Big Countryside Churrasco & Veranópolis Game

Today we went farther into the countryside or "interior" to where Nana grew up for a gigantic community Churrasco lunch. It is an annual tradition with southern, countryside Brazilians to have Mass and then lunch all together. Everyone from all around the interior was there. We drove about 20 minutes down a small, windy road surrounded by the beautiful Brazilian landscape. It was very hot and sunny today. We got to the lunch hall which was built where Nana's school used to be. It is a big brick building next to a small church.

Mass had just gotten out and there were a lot of people standing around and talking. Then we met up with our family members and got our throats blessed. It sounds funny and random but it's a serious blessing. Everyone lines up and one by one walks into the church where there are about 3 women holding two candles each. Then she crosses the candles across your neck like she's gonna cut your head off with a gigantic set of scissors, recites a prayer in portuguese and that's it. I'm happy I got blessed, hopefully this will eliminate my sore throat woes.

After that we entered the lunch hall. To go inside the lunch hall you have to pass by the most gigantic churrasco pit I have ever seen. It is literally about 100 feet long and it was filled with meat. To about every 10 spits there was a gigantic, red, sweaty, southern Brazilian man, also known as Gaúcho, tending to the meat. It was already hot today but standing next to the churrasco pit the heat was unbearable.

We walked into the lunch hall and it was full of people. We found our seats and waited to be served. The first thing that came by was bottles of Guaraná, which is a tropical fruit flavored soda, and a platter of pastelzinho and canudo. Pastelzinho is a little fried snack filled with meat or cheese or whatever. It's like a small calzone. Canudo is something that I had never had before, it is a cone, sort of like an ice cream cone only thinner, and is filled with sweet cream or orange cream. Then later came a traditional soup called "sopa de capeleti" which is a lot like dumpling soup. It has broth and little ravioli things with filling. Finally came the churrasco meat which was delicious as always. Since this was a traditional gathering the churrasco was cooked on wooden spits instead of metal ones. The men come through serving each person at a time. They let you choose what part of the meat you want and they cut it off right in front of you. It's not very formal but it keeps the meat very fresh, moist, and flavorful.

We finished eating, chatted for a while with the family, had desert, and left.

Then we drove to the house where Nana grew up. No one lives there now but it looks like it was a nice place to live. It is surrounded by trees and nature, away from the road.

Then we went to a nearby river where people can go to have churrascos, hang out, and swim. They built a small wall in the river to make it more like a pool. Paulo and Nana used to go there to swim when they were kids, before there was the club to swim at.

Then we went a little ways up the river to see a bridge that Paulo's grandfather, Ricardo Capponi, built. It's still safe to drive across even though there is a newly built, bigger bridge that everyone uses now. Next to the bridge there is a small spout where water that filters through the earth comes out extremely clear and clean. Paulo says it has been there since he was a kid. We drank some water and then I showed them how to play "pooh sticks" which was funny.

Later Grêmio played another round in the Gauchão, which is our state's tournament, and won 5-1. After that our own home town team of Veranópolis played their game in this round of the Gauchão but saddly they lost 1-0. It was still cool to go to the stadium and see the game even though it was drizzling. There were probably about four to five hundred people there, and there was even a "torcida" with guys singing, waving flags and flares, and jumping up and down.

Our cousin Samuel has his own radio show and was up in his booth commenting the whole game. It's amazing to me how a town of 20,000 people (a little bigger than Centralia) has it's own professional soccer team and stadium and everything. That's Brazil. Next week Veranópolis actually plays Grêmio at home. That's going to be an interesting game because people here will have to choose between rooting for their beloved Grêmio or their home town team. Guto says he won't cheer for either, he's just gonna sit and stay quiet. Now I am watching the good old American Superbowl after a day filled with Brazilian tradition and soccer. It's nice.