Blumenau a little Germany in Brazil

May 18, 2013

Today I headed north east to the town called Blumenau with ISA. It is our last excursion included in the trip, to a German city known for it's large European influence in everything from the beer, to the food, to the architecture. When we first arrived we visited a glass making facility, where they hand make all sorts of cool stuff out of glass. They were selling everything from small key chains made from hand blown glass to massive R$5.000 vases that must have weighed 20 lbs. All the glasswork was stunning, they even had some pieces that had real gold infused into the glasswork. We were able to watch them make different vases, and other things made of glass, and it was unreal. For one the guys walked around in just t-shirts and shorts with these long iron pulls with burning hot melted glass on the ends of it, as they worked on the glass pieces (it was very unsafe, I was shocked none of them got burned by the other peoples iron rods, because they would quickly walk around each other with in inches of touching another guy's shin or head with the flaming iron pole). And the way they worked on the glass was unreal, they moved with such speed and control, all the people working must have been well seasoned veterans, they were able to make vases, glass balls, and different animals made from glass in a matter of mer minutes. 

The glass facility 

Where they men were working on creating all the glass work

The tools used by the glass workers to create all the beautiful glass pieces below 

All made at this glass factory by these men. 

Next we headed to a local brewery called Cervejaria Schornstein, where they make home made beer from local ingredients the traditional German way. We had lunch at the Brewery, where they served us home made spaetzle (which is a cross between a noodle and gnocchi) sausage and cream of broccoli, they meal was delicious and very fitting for the weather outside was dreary, cold, misty, rainy, with over cast cloudy gray sky, so the warm rich food really hit the spot, plus a nice tall cold beer, it was perfect, and to top it all off we were served home made warm apple strudel. The owner of the brewery showed us around and taught us how to make different flavors of beer based on the amount of hops and yeast used. 

the home made spaetzle

the home made sausage and cream of broccoli 

the owner teaching us about how to brew the beer 

Everyone enjoying our free glass of beer

Next we headed to a museum down the street that housed memorabilia of the first german settlers in the area and show cased some of the classic furniture, wagons, and other traditional items used and worn by the german settlers when they first came to Blumenau. 

These are traditional head dresses worn by a bride on her wedding day, and the groom wears flowers in the pocket of his shirt to match on the wedding day as well. The boxes that these flowers are held in is a tradition where on the wedding day both the bride and the groom write the other a letter describing there hopes and wishes for their future together and the put the sealed letters in the box with the flowers and keep it for the rest of their marriage together. When one of the lovers dies, the other takes out the box and opens the letter from their spouse and is able to be close with one once more after their death. 

Next we headed to the zoo on Blumenau where we were able to see a large array of animals, everything from lions and tigers, to exotic brazilian birds and strange brazilian ant eaters.

Finally, our last stop was to the center of the city of Blumenau where the legendary Oktoberfest is held each year. This Oktoberfest is the second largest in the world, just behind the one celebrated in Germany. This area of Bluemau was my favorite, the houses and the streets looked like something out of a fairy tale (or disneyland). Everything was so quant and cute, and we were able to dress up in traditional German clothing and take pictures. 

Praia Inglese

May 5, 2013

Today we went on an adventure, trying to find a trail we read about in Jessica's book about Florianopolis hikes. The trail was supposed to be about 6 miles long and take us from one beach called Praia Brava to another beach on the north of the island called Praia Inglese. Unfortunately we were never able to find the start of the trail so we ended up just walking 3 miles to Praia Inglese and spending the day there. Praia Inglese is BEAUTIFUL! There are tropical islands right off the coast of the beach that make the most amazing scenery while you are floating in the warm water. The water was perfect for swimming in, the waves were nice and rolled through so you could easily play in them and enjoy the water without being tossed around like a rag doll (like some of the other beaches where the water and currents are really rough and it is hard to swim in for more than a few minutes). It turned out to be an awesome day with a picnic on the beach, playing in the water all day, and then heading home as the sun started to go down. 

