Patrosinio, Brazil

[mullet]

  I made it here yesterday, took 27 hours. I'm 3 hours ahead of Eastern time so bedtime is early compared to ya'll. Out of all my trips to Brazil I think I like this place the best. It's the country here, really. You know, redneck farmers, ranchers, and just good ol' country folks.
  The locals took me out to eat tonight and we ate for two and a half hours. It's famous for seafood so I had to try all their local dishes of fish. I'm stuffed. Also had to try the local version of their Spring Water, Cachaca. I've had it before but every region in Brazil thinks they make it better. I'll stick to Tenn. brand Spring Water.
   I also get to start another adventure here tomorrow. They said it is easier for them to rent me a car than provede a driver.YAAHOO! This is going to be fun. I figure all I have to know is not to go over 100kmh and Pare means you almost have to stop. I'll post some pctures tomorrow, reminds me of the lower hills of Kentuckey or the Smokies except for coffee plants and soy beans. Tchaw

[ricktrojanowski]

Eddie
Sounds like a good time.  Spring water probably safer to drink than the actual water.   Are you bringing back any bow wood or rock?

[sailordad]

rock is always nice 
fill up your pockets and socks too

your a lucky man t be down there
my youngest sons ship is slated to head that way come summer time

[stickbender]

     Careful, Eddie, they could be fattening you up with all that food, and doing you like they do with Kobe' beef, and such.  Just be careful if they start to rub you down with that spring water......It's what they do the Kobe's beef cattle ......So try to snag a hand full of those coffee beans, and try to bring them back here, and plant them.  You always seem to land on your feet down there, being wined, or Cachacaed, and dined, where ever you go.  Be careful if you see one of the kids playing with a doll, with it's eyes, and mouth sewed shut......   yeah, I would definitely be careful driving down there.  Yee hah! Aipa, aipa! Look! un Gringo, bump him, he is reech, he can buy us a nuevo casa, por de damage to our duct taped car......Alright, a new box, but wood, this time, not card board!   Well keep us updated on your adventures, and any rock you might find.  Just be careful you don't stumble onto someone's gold mine, or coca farm......   I don't think they will go for the looking for local rock story......unless it made from coca......

                                                                                  Wayne

[Cromm]

Keep safe my man and enjoy!!

[mullet]

 I got my car today, a sporty little VW Jetta. And it turns out now we are not working this weekend. But I'm going out to the job site tomorrow by myself and wander along the two creek bottoms. I have to take pictures for the Engineer because the two creeks are an enviromentaly sensitive area. I'll post some better pictures than these few tomorrow. And I didn't bring my good camera.

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[RidgeRunner]

That is some nice looking contry down there.
Looks a lot like home in the summer time.
Green grass on red clay hills with old dilapidated bob wire fences and fire ant mounds.

Do you know the elevation?

You gonna look them creeks over real good I bet.   

No asphalt for the VW....   Too bad 

David

[stickbender]

     Eddie, put those beans in your pocket.   So any snakes yet?  Be careful around that river, might be an anaconda in there waiting for a tasty Gringo to come along,...... all alone......   Looks pretty neat where you are at.

                                                                      Wayne

[mullet]

 David, the elevation is around 3300'. The tallest hill in the distance is the highest in Brazil. I'll take some pictures of it tomorrow, it is really pretty, covered with coffee plants. The roads are mostly pretty good. This clay raod is on the farm/ranch where we are working. The cantina/ Petrol station is where we eat lunch every day. Lunch is large bowls of rice,beans, okra, tomatoes and lettuce. With platters loaded with BBQ'ed pork, beef and chicken cooked in saffron. Also fried manioc bread and manioc stamed, delicious! And it's all you can eat. They keep bringing it till we say Bueno.

  Wayne there are no snakes here from what they told me, elevation is too high. They did say there is some kind of snake that "shakes it's tail",, hmm wonder what that is? I did see one of their versions of a fox dead on the road. It was kind of black, gray and brown with small spots. And it woul be cheaper for me to order a coffee plant on line whe I get home than pay  that nice fine when Customs finds it. They will probally quarantine all my luggage as it is for being around cattle and farms.

[Keenan]

 Cool pics Eddie, thanks for sharing, Awesome to think how good we have it, you can just hop a plane and be on the other side of the world enjoying a whole new world. Be carefull and have some fun while your at it

[mullet]

 Thanks, Keenan.

[Lombard]

Will you be there long enough to build a bow from some indigenous wood?

[Swamp Bow]

No Sir, I haven't been anywhere near a farm or ranch, my feet were on concrete or asphalt the whole time.  I mean there are germs in dirt right? Why would any sane person touch dirt even with boots on?  Might  catch a cold or something.   That's my story and I'm sticking to it.    Like I want to invite them to dig through my dirty laundry after a long flight.  I always love it when someone in front of me says yes to any of the questions.  Less of a chance they bug me that way.  But you are right about the coffee, those beagles that customs uses are good at finding stuff like that.  There was a time when you could just drop a nice Westphalian ham in your coat pocket for the trip back to the US, and no one woould be the wiser.  Those days are gone. 

Swamp

[mullet]

Lombard, the way this job is starting out, I'll be here for quite awhile. Bjorn, I always claim," Nothing to declare". Same as I did on my Brazil customs forms, with three bottles of Jim Beam in my luggage.

[skyarrow]

looks cool eddie