Doce vida Californiana: August 2009

Pico do Jaragua - Jaragua Peak

Nataly conversa com amigos num bar as 5 da manha:

Nataly: "Vamos no Pico do Jaragua amanha?"

Amigos: "Pico do Jaragua? Fazer o que no Pico do Jaragua? Ta louca"

Amigo 2: "Vamos.. o se vamos..."

No dia seguinte ninguem queria ir ("Ah fiquei esperando voce me ligar poxa") mas meu pai me levou la. Sempre quis ir no Pico! Nao sei bem porque, as pessoas que moram em Sao Paulo nao se interessam muito em ir ao Pico. Tudo bem que fica longe de tudo e que nao e tao facil assim de chegar la. Provavelmente nem 10% das pessoas que moram em SP ja foram ate la.

Nataly and friends are still sitting at a bar at 5 am.

Nataly: "We should go to Jaragua peak tomorrow"
Friends: "Jaragua Peak? What are you going to do at Jaragua Peak? Are you Crazy?"
Friend 2 with a sarcastic voice: "Of Course we are going to go to Jaragua peak"...

On the next day no one wanted to go. "We waited for you to call us".. well my dad took me there after some convincing. I always wanted to go to Jaragua peak, the highest place in the city of Sao Paulo. For some reason the residents of Sao Paulo are not too excited about going there and I guarantee that if you asked around, not even 10% of the residents have been there. Okay, it is a little far from everything and it is not that easy to get there but the view is pretty cool.

The sign says: Jaragua State Park - the highest place in Sao Paulo. Average temp: 68ºF. Average altitude: 2952 feet (900 m) and highest point 3723 feet (1135 m). Average rain 60inches/year - 2 seasons: dry winter and wet summer.

Vista do meu predio em Sao Paulo - from my building

Para copiar uma foto que a minha amiga Regia tirou...

A "copy" of the picture my friend Regia took of Rio

A Melancia - Hotel Unique - Watermellon

Vista do Parque do Ibirapuera
View of Ibirapuera park

Avenida Paulista - avenue

Factory - "Farm"

Recipress

Dinda Leila - fez a coleta dos ovos caipiras! Ela atormentou as galinhas viu... meu Deus!
My aunt Leila collected the eggs from the Recipress chickens. She wouldn't leave unless they gave her some eggs! hahaha

Tudo que se planta em Vassouras nasce
Everything you plant in the city of Vassouras, grows. The soil is extremely rich.

Zeus - o novo cachorrinho da familia
Zeus - the new family dog

Zeus e Gaya

Era uma vez - Once upon a time

Na ultima vez que visitei a minha avo, nos olhamos umas fotos antigas. Eu escolhi umas pra colocar aqui.

Last time I visited my grandma we looked at some old school pictures.. I chose a few to put here.

Minha mae nasceu numa cidade no interior do Rio de Janeiro chamada Sardoal. Essa era a casa onde ela nasceu e morou quando pequena. Infelizmente eu nunca fui la.
My mom was born in a very small town in the country side of the Rio de Janeiro state. The city was called Sardoal. This is the house where she was born and raised. Unfortunately I have never been there.

Minha tia Vilma e minha mae com as bonequinhas
My aunt Vilma and my mom

Minha avo contou que todos os anos um cara la de Sardoal (dono do caminhao) levava umas 20 pessoas ate a cidade de Aparecida para a peregrinacao de Nossa Senhora de Aparecida.
My grandma told me that every year the owner of this truck took 20 some people to the city of Aparecida (400 miles away) to celebrate the day of Our Lady of Aparecida.

Meus pais se conheceram no colegio. Essa e a foto de formatura deles do Colegial.
My parents met in junior high. This is their picture from High School graduation.

Petropolis - visiting Grandma

Va pra la! Eu nao sei da onde saiu essa minha fascinacao por placas ultimamente.

Go that way - I am not sure where is my fascination with street signs coming from.

Serra do Parque Nacional do Itatiaia - a gente passa por la todas as vezes que vamos pro Rio e eu nunca tinha reparado o quao altas sao essas montanhas.
Tall mountains in Brazil - near Itatiaia National Park. We drive by everytime we go to Rio and I had never noticed how tall those mountains are.

A melhor co-pilota! - The best co-pilot

Attention: Wild Animals crossing - cute monkey!!

Petropolis Mountains

O hotel Quitandinha - hoje esse predio e um hotel/casa/teatro e centro cultural de Petropolis. Antigamente o Quitandinha era um casino. Com o nevoeiro, parece mal assombrado.
Hotel Quintandinha - This building is now a hotel/housing/theater in Petropolis where my grandma lives. It used to be a casino back in the days.. The fog makes it look spooky!

Essa e a casa de Santos Dumont - pai da aviacao. Reparem nos degraus da casa dele. O cara era muito superticioso. Tao superticioso que ele deu um jeito de fazer com que as pessoas so entrassem na casa dele com o pe direito - so dava pra subir a escada desse jeito!
This is the house of Santos Dumont - the first man to fly a true airplane (That's right Americans.. it was not the Wright Brothers as you might think! Read about Santos Dumont here). Take a look at his staircase. He had lots of superstitions and he designed his staircase in a way that one could only enter his house with the right foot.

Family at my Grandma's - Juliana (cousin), Grandma, my dad, my mom, aunt Vilma with the dog, aunt Dilma and Leila in black, Grandma Maria, my uncle and me.

Com quem eu pareco mais? Mae ou Pai?
Who do I resemble? Mom or Dad?

Juliana and I

A gente sempre toma um lanchinho na casa da vovo. Nao importa a hora do dia.
We always have coffee and bread at my grandma's regardless of what time of the day that is.

A xicara da heranca - Minha avo tem um conjuntinho de xicaras da idade da pedra. Porem, essas xicaras tem a borda bem fininha, tao fina quanto a casca de um ovo. Minha mae e o meu tio "brigam" pra tomar cafe nessas xicaras. Eles tambem "brigam" pra ver quem vai ficar com essas xicaras quando a minha avo morrer.. hhahaha que horror.
Who's inheriting the coffee cups? - My grandma has 3 coffee cups that are very important to my uncle and to my mom. Those cups are very fragile - eggshell thin - and according to my mom, they make coffee taste even better! My mom and my uncle joke around and "fight" over the coffee cups. As they say, my grandma should write on her will who is getting the cups once she dies..