Our first visitor to Rua Pedroso Alvarenga, 793-- Victor, One of Fred's closest friends

Running Team to Suspension Class to Yoga Flow- So much activity in one week

Fred's cousin, Roberta and her husband, Jullian, are triathletes and I recently met them at Christmas party.  I mentioned to them that I love running and they instantly invited me to join their running group.  In Sao Paulo, very similar to NYC, runners join a running team depending on what they are training for-- the only difference is that it costs money in Sao Paulo.  It's an addition above what you pay to go to the gym, but for me it's great.  I've met tons of new people, one of which is from NYC, and we meet on Mondays and Wednesdays at 7am.  The coach is there ready with our training schedule for the morning-- Intense.  I should be in good shape soon enough...Ibirapuera is a beautiful park, quite a bit smaller than Central Park, but it's an amazing place to run- lots of trees, great paths.  One step closer to being like a Paulista (name for people that reside in Sao Paulo).

Recently I joined Pele Gym where I discovered the most amazing class, Suspension.  It's a series of exercises that cause extreme muscle burn, because it involves the resistance of your own body weight.  I can barely walk today and I took class on Wednesday-- really awesome for someone that wants to be toned and not overly muscular.

My first yoga class with my two American girlfriends, Lesley and Julia.  What a great experience- talk about stress relief.  This might become my new way to relax and to lower my blood pressure.  Gorgeous facility with  windows looking out to tons of vegetation..quite different in comparison to a yoga class in an NYC building.  Very peaceful I would say, and people just don't seem to be in a hurry here...

Homemade Pizza...a special tradition at the beach

Fred's sister is married to Pedro Martins, whose family is in the business of making and distributing flour.  Pedro's dad, Luiz Martins, has a fire-brick oven at his beach house where we stayed for the New Year.  On a recent trip to Italy, he and his wife had tried some delicious pizza, and after speaking with owner of the restaurant they discovered it was a mixture of different flours to make the delicious crust.  So...Luiz decided this year to try it the Italian way, using several different flours.  The pizzas were amazing- thin and crispy with delicious toppings.  I took tons of pictures to capture the event.

More Pictures from New Years 2012 at Barra do Sahy

 Fred and Pedro (Fred Brother-in-law)

 Fred and his Dad

                                                               

 Giant Pannatone, muito popular during the holidays in Brazil

 New Year's Eve Dinner

 The Beautiful Turkey

 The girls, all dressed in white and ready for 2012

 Party time!!!!!

It's Confirmed....Easter Island for our vacation in January

Easter Island is the world's most isolated inhabited island. It is also one of the most mysterious. Easter Island is roughly midway between Chile and Tahiti. The triangular shaped island is made mostly of volcanic rock. Small coral formations exist along the shoreline, but the lack of a coral reef has allowed the sea to cut cliffs around much of the island. The coastline has many lava tubes and volcanic caves. The only sandy beaches are on the northeast coast.


This should be a really interesting trip...tons of hiking, biking, exploring, and even some sun-tanning.  Fred and I are flying to Santiago Chile, where we will spend two days, and then we will fly on to Easter Island.  More photos to come after our trip....

The picture below is a view of our hotel, Hanga Roa Eco Village...brand new to the island

The Moai are monolithic human figures carved from rock- apparently there are 887 of them on the island

Feliz Ano Novo...New Year's in Brazil, a special experience

This New Year was definitely something special.  I left last Tuesday, December 27th for Barra do Sahy, which is a beautiful beach around 2 hours from Sao Paulo, without traffic.  Fred was working all week, so I made the trip with his parents.  Gazu (Fred's sister, it's her nickname), is married to Pedro, and Pedro's family has an unbelievable home on the beach.  Pedro's father and stepmother graciously invited Fred and I to join them for the New Year.  First I'll show you pictures of the house and the beach.....absolutely gorgeous, then I will show you everything else...

Of course I took tons of pictures of Joaquim, Fred's little nephew...sooo cute

Christmas in Sao Roque....More food than I could handle

Every year Fred's immediately family, including his first cousins, celebrate Christmas in a small country town outside of Sao Paulo called Sao Roque.  They have a beautiful home with a great yard for the dogs, as well as a vegetable garden.

Fred and I arrived on Saturday the 24th, which for Brazilians is the big day to celebrate Christmas.  They have a big dinner around 10pm, and then everyone opens gifts at midnight.  In Brazil, Santa, known here as Papa Noel, arrives on the night of the 24th.  The kids wait to hear a bell, which tells them Santa has arrived.  They run frantically around the house looking for Santa, while the parents bring the gifts out.  It's somewhat different in Brazil, because the gift part isn't as elaborate as it is in the US.  I remember as a kid coming down the stairs to 100 presents- games, clothes, animals sometimes, a new stereo, a new car, but here the kids receive a few nice gifts- a new pair of shoes, new clothes, maybe a board game, but nothing as extravagant as I remember as a child.  For the adults, Secret Santa is a very common way to exchange gifts.  Every family member shops for one person.  This year I coincidentally pulled Fred's name from the basket, which was nice, because I had an idea of what to get him.  After the Secret Santa, more gifts are exchanged, because everyone ends up buying gifts for everyone in the end.  Christmas Eve is a night of food, family, and lots of joking around.  Fred, his cousins, and his brother-in-law constantly pick on one another, which provides humor for the rest of us.