Getting ready for our hike!

Praia Inglese

Turtle Preserve (Projeto Tamar)

May 2, 2013

Today we visited the Projeto Tamar, in Barra de Lagoa. It is a preserve for turtles on the island of Florianopolis. They have helped rescue, save, bread, and hatch thousands of turtles and have some of the different species from Brazil in tanks for people to come and see and learn about the different species. While we were visiting there were kids from a local elementary school learning about the turtles, where they live, what they eat, and how they hatch on the beaches here in floripa.

Costa de Lagoa Hike

On May 1st Jessica and I decided to head out and try to hike the 5 miles trail to Costa de Lagoa. We started out with nothing more than her book about trails in floripa and our little bit of portuguese. We headed to Lagoa Concencou on the bus and got off by the bridge that leads over the bay. Here we ask for directions and were pointed north. We walked down a road through a beautiful tropical area with gorgeous huge house with amazing views of the bay.

We soon realized that we could have taken the bus an extra mile and a half, but we would not have gotten to see the views as well. That is one of the beauties of the Brazilian life style, we had a whole day of nothing to do, so walking for an extra mile and a half was no big deal, we just enjoyed the view. Once we made it to the start of the trail there was a huge wooden sign and lead us in the right direction. The trail was gorgeous, it was like something out of King Kong or Jurassic Park.

The vegetation was so green and untouched, pure nature. The trail winded through the forest and behind massive houses that  are on the bay-front. There were paths some of the way, rocks, grass, gravel, and cement. The change in scenery and trail kept it interesting. Every time we turned a corner there was a new breathe taking view, it was exhilarating. (looking at this entry, I think my writing sounds corny and fake, but I am being dead serious it really was exhilarating! ) As we were walking we found a small water fall, and decided to eat one of our snacks and chill for a little and drink some water. It was a perfect day for hiking because it was sort of over cast so we were not being baked by the sun, yet it was still warm enough to work up a sweat. I was sweating the whole time, by the end of the hike I drank 2 liters of water, but it was awesome. My legs started to get tired  towards the end, so you know it was a good hike :) It took us about two hours to hike the trail, and when we reached the Costa de Lagoa we were welcomed with an even better view!

There were houses all along the water, beautiful beachy houses, with quant little restaurants. the smell in the air was of delicious fresh sea food cooking and fresh bread. As you walk down the path you pass bars and restaurants with people relaxing on their holiday off, drinking Skol beer (the most popular beer here) and eating fresh oysters for the bay only 10 yards away. We kept walking to the waterfall of costa de lagoa. To get there you have to walk up a short path and it takes you to a secluded part of the stream with a huge rock faced natural wall that water runs over, it was the perfect place to eat the rest of our lunch. Then we headed down to the docks, where waterfront restaurants welcome speed boats and water taxis full of guests coming to enjoy the scenery and eat fresh seafood for lunch and dinner. Jessica and I decided to try the fresh oysters for the first time in Floripa and man were  they good! We got some plain and some cooked with cheese and enjoyed those with some free cachaca compliments of our waiter while looking around at the huge green mountains surrounding us and the calm bay water surrounds us on the dock.

There were some little kids trying to fish with a long stick of bamboo with fishing line tied to the end of it  and a hook tied to the end of that. They would put a pick of raw shrimp at the end and fling it into the water. One of the sisters caught a fish but she was screaming the whole time trying to hold onto it and it ended up flopping back in the water, but she was still very proud of herself for catching on, it was pretty entertaining to say the least. After we sat on the docks for about an hour or two, enjoying the sights and smells, we took a water taxi back to lagoa, and then a bus back to centro. All in all it was an awesome and adventurous day, unlike any other I have experienced in Floripa to date :D 

Visiting the Mainland

On April 30th Jessica and I went onto the mainland to visit Clausa at her work and have lunch with her. So after  my class got out at noon Jessica and I headed over to the bus terminal and tried to decipher the map Clausa drew for us to find her work, and hopped on a bus. To our surprise it was very easy to find, it only took us about 10 minutes to get there. When we arrive Clausa walked us to her favorite kilo buffet and we had rice, beans with farofa (the flour made from the imepim root), salad, and chicken for lunch (my favorite!). After lunch she took us around the area where she works and bought us some new fruits I had never tried, she called it fruta da pao (which means bread fruit) but I think it is commonly called the sugar apple or Noi-Na. 

