My last holidays
‘Olá’ Amy, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ LE team and all the friends around the World,
My beloved readers,I feel so close to you all while blogging that it’s like I am having an intensive english course surrounded by many classmates from different backgrounds. So while Amy has a deserved rest, I’m going to write just a little bit more. When the cat is away, the mice will play. So let’s gossip ‘til Tuesday!
:-)
Please don’t worry Amy, there is no need to reply. I know you will be here on Tuesday but I just don’t want to miss out on all the opportunities to practice my writing here. I want to make hay while the sun shines.
Thanks Amy for sharing those pictures, by the way beautiful pictures, with us. I’ve noticed you’ve brought the religion issue up today. And just because you’ve told me about your holidays in Goa, I’d like to talk about my last holiday in July.
I had planned visiting Argentina and Chile, then slipping away to the South of Brazil and finally knowing São Paulo for the first time (it’s a shame I‘ve never been there) and depending on the situation of the air traffic crisis perhaps I would have gone to Pará to see the Amazon rainforest and to visit a friend there.
Firstly I was not finding tickets for Argentina and Chile ( too many people were going there in July). Then, a soft voice was telling me not to go: “Don’t go! Don’t go!”
After a short trip ‘by car’ to Domingos Martins city, at the last moment, I’ve changed my plans to take a long trip ‘by bus’ to the historical cities ( Ouro Preto, Mariana and Tiradentes) in Minas Gerais state.
Domingos Martins is a bucolic city in the hills one hour by car from here. I love this place although it’s very cold sometimes, especially at night. Every holiday I am there. I like to visit the museum there and find out incredible stories about the people from Germany who founded the city in 1847. Simple and poor people who has sold all their belongings believing in a new wonderful life here. So they spent 70 days in their travel and here they had to cope with the difficulties in a complete wild place. So they followed the banks of the Jucu river and settled down in a place with proper conditions for them ( the climate)in the hills.
We have a profound respect for the immigrants here especially because they have done a good job here. The city settled by them is a wonderful city friendly in harmony with the environment.
When I visit the museum, I feel a lot of emotion, especially when I see a small bed of a german child with her doll. There are funny things like a strange cup with a mustache-protecting device ( I’ve created this word, friends, ha ha, we have to wait for Amy to say if it’s possible). Well, I’d better show the pictures to tell the story by themselves.
I love museums. I like to know about the history of everything but to be honest, what I like most there are the forest, waterfalls, animals, walk on the stones in the middle of the river and going water rafting.
There are good hotels there. We can see from time to time, people from Canadá, USA, Australia and England. They come in group arriving in a big truck ( I don’t know the name) and stay in the camping area. They are very smart putting their tents up and making their own meal. They seem to be amazed with everything carrying their binocles and cams. It’s also common to see French but they never stay together with the others, I don’t know why.
I stayed at this quiet hotel to rest . Unfortunately at that time it was not quiet at all. There was a big party, a rave ( you can see how the rave is in the yesterday’s blog, there is a link) playing all sort of eletronic music for 24 hours. I couldn’t sleep and I’m listening the sound until today. The aim of this party was to atract young people to think about the ecology creating a good atmosphere and relationship between the environment and them. But I think the music was too loud that perhaps the all the animals might have disappeared from there after that party.
My unique option was to take the long trip ‘by bus’ to Minas Gerais. I’ve had a great time there, visiting museums and churches dotted around the cities. I’ll show some pictures. The only bad thing was the news about the accident with the airplane in São Paulo. And what if I was there?
Good night, take care, until tomorrow
Adriana
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½work:
1- contrast: when two things are completely different;
2- having said that: concluding or as mentioned;
3- a long weekend: a weelend with a holiday;
4- an eye-opener: something that broaden the horizons;
5- dotted around: localized in many parts around;
6- a congragation: a group of persons with the same religion;
7- to grow on someone: when someone likes gradually something;
8- to pine: to wish or miss or to want;
9- mouth watering: something that looks delicious so that the salivary glands produce saliva.
Comments
Hi, Adriana! It's nice to see a Brazilian posting here! I have been to Vila Velha, your home town, a couple of times. I used to live in a city in Minas Gerais upstate (I graduated from Viçosa University) and I used to spent a few weekends there with friends for some sun, sea and sand whenever I had a chance to. I have been to Domingos Martins too. Like my town, it's been settled by Germans (although I'm of Austrian, Danish and Azorean descent). It's indeed a very cosy town (can I use cosy in this context?) Just like you, I feel very linked to the sea. My maternal grandfather is a fisherman and when I was a child he used to take me out to sea with him when the weather was calm and the trip was going to be short. I used to think I would be fisherman like him when I grew up, but I turned out to become an agricultural engeneer (graduated last year!) and now I live in the the upstate, far from the sea, in the town where my father was born. I realize you have a very good English, and from what I gather, you come from an upper-middle-class background. Lucky you! I cannot afford travelling abroad, even if it's to neighbouring countries, but I would love to visit Chile too! Now that I've got this job at a farming cooperative, I hope to have saved up enough to go there with my girlfriend by next year. I particularly liked your briefing on Brazilian history for non-Brazilian readers -or Brazilian readers, for that matter- but I disagree that we'd be better off if we had been settled by the British because we wouldn't have to make any effort to learn English. If that is true on the one hand, on the other hand we wouldn't speak Portuguese, the most beautiful language in the world, don't you think?! I can speak English and German as foreign languages, but I think it's a privilege to have Portuguese as my native language. It's so rich and smooth and rhythmic and pleasant...hey, I'm getting chauvinist, aren't I? Sorry!! :-\ I don't know about you, but I'm a newbie here, having found this website by chance. It's the very first time I comment on a student's blog (had only sent in a couple of comments on the teacher's blog before). I Now that I've found it, I will try and pay a visit whenever I have the time. It's a wonderful tool for practicing our English and learning from people from all kinds of different backgrounds, isn't it? Nice meeting you, Adriana!
Hi again Adriana! Thanks for the nice pictures and introduction to Domingos Martins! In the second picture the guys look like they are swinging stuffed dolls, not real women ^^ That mug was really funny :D I wonder, reading about the German origins of the town, whether the residents speak German? Has it ever been a commonly used language at all? Bye, Judit
Hi there Adriana. I liked very much to get to know Domingos Martins and the historical cities of Minas Gerais through your eyes. You certainly are very good at describing places. You can make us feel like going there to see everything you described. I have an aint whose son has an inn in Domingos Martins. She always tells us wonderful things about the place and its restaurants and festivals. I hope I can go there some day. I have to tell you that I liked your home town very much. You're from Vitoria aren't you? I visited Vitoria for the first time three years ago. And since then I've come back every year. I loved the city. Nice talking to you again. Good day.
Dear Adri, All of us are student of language learning class but you are ahead of us. I overjoyed all those lovely pictures and greatly excited when I read your blogs. You are using your time and effort to make your writing interesting and knowledgeable to us. I can’t stop myself reading whole writing in a single sitting. Your keenness to find out history of most of the things and affection towards natural beauty and enjoying over them really appreciable. Historic background of Domingos Martins city, its location, natural beauty, climate and accommodation facilities are center of attraction for holiday package seeker. I really unpleasant to know that you could not sleep well in hotel.
Hi Adriana! Thanks for sharing your lovely pictures with us. Oh, I really would like to go to Ouro Preto and see Aleijadinho master pieces in the flesh. Fantastic! All the best, Ana Paula.
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