christmas in brasil

My infinitely gracious friend Nadia invited me up to the mountains to see the Natal Luz (Christmas Lights) in Gramado. This town looks decidedly German, and is, due to the large amount of German settlers in this quasi-alpine region (I say alpine because it was actually COLD here, a fact which Nadia failed to mention...I felt like a right idiot in my havaianas and summer skirt). Clearly the primary industry in Gramado is tourism, as all the perfectly darling streets are lined with souvenir shops, fondue restaurants, and chique boutiques. During the christmas season every avenida, tree, storefront and intersection is decked out with rather North Americanized Christmas decorations.

We went to a posh (not my choice) Italian restaurant that overlooked the main street where the Christmas parade took place. It felt rather like a surreal Winter Disneyland, complete with blowing fake snow that I was hard pressed to believe was not, in fact, real. After the parade we arrived at Nadia's sister's home, an ornately (and, surprisingly, Orientally) decorated apartment in a gated community in the town of Canela. In the centre of this town, located adjacent to Gramado, was the most beautifully illuminated church I have ever had the pleasure of seeing.

The countryside of the serra (mountains) of Rio Grande del Sul reminds me of a cross between the Okanagan and the sea to sky region of BC. Pines and cedars are common, with some palms and banana tress mixed in to remind us that indeed we are in a sub-tropical area. I do admit I felt a little bit homesick for my province for the first time upon viewing the rolling landscape. This feeling was fleeting however as switching from 27 degrees to 10 was definitely a shock to my system!

Feliz Natal! ...will post more after Rio de Janeiro.

Estou esfriando!

Church square, Gramado.

See, it actually gets cold in Brasil...não sabia

Brazilian angels (that were wearing rollerskates!)

Tree lights.

Main avenue, Gramado.

The Gingerbread homem

Igreja, Canela.

the serra.

cachoeira do sul

"Meu nome é Mika, sou Canadense, faz dois meses que estou aqui no Brasil, e sim, eu falo super-bem Português assim."

Cachoiera (waterfalls) is a beautiful town in the interior of Rio Grande del Sul. Small, quaint, and typically Rio Grandense, it is characterized by rolling hills, large fazendas (ranches) and quietly friendly locals tending herds of domestic animals or cultivating rice and soya. I stayed with my friend Tiele, her mom and dad, adjacent to her two grandmothers, grandfather, aunt, uncle, cousin, and nephew and managed to survive two massive family barbeques. Brazilian families are enormous, and everyone wanted to know everything about me (the most commonly asked questions were, “what are you doing here, a Canadian, in Rio Grande del Sul?”; “how do you speak such good Portuguese after two months? Are you serious?”; and “do they have rice in Canad Fa?”) Note that I say “survive” because churrascos (bbqs) are basically meat roasts, accompanied by fruit and desserts. So I basically ate papaya and doce de leite and ice cream for two days.

Here are some photos...