Americana

We made several visits to Americana, a city about 45 minutes from Piracicaba. Both occasions were fun-filled, tasty dinner parties with our friends.

There's loads of cool history surrounding this city, like the fact that it was partially founded by refugees from the American Civil War - that's a long way to go! Fittingly, slavery was still legal in nearby Santa Barbara and the Brazilian country as a whole which is why Confederates fled here. (see the link above) In present day Americana, there is a cemetery where only Americans are buried - weird!

On our first visit last Friday, we went to Beppo, a hoppin' indoor/outdoor restaurant where we tried some new drinks and foods, like escondidinho, a cheesy mashed potatoes with the Brazilian equivalent of corned beef. It was amazing! I finally found a beer that both Lauren and I love - Brahma black. It was pretty sweet, and looked like a flowing milkshake waterfall in the glass. Similar to Guinness, but you don't feel like you've just imbibed a loaf of bread.

On our second visit we went to Mr. Little Joseph's (english translation, pictures to come later!) and sat outside to enjoy classical Brazilian country music. The duo was called Guaira guaiba, two guys playing guitars and singing some old-school Brazilian favorites. Even though we knew none of the words, it was really cool music and our friends translated. Our new friend Maycon even passed them a napkin with a request a "song for the gringos" and they happily obliged and pointed us out to the whole place!

After we had tried lots of tasty appetizers and heard many songs, the Brazilian cowboys made the rounds and visited the patrons. They were really friendly when they came to our table, and explained that one of their ancestors had fled Alabama during the Civil War to come to Brazil. We just said "Hey we're from Chicago!" Even 5000 miles apart, we are connected through history - crazy.

At this particular restaurant, for every drink you order, they give you a coupon that you can redeem on another visit for a free drink - so we asked them to autograph our coupon. They discussed, went back to the stage, and returned with one of their cds. Now we have an autographed copy and some Brazilian country tunes to reminisce upon during the drive back!

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Can you guess what this is a picture of?

Post your guesses in the comment section!

.....the answer coming soon :)

Tastes of Brazil

You all know I love to cook....and EAT! Well I haven't done any cooking here but I have done plenty of eating :) Let me share a few of my favorite tastes of Brazil.

(I have made a feeble attempt at including pronunciations - not the proper dictionary way, just my own version of sounding it out.)

FOOD

Feijoada (fey-jo-AH-dah) Mmmmm! My favorite Brazilian dish. It is a black bean and pork meat meal, that is kind of like a stew and served with white rice. We are told its roots stem from the slave era. During that time African slaves would be given the leftover pork products from the 'Big House' - which would be the undesirable parts like pig ears, pig hooves, and pig tails. Together with black beans they created a delicacy that is a staple in Brazil today. Although after talking to the locals here they do not prefer the 'complete' version (hooves, ears, and tails) but the 'light' version with pork sausage, pork ribs, and pork tenderloin. It is served steaming hot over a bed of white rice - yum yum my mouth is watering just describing it!
Picanha (pee-CAHN-ya) THE BEST STEAK EVER! Well first let me describe a churrascaria (shoe-hoss-ka-REE-uh) - vegetarians can skip to the next section. Churrascaria is an all you can eat steak buffet. There are 15 different cuts of beef that are brought to your table as you dine on giant skewers, I'll do another post on churrascarias, they deserve their own page :) But anyway picanha is the best cut of beef in my opinion and it is coveted by Brazilians - they save the most room for the picanha.
Fried polenta - (po-LEN-ta) similar to french fries but gigantic and made from corn

Sun-dried tomatoes - I've eaten these on lots of sandwiches and as a pate. The tomatoes are very juicy and tasty.

Brigadeiro (brig-a-DARE-o) This is a homemade treat that is similar to fudge covered in chocolate sprinkles. I was shown how to prepare this so hopefully you will be able to try some soon!

Creme de papaya com cassis - John's favorite dessert - vanilla bean ice cream blended with fresh, juicy papaya fruit with a sweet liqueur drizzled on top.

DRINK

Aqua com gas - carbonated mineral water. With a squeeze of fresh lime its a cool and refreshing treat. Whenever you order water they will ask com gas o sem gas (with or without gas)
Caldo de cana (cowl-doe day cun-uh) Sugarcane juice. Sugar cane is the chief crop in Southern Brazil. We have seen lots of it planted in the farmland along the interstate. I had some of the juice from a stand on the side of the road. They use a machine to grind the tall stalks of sugar cane into a liquid that is a juice. Everyone we have talked to about it tells us they like it, but it makes them SLEEPY! I thought a sugar buzz made you hyper?! I was also told it helps nursing moms with their milk supply.

Caipirinha (k-eye-pear-EEEN-ya) Ingredients are lime, cachaca, and ice. Cachaca is liquor made from fermented sugarcane. Like a mojito, a pestle is used to bruise the lime and release the juices, but tastes more like sour margarita mix. Delicious!

Abacaxi com hortela - pineapple juice blended with mint. All of the juice here is spectacular but this is my favorite.

As you can see we have enjoyed some tasty treats! We can't wait to try to make them at home!

Oh yeah, I'm at work.

So we're over a week into our trip, and I haven't mentioned a thing about work...don't worry, I've been doing plenty of it!

To avoid diving into boring technical details or confidential specifics on my project, basically I'm here to make sure all the electrical stuff I designed for some Caterpillar equipment is going together well, and functioning correctly. Thankfully, things are going very smoothly! Our project ran ahead of schedule, which is very rare and it's a big credit to all the hard work ethic of the team down here at CBL (Cat Brazil).

I'm excited about that for sure, but the real highlight of the trip has been the growing depth and number of relationships with people at CBL. I have emailed & phone conferenced with a good dozen or more of the engineers and folks here, and it's great to finally put names + faces together. And it seems like every new face in the shop or the hallways is smiling and giving a big thumbs up. Probably has something to do with the fact that I'm a tall, pale white guy wandering around speaking bad Portuguese, so they want to make me feel at home!

But I do generally get the impression that folks here are happy to have a good job, and enjoy working with each other and value relationships a lot. It's really refreshing. Lots of handshakes, back slapping, story-telling and laughing to start each day - not the "get to your desk and put your nose to the keyboard" mentality that myself and a lot of my peers are used to.

And then there's lunchtime...it's AMAZING!!! It's like the Sacred Hour. First off, the food in the cafeteria is ridiculously good, I'm definitely going to be sad to pack my own lunch back in Champaign or get Soggy Pizza from the Decatur cafe.

Yesterday I had salmon. Yes, salmon - not sardines or crusty cod, this was the real deal. And there's fresh fruit - pineapple 3 times last week, papaya, mmm...and so many other foods that I don't remember the names of.

Then there's the after-food ritual: lots of folks opt for taking a lap with friends around the pretty trees and walkways just outside the plant entrance, which are the least-blue collar entryway I've ever seen. At Decatur, imagine lots of revolving doors with Jail-cell bars and beeping sensors as you swipe your badge. Here at CBL, you swipe your badge and walk into a mini-amazon walking path that just happens to be next to your parking lot. SO COOL.

Then there's the free coffee - all day. Of course, it's so strong that I can only handle about 1/2 cup in the morning and a sip in the afternoon, but they add fresh sugar and it's amazing. I'll never drink Folgers again.

So there's a lot to enjoy about working at CBL for 2 weeks - the nice weather, hospitable new friends and coworkers, project going well. But I think what I'm absorbing the most is just overall positivity. Everyone is working hard and has a pretty fair amount of stress, but people help each other out and are genuinely thankful just to have an opportunity in life. There's not a ton of back-stabbing or politicking (at least not directly in front of my face), but I'm sure it exists. It's just refreshing to get a perspective from another culture that doesn't seem to have taken prosperity for granted.