Happy Birthay Jonah!

A special musical composition for my cousin Jonah on his birthday.

Pesach in Autumn

My year is ending as it began, by dropping in on Porto Alegre’s Jewish community for a large seasonal fest. This time it was Pesach, which feels just as odd to celebrate in the fall as Rosh Hashanah did in the spring. Although, southern hemisphere Jews do have apple season going for them, which makes for better charoset. For the sake of novelty, my folks opted for matzah and kosher wine from São Paulo over the Israeli imports. What more could Israelites know about matzah than Paulistas?

Continuing the southern-hemisphere theme of events seeming to be backwards, we only attended a seder on the last night, expecting to drink the four cups of wine before asking the four questions. Hosted at the Jewish camp/country club in a wealthy the southern suburb was a fabulous community seder, designed for the children – as a seder is supposed to be. That said, its not-so-kid-friendly late-night commencement prevented us from staying past the matzah-ball soup. I do remember the pre-dinner seder, though: Instead of taking turns reading from old haggadot, they prepared skits, videos, and a a puppet to draw in the kinder, who sat together at large tables in the center of the room. I’m still a bit confused over the difference between the songs “Ma yafeh hayom, Shabat Shalom” and “Ma nishtana halayla hazeh,” but maybe they’ll answer that question next year, or rather next spring.

Festa de São Jorge/Ogum

Coinciding with Pesach this year was the week-long festival to São Jorge/Ogum, touted as Porto Alegre's second-largest religious festival next to that of Nossa Senhora dos Navagentes/Iemanja. Public events included religious processions, blessings, Catholic masses, Umbanda ceremonies, informational forums, and the perhaps-not-so-coincidental victory of the futebol team Internacional (a.k.a., colorados) against Paraná in the Copo do Brasil.

Other noteworthy sightings included an awkwardly small São Jorge/Ogum riding on top a fire engine

and in person riding among gaúcho Calvary in an Umbanda parade

Bolivia

Bolivia is, from what we hear, not so easy for travel. For us, however, it was seamless (except for the first rough night of altitude adjustment), since we were in the capable hands of our hosts and dear friends, Evan, Silvana, and Andrea, who managed to take care of every last detail. The photos don't show, however, the plentiful and cheap DVDs of altiplano music, dance, and wrestling to be found in a Sorata market; the prevalence of money changers, unlike Buenos Aires; and the availability of Cheerios and sturdy diapers, unlike Brazil.

Here are a few highlights -- click HERE for our full chock-a-block photo album.

Striding through the market in Copacabana

Checking out the magnificent vista at the sacred Incan Isla del Sol with Andrea

A break during the traverse across Isla del Sol

Coca, ever-present and essential for altiplano life

Watching swarms of pigeons in La Paz

A friendly llama

Children's catalogue photo shoot

Majestic Mt. Illampu up close in Sorata...

...and as seen from across Lake Titicaca

And, lastly, captured on video, is this unexpected Herb Alpert rendition of "If I Were a Rich Man" as heard over breakfast in Sorata at the Altai Oasis hotel. (Click PLAY)

To see the rest of our photos, sit back with some refreshing coca tea, and click HERE.

Buenos Aires

From Bolivia we journeyed on to Buenos Aires, where I spent a week living the high life in with my cousin Jonah...

...seeing the local wildlife...

...watching street performers...

...staying at home while our parents took shifts to go see tango shows...

...and eating outrageously good food.

Click HERE to see the whole album of BsAs photos and commentary.

Water, water everywhere...

We had a wonderful visit with my Nana and Opa, meeting them in the eye-popping splendor of Iguassu Falls. The video and pictures do not do justice to this wonder of the world that puts Niagra Falls to shame.



Where is Judy Garland when you need her? (Click PLAY)

Then, from POA, we traveled up through the Serra Gaucha to see verdant canyons, like Itaimbezinho:




And we ended up again in Florianopolis to take advantage of yet more fabulous kid-friendly beaches, yummy seafood, and hammock time:




Click HERE to see our full set of snapshots.

And, if you can stand it, additional pix can be seen HERE, courtesy of