Sunday, Sunday

Sunday was another much-needed low key day. But, there were opportunities to experience Brazilian culture and entertainment.

The group ate at a churrascaria (think of it as a Brazilian barbecue) and enjoyed the experience. It's one of the must-do's if you visit Brazil. Grilled meats and other items are brought to your table and carved by the waiters for you.

Part of the group visited a farm on the outskirts of Ipatinga and saw a wide variety of fruit trees - including cashew, coffee beans, limes, tangerines - live parrots, a beautiful church and breathtaking views of the surrounding hill country. 

The other half of the group watched Brazil play France in "futebol" - that's soccer to all the Americans out there reading the blog. Soccer is a national obsession in Brazil - even more so than baseball or American football in the U.S. It's especially exciting in Brazil at the moment because Rio de Janeiro will be the host city for the World Cup in 2014. Aside from maybe the Olympics, the World Cup is the most popular single sporting event worldwide. Some of the cities we will visit during this trip will host games and activities for World Cup in 2014, and the preparations already are underway. For example, much of the road construction we saw in Belo Horizonte was directly related to World Cup preparations.

We start another busy week early Monday morning. More updates to come.