Fazenda Cachoeira

Matt and I have talked about visiting a coffee farm ever since we moved to Brazil.  We finally had the chance in July!  We decided rather last minute, and because July is a very popular time to vacation, the place that many people had recommended to us wasn't available.  So I had to go with what I could find on Google.  And we got very, very lucky!

Fazenda Cachoeira is in Santo Antonio do Amparo in the south of Minas Gerais.   Google maps says it is only 2 hours away which really means it is 3 hours away.  Getting to Santo Antonio do Amparo was easy, and it's a nice road (because it's a toll road).  It was a little tricky to find the Fazenda once we arrived in Santo Antonio, because there are no signs, and because we live in Brazil.  But since we have now lived in Brazil for 3 years, we my husband has kind of figured out how directions work and how to "feel" your way to the destination.  And once we arrived at the actual Fazenda, there were no clear signs as to where to go, and who was in charge, so we just had to wander around until we found someone who looked like they were in charge.  But once we found that person, we know we'd found a good place.

Mariana told us that the farm had been in her family for 5 generations.  We stayed in the main house, which had been built in 1870 something.  It had been renovated in the 1980s, but still had the Mineiro farmhouse charm.  Wood furniture, big doorways, lace curtains, and old fashioned keys in the bedroom doors.  There was a pool, hammocks, dogs, a game room with foosball and pool, waterfalls, hikes, beautiful views, bonfires at night, and horses.  The kids couldn't get enough of the horses.

We rode them around the farm, to the waterfalls, around the farm again, and the around again.  It was wonderful to watch the kids play outside, to get dirty, to run and laugh and explore.  It was the first time I'd been out of Belo Horizonte since January, so it was so refreshing and restorative.

Matt and I got to take a tour of the farm with Mariana.  It was fascinating to learn that Brazil is the largest producer of coffee in the world, and that Minas Gerais produces about 80% of all arabica coffee. We learned that for optimal production, coffee needs to to be planted at 1000 to 1100 meters above sea level.  We saw the cherries being dried on the terraces, and learned that during drying, the coffee needs to be "raked" 10 times a day to dry uniformly.  And of course, we drank some very delicious coffee.

Matt raking the coffee

I was able to make most of the arrangements via email, but I did have to make a phone call to clarify what meals were included.  It was a little hard to reach them because it was the peak of coffee harvest, so the owners were not only hosting guests, but also managing the harvest.   The packages include all meals and desserts (not drinks), and horse rides.  The owners speak some English, and a little French. Highlights for us were watching the sun set from the top of the coffee farm, walking on the coffee cherries (they make a very nice crunching sound), eating the fried sausage, and hiking to the waterfalls. We had a great time, and would highly recommend a visit to Fazenda Cachoeira.

Macacos or São Sebastião das Aguas Claras

Hello!  Finally catching up on my posts from the July vacation.  It was a very, very nice vacation.  I enjoyed the kids.  I got to get out of town (hooray!), I read a lot, and I relaxed.  

One of the highlights was a day trip we took to nearby Macacos, or São Sebastião das Aguas Claras (one town, two names).  I first heard about it about 9 months ago from some friends who said they went hiking there.  I tried to find some info online, but no luck.  I mentioned to another friend that we were going, and they said that it was not really a great place for kids.  It has lots of Pousadas for couples getting a way for the weekend, but not a lot of attraction for children.  With that little bit of information, I decided to risk it.  Plus Matt was working, so I could spare him my crazy adventure thing and only irritate the kids.

You take the BR-40 going towards Rio (go past BH Shopping).  Take the exit for São Sebastião das Aguas Claras (google maps is very clear if you need more details).  There is also a bus (3915) that you could catch , but I don't know where it drops you off.  Once we got into town, we just followed the main road until we saw the creek.  There are signs everywhere that say "no parking," but since it was a Thursday morning, we took the risk.  

Thanks for carrying me across, mom.

That is a restaurant in the background.

The creek there is ok, lots of trash, lots of people coming and going, and the trail on the other side is dirty dirty dirty.  We walked for about 10 minutes before I decided that I'd seen enough empty beer bottles.  Not worth it.  

I convinced the kids to get back in the car, and explore some more.  We took the narrow dirt road that was on the other side of the creek (and the restaurant you see behind Dora in the above picture).  We drove for about 15 minutes, past several entrances for pousadas and fazendas.  Finally I came to a wide spot in the road, and I parked.  It was right by the entrance to Banana's Sitio:

Not sure what Bea is doing

The kids were hungry, but there wasn't really a "nice" place to picnic.  So we just climbed up the hill above where we parked and found a relatively flat spot and sat in the weeds.  There was lots of complaining and not enough napkins.  But I love me my picnics, and the view was great!

After that, we decided just to take the dirt road and walk for a bit.  It was a good thing we had stopped and parked where we did, because about 100 feet from where the car was, the road had been washed out, and it would have been impossible to go any further, not to mention to try to turn around.  There was lots of gravel, and a couple of tumbles (more complaining).  Lots of "where are we going?" and "I hate hiking" and "I'm hot."  But then we found this cool rock:

It was a kind of flaking, soft rock

And some flowers:

Funny how the biggest complainer looks the happiest in the pictures

We walked another 10 minutes or so, and we found the creek.  And it was beautiful!  A little trash, but it wasn't so bad.  We threw rocks in the water, made leaf boats, took our shoes off and waded, laughed, found cool rocks, and got very dirty.  It was perfect, exactly how I'd hoped to spend the afternoon.

Sebastian's shoes were black before the hike.

After a few hours of playing, we hiked back to the car and drove home in less than 45 minutes.  Next time we'll go back with Matt!

