weekend away

Last weekend started with a showing of Hamlet in Portuguese. I went with the roomies, our teacher friend John and a couple of his students. The play was a little bit difficult to follow but manageable. The direction was so impressive that I didn't find myself disinterested at any time.

The play ended way past my bedtime, but after John's wife picked us up everyone decided they were hungry so we stopped to get something to eat. Upon arriving at John's house at 4 in the morning, I promptly passed out.

When I woke up and could get a better sense of my surroundings, I could see we were in a little oasis surrounded 3 sides by jungle. The view from his house was gorgeous. There were mountains and large hills nearby with teeny houses creeping up the side of them. There's something very different about the lifestyle in Brazilian countryside. Despite being slightly secluded, there were a number of small bars and eateries scattered around the area. It was common to see people walking along the side of the road and we even saw a few people riding horses. I almost felt like I was stepping back in time.

The weekend was spent exploring the area, shopping at some local quirky shops and doing a lot of talking. John and his wife are both fantastic at making conversation and we ended up talking for hours on quite a few occasions. Their hospitality blew me away. They allowed us to stay in their beautiful house, fed us delicious food and drove us around to see everything in the area. So grateful.

And now, here are some pictures of their house, also known as my dream house. Enjoy.