Saturday, December 5, 2015

WEEKEND GETAWAYS: CAMPOS DO JORDAO & UBA TUBA

We had a lot of holidays in Thanksgiving this year. I think we only had 15 contact days with the students.  You won't hear us complaining.  We used the time to get out of town for a bit.  The first weekend we headed to Campos do Jordao, a quaint little town in the mountains. It is known for its delicious cheese, beer, chocolate, and meat.  Again, we aren't complaining. 



We spent the day walking around the decorated town and stopping along our favorite places to eat.  When we were tired of walking we headed back to our hotel and grabbed a nap. Then we ventured back out in the amazing fall weather and went to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in all of Brazil, Libertango.  It is a family run restaurant, the dad grills, mom cooks, and the two brothers run the front of the restaurant.  We went years ago and alway suggest it to friends going to Campos.  We hadn't been in a long time and they still remembered us.  We had some good laughs and Tae even fell asleep at the restaurant so we could enjoy a meal without taking turns holding him. 




What made the trip even better was it was decorated for Christmas.  It put me in the best mood and of course I had to stop and get a million pictures of Tae in front of anything Christmasy. We also got to wear our warm clothes, even though in reality we probably didn't need to bundle up it was still fun.




The next weekend was Thanksgiving and we headed off to a beach town about 4 hours aways, Uba Tuba.  Our dear friends from Brasilia came and we had the best weekend. It was so fun to catch up with them, laugh, eat, and enjoy the beautiful rental house.  Tae finally got to go in the ocean, since the last two beach trips were a bust because of the weather.  He loved the water, although he didn't make it known with his stoic face and calm demeanor.  He wasn't crying, so in my book he loved it.  He did really love the sand and kept moving his little feet and hands in it.  






This weekend was just what I needed, a chance to be with loved ones because I couldn't be with my family back home.  Kristi and Yakshi (and Jonathan the new addition) are just amazing people.  We spent hours laughing and talking. Tae was able to just chill with us and of course we ate and ate.  The house was so wonderful and right on the ocean.  It made it easy with Tae, we didn't have to lug a bunch of stuff because we could just run back if we needed to.  Jess organized everything, he did a great job.  I don't tell him enough how grateful I am for him taking care of the little things, but man we wouldn't get to do all the fun stuff we do without his organization and planning. 





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