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| The Gomes Family (and me right in the middle!) except for three month old Cecilia who was napping |
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| What a gorgeous view! This view is representative of the view you could see all around the farm. Everywhere you looked you could see the hills and trees in the distance and the white bodies of the cows dotting the hillsides. |
Thursday, I went to the Three Ovens Farm, the Gomes family farm, with Dr. Mauro's family (he is a part of the Gomes family) about two hours away from where I am staying in Goiania near Buriti Alegre. There, I climbed a
tree and a cliff; participated in the first, soon-to-be-annual, ecological walk of the Three Ovens Farm which included various natural attractions; saw the most gorgeous view I have ever seen; swam in a
freezing cold spring-fed pond; watched a pig be butchered for us to
eat; had an allergic reaction to grass while playing soccer (of course, everyone in Brazil plays soccer); got a new nickname, "Capine" (the Portuguese word for grass), from a six year
old who could not pronounce Katherine; learned the word for horn (as in the horn of an animal) from a three year old; was adopted into the Gomes family and dubbed Katherine Gomes; and got a terrible sunburn. All in all, it was one of
the best weekends I have had here, just being a kid! The whole family was there, from a three month old baby to the grandmas and grandpas, along with all the farm animals and as I already mentioned, I fit right in.
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| As per family tradition, we stopped the car a little ways from the house to announce our arrival with fireworks! |
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| The spring-fed pond at the farm is freezing but everyone loves it as a break from the dry heat of July. |
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| The fourth generation of the Gomes Family! |
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| Davi and I visiting the pigs just before.... |
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| We were privileged enough to be able to watch the farm hands slaughter our dinner! :/ |
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| These are a few of the cousins of the Gomes family, displaying their pet Furby. |
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| Day two on the farm began bright and early (not really, it was 9:00 AM)! These
are the lucky participants of the first, soon-to-be-annual, ecological
walk of the Three Ovens Farm just before we set out for the wilderness. |
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| Relaxing on the porch with a game of cards after the morning ecological walk |
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| Laughs of the evening |
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| The third day on the farm started even earlier than the second when we decided to go "mountain" climbing. This is about one third of the way up the mountain. You can see the orange roof of the farm house just to the right of the clump of trees and the pond on the left side of the photo. By this point, the younger children were already lagging behind and we had to start carrying them. |
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| Sweaty, tired, and thirsty, we made it to the top of the mountain. |
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| Pedro Paulo and I made it up the mountain! |
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| The end of the 3 hour journey up....and back down...the mountain |
By the end of the day on Saturday, preparing for the drive back to Goiania which would commence with thirty minutes on the dirt road, I was sad to leave. I had to say goodbye to all of my friends and sadly was reminded that this goodbye would be the first of many in the coming week and a half before I come home. When Dr. Mauro's family and I arrived back in Goiania though there was no time to lose as we had a birthday party to attend for Mara at a Mexican restaurant! Happy 60th Birthday Mara! Many congratulations and much happiness for the year to come! I am so glad I could be here to be a part of your celebration!!
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| Happy Birthday Mara Lucia!!! :) |
