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Published: October 26th 2014
So here is How this week's schedule went:
Tuesday night a party at Sandra and Valdir Marques' home. It was a huge house and a huge party. Arrival time was 8 pm - but that is only a suggestion as people we're still arriving after 10. The beer flowed freely as did guarana', a Brazilian soft drink that tastes like a sparkling champagne but is used as a stimulant. I didn't find that out till about 2:30 am when I couldn't get to sleep. The food was delicious although I can't tell you most of what I ate. Around 11:30 a birthday cake was wheeled out and it was for one of our FF members from Memphis. He was very surprised and very moved by the gesture.
Wed. - We toured the TAM air museum. I will write more about TAM in another blog as it is a most interesting story especially the demise of its founder. You won't want to miss that one! That night we all met at a Lion's Club to make feijoada, the national dish of Brazil. It is a black bean stew, originally made by the slaves, using parts of meat that are not for sale anymore. We used sausages, lots of onions, tomatoes, garlic, hot peppers and pretty much left he final stages up to our hostesses -the hosts were all in the other room drinking beer. Pizza was ordered and more beer was consumed. The pizza has no tomato sauce but about an inch thickness of cheese. Most of the ones served had piles of a bacony meat. One piece was more than enough.
Thurs.- We went back to 'Chacara Adelia's ( where we had our welcome party). This was an all afternoon affair to eat the feijoada and other accompaniments. The parties go on and on and no one ever shows any signs of wanting or needing to leave. Believe me it can get very tiring.....
Friday- We took a sad sorry old bus to the Santa Cruz sugar cane factory. Right now the cane is being harvested so we were able to have then process explained from start to finish. This factory makes table sugar, alcohol, ethanol ( a large percentage of the cars here run on ethanol), yeast. We were treated to lunch in the factory cafeteria where all the workers eat. It was like school lunch only with more beans and rice. The bus forgot to pick us up and they sent a little school bus instead. Go with the flow......
Friday night was our Farewell Dinner Party. It was scheduled to start at 8 but people were still arriving at 9:30 ish and dinner was served about 10:30. I'll write more about this later as we found out that Elvis was in the building. Who knew he was hiding out in Brazil?
Hold on still one more day to go....
Saturday was a picnic at a local country club. We had covered pavilions around a lake and more food. 3 tables were covered with salads, breads, cheeses, and lots more. Plus, there was a guy grilling all sorts of meats and, of course, many desserts. We left around 5, for which I was thankful, as my party card was just about full. I was looking forward to a quiet evening at home until people started to arrive. Both my host's kids, their spouses, their grandson, a ' foster ' daughter( who is studying for a PhD in English), two sets of neighbors and 3 more kids. All this in a very small apartment. The noise level was deafening as they were arguing about the election to be held on Sunday. Finally, everyone left around midnight and it was quiet.
Today was a 'free day' - read that as no party. Actually, I am hurrying to finish this as we are going to church.
More later,
Carolyn
PS - I don't have time to even proof read this so please excuse any typos, etc
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Denial
Party animals always start off saying that they aren't.... I'm just sayin' Didn't find any typos but I wasn't looking that closely. Glad you made it to church and eager to read about the TAM air museum. Sounds like you are tasting some great foods. Eager to read more.