Flashback to Easter...

Ok, after a month+ break from the blog, I'm back to it! There is lots to catch up on. First, we'll flashback to early April. I spent Easter with my roommate's family in her small hometown of Manduri about three hours from Londrina, in the state of Sao Paulo. While I knew that Londrina is surrounded by farms and countryside, it was the first time I ventured out of the city and into the land of caipiras (country folk). On Thursday night we caught a ride with Bárbara's friend, João, who is from a nearby town and has a car. We arrived to Manduri around midnight, and I was expecting to say hi to the family and go straight to bed. But when we arrived, everyone was fully awake, dressed, and ready to go. I was surprised to hear that we were going out for pizza at midnight! But I guess it's not unusual in Brazil. So I found myself at 1:00am in a pizza place (we ate at this restaurant two more times while I was there), surrounded by people who all seemed to know us (ah, small town life). By the next day, word had gone 'round town that "there was an American(!) staying at their house." It was funny to be the talk of the town.

Breakfast with the family
(minus one brother)

Bárbara's family was extremely welcoming to me. Her father is a biology teacher and her mom is, in addition to a wonderful artist, the Brazilian Martha Stuart. Bárabar's two younger brothers still live at home and are in school. As I mentioned in a previous post, Bárbara spent to years in Westwood, MA as an au pair. During that time her Mom came to visit for about a month and they traveled all over New England. They even went to Vermont! It was fun to hear about their experience (her mom LOVED Dunkin Donuts muffins!) and reminisce with them about some of my favorite places.




We spent Friday relaxing and preparing for an all-day family affair of eating and drinking. Bárbara's mom is an excellent cook and prepared two delicious dishes, one of fish and the other of shrimp. They were both delicious. At a relative's house I also tried bacalhau, a traditional dish served on holidays that is made of dried salted cod (ew), potatoes, eggs, peppers, olives. It was only 11:00am and I reeeeally wasn't in the mood to try it, but I wanted to be a polite guest and so choked it down. The rest of the day was spent at their house, chatting with friends and relatives, and of course, eating and drinking.

Beautiful lake where we went for the nature walk.

The following day, I went on a nature walk with Bárbara and her father, a high school biology teacher. It was local park with a lovely pond for swimming and boating, a picnic/bbq area, and some nice trails running through the woods. Her father was a great guide, filled with lots of interesting facts and tidbits of information. The weather, as you can see, was absolutely perfect. That night I went to another churrasco (bbq party) and met many of Bárabara's childhood friends. Everyone was extremely patient with my faltering Portuguese - I still can't get over how nice everyone is here.

Instant friends!

The Easter tradition in Brazil, instead of Easter baskets, are gigantic chocolate eggs, filled with more chocolate inside. Parents hide these and the kids search for them. Bárbara's parents had bought each of us an egg (and some for the cousins who live next door). It made me feel like a kid again to be searching their yard for my pink colored egg. It was wonderful to get out of the city for a weekend, and to spend it in such a relaxing place. While I missed Easter with my own family yet again (although we did have a group Skype!), it was nice to be able to spend it with my Brazilian family. (Side note: They just came to Londrina for Mother's Day, and Bárbara's mom stocked our freezer with food that she had prepared for us. Everything came in two's - one for Bárbara and one for me. How nice is that?!)

Here's a slideshow of the whole weekend.