The Church on a Hill

This is the view from the church

The church on the hill (mountain) 

On our first real day off, from manual labor and touring a poop factory, we were able to go to the beach! However this beach was about an hour south from our hotel. The beaches here in Vitoria have been polluted by the local steel mill, so it is not recommended to swim in them, most locals do - but the chemicals in the water can make you sick, so we didn't.

MONKEY! 

We went to Sr.Spear's mother-in-law's house in  Guarapari. On our way to Guarapari we made a stop at a giant Catholic church that is also a historic convent. This place had one of the best views of the city. Located on one of the highest elevations in ES, it overlooks Vitoria and Vila Vilha (the next city over) from it's location. The catholics mass was also going on while we were there and it was really interesting to see the religious culture of Brazil. While we were there, walking up what felt like hundreds of steps, I saw some monkeys hanging out while other on lookers attempted to persuade them to come closer with bananas. There were two of them and I wanted to stuff one in my book bag to take home, but if customs does not allow fruit I doubt they will let me cart a monkey, so I resisted. Dr. Spears then bought us all a ribbon bracelet from a vendor at the convent. You are supposed to take one and when you tie it, say a prayer and when it falls off the prayer is supposed to come true. :-) After a very bumpy ride to the city of Guarapari we were able to lay out at the beach and just relax after a week full of manual labor and children.



We went to lunch at this local place that Marina, Dr. Spear's wife, knew about and had a local Brazilian dish called Moqueca. We got two different kinds, a fish one and a shrimp one. The shrimp one was delicious, you scoop some out and put in on white rice. We also got some boiled plantains which were not my favorite. After lunch we went to another beach that is located by Vova ( grandma)'s apartment, by then it was 3pm and the sun was already beginning to set so we walked around the shops that were set up for the weekend fairs that happen all over Brazil. This is where I made my favorite purchase of the day, a wrap for the beach that an older lady was selling. Seven girls from our group bought a wrap from her for $20.00 reals ($10.00) and the lady thanked us over and over again. Apparently she was doing very poorly in business for the past month and she began to cry as she was thanking us. As we were about to leave she comes up to us and kisses us on each check and wishes us a good life, because we were sent there by god. This was such a wonderful gesture because a kiss on each check means, in Brazilian culture, a sign of respect, love and good faith - something that is not given out lightly in a country full of poverty.

This is the prayer ribbon

After sitting on the beach for a while, we then went back to Vova's house and she threw us a party to celebrate us being here. She ordered traditional Brazilian party foods, which include small empanada like things filled with shrimp, chicken and beef. There were also sweet ones, after watching a soccer match on tv we were then given a gift from vova for being guests at her home. It was a small pot that exactly what the Moqueca was cooked in from earlier in the day. It was so cute and super nice. After 20 minutes of thank yous and saying goodbye to these wonderful people, the group left for the hotel. So another hour on the bus and we are now back at the hotel right in time for the rain to start coming down - however I did have a enough time to run over to our fahnina (festival in the plaza) and grab some Boi (meat on a stick) and a chocolate filled churro, so yummy! I am now gearing up for tomorrow when we get to go to the coffee farm 1.5 hours north and get to see part of the rain forest! I am doing very well and I cannot wait to see what tomorrow holds!
Tchau, Tchau
Alexis

The wrap I bought is the Brazilian flag!