This weekend I went to Recife to visit my best friends Alex and Lisa in Recife, Pernambuco in the northeast of Brazil. Their kids Max and Zoe were great and so much fun to play with – great kids! We went surfing on Saturday and did some tourism with the kids on Sunday.
Recife actually has the oldest Synagogue of the Americas! The Jewish Dutch who were there were eventually kicked out of Recife… they ended up traveling North to the United States and founded a city called New Amsterdam – a.k.a. New York City!! Just imagine if they had stayed in Recife… we could’ve had a great town! Heheheh… surely it’s not that simple but fun to play with that notion of “what if” we had been colonized by other people other than the Portuguese. Don’t get me wrong – I love the Portuguese – but their colonization of Brazil was always extractive as opposed to the US where people went to build a country. That’s why the US is where it is now and Brazil is where it is, even if it has a longer history.
In any case – here are the photos:

Here is a quick video of my dad’s house here in São Paulo – yes, it is a true sphere 🙂 Try not to get dizzy 🙂

So… finally updated the blog with some pictures.
Went to the farm this weekend in Parana – more specifically in São Pedro do Ivaí.
Went to see the Alcohol and Sugar plant – always expanding and interesting to observe.

Took many pictures of the farm, the forest reserve, flowers, geese, and the Bonsmara cattle – a South African breed my grandfather started to raise.

Here are the pictures – all mixed up – the farm, the Bonsmara and the sugar and ethao plant.

Now back in Sao Paulo… back to the concrete jungle.

After an uneventful flight down to Sao Paulo I found the city just as it was before… some new buildings, new shops – the usual. Met with Kim and then went to dinner with the Lyra’s, Vi and Dad at Nagayama – great food!

Going to Brazil today to see my family and friends after a great but short week in NY.
Mark and Yaucha were here and we went for a stroll on the Hudson River Park and then ate some great food at Employees Only on Hudson and Christopher.
Feeling a little guilty about not taking pictures every day (and blogging for that matter) since I got back but I guess I needed a break – it was an intense schedule of roaming around finding interesting places to go to and photos to take. I guess since I am living here I take the scenery for granted and forget to look at NY with a tourist’s eye.