Night of the Iguaba…

Some of the people I most look forward to seeing when I’m in Brazil are Ralf and his wife Celita, members of B’s extended family. Ralf and I share a love of beer in large volumes and music at high volume. He’s one of the few folks over the age of 40 that I know in Brazil who knows American rock music fairly well. Over the years, we’ve also drunk enough draft beer (chopp in Brazil) to drown lesser men.

Ralf and I had a few beers when we went to Niterói after descending from Teresópolis. Some time in the next few days they invited us to a churrasco (barbeque) at their lake house (technically a lagoon house) in Iguaba, on our way back from Cabo Frio. The house is big, with a nice guest house and lies about a 20 second walk from an enormous lagoon. The sun didn’t cooperate, but we had an outstanding time anyway.Churrascos in Brazil generally go on for hours and hours, with meat being prepared constantly and noshed on among the attendees rather than being prepared especially for individuals . Ralf’s son André did an excellent job.Most churrascos also involve a lot of beer, Scotch and/or whiskey (Johnnie Walker Red being the most common choice) and cachaça.

The girls fell in love with André’s wife, who seemed to have as much energy as they did.Their pug reminded the girls how much they want a dog (and me of how little I want one!). Halfway through the churrasco, a butterfly the size of a pterodactyl distracted us all for about 10 minutes. It landed on the roof over the grill and posed for quite a number of shots.I noticed Ralf’s guitar when we arrived, but left it alone until the churrasco was winding down. Since there wasn’t room for me in Cristina’s car, I was going to take a bus back to Niterói. Ralf and Celita invited me to sleep at their place and ride back with them the next morning. I’m glad I did. More on the after party later.