Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Today is the Gay Pride March in São Paulo which just so happens to be the largest of its kind anywhere in the world; last year with 2.5 million people marching (world record). After a bit of a sleep-in Fernanda and I got up and Fernanda made me a very typical breakfast here in Brazil: Asai. Asai is a berry type fruit that is kind of served like frozen yogurt/smoothie - Fernanda blended the Acai with papaya and honey and then served it with sliced banana and granola and wow delicious, very sweet with a little crunch and with honey surprises throughout - apparently it has a lot of calories so people avoid eating it everyday. After breakfast we waited for Fernandas friend Fran to arrive and then we took the metro into the city and met Paula. The weather was extremely hot today and by the time we arrived at the avenue where the march would start it must of been 30 degrees. On arrival we were met with 1000s of gay party dwellers with the strangest clothes, styles and appearances you have ever seen. I am not going to lie it was very overwhelming and I felt very unsafe; the police were checking everyone for guns and knifes and everywhere we looked people were already drink and loaded up on drugs. We walked the avenue observing all the craziness; every 200 meters or so were massive trucks with Djs playing music and drag queens and gay dancers dancing on platforms on the roofs of the trucks. I can't describe how weird and strange the people were and it was quite obvious that there were a lot of bad people frequenting the avenue in the hope of robbing and stealing from the revellers. We came to a point where we couldn't get any further and decided to stand and watch the craziness from a distance. We had all had enough within 2 hours and decided to go and try find some lunch.
Fernanda had a group meditation in the city centre so she headed off to that whilst the girls and I headed out to Fran's house in Interlago in Fran's car. Seeing São Paulo from inside a car was a real treat and Fran's neighborhood was exceptionally beautiful and obviously only for the wealthy with big houses, swimming pools and lake views. We first stopped at Fran's house and I got to meet her lovely Mother who showed me their beautiful home complete with swimming pool, herb garden and fruit trees. We talked about tonight's cook-up and I realized Fran's Mum had absolutely everything in her kitchen which would make cooking very easy. Fran's Mother gave me some very unique Brazilian treats from a local Baker called Quindims - a coconut, egg yellow and sugar treat that absolutely melts in your mouth - I had heard a lot about these treats and they certainly didn't disappoint. The second sweet I tried was an oven baked coconut and syrup pastry which was also unbelievably delicious and I was told that these sweets are so popular you must order then a week in advance. I then went and sampled some fruits straight from their garden - how could this day get any better? Fran, Paula and i then drive down to the lake and walk along the beach looking at easily the most beautiful lake I have seen in South America; people were swimming, drinking, playing volleyball, out on their boats, jetskis, windsurfing and enjoying the beautiful weather - reminding me a lot of my home city Perth. We got some really nice photos and kept wandering around the waterfront. After stopping at the supermarket and picking up a few last things we headed back to Fran's house to start cooking. Luckily I not only had the girls but Fran's mother help me out with the cooking - a little unorganized but I managed to get everyone helping and then could put in some extra effort into making sure it was perfect. Basically I made a coconut milk Indian curry and fused that with a Spanish potato tortilla with a bunch of cheese, the second tortilla was carrot based and more eggy. Frans Mum and i conversed in Spanish and she was an absolute whizz in the kitchen slicing and dicing everything with exceptional precision and speed. As I was cooking for 7 people I also made an Asian salad incase there wasn't enough good. Fran made more Caipoirinias - however this time using Saki - Japanese rice wine and passion fruit. I met Fran's brother and his wife and we all sat around drinking cocktails whilst waiting for the tortillas to bake. Unfortunately Fran's family has been going through some hard times; loosing her father a few weeks ago and her Mother breaking her back 4 months ago but tonight it wasn't apparent and we were all laughing, talking and enjoying each others company. Dinner was served and everyone was impressed and the salad was also a huge hint with my special Asian sause. Fran's mother had made Feijoada lastnight - probably the most famous Brazilian dish; dried meats and black bean spicy soup and insisted I try it. The feijoada was unlike anything I have ever eaten and put a huge smile on my face - it was just a shame I didn't have any room left for it after all the tortilla and salad - the smoked and dried meat in the feijoada was the real treat for me. For dessert we headed to Fran's very well stocked bar and sampled some of her alcohols - a lot of which were from abroad including weed vodka and pure absinthe. At around 10:30pm Fran drive us home and by this time we were all very tired. Fernanda practices Reiki and before bed she did some Reiki on me and it was a very nice and calming experience that tomorrow night I will learn more about.
OBSERVATIONS:
- Asai - delicious sweet berry native to brazil - breakfast: Asai blended with papaya, chopped banana, honey and sprinkling of granola (caloric)
- Quindim
- Feijoada
- Interlago area
- comments