View from the veranda of our room in Parati!

Our Brazilian summer holiday began with a lot of work on my master's thesis (now almost complete) and a little respite, and it appears to be ending full of travel. I return to work this coming Monday, January 22, 3 days earlier than required, for some extra, self-induced work with countless novels which are scattered throughout the middle school at EARJ in need of serious organizing. I am a little saddened after being spoiled with a month long vacation. But not before we do some traveling to a couple of local favorite spots.

We returned tonight from 3 days in Parati, a small port city (actually the 2nd port of Brazil) between Rio and Sao Paulo. It was a little slice of heaven! When we first arrived and checked into our room, we enjoyed the view, the flowers, the birds singing, the hummingbirds feeding on the flowers right next to us and we were amazed that an environment minus traffic, children filling the air with the sounds of city play, and honking horns actually still exists--we've adjusted to our noisy urban life and the silence was ironically loud those first 30 minutes. Afterward, we ventured into the historic downtown of Parati for some shopping and browsing.


This first shot is entering the historical part of the city from our pousada's side of town.





Sierra enjoyed the open air shopping market where the locals have their businesses. She LOVES every dress, shirt, short, pant, shoe she looks at.
You can see her negotiating with me here to just "experimenta Mae" (try mom).




After the clothing run, she managed to talk me into the purchase of one dress, and she realized the rest of the shopping would be all fun and games, donning this rather large straw hat at the next store!!

During the second day in Parati, we spent 5 hours on a Schooner with about 45 other "tourists". Here we are in our very attractive snorkeling masks getting ready to jump in and see all the fish which were fed rice by the captain upon anchoring. I'm not sure if the rice was to draw them toward the boat for our viewing pleasure or to fill them up to keep them from nibbling on our toes, either way it was amazing to put your head under the water and see the ocean life! Throughout the day we were lucky enough to see: 4 lizards on a rock, 1 sea turtle, 1 baby sea turtle, 2 starfish, a few eel looking fish and countless other striped and colorful fish.
Here's a more flattering picture of Sierra and I on the boat--minus the snorkeling gear. The woman to our left sat near us the entire day, is from Brasilia, and kindly spoke slowly in Portuguese for me in order to actually have a conversation! She was very kind. At one point, Sierra had gone below the boat to use the bathroom and the woman noticed she was not around. We had just left one of our island stops and she, in a very concerned tone, asked, "Onde e sou filha?" Where is your daughter? I said, "AH, Ela e no o banheiro" She is in the bathroom. She woman, relieved, sighed and said, "Eu estou 'worried' porque nos fomos do ilhe e nao vi ela." I was worried because we just left the island and I didn't see her. I thought it was very kind of her to actually be concerned.

The ocean/mountain picture is taken looking toward Parati. What beatiful natural wonders the mountains and the sea and the landscapes produce. I'm really starting to enjoy photography thanks to the multitude of interesting images I am surrounded by so frequently.

The other major attraction during our three days in Parati were the street performers who totally enticed Sierra's attention. Throughout the day, you can turn any random corner and find a "statue" standing perfectly still. Until, a passerby drops a coin into the urn placed at their feet and then almost robotically, they begin to move. Some shake or kiss the hand of the generous passerby, others hand tokens, jewels or fortunes, all of them completely capture Sierra's attention. Here are two whom she "paid" and received a fortune and jewel as well as a picture moment. What's funny is she told me after the photo with the white "statue" that her left hand, which is behind her back, actually has her fingers crossed for good luck because even though she knows they are "just real people" under all that make-up, they're "still freaky".

Before catching the interstate bus back to Rio this afternoon, we enjoyed a horse and buggy ride through the historical part of Parati. Sierra sat in the front next to the driver and as you can see from the smile on her face was in heaven!!!
Friday will bring another quick trip for us as we venture to Ilhe Grande, an island off the coast of Rio. We were supposed to go a couple of weeks ago with some friends and had to reschedule the trip. Despite the forcasted rain, we are making plans to go this weekend. One last hoorah before heading back to reality of working every day. That's ok....I'm starting to enjoy this easy life of holiday, sleeping in, travel and lounging a little too much. Any longer without working and I might get too used to it!!!