Week 26 - Fernandópolis to Fazenda Califórnia, Brasil
December 18-24, 2004
Saturday to Friday – FAZENDA CALIFÓRNIA, BRASIL
This week began on the dance floor... celebrating Tia Bel’s 56th birthday at midnight – forró-ing.
Funny… she was with us in the beginning of our journey when we left South Range all the way to New Mexico where we celebrated Kiko’s birthday. Now, it is the same thing but backwards…we were with her in Fernandópolis, celebrating her birthday on the last leg of our voyage. Not only was she with us on the first and last legs of our trip, but also, we were together for both birthdays…pretty darn cool.
After an excellent night dancing, we got to bed at about 2:30am, got up the same day at 7am – and left for Goiás – towards our final destination – a farm in the state of Goiás. The 11 hour car ride with Tia Bel and Vô Nelson was nice. We had one flat tire and a lot of rain, but it was very nice to be together – really nice.
We arrived to a surprise birthday party dinner for Tia Bel, at Fazenda Califórnia (California Farm). The clown head ornament on top of the cake box is from 1973, Kiko’s 2nd birthday party.
Fazenda Califórnia is where Kiko’s mom and step-dad live. This will be our home for a bit. It is a farm located about 30 minutes by car to the nearest town - between Goiás Velho and Itaberai which are both small towns. It is also 1 ½ hours by car to the state’s capital, Goiânia. This farm is 2,000+ hectars (~5,000 acres) and has 8 houses throughout the property for the farm workers. We are staying in one of those houses next to the “sede” (main farmhouse). Kiko lived here as a kid.
Three mile long driveway to the "sede"...
Kiko’s step dad is an agricultural engineer, and the manager of this and another farm. Here they have cattle, horses, and a fishery. They grow soy, corn, cotton, guava, sunflower, tomato, beans, rice, and more. There are so many fruit trees around the house…mangos, guavas, coconuts, bananas, cashews, lime, lemon, oranges, avocadoes, star fruits, and on and on…all for free…and that is not counting all of the vegetables. It is extremely common for people to have all sorts of fruit trees in their yards. I love being able to eat avocadoes without having to pay US$2 or more apiece! Hungry?? Go pick it for free!! Ahhhhh, I love it!
Cotton field and worker...
Combine...
Irrigation...
Nelore cattle originally from India - they are really pretty...
A termite house...
Banana trees...
It is so pretty here!! We have relatively no internet or phone access, but the peace and quiet, the sounds of the crickets and frogs at night, and the monkeys that live on the property are well worth it!!
On Sunday the farm had their annual Christmas party for the workers. Here people ate, danced, and drank the whole afternoon. They ate churrasco which is a Brazilian barbeque – and very common. Here is a photo of me with some of the workers and their kids who were so fascinated and curious to hear me speak English. The girl in the pink, in the center to my left, knew a few words in English and was very excited to try them out.
The whole week was spent eating, recuperating from 6 months on the road, catching up with family stories and pictures, and just doing regular holiday family time stuff. I also spent time with the 10 new farm kittens and their two mothers! I left my three cats in South Range and gained 12 in Brasil!
Right now the farm has sweet corn planted and it is ready - Grandpa Nelson, Aunt Bel, Fernando (Kiko's brother), and Maria Inez (Kiko's mom)...
The week ended with Christmas - Christmas dinner and opening gifts. Because evergreen trees are not native to Brasil, many families use artificial Christmas trees. Being economical and creative, Kiko’s mom used a decorated mosquito net this year. Other years she has made a Christmas tree out of bamboo, out of a guava tree, and so on…
Whew!! What a great week…and, we made it to Brasil – to the farm!! Ahhhhhh….Our trip was amazing!! We arrived here according to our goal of not using airplanes!!! We also got here by Christmas which was another goal! What a great first week at our final destination. I am looking forward to teaching English and eating lots of fruit.
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Saturday to Friday – FAZENDA CALIFÓRNIA, BRASIL
This week began on the dance floor... celebrating Tia Bel’s 56th birthday at midnight – forró-ing.
Funny… she was with us in the beginning of our journey when we left South Range all the way to New Mexico where we celebrated Kiko’s birthday. Now, it is the same thing but backwards…we were with her in Fernandópolis, celebrating her birthday on the last leg of our voyage. Not only was she with us on the first and last legs of our trip, but also, we were together for both birthdays…pretty darn cool.
After an excellent night dancing, we got to bed at about 2:30am, got up the same day at 7am – and left for Goiás – towards our final destination – a farm in the state of Goiás. The 11 hour car ride with Tia Bel and Vô Nelson was nice. We had one flat tire and a lot of rain, but it was very nice to be together – really nice.
We arrived to a surprise birthday party dinner for Tia Bel, at Fazenda Califórnia (California Farm). The clown head ornament on top of the cake box is from 1973, Kiko’s 2nd birthday party.
Fazenda Califórnia is where Kiko’s mom and step-dad live. This will be our home for a bit. It is a farm located about 30 minutes by car to the nearest town - between Goiás Velho and Itaberai which are both small towns. It is also 1 ½ hours by car to the state’s capital, Goiânia. This farm is 2,000+ hectars (~5,000 acres) and has 8 houses throughout the property for the farm workers. We are staying in one of those houses next to the “sede” (main farmhouse). Kiko lived here as a kid.
Three mile long driveway to the "sede"...
Kiko’s step dad is an agricultural engineer, and the manager of this and another farm. Here they have cattle, horses, and a fishery. They grow soy, corn, cotton, guava, sunflower, tomato, beans, rice, and more. There are so many fruit trees around the house…mangos, guavas, coconuts, bananas, cashews, lime, lemon, oranges, avocadoes, star fruits, and on and on…all for free…and that is not counting all of the vegetables. It is extremely common for people to have all sorts of fruit trees in their yards. I love being able to eat avocadoes without having to pay US$2 or more apiece! Hungry?? Go pick it for free!! Ahhhhh, I love it!
Cotton field and worker...
Combine...
Irrigation...
Nelore cattle originally from India - they are really pretty...
A termite house...
Banana trees...
It is so pretty here!! We have relatively no internet or phone access, but the peace and quiet, the sounds of the crickets and frogs at night, and the monkeys that live on the property are well worth it!!
On Sunday the farm had their annual Christmas party for the workers. Here people ate, danced, and drank the whole afternoon. They ate churrasco which is a Brazilian barbeque – and very common. Here is a photo of me with some of the workers and their kids who were so fascinated and curious to hear me speak English. The girl in the pink, in the center to my left, knew a few words in English and was very excited to try them out.
The whole week was spent eating, recuperating from 6 months on the road, catching up with family stories and pictures, and just doing regular holiday family time stuff. I also spent time with the 10 new farm kittens and their two mothers! I left my three cats in South Range and gained 12 in Brasil!
Right now the farm has sweet corn planted and it is ready - Grandpa Nelson, Aunt Bel, Fernando (Kiko's brother), and Maria Inez (Kiko's mom)...
The week ended with Christmas - Christmas dinner and opening gifts. Because evergreen trees are not native to Brasil, many families use artificial Christmas trees. Being economical and creative, Kiko’s mom used a decorated mosquito net this year. Other years she has made a Christmas tree out of bamboo, out of a guava tree, and so on…
Whew!! What a great week…and, we made it to Brasil – to the farm!! Ahhhhhh….Our trip was amazing!! We arrived here according to our goal of not using airplanes!!! We also got here by Christmas which was another goal! What a great first week at our final destination. I am looking forward to teaching English and eating lots of fruit.
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posted by Unknown at 03:33
