Well, I'm now in Paraty (no not, Party, but Paraty). I'd have to say it is a great dissapointment, after all I've heard, but I guess when you compare any touristy city to an MST settlement, where in just 5 days you've made very good friends, it's bound to pale by comparison. So before I show off Paraty's charm, a handful of parting shots from the 25th of March school, and the Conquista and Vitoria settlement.

The first is a shot of from left to right, your's truly, Matheus, Ana Flavia, Ana Claudia, Veronica, and Naira. Ana Flavia and Ana Claudia are Matheus and Naira's daughters (hope on school holidays) and so it was a full and happy house. In my time staying with Matheus and family we had some truly wonderful family meals. Not just the quality of the cuisine, for Matheus is one who absolutely relishes in the culinary arts, but in the closeness within the family, and how welcome they made me, whether at the inside dinner table...






or the outside dinner table... (I like this picture especially because it captures something linguistically that is quintessentially Brazilian-the unimicable ability to talk with one's hands- absolutely unbelievable, especially the strange and unreproducable finger snapping they do for emphasis)





or around the BBQ pit! BBQ, or as it is known in Brasil, Churrasco, is a tradition that makes the American grilling of burgers look like child's play. The meal we had with Jaimie and his family (Jaimie and his son Adriel (sp?) are pictured here). I don't know the quantity of pig that was grilled over the embers that cold morning, but I know that I was absolutely catatonic after the thanksgiving-like spread that we had for a late lunch (complete with Pancakes rolled over and filled with seasoned ground beef, and local pine nut "Farofa" (like stuffing) not to mention the innumerable gourds of mate (pronounced mat-ay) that is a traditional gaucho (cowboy) drink in South America (and one can see Matheus drinking).





Plenty of wonderful wonderful moments, such as the post-feast catatonic state in which I found myself playing mandolin on the veranda in the sun (one can only appreciate the pleasure of this after several days of cold rain) while Naira and Jaimie's wife (?) knitted up a storm.




It was very interesting to visit Jaimie's farm; no, not just because of my initiation into the art of southern Brazilian churrasco (mind you I'm a veteran of the northern Brazilian variety-see blog posts of several moons ago), but also to tour Jaimie's land, as he has been settled here for 25 years now. What was especially interesting for me to see was the forms that "agroecology" takes: for example, Jaimie found that one of the country's largest juice processors was located nearby, and was able to make use of refuse.....



by feeding the orange rinds that the plant had left after squeezing to his cows! Now that's what I call recycling!





and as always a parting shot. Now this is what I call a realistic picture...no it's not a picture of the landscape that hangs in their kitchen, but rather a look through the giant swinging shutter window into the "backyard" where Matheus has an ambitious mandala project planned....to learn more about it




you'll need to come to the 25th of March school, and meet a man who is proud of his dirt...and proud he should be, but not just of his dirt, but of the school that he and Naira have transformed, as well as the lives of students, such as Adriel (Jaimie's son-from the BBQ photo), who have come back to teach at the school after getting a university degree in agroecology ...now THAT is what I call recycling at it's best.