memories from brazil pt2.

This day, our third in Commandatuba, could be titled 'Our One Day of Perfect Weather, in a Perfect Tropical Escape". Everything about this day was perfect. The weather reached around 32 degrees celsius, and was accompanied by a cloudless sky. Around 9am, Alberto and I emerged from our room to a already prepared breakfast table. On the green cloth lay hot buttered french rolls, freshly squeezed cacau juice, plates of ham and cheese and other items I was not used to eating at breakfast (such as cookies, plain cake and chocolate biscuits).

We quickly ate our fill, put on our swimmers and shorts and drove down to the jetty, where a boat was waiting to take people across the lake to a beach on the other side. Alberto and I sat on the small wooden boat, and made friends with some Portuguese tourists as our legs soaked up the sun. After arriving on the other side of the lake, I was astounded, as it felt I was standing on the front of one of those 'Tropical Paradise' postcards. This is what I pictured Brazil to be.

This is what I was waiting for. Thousands of palm trees broke the suns rays into millions of dancing shadows on the sand under our feet. Beautifully coloured umbrellas belonging to the beach restaurant stood before us, just infront of a white sand beach with rolling light blue, almost transparent, waves crashing on the shore. The beach stretched for miles and miles, there was no way we could walk the entire length. No crowds, no noise, just the calming sounds of the waves crashing on the shore. Alberto ordered a plate of fried fish and two glasses of juice for our lunch, and hearing that it would take around 45 minutes to cook, we decided this was the perfect time to take a dip in the water. After hearing so much from Alberto how the water was incredibly warm in Brazil, I was actually surprised to find out that infact that was true. Coming from the cool - sometimes freezing - waves of Bondi Beach, I could have never imagined warm sea water possible.

We strolled along the endless white sand, diving into the water now and then to cool off, taking pictures of ourselves with my chunky underwater disposable camera while crabs danced side-ways across the beach, so many of them, and made their homes beneath the sand. We sat down to eat, a perfect view in front of us, and tasted beautifully cooked white fish, and an unusual yet lovely fresh juice. Wanting to linger a little longer on the beach, we realised that the boat was here to take us back to Luiz's place.

The sun scorched our necks as we walked through the small village that was Commandatuba, stopping in tourist shops to buy gifts for the family, and past the beautiful old church that stood alone and proud in the centre of the quadrangle. Throughout the afternoon, we slowly turned red and smothered ourselves with cooling aloe vera gel. With Rene and Carol we swam in Luiz's pool for hours, and afterwards were treated to a performance where they sung for us on the porch. We ate churrassco for lunch, and left over pizza for dinner, and spent the night watching Brazilian 'Novelas' (soap operas),
and strangely I found myself understanding more than I gave myself credit for.