Catch Up #1 Pirenopolis Girls' Weekend

Ketchup?  Or catch up?  When I first wrote "catch up" on my class' daily schedule this year and we were reviewing the schedule at our morning meeting, I had a ton of kids who said, "Ketchup?  Like the sauce?"  or  "Are we catching something?"  They had no idea what the phrase meant.  Even my American students.  Must have been out of context for them.  So after some explaination and being a little silly during said explaination, the kids find it hilarious when the occasional the phrase "catch up" appears on our schedule.  One of them always chimes in something like, "Ohhh, I love french fries and ketchup."  Gotta love 9-year-old humor.

Anyway, catch up #1 is the first in a series, of what will be some attempt; and at this time of year in a school teacher's life a wonderful form of procrastination as well to catch you all up and myself on what's been going on in Brazil.  There's so much to cover...months and lots of events to be exact but should be a fun way to reminse about my first year teaching in the sun. 

And finally onto Pirenopolis!

A couple of weeks ago, I'd decided the girls in my life needed the opportunity for a little getaway.  I mean, come on, we'd been in Brasilia for almost a whole month!  So, last weekend, Vanessa, Andrea, Kathy and I took a girl's roadtrip to the nearby colonial town of Pirenopolis. 

Something else you should know is that Pirenopolis (for those who want more info) is usually one of very first trips that newbies take when they move to Brasilia.  Guess I was a little out of order and I didn't go till just last weekend but at least I went this first year, right?  And I'm so glad I did because it's such a great little town and the perfect way to enjoy life outside of the city.

We left around 5 pm on Friday in Vanessa's cute red Honda.  We made a quick stop at Carrefore on the way to pick up essentials like potato chips and cookies for our ride.  On our way out of town, we hit Friday rush hour.  Not such fun but Kathy plugged in her ipod and we were set.  One of the Glee seasons soundtracks was our playlist while we fought our way out of the city and satelites.  Perfect mix for a roadtrip.

Along the way, as we drove into the darkness of the cerrado (and please let me tell you, it is really, really dark).  It's like driving in rural Illinois but darker.  Obviously driving without an urban glow is something I'm accustomed to at night but imagine really poor roads (HUGE pot holes) with lots of twists, lack of lines with reflective paint and for Vanessa, her first time driving to Pirenopolis.  She was amazing and got us there easily in about 3 hours. 

As we drove into the town, I leaned over to Andrea, my perfect backseat roadtrip partner, and said, "I'm a little worried about our reservation."  The reason for the worry was that I'd asked my assistant to make the reservation for us.  Usually in Brazil for all lodging reservations, you must put down a deposit to hold your room.  When I'd asked him to specifically ask about this, he was told that no deposit was needed. 

A few minutes later we found our cute weekend home, Pousada O'Casarao.  This adorable and perfect getaway spot is owned and operated by an American man, Bob, and his Brazilian partner.  They've got it all...perfect gardens, wondeful pool with water features, cute rooms all of it wonderfully manicured and decorated.  Upon our arrival, we entered and discovered that they did not have our reservation.  Sigh. Luckily they did have one room and after seeing it, all four of us decided to bunk together.  We went out for some wonderful pizza (actually some of the best I've had since arriving) and a drink before we hit the hay.  Pretty long day after teaching and driving (or riding). 

Saturday morning after waking up pretty early and getting dressed, V and I went to breakfast.  If I haven't mentioned this before, Brazilian breakfast is to DIE for...pastries, eggs, meat and cheese to make sandwiches, fruit (mango, bananas, melon, etc), freshly squeezed fruit juice, delicious coffee and of course pao de queijo.  Yum!  While sitting at a pretty table admiring the street view, including horse draw carts clip clopping their way down the street, I looked up to see a familar face.  Yep.  One of my parents.  This is the same family that I saw while in Rio on vacation when the Brazil girls came to visit.  Pretty small world.  They were really nice and gave us a few places to visit in town.  I asked the mom where she was traveling next.  She was very polite, smiled and replied, "I'm not telling you."  It's probably better for both of us that way. 

fter some more breakfast and coffee, Vanessa, Kathy and I ventured out into Pirenopolis to do some shopping.  Man, it was hot that day.  We saw the church, cute shops (I bought a couple of things) and then we hit my favorite location, a delicious cafe which Kathy exclaimed had the best iced coffee in Brazil. Of course we had to take the test and it definitely did.  Hit the spot after a long and hot shopping trip.  After our coffee and a wonderful treat of what they called foccacia but really was more like a calzone (but the bread was so much better) we were back at the pousada for some much needed R & R.  Ahhhh. 

Dinner that night was at the pousada.  We were serenading by Bob who sang Broadway and movie love songs in English.  It was one of those moments where you just sit and ponder, "How am I in the middle of Brazil, in a tiny colonial town, being serenading by an American singing show tunes?"  Is this real?  Dinner and the music were both good but the best part was our dessert.  We all opted for the scrumptious petit gateau (for my American friends, that's lava cake) which is really popular in Brazil.

Then we were off to the night market where Vanessa bought a lamp and Andrea bought a scarf.  On the way we saw that they the town was hosting a movie night.  Some of the streets were shut down completely and chairs had been brought out for the event.  It was just winding down when we arrived. 

After our stop at the market, more drinks were needed.  We opted for one of the restaurants that pours out into the streets in the evenings.  We sipped beer or whiskey or po, listening to an awful singer whose repiture included from Bob Marley and popular Brazilian songs.  At one point he leaned out the window to try and get the crowd going more.  I think my karaoke may be a bit better but after a few drinks, other definitely were feeling the music.  We walked back to our pousada and feel soundly asleep.

Sunday we ate a leisurely breakfast and lounged by the pool until it was time to depart.  They were preparing for a photo shoot with a famous singer from Goiania. We opted not to be part of the paparazzi and went to make a couple of final stops...Kathy's little grocery/5 and Dime Store.  You name it, they had it.  From cases of wine to plastic pieces of grass to flipflops, clothing, fresh slabs of beef and more.  I bought a hat for the upcoming Festa Junia party in late May (yes I know that it's a June Party), a water and a lightbulb.  After our stop and random purchases we needed one final iced coffee for the road. 

It truly was the perfect girls' getaway.  Pirenopolis will definitely be a place I visit again soon.  It's gives you the Brasilia break that you need.  Perfect distance, food, scenery and mental relaxation everybody needs.