Yellow and Green Caipirinhas

16 March 2012

Friday night - it was looking to be a quiet one and I was getting ready for an evening spent reading in bed, when I received a call from a friend to go out for drinks.  So off I went, bringing another teacher with me, to a bar called Santa Fe, where we met up with my friend and her (Brazilian) English teacher from another school.  Yes, I was fraternizing with the competition!

It was the first time I'd been upstairs, and I was glad that I did because there was live music.  A male guitarist/singer and a female singer performed many songs I remembered from the 80's... sort of a warm-up for tomorrow night's event, but I'm getting ahead of myself now.

We had a good time and tried new and exciting flavors of caipirinhas in Brazilian flag colors - maracuja (passionfruit) and kiwi.

Free Concert: Nenhum de Nós

15 March 2012

I was invited by a friend (thank you!!!!) to go to a free concert at the local university campus (UNISC), featuring a prominent band from this region called Nenhum de Nós - I guess you could call it "gaúcho rock" because it was popular music with just a hint of redneck in the accompaniment: banjo, accordion, and acoustic guitar.  The accordionist even wore one of those flat black Zorro-style cowboy hats.

The crowd, mostly university students, was very enthusiastic - unfortunately the venue was just a food court so it was spilling outside the area and difficult to see.  I wish I had been standing where some of these photos were taken instead of peering over people's heads - although I suppose it was cooler on the outside.

This photo is from the band's official site.

I think that this photo was taken by a photographer from the university, since they were up on the roof of the concession buildings.  After the concert, I found out that not only had many of my friends attended the show (I didn't encounter a single one), one of them was even responsible for the "Free Hugs" sign in the middle.

 These were taken by a friend and are much closer to the stage than off to the side where I was standing.

Ironically, one of the band's most popular songs is a cover of David Bowie's "Starman" and they performed it as an encore.  Later at home I watched David Bowie perform it on YouTube... I had somehow managed to erase from my mind the freaky and embarrassing things people wore in the 70's, but now they are burned onto my retinas.

Day 4: Parque das Aves

25 February 2012

Very near the entrance to the national park where the waterfalls are, and often overlooked, is the Parque das Aves or bird park.  It was not on our itinerary, but when we saw the signs for it, we made arrangements to go.  It was time very well spent - in fact, we wished the tour guide had allowed us more time here as we had just about 90 minutes and didn't get to every exhibit in the park.

 There were parrots in a wide variety of colors, very beautiful.

 This one had feathers that reminded me of an eagle.

 This guy was hanging out where the people were, but in the background, the others were playing on a hanging perch together.  It was really cute.

Closer view of the birds playing. 

 Some very sweet macaws getting some lovin'. 

No idea what bird this is. Looks like Thanksgiving to me!

In one of the large aviaries, I saw my first toucan!  (and second, and third, and...

I have some videos to upload from this aviary too.
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 Between the exhibits the park was like a rainforest.

 The harpy eagle is one of the biggest in the world.

 I only got to see it from a distance, but it looked like it would be about a meter tall!  Wow!

How handsome...

 Actually, despite that hideous poster, he spread his wings just as we got there and was really quite beautiful. There was also a "chick" in the cage with half down and half feathers... bigger than a full grown chicken!

 Inside the butterfly and hummingbird house.  This butterfly was as big as my whole hand, and the inner side of the wings iridescent blue.

 There was a large macaw aviary that we could walk through.

I was unable to get a good photo of the birds in flight, but they are absolutely stunning.  In this enclosure they would fly past so close that sometimes the feathers would brush my skin.

I am laughing here because as soon as this guy was put on me he quickly started running up my arm. After sweeing those others biting through wood chips for fun, I was a little concerned that he might be going for my ear.

 Brazil is famed for gemstones, and in the gift shop were these amazing birds carved of semiprecious stones.