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Published: September 19th 2014
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Ocean view
The view from Dan and Geli's apartment. We spent a week in Vila Velha with our friends Dan and Geli, aiming to see what life is like for the average middle class Brazilian. Of course, not everyone gets to live on the 11
thfloor of an apartment that overlooks a beautiful beach. Vila Velha is the sister city of Vitoria, the capital of Espirito Santo. Vitoria is a major sea port, through which raw materials from the state of Minas Gerais pass, mainly iron ore, natural gas, and oil, passes.
Dan directs a health clinic that he helped start; Geli has part time work teaching English and full time work as a mom of a very happy and active 14 month old. Geli’s sister, Gidesi, lives with them and shares the care of little Rosie. She practiced her English on us in preparation for an upcoming trip to the US; we know that she will communicate just fine with her quick smile and boisterous laughter! Rose is happy from the moment she wakes up and keeps everyone hopping! Her habit of pointing with her middle finger gets surprising reactions, as you can imagine…
Our days began with breakfast, usually sliced meat and cheese,
Oh no, Rosie
Rosie telling me she is one year old...with an interesting finger choice. yogurt, fresh fruit, and a steamed corn meal dish. Coffee was strong and many folks use a great deal of sugar; would you like some coffee with that sugar was a standing joke. Of course there was always fruit juice—packets of frozen pulp are available in grocery stores of a wide variety of fruits. I received a lesson on how to make fresh juice from passion fruit, my favorite of all the juices.
Lunch is traditionally the big meal of the day, with many employers giving 2 hours off for lunch because if you just give one hour you must provide a lunch allowance (money or script) for your employees. It was always cooked, usually included rice and beans, and featured a main dish like fried chicken. I am told, however, that this tradition is changing as more people commute longer distances to work. There is always an afternoon snack around five or six of cheese or cake or fruit, because most Brazilians do not eat dinner until after 8.
Speaking of food, we also made several grocery store tourist visits, comparing prices and products. It seemed that most prices were comparable, though some
English Class
Autographing notebooks after spending some time in an English class. products, like wine, were very costly. One reason is that the tax rate on wine is high, while on food stuffs it is lower (they do Value Added Taxes here and the price you see on any item already has the tax included).
Our excursions included the Convent high above the city that was built in the 1550s, wandering through the neighborhood of Gloria that is the ‘fashion’ center, and a trip to Garoto, the major producer of chocolate candy. Our guide through the factory may soon be visiting us in Amesville! We were very interested to visit 2 schools—one for poor children (who loved trying out their English on us, then wanted our autographs) and a private school for affluent children.
We visited Dan’s clinic and were guests of Fernando and Sonia at their country place for a cook out---meat, meat, and more meat, accompanied by crab, a local treat. We headed down the coast to the town of Guarapari and spent a morning enjoying one of its 23 beaches. We had lunch on the beach, a beautiful fried fish dish, and a snack fried cheese, cooked by a guy who wandered the
Crabs
Marcia, Geli, and Gidesi sharing crabs. beach with a small brazier stopping to fry up the cheese next to our table, coat it with olive oil, and add the spices we wanted.
A longer road trip was to the inland mountains, an agricultural center featuring plenty of coffee trees. While there we visited Pedra Azul, a towering 1909 meter rock that we were able to partly climb. We used a rope to go up the 45 degree rock face to some pools formed by the river which begins from a artesian spring coming out of the rock. We also stopped by to see Jamie, an American ex-pat who taught at the state university and now has a 300 acre nature preserve he is reforesting and has given, with the help of the Nature Conservancy, to a state nature trust.
After fond farewells to Rosie, Geli and Gidesi, Dan sent us on our way with the richest hot chocolate you will ever have. It was a great week with friends and new friends!
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