Férias

Hooray!  It's winter vacation!  Dora has finished her tests, I finished teaching on Wednesday, Beatrice was given her first semester portfolio (the book that her teachers make to show what she has done this semester), and Sebastian watched 2 movies at school this week (what's the point in trying to learn at school right before vacation, right?).  We have about 3 weeks off from classes, and I'm looking forward to the break.  Matt has a fairly normal schedule, so we aren't doing any big trips.  But I do have some fun planned, so as to not repeat last year's winter vacation.  

1.  Go to the zoo

2.  Go to the artsy-fartsy Festa Junina at Escola da Serra

3.  Go to Inohtim

4.  Visit the Clube to go swimming

5.  Spend a few nights at a pousada (farm/bed-in-breakfast)

6.  Go to Macacos, a small town not too far away that is supposed to be good for hikes and waterfalls.

7.  Go to Serra do Cipo

8.  Celebrate Matt's birthday

9.  Spend time with friends

10.  Take advantage of some of the fun things that are scheduled around the city

I started by eating a HUGE piece of chocolate cake and cleaning out my closet.  So far so good!

Carnaval at the Clube

How was everyone's Carnaval?  I love Carnaval.  I love the marchinas, the music that is composed each year for the "blocos" or block parties, that involves lots of drums and percussions.  Maybe it's my marching band past, but there's something about it that just gets me going.  I love the costumes, kids dress up like it's Halloween (minus the scary outfits), and adults put a lot of effort into coming up with creative and interesting costumes.  I love the excuse to get together with friends, to eat and drink and dance and have fun.  I even love the confetti and streamers, even when I find them all over my apartment a full week after it's all over.  I love the show on TV, watching the scantily clad dancers gallivant around fancy floats.  One day I'm going to go to Rio for Carnaval, and I'm gonna be in the Sambadrom.  Mark my word.

If you had the privilege of celebrating Carnaval in Brazil, I hope that you had fun, and you got to enjoy some of the joy I mentioned above.  But you may have also experienced some of the following:

-excessive partying.  Carnaval is a time to let loose.  Whether it's Rio de Janeiro or Salavador the Galo, or the Historic Cities and their revelry, Carnaval is a time to drink, dance, celebrate and party.  And with that comes all the craziness that people do while they are having fun.  I'm tempted to elaborate, but I will just let you use your imagination here.

-excessive traffic.  Everyone wants to go somewhere for Carnaval.  And they all want to go at the same time.  We experienced this 2 years ago at Carnaval.  A drive that should have been 1 hour, turned into a sweltering, slow, 3 hour endeavor.  Have I mentioned that I have a family member who HATES traffic?  This makes the traffic even more miserable. 

-excessive weather.  It is February in Brazil, summer time.  That means not only is it HOT, but it rains.  Often.  And like crazy. 

Now, I realize that I'm coming across as a grumpy pants.  Carnaval can come with it's challenges.  We had considered taking a 4+ hour drive into the interior of Minas Gerais to visit a friend's tiny home town where they have a very fun but low key Carnaval celebration (imagine people bringing their own instruments, making music together, staying up late, dogs and kids running wild....).  But we just recently returned from New York and Rio and Tiradentes, and we were feeling like keeping it mellow, and avoiding some of the challenges that are involved with traveling at Carnaval.  So we joined a club!

Brazilians who have the means (hmmm, didn't I say this when I was talking about school?) will frequently opt to buy a membership to a club, so their families can have a place to swim, take soccer classes, socialize, take Yoga, rub shoulders with a certain group of people, etcetera.  I think that one of the reasons that public spaces (parks) are so lacking in Brazil is because the middle class and upper middle class don't use them, instead choosing to spend their recreational time at the Club.  Clubs offer and enclosed "safe" space, with relatively well maintained and clean equipment, and you can order food and beer there!  What more can you ask for!  I supposed you could compare it to a really nice YMCA in the states, but you have to pay a lot more, and you can go and hang out for a whole day.  Clubs come in all sorts of flavors.  You can find the "very expensive and pretentious," "soccer," "low budget," "this neighborhood only," "I only play tennis,"  or "I like my pool open at the time I want and I have no problem paying for it" options.  We opted for a place that was close to our apartment, that offered classes for the kids, and that wasn't insanely expensive (i.e. NOT Minas Tenis, where memberships run R$20,000 to R$45,000!!  And that's JUST to join!  That's not including the monthly fee!!!) 

We've spent 3 of the 5 vacation days at the Club.  I love that the kids can swim and scream and burn off energy.  I love that they make friends there and play with the other kids.  And we've met some interesting people there too.  I can go and read or just space out or eat crackers, or do whatever I want and not have to worry about the mess that we are making.  And it makes me feel a little bit more Brazilian to be able to say "eu foi ao clube..."

Countdown to the end of the year and a brush with fame

I'm getting a little tired of using my blog to vent about just how busy thing are.  But, this is my life.  Three kids.  Working.  Living in a foreign country.  Studying Portuguese.  It is very full.  We've run out of Brazilian holidays until Christmas, so now everyone is just "suffering" until the end of the year.  The weather has gotten worse (think "hot" and "humid").  Traffic seems worse (at least to me, since I'm driving the girls to and from school every day).  And then there is the realization that the end of the year is coming, so everyone has to finish all the stuff they've been putting off all year.  I'm a little bit angry about this, since my oldest daughter is someone supposed to miraculously complete 6 projects (areas of study, like "Mesopotamia" and "Protists") in 10 days.  Arg.

But!  Vacation is coming!  Christmas!  13th Salary!  School is out for summer!  No more driving across town!  Time with family!  A trip to the beach!  Just as long as we can all keep this in mind, we are going to get through it.  Right??!

And, on a totally different note, guess who my husband saw on his flight today? 

My son knew right away.   Of course he plays for the wrong team (according to my son), but I know he's going to tell all his friends at school on Monday.