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Published: April 8th 2006
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"That's me in the corner..."
This is boring. Let's go back home and watch TV. hoo wee what a day. i've never had such a headache from trying to talk to people. we started the day out in the tiny little mountain town of lavras novas (if it isn't already up, there will be more about this town, erm, yesterday). the town is nearly deserted, it seems. even the people who live here don't seem to live here. and i'd call it a one-horse town, except there are a lot of horses. and chickens roaming the town square. and the local dogs seem to have taken a liking to me as though i'm the freakin pied piper. the other problem, incidentally, is that either i'm retarded *or* the accent here is very hard to understand. i mean REALLY hard. also, i keep asking people to repeat what they're saying more slowly, and it seems like they just say it faster. this town is kinda off the beaten track, so it's possible they're not much used to stupid tourists. but i digress. there are two nifty stories from today. i'll go in chronological order.
i neglected to mention that for all its weirdness, lavras novas is breathtaking. and there are a ton of waterfalls nearby. so
Shrinkage
Eden enjoys the water's crisp temperatures, hoping the coldness has the same effect on her butt as it does on men's testicles. kyle and i decided to take a hike to one of them, called cachoeira pocinho. it was a lovely hike...for some reason the foliage here is really short. i didn't see any trees much taller than me. it was only about a 2 mile hike when we heard the gurgling of water. we scrambled up some rocks and there it was: our very own waterfall with swimming hole. whee! so we strip down to our bathing suits and swim about in the very cold and shallow pool for a while...then we explored among the rocks for a while...and no one ever came by! it almost felt like a little secret.
and now the funny story. so apparently all the restaurants in town really get going on the weekends, because that's when the city folk come in for a little relaxation. so we had a hard time finding a place to eat. we went into one place and they said they were closed, but then a guy came up and said "no no we're open."
i must admit that that was pretty much the last thing i understood.
he pointed at a bunch of things on a menu,
Hallelujah, It's Raining Men!
Don't be deceived by this picture. In real life, I actually look really pasty and malnourished. then dragged us back to the kitchen and handed us a small plate of food, presumably to try out the cuisine...he kept pointing at it and then us with wide eyes and grunting. then he took us out to the backyard and tromped into the weeds, muttering something to himself. he pulled up a weed, smelled it, and then handed it to us. okay. then we follow him back inside and order something simple--sausage and rice. easy. we sit down at a table. and wait. suddenly, we hear very loud squealing from the backyard. are they...are they...slaughtering a pig for our sausage?? dear god. kyle's mole eyes were wider than i'd ever seen them. but we couldn't leave now!! i see the guy come back into the kitchen with his arm all bloody. ack. i don't think we breathed for about 10 minutes until we got our huge plate of sausage and rice. i'm still not really sure of that pig was for us...maybe they were slaughtering it for the weekend's feast. i hope.
was all this just one day? holy crap. anyway, we take a couple of uneventful bus rides to the huge city of belo horizonte...the first
That'll do, pig.
Moments after ordering sausage. Moments before the sound of a murdered swine. planned city in brazil, and possibly south america (according to our global freeloaders host, ulisses)
ah ulisses. what a relief after our frustrating and vaguely terrifying experience in the ghost town. he is a young architect, speaks english, is very very nice. very interesting...we are staying at his house in belo with his mom and brother, and they have been nothing but hospitable and awesome. last night, ulisses' friend (emilga or something of the sort) took us on a driving tour of belo...we went to a look-out (interesting tidbit--"make-out point" is a pretty much universal phenomenon. ulisses was saying that at night all the kids come up to that lookout to smooch). we got free popcorn from this guy wearing some fancy headset...apparently he was the marketing rep for the popcorn sellers at make-out point. and then we went back to ulisses' house, went out for a couple of caipirinhas and pizza, and slept like a couple of tired monkeys.
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eloKin
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aaahhhhh
can i live vicariously through you...more pictures please. this is a great site, thanks for sharing, i hope you don't mind if i share with others, esp. Lauren Stellinger ( her married combined name stenzel with trullinger as she so stubbornly won't take his...ha ha) KYLE, Mia turned 7!!!! i think that means i have to stop acting like i'm 7...a little bit anyway. eden, your writing is captivating....kyle, well, you know why i love your writing. more pictures pleeeease. quit lying about weaqring swimsuits.... nicole