A Day at the Beach

The weather could not have been better for our excursion to the beach. Fernando, who works for the parent company and will soon relocate to Louisville, volunteered to be our guide for the day. His wife, Anna who is 8 months pregnant, also came along. Fernando and Anna picked the three of us up at the hotel just after 8:00 a.m. for the two hour ride to the beach.

Just after we drove past São Paulo, we stopped at a rest stop similar to those we have in the States on toll roads. It had a gas station and a restaurant, and most importantly, a restroom (remember, Anna is 8 months pregnant). This restaurant was a Frango Assada (roasted chicken) and they are all over. The one unusual aspect of each of these rest stops is that as you go in the entrance door, someone hands you a bar coded card. You can visit the restaurant or shop or use the bathroom. No money is collected until you exit and then the cashier will take your bar coded card and if you ate at the restaurant, for example, that charge would be on the card. You then pay. Only the cashier at the exit (saída) door takes money. That certainly sounds a lot more sanitary than someone cooking or serving also handling currency.

São Paulo and points inland are actually in the mountains and the mountains go right down to the seashore. As we drove out of São Paulo, we descended rapidly. The highway Fernando chose was not the fastest but one with great views. It was also the highway the trucks are to use so we saw the runaway truck lanes (caminhões área de escape) and many switchbacks.

Fernando drove us to his parent's condo, right on the beach at Guarujá with spectacular views of the ocean, islands, cargo ships, and of course the beach. We relaxed for a while, enjoying the view and occasionally David, Rena & Fernando talking some "shop talk" and then we went to the beach.

None of us put on a swim suit although I did put on my swim suit tank. Fernando had already arranged for beach chairs to be waiting for us so we kicked off our shoes at the chairs and walked in the surf. The water was very warm on our feet. We walked the entire length of the beach with Fernando and Anna always giving us a little info here and there. As we started our walk back, Fernando stopped at a vendor selling coconut water and ordered each of us a coconut opened (with a machete) and with straws. I'm sure we won't forget that drink. Later when we got back to our chairs, Fernando sent for milho (corn) and we ate corn on the cob, served in the shucks, as we watched a few people play a game of keep the ball in the air (best as I can describe). No one actually wins as both or all three or all four players just hit the ball back in forth with a paddle. Ferndando says the ball is like a racket ball so there is a real incentive not to get hit by the ball.

One thing we did notice about the beach is there are all kinds, shapes, and ages of people and mostly none of them are self-conscious of showing their bodies. David was starting to feel sorry those for those poor girls that couldn't afford an entire bathing suit. We saw some extremely good looking people also in the skimpy suits and if I can I will try to "PhotoShop" my head onto one of those bodies when we get home.

After our time at the beach and a little more rest at the condo, Fernando drove us to a restaurant. We let Fernando know what we liked and we all agreed on shrimp so he ordered a Hungarian shrimp dish and a garlic shrimp dish. This was all served family style. The three dishes of shrimp was almost too much for the five of us to eat. The garlic shrimp were gigantic; maybe as much as six inches long. And the Hungarian shrimp was simply delicious. We all agreed it was probably the best shrimp we had ever eaten.

Next we drove around the town of Guarujá. Fernando took us up a mountain road with views of the city and the ocean. He also drove us through a gated community. He had to stop at the guard station to identify himself via a driver's license. This place was unbelievable. These are the types of houses you would see in "Architecture Digest." The houses are huge with lots of glass but not a one of them had a view. Go figure. Also, the sign just before the guard station let everyone know that the administrators were "always in defense of well being and of our paradise."

Next it was a stop at the public beach for shopping and something Anna had been looking forward to all day - Acaí (ah-sah-EE). There is no direct English translation because it is an Amazonian fruit. It is served as a pulp and has the texture of yogurt and with sliced bananas and granola. It is extremely rich and filling. I did notice on the granola that the package contained 14% of the daily fiber requirements and since it is made entirely from fruit, we convinced ourselves it was healthy. :)

About the shopping - - I had assumed from what I had read earlier that clothing and shoes would be cheap in Brazil. That is far from the case. As we were strolling through the mini-Mall by the public beach, I noticed a pair of Adias for about R$39.90. I said "that's not bad" but Anna pointed to the sign and showed me that above the $R39.90 was a 10x so the shoes were about R$390.00 or roughly US$200.00 and the 10x means the store will finance the purchase for you. Rena had been shopping on Saturday with friends and noticed small appliances like microwaves that we can get in the U.S. for about $70.00 would cost a Brazilian about what those above mentioned Adias cost. To top all of that, wages are extremely meager here. About the only staple that is cheap is food.

Soon we went back to the condo, gathered up our belongings and took a last few pictures of the beach. It took us two hours to get to the beach but as we started to leave, it started to rain. Fernando got on the faster of the two highways. This one, instead of switchbacks, has tunnels. Fernando couldn't remember but he thought there were twelve in all. As it got later, traffic got heavier. We started to see several accidents, mostly the small motorcycles we had seen weaving in and out and between lanes of traffic. Then the over head signage (like a TriMark sign) said an accident on the other highway had it closed completely so all traffic was diverted to our highway. Bottom line, it took us four and a half hours to get back to Jundiaí, compared to the two hours to get from Jundiaí to the beach and that was taking the "slower" scenic highway.

Well, today David and Rena are off to their seminar and I am here at the hotel. I am about to venture out for a bite as it is past noon and I haven't seen the maid. I think she must be reluctant to come into the room with me here even though I left the tag on the door for the room to be made-up.