It was very very good, very sweet though so you can't eat it all the time. She also took us to a little shop in the park that  makes sweets out of coconut, and we tried some different sweets made from the shredded coconut and sugar (also very sweet). 

Then she showed us the view of Centro from the mainland (very beautiful) and showed us around her work. 

She works for a motorcycle dealership for Honda as a receptionist. It was a very nice day. 

Brazilian Soccer Game!

Brazilian Soccer Game

I went to my first Brazilian soccer game on Sunday, April 7th. On the day of the game all of Floripa was excited, because the two teams playing are the two teams from Floripa so they are huge rivals. When you drive around the island on that day you can see people everywhere wearing their jerseys and congregating in areas getting pumped up for the game, listening to music, dancing, and playing little soccer matches themselves. The soccer game started at 6:00pm, and people headed to the stadium around 4:00 to hang out with friends, drink, and get ready for the game. The two teams were the Avai  & Figueirense. When we got there we went and purchased our tickets in a booth in front of the stadium, and on the way there there were venders selling fried cheese sticks, empanadas, poa de queijo, and other transitional brazilian foods. When we got into the stadium you could feel all the energy, it was amazing. People were so pumped up for the game there was yelling, chanting, singing and all sorts of things. It was madness when one of the teams scored a goal or did something good. The blue team was more supported and the fans had this tarp with the team name and colors that was about 200 feet long and 40 feet tall that the fans pulled over themselves and shook when their team scored. There were also songs for specific things that ALL of the fans knew the words of and sang throughout the game. I am really excited to go to another game because it was so much fun! After the game when the Avai  had won, there was a lot of animosity and hostility against the fans of the different teams. I was scared there was going to be a fight or something, but the Brazilians that I went with assured me I was safe, but you could tell that everyone was really pumped up and very supportive or their teams. It was an awesome experience. 

Espiritismo

Espiritism

Last night I was invited to go to a Spritism (Espiritism)  Meeting! Spritism is a common religion in Brazil, it is a unique mix of catholicism (where they celebrate the common catholicism holidays) Buddism with meditation and personal and spiritual growth, they believe in reincarnation, karma, and yin and yang ideals. A usual meeting consists of people coming together and reading the book called " o evangelho segundo espiritismo" by Allan kardec which was written by people who have "the gift" which is the ability to talk to the spirits and they wrote this book which is a guide of how to grow spiritually. Their goal is through out their lives (reincarnation) your soul grows and learns and you have spiritual growth. They really focus on your mind, state of mind, way of thinking, and ultimately a way of doing and living. They believe that mental illnesses are when your mind is not in the correct natural place and they work to get there (mental illnesses like depression, obsession, fear, sadness, etc.) It is a very beautiful religion, they are focused on happiness, balance, patience, and self-growth and continuous learning and improvement. The religion also promotes knowledge and not taking anything with out questioning it (like Aristotle ideals).

So the meeting starts usually with everyone sitting around a table with a white table cloth, in the center there were two books the " o evangelho segundo espiritismo" by Allan kardec  and the "otimismo todo dia" also a pitcher or water is placed in the center of the table with little plastic cups for all the people sitting around the table. In the meeting I attended last night there were 6 people, 5 women and 1 man. The leader of the meeting was a woman in her 40s who has experience with the religion and has studied the practice of being a Median. In Brazil it is called "mediana" and the study  is called "medianismo" (or something like that) The study is for people who have the gift and want to practice and strengthen it and become closer with the spirits in order to help more people. The spiritualists believe that those who have the gift received it for free, so it is their duty to use it and help others for free as well. The leader turned on some soft relaxing music and lead the rest of the members in a prayer in portuguese, I am not sure what they said but I understood different words like help, strength, thankfulness, and spirits so I think they were thanking the spirits for their lives and family and asking for help in hope to be better people (but I am not 100% sure). Next a member in the group picked up the" o evangelho segundo espiritismo" by Allan kardec book and opened it to the page where they left off. In each meeting they read from this book and then discuss what it says. In the passage they read yesterday the book was teaching that the gifts are spread all over the world so that way people all over the world will have access to medians and can help themselves with spiritual growth. It also talked about how knowledge is important to understanding people and sharing ideas, but you need to alway be critical to what you read and hear, always do your own research and form your own opinion. The people in the meeting discussed these ideas for a while then continued to read. They read for about a half hour and discussed in between. During one of these discussions I asked the leader about Deja vu, and how they explain that phenomenon in their religion and she said that Deja vu is a mix of mental and spiritual encounters. The feeling of Deja vu can mean you were in that place in a past life (a very strong recessive memory of another life) or it can be you feeling familiar with a place you have been in your future or in your dreams.  After reading the passages and discussing them, the group asked me to do the honor of reading a passage from the "optimismo todo dia" book. What you do is hold the book and ask for happiness for the week and ask for a passage that will help you with something you need help with for the week. Also while these passages are being read, the water on the table is being purified by the spirits in the room and the good energies are channeled into the water and after the meeting all the members drink the water which gives you properties of things you are missing for the week ahead (for example to be calm and relax and making good decisions, or to be patient with your children, or what ever it is you are missing) So I took the little book and held it in my hands, and asked for a passage that would help me in the week to come and then opened the book to passage 62, I read it out loud in Portuguese and from what understand about the passage it was saying that sometimes you can get overwhelmed with feelings of anxiety and nervousness and it is important to get your mind back into a better state, to calm down, and then optimism will come and you will live a more relaxing and fulfilling life of peacefulness in your mind. I really liked the passage, I feel like it was good advice for what I am experiencing right now. Then were discussed the passage and moved on to the median part of the meeting. The leader of the meeting lead another prayer and then turned the lights down. Then she started to say different things in portuguese, I could  not really understand everything she was saying because she was speaking in portuguese really fast, but she was calling to the spirits to give us advice about how to continue to grow, and she made contact with a man who reaffirmed what I read in the passage and said that is something we all need to work on, being more calm and tranquil and basically "don't sweat the small stuff" and you will have a happier life. Then the leader said another prayer and we kind of meditated in the dark for a while then said another closing prayer and drank the purified water which has all the things you are missing and need for the week in order to keep growing spiritually. Then all the people in the meeting stay and talk and discuss life, and they serve traditional Brazilian breakfast food, with desserts. There was fresh baked bread, with home made jams (strawberry and banana) ham and cheese, brazilian carrot cake with chocolate frosting, coconut cookies, peanut cookies, honey bread, coffee, and  juice. The experience was AWESOME! I am going to try and find the two books in english so I can read them and understand more of the ideas and morals and value in the religion. I feel like the religion is similar to a "self-help" or growth book in the United States with more of a spiritual influence that connects you to the earth and spirits and energy and things like that, which I already believed in (I just didn't know there was a religion that believed in those things as well). I think that there are a lot of people in the United States who actually practice some parts of the Espiritism religion, they just don't realize that it is an organized religion (well organized in the sense that were is a book, rituals, and common beliefs; its not organized like the catholic religion where money is spent on priests and churches, in Espiritism no one asks you for money to support the church, it is all a personal choice to participate and to take the religion as far as you want to take it into your life).