At about 12:30 local time, I bid my fellow CSC team members
farewell, and it was off to the next event.
Toni & Camila were both celebrating their birthdays because
coincidentally, they had the same birth date.
Initially, the get together was scheduled for Ipe’s main location, but
the location changed to Camila’s & Itamar’s house.
Surprisingly, Uberlandia
is a very walkable city. If one chooses,
he can walk for 20 – 25 minutes to get from the hotel to downtown. However, being prepared for walking, in the
middle of the day, requires hydration and sun screen; and I had neither.
When I arrived at Camila’s & Itamar’s home (Rua dos Girassois, 185, in the Cidade Jardim),
I paid the cab driver $22 Reais and rang the buzzer. After about 5 minutes, Toni opened the gate
and let me in. Their two boxers (Shrek &
Amigao) greeted me with deep, intimidating barks. Fortunately, in their case, they are very
playful and their size isn’t matched by ferocity. (Amigao
= Big Amigo)
Throughout the course of the afternoon and evening, there
were a lot of laughter, eating, and good times.
Our comida (food) was prepared
“tropeiro” style. According to Itamar
(my walking, talking encyclopedia of knowledge), tropeiros are a type of
Brazilian cowboy. When they are out in
the countryside, they make meals out of whatever they have with them: beans, farina, meat, vegetables, etc. (I’m kicking myself for not taking a picture
of the food we were offered.)
This was the only time I was at their house during the
day. (The 1st time Hajira and
I went at night to kayak under a full moon.)
I marveled at the different types of fruit trees on their property:
mangoes (multiple varieties), cacao, tamarind, citrus (not sure what type),
coconut palm, and the list goes on.
Additionally, they had a huge, white ipe and several other flowering
trees.
After patiently awaiting all day long, I finally was able to get some pictures of native Brazilian parrots, that periodically would stop by at Camila's & Itamar's back yard and eat mulberries.
(NOTE: This was definitely the wrong day to wear
white shorts. After walking in the city,
sitting in the Mercado Municipal, and playing with their two boxers, my white
shorts showed streaks of dirt and dust.
UGH! They required about 20
minutes of attention and lots of “elbow grease” when I got back to the
hotel. When I arrive back in Tampa, I’ll give them a
good soaking in bleach.)
After a long day of being out in the elements, the CSC Team headed back to the hotel at about 9:00PM. Lucila graciously agreed to drive us back because she lives near the hotel. (This was a blessing because last time we called a cab to pick us up, it took almost an hour for it to arrive.)
#ibmcsc brazil
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