And....... the Pitu party ensued. And it was awesome. A bunch of people came over to Paulinha's house and we made good use of that caipirinha machine. Now, let me try to explain what exactly this contraption was. Paulinha works for Pitu, a cachaça company. Pitu has expanded their company and now also produces things over in Germany. So, those Germans invented this machine, and then it was brought back over to Brasil. It is very large and heavy and comes in two parts: lime and sugar part, then cachaça and squish part. First, you stick your glass under the lime lever and pull. A lime is cute into 4 pieces and falls into your glass. Then, you stick it under the sugar lever and pull. A cup of sugar falls over the limes. Next, you stick it under the cachaça lever and pull. Then you stick it under the cachaça lever and pull again. Now you have a nice amount of liquid in your cup times two. Lastly, you stick it under the squish lever and pull a few times. A big smasher thing comes down and mushes everything together. Now you have your caipirinha and you drink it. Then repeat. We all had a great time with this thing, and kept track of how many we all had on the fridge (Brasilians have a different tally system, and so the tallies were kind of a mixture of USA and Brasil, so I am not sure that it ended up making any sense, and I am pretty sure Francisco just flat out cheated towards the end.... haha)....
Anyways, after a while of having too much fun at the Pitu pre-party, we left the house to have even more fun. Iaci dropped us off at the front gates of Requebra Brasil and we entered into a mass of about 50,000 people. Every single one of them was wearing either orange or green, depending on if they had "middle or lower class tickets." We had white t-shirts. We made our way to the VIP section (right in front of the stage) and went directly to our open-bar with no line and unlimited beverage supply. Let's just say there was never a moment in which I did not have two Skols in my hands. Now this VIP section was crazy. Not only was there prime location in front of the stage (you could touch it), a stage for viewers that I can only compare to box seats, aditional private concerts in nearby buildings, bathrooms with no lines, food, and open bars for miles, but there was a craft station. Seriously, there was a craft station for people to bring their t-shirts to bedazzle and cut into all sorts of shapes and sizes. I bedazzled a star onto my forehead.
So there we were, in the middle of complete Brasilian craziness, with beers on our heads and more beers in our hands, and Chiclete Com Bananas came on. Now, this band is the most loved band in all of Brasil. There is one guy that comes to every concert with an actual banana tree on his head. They were soooo awesome!! So damn good!! I will marry the badass drummer while Ashley and Francisco fight over the lead singer. We made our way to the front and got so close to the stage that we were actually touching it and guards were forcing people left and right to stop climbing up on the stage. So, there we were- about one foot from Chiclete, and there we stayed until about 3am. It was so cool. Somehow we made it home, I believe it was a taxi, and I believe I slept through that part. When we got back, we tried to drunk dial you Ellen, but we were too drunk to figure out how to charge Chico's phone let alone dial the buttons. So, we tried again the next morning, but apparently we were still too drunk to figure out how to do any dialing. Damnit. How embarassing. After our failed morning phone session, I took a shower and about 8 gallons of dirt poured off of me. Maybe I should have taken one the previous night, before I crawled into bed, but too late now. That concert was dusty!
Anyways, yesterday was awesome too. Paulinha had to work really early, so she couldn't come with us :( but Francisco took us to "Sunday at Grandma's house." His Vovô e Vovó are so cute! We got a tour of the huge hacienda that the Grandpa built himself, and it was beautiful. Fruit trees of every kind and even a pool. We tried every different kind of wonderful delicious food that they kept bringing us and Francisco's dad and uncle's kept giving us new kinds of cachaça to try. They take them here with cashew (like tequila and lime). Now, how many of you know that cashew nuts grow on the bottom of a fruit that turns yellow and you cook it and put salt on it and eat it with cachaça? I sure didn't, but you learn something new every day. It is actually quite good, of course a bit nutty, and also a bit chalky, but I like the mild nut flavor combine with the juiciness. You can make pies and things with them too. Interesting.
Anyways, we all headed on over to the Uncle's house next door, and there about 10 of us relatives sat around a table in the courtyard eating more and more delicious food and more and more delicious cachaça. (Some had been soaked in cashew.... now that was some good cachaça!!!!!) There was a parrot in the background singing along to the Brasilian music. After a while of chatting with the family, Tio Fernando mentions that he has a new horse, and invited us to see it. So, of course we say yes and we want to ride it. So, we all climb into his ridiculously nice truck and he asks me to hold his glass of whiskey while he drives. It was only 5 minutes away. We got there, and this place was so beautiful. Flowering trees of all colors and beautiful sleek horses. There was even an albino one with the palest blue eyes you have ever seen. It was so pretty. There, we met Hugo. A 9 year old Brasilian kid. The absolute cutest kid I have ever seen in my entire life. Now, I do not want to have a kid for at least another 25 years, but when I do, I hope it looks just like Hugo. This little bugger took us around the pasture for a ride and it was so fun. You can't help but smile when you are on a horse. In Brasil. Surrounded by flowers. With birds singing. And the world's cutest kid smiling at you. Breathtaking really. But, it had to end sometime, so we went back to the family gathering and joined in for some more quality time.
I love this family. They were all so kind and loving and made us feel like we were at home. They also may have convinced us to come back for Carnival. Does anyone have an in with American Express, because I think Mastercard and Visa have had enough of me. Just kidding Dad. So, we had a wonderful time with the family; it was so lovely. I love them. We left just after dark to go meet Paula and I saw some more mocegos (bats). They are so cute and tiny here (one of them visits Paula in her house every day). As we were driving home, we got stuck behind this truck with huuuuuuuuge speakers in the back and it was blaring music out of them. I felt like we were right back at Chiclete Com Banana!! It was hilarious to watch the people on the street dance as we slowly drive by.
So, we got back to scoop up Paula and we all went to the mall. Now, you might be thinking, "why would you go to the mall while in Brasil?? you have malls at home and the clothes and shoes are more expensive in Brasil, not cheaper...." Well, most of us have malls at home. Let us not forget that Ashley lives in Juneau, where the thing that they call a mall is actually a large building with a craft store, a hiking boot store, and a really delicious Mexican food joint. So, we went to the mall in search of the perfect watch for Ashley. She has been wanting one ever since she saw our dear friend Celine's Brasilian watch 2 years ago. This is when she realized that she is obsessed with green, and proceeded to buy a green watch and a pair of green sunglasses. She also may or may not have accidentally stolen some green swag. She will now have to sling bracelets on the beach to get home. We ate some delicious food and the best dessert ever. Delta Experience. So good. Then, the mall closed and we came home for some shut eye.
I don't know what is in store for today, but I am sure it will be something awesome. I love it here and I love Paula and Chico.
Now, for those of you who have expressed concern about my health, I want to show you a little something called the food pyramid:
6-11 servings of grains: beer
2-4 servings of fruit: wine, limes in caipirinhas, and exotic fruity caipivoshkas
3-5 servings of veggies: vodka is made of potatoes
2-3 servings of proteins: the little ants that crawl into my kool-aid-vodkas
2-3 servings of dairy: capetas have cream in them
use sparingly-fats and sweets: caipirinhas have sugar in them, but let's face it, this category isn't healthy, so let's not worry about it.
NO PROBLEM!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment