The hour and a half dirt road to Caraiva.
Approaching the center of Brasilia.
As our school back home was taking their spring break we took one, too. OK, technically it’s more like a summer break. Well, all right, we’re pretty much on summer break for most of the year, so let’s just say we took a break from our routine…vacation. The break was initiated by the arrival of my in-laws, Flora and Ramon. We were all so happy to have them visit and for the chance to share some Brazilian experiences. We spent a week enjoying life in and around Arraial (You can see our visit with them to the Pataxó reserve on Sidney’s blog)
Where there is Flora, there is line dancing.
Sidney’s favorite ping-pong buddy.
At Pitinga, our favorite beach.
Swimming out to the reef.
Not sure of the legality of this experience, but this is the freshest urchin Ramon has ever tasted. The guy even brought limes with him.
This is an actual ship from the time when the Portuguese arrived, conquering- er, discovering- Brazil. Porto Seguro is where they landed.
Then we took a road trip together to Caraiva. More like a dirt road trip, ¾ of the ride is on a rough dirt road,
which leads to a river, which leads to small rowboats taking us over to town.
In town this is the only vehicle, and there are about 3 of them. The “roads” are all sand.
We enjoyed the laid-back beach town vibe.
Then we made our way back to Trancoso, the once sleepy, hippie town that is now a playground for the rich and famous AND the hippies.
The beach was amazing.
We said “Até Logo” to Bahia and headed to Rio. It’s like New York and Miami, mixed together with some amazing little mountains. It is as beautiful as people say and just plain cool. We saw the sights and had a good time.
Tram up to Sugar Loaf.
From top of Sugar Loaf at night.
Lola and the boys on Copacabana (left corner)
The kid loves his agua de coco.
Sidney got to see a game at Maracana.
On the beaches of Leblon.
Of course we found the best desert place. Kurt’s. Sidney’s having the Brigadeiro cake.
Glorious air conditioning!
Favelas.
View from the top of our place.
We were so sad to seem them go home.
Back to America we went. Oh, I mean on to Brasilia, the capital. Filled with malls and food courts (Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Subway and more) and air conditioning. We were very fortunate to have our friends, Priscilla and Rafael to pick us up and let us stay with them for the first weekend. They showed us the town and, of course, a mall. Called “shopping” here. It’s a noun in Portuguese. Rafael did a great job of constantly explaining how the streets flow and the addresses work. I was extremely grateful once I was on my own with the car for the week. In Brasilia, it takes 3 rights or ¾ of a circle to make a left. That led to lots of confusion, but the addresses are laid out on a grid that is very clear. I was able to navigate the city without a map often. Luckily I’m a NYC driver so I could handle the aggressive drivers on the road.
With Rafael and Priscilla in front of the legislature.
Hangin’ with Leo, Rafael and Priscilla’s son.
Brasilia is filled with the architecture of Oscar Niemeyer and so many amazing buildings.
We think this looks like we are in the movie Star Wars, in front of Uncle Owen and Aunt Ru’s house.
Mestre Ralil was so gracious.
The highlight for Sidney and I was the capoeira training. We were in the hometown of our school, Raizes do Brasil, and from the moment we walked in to class we were welcome with open arms. Everyone was friendly and introduced themselves. The mestres and professors, all who are friends of Mestre Foca (our mestre in NY) were so generous with us. Mestre Railil, the Grand Mestre, who is usually very busy, was so kind to teach a class while we were there.
Mestre Cara. So kind.
The kids in Sidney’s class quickly befriended him, and once they saw him play they all wanted to get in the roda with him. Mestre Cara, who taught the kids classes, took an immediate liking to Sidney, and once he saw how good Sidney was (and man, he is so good), he took him under his wing. Sidney couldn’t get enough capoeira. He went to the kids classes and then took the adult ones with me, sometimes. He actually preferred those as he is so hungry for training.
For me, it was great to be reminded of the style I originally learned, that involves much more twisting and bending. It’s a bit more on the dance-y side. Sul da Bahia- where the training was excellent- tends to be a bit more straight forward. Also, we got a lot more time playing in the roda in Brasilia than we did in Arraial.
That being said, as much as we enjoyed our travels, we really missed our life in Bahia. Living on the beach, no malls, significantly less screen time for the kids (which means significantly more creativity in their play). As I post this we are now in Itacare, a surf town in Bahia and back to our ideal beach life again. I’m studying the other style of capoeira, Angola. More on that in the next post.
Tchau!
Let Passion Be Your Guide 
Love the updates! Looks like you guys are having an amazing time!!
Much love, K and M
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I am so enjoying your journey with your family. What invaluable lessons they are learning!!! A time they will never forget and values that will remain with them forever!!! It’s obvious that Sydney is quite amazing and very passionate about is dancing. He’s a joy to watch as you all are!!!
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