First Two Weeks

Hi everyone! Tudo bem?!

I've been in Brazil for 2 weeks now and I've been very happy here :) Life here is more relaxed, the people are very friendly and family-oriented, and of course I love being close to Franchesco again!

Franchesco and I spent the first few days in Sao Paulo visiting with some of his friends and mostly taking it easy. We were also able to get some of the visa paperwork out of the way -- Franchesco had to see a doctor who is certified for the visa process (he couldn't do this in his city, so we're lucky he was able to take care of everything while we were in Sao Paulo), and get a few shots before he comes back to the United States. After Sao Paulo, we spent a week in Rio de Janeiro. The weather was cloudy/rainy most of the week, but we still got a couple good days of beach time at Copacabana and Ipanema beach :)

Cafe com leite at a famous padaria (bakery/cafe) in Sao Paulo -- Bella Paulista. You can see some traditional Brazilian foods in the glass case in the background :)



Enjoying coconut water at Ipanema beach -- Rio de Janeiro

After our week in Rio, Franchesco and I traveled to his city of Araxa in a state called Minas Gerais. His sister and brother-in-law picked us up at the airport and we arrived to his house close to 1am Saturday night/Sunday morning, where we were greeted by his parents. We all had a snack and coffee/hot chocolate before going to bed. Not only were we greeted by Franchesco's parents, but we also got to meet a new addition to the family, a little kitten 46 days old that they got just a couple of days before I arrived :) :) :) They told me that I could name her, so after a couple days of thinking we went with the name "Peach" since she kind of looks like a fuzzy round peach! As an added bonus, now everyone knows the English name for the fruit! She's smaller than she looks -- the hair is deceiving!



"Peach" -- also fondly known as "the baby," "bolinha de pelo (little ball of hair) and "fofinha (fluffy)"

 As I said, everyone here is very family oriented. The first day I was here, we went to a birthday party for Franchesco's cousin's daughter (Alicia, 5 years). The party was at his uncle's farm, it's common for families in his town to have another house a little further outside of town where they have a small farm with plants and animals. I got to see avocado trees, coffee, pineapple, mango, sugar cane and more...it was pretty cool! My favorite were the avocados (they are huge here!)...I wanted to bring them all home with me! Aside from the party we have spent the last couple of days hanging out around Franchesco's house. His sister and brother-in-law come over to the house everyday for lunch during their break from work, and they come over in the evening sometimes to hang out too. The other day they taught me a card game that is very popular here...I'm looking forward to playing again!

Avocado tree :) Mmmmmm

This was a pretty quick update of what we've been up to, but I promise to update everyone with more details and pictures later. Tchau!