sete barras
Still recovering from the jet lag, but was too excited to wait on this post. In mid-February, I traveled to the interior of São Paulo. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but my 2012 study abroad program to Salvador, Brasil prepared me for the adventure of it all.
After a 10-hour, red-eye flight to Sao Paulo, we swiftly made it through customs, the Department of Agriculture for Pipoca’s vet inspection (learn more about getting her travel-ready in my next blog), snagged our bags, downloaded an eSIM for phone data (shoutout Holafly), and found the rental car shuttle pick-up location.
I didn’t think one of my life goals would be driving a stick shift in as many countries as possible, but here we are. I can now add Sao Paulo (the 5th largest city in the world, 22.6 million people) to my list!
After a minor meltdown while navigating early morning traffic, we found a store that sold phone chargers so we could charge my phone and keep using GPS to crawl our way out of this massive city and start the 4-hour journey to Sete Barras. Plus we stopped for roadside coffee and my first pastel (savory item, think stuffed sopapilla for my fellow New Mexicans).
The mountains, blue sky, clouds, and greenery caught my eye. It was SO different from anything I recall ever seeing: the mountains, the lush rainforest, and massive trucks cutting me off. Renan got used to the frequent requests to take a photo or video. Now, these photos serve a purpose.
After four hours of “ooooo look how green,” “oh my gosh the views,” “what the f*** are these trucks doing,” several espressos and 233.5 kilometers, we arrived in Vila Soares — Renan’s city.
We immediately parked and ran over to Grandma’s house. Avo is 98 years old (almost 99 in early April, go Aries), she’s super quick and fully present. She recognized Renan as he got closer and started praying in gratitude for his safe return home.
Brasilians are genuinely the warmest of people. They open up their homes to you, feed you endlessly, and look after how you’re feeling. Plus, they’re just so joyous. They love to connect and talk, eat good food, commiserate about the heat, listen to music, dance, and sing. My experience with Renan’s family was no different. While I pride myself on my Portuguese abilities, I was nervous about making a good impression and speaking the language well enough to convey my personality.
Thankfully, food and my love of spice helped me connect with his dad and aunts. Everyone was excited at my exclamation, “Renan falei que voce gosta de pimenta tambem. Eu adoro pimenta.” Jars were gathered, and his aunts and dad looked on in horror as I snagged a whole pepper and went for my mouth. Thankfully, my spice tolerance held up, there was definitely some heat in this Minas Gerais pepper —- but sooooo good. We all laughed, and everyone quickly realized my love of food, trying new things, and sharing in a laugh.
The next three weeks looked a lot like the first day — surrounded by love, laughter, delicious food (his mom can cook), experimenting with new food and homegrown veggies/fruits (and Renan enjoying his favorites), making New Mexican food for his family (fajitas twice in one day), getting to know where he grew up and exploring the surrounding cities. Plus, we explored other cities, celebrated Carnaval, and went to the beach and mountains!
A portion of Renan’s 11 aunts and uncles live in the same area, and elements of this reminded me of growing up on my grandparents’ family land in Tesuque, New Mexico, with everyone being super close by. Cousins were popping by to catch up, enjoying a big Sunday lunch together, cuddling up with puppies, riding bikes into town for açai, organizing a birthday celebration for his dad, and working on home projects together.
15 minutes from Renan’s home, legit in the jungle. This was my one freakout moment when a bee was following me, and I took off running and screaming. People, in all fairness, I still have never been stung, and I don’t want to find out if I’m allergic.
I didn’t know it then, but on day four, we were ready for another trip and adventure. We took his mom to the nearby state (Parana) and stayed with his aunt for a few days in Curitiba. It was adorable to see their relationship, see where Renan first moved out of his hometown, met his cousin and their family, visited the restaurant he worked in, shop in the municipal market, explored the massive regional agriculture market (to buy five trees for his dad’s bday present), visited his childhood friend in their awesome pousada, and felt a big major city. I was obsessed with the greenery here too.
This was my moment to shine and get to know another major Brasilian city, PLUS meet some capybaras at Parque Barigui. Pipoca couldn’t believe her eyes, and Renan was horrified by my desire to touch them (don’t listen to the internet). You’re welcome, Mom. He kept me a safe distance away from these massive rodents.
For Carnaval we stayed local and experienced the interior’s celebrations in Sete Barras and Iguape! Sete Barras was a small and lively celebration for this town of 12,000+ people (feels like 2,000).
Then we drove 1.5 hours to Iguape to feel the music and blocos of the “best Carnavale in the Vale.” It is a precious fisherman town, looks and feels quite similar to Portugal with the architecture, plaza, and bridges. A massive plus was the SEA BREEZE, which was an incredible break from the 85+ degree weather and heat wave (felt like 100 most days says Weather.com).
It was so nice in Iguape, we ended up coming back for a few days. Renan biked the 95 (x2) kilometers there AND back! Pipoca was obsessed with the beach, meeting some caramelos, and appreciated all of the fresh seafood!
Do you remember the mythical city of Eldorado? The “Road to El Dorado” on Disney, released in 2000? Well, I was obsessed with my little brother because there is an El Dorado in New Mexico close to us….
Annnnd so I had to go check out the nearby town to see it in real life. In the past, this was a huge gold mining area. But it turned out to be a super teeny tiny town with not much to see. It wasn’t for nothing though, because I was obsessed with the banana fields, even though I despise bananas….
I always find things to fill my time; it's a superpower and can be my greatest downfall.
It was glorious to slow down on this trip, dive into nature, lean into my curiosity, try out new foods, explore new roads with no idea of the destination, get to know new people, practice another language, share delicious meals, spend time in community, especially during a churrasco, and so much more!
These three weeks were super transformative for me, speaking almost exclusively in Portuguese, and having legitimate downtime. While it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows — there were meltdowns, struggles with the heat, and being eaten alive (truly) by mosquitoes — I wouldn’t have changed anything about our time in Sete Barras.
It was magical to get to know Renan’s city, spend time with his family, see him in his element surrounded by the love of his family, work on some household projects, work remotely, explore a new area of Brasil, and more. We will definitely be back soon enough!
