day by professional photographers and a videographer.

There was a DJ there the entire time playing music and playing games with the kids. There was also a magician who did a complete magic show. There was a make-up, hair, and nail station where the kids could get makeovers and face-painting was also available. There was also an area where the kids could pick a pair of Havaianas (famous Brazilian flip-flops) and decorate them. At each of these stations there were four professionals taking care of the kids.









The party center itself had a playground, a trampoline, a play kitchen (based on the kitchen in the movie Ratatouille), a soccer field and two pools. There were also about 8 characters from different movies walking around. As if this wasn’t enough, a huge inflatable slide was also available.











We stayed until about 4:00, then we had to leave. The cake still had not been cut and the party was still going strong. A friend told me they left around 5:00 and they still had not cut the cake.



We would estimate this party probably cost in the ballpark of $10,000. If this is what a sixth birthday party is like, can you imagine what a sixteenth birthday party is like?

Field Trip to the Zoo

Yesterday I went with both Kindergarten classes to the zoo. There were 24 kids, 4 teachers, 3 parents, and 1 security guard. It was impossible to get a good photo of our group, but I did my best…



Grace was really excited about riding the bus and eating her snack on the way! We didn't take the usual school bus like you would in the US. This was a Tour Bus with comfortable seats that have arm rests. The chairs also leaned back and we were hoping the kids would nap on the way home but of course that didn't happen. There was also a TV with DVD player, but unfortunatley nobody thought to bring any movies.



I was curious to see what kind of animals were at the zoo in Rio since we live in a completely different climate than the US. We saw some of the usual: a lion, a tiger, an elephant, a giraffe, a hippo, bears, and snakes. The cages for these animals were pretty small and many animals were by themselves, which made me sad for the animals. One thing I saw that I didn’t think we would see: penguins! They didn’t look so excited to be hanging out in 85’ weather. I wonder how they will feel when it’s 104’.

We saw various types of monkeys and apes as well as a lot of different kinds of birds. The birds were probably the most impressive thing there for me. Their colors were incredible. Some of them didn’t even look real.



There was a petting zoo that the kids enjoyed. They got to feed some animals and got to pet a macaw.





I must give my hometown some credit here. We love the St. Louis Zoo and we always try to take Grace when we are visiting family. We’ve visited a lot of zoos, but the St. Louis Zoo is still our favorite!

Halloween in Rio

Generally speaking, Halloween isn’t celebrated in Brazil. There is no trick-or-treating, grocery store aisles filled with candy and costumes, or any of the things we associate Halloween with. I was surprised when I went to a party supply store and saw they actually carried some Halloween items (mostly table decorations). I suppose the Brazilians save their dressing up for Carnaval!

We ordered Grace's costume from the US. After looking at a lot of costumes online, she decided to be a Peacock Princess!

My mom sent us a great assortment of candy-all three of us were so excited. It’s not Halloween without all the sweets (just don’t tell the dentist I said that).



Thankfully Grace’s school put on a great Halloween party. She had a classroom party on Friday and at the main campus on Saturday they had games, a haunted house, bounce houses, and everybody went dressed up. We had a great time.





We almost felt like we were back in the US except for the favela (slum) looming over the school campus. We had forgotten how close Rocina (the largest favela in South America) is to the main campus of Escola Americana. It definitely made us glad that we chose to live in Barra (as opposed to the famous Leblon, Ipanema, Copocabana area) so Grace wouldn’t be going to school behind bullet-proof glass. Favelas are a huge problem in Rio and something that deserves its own blog post at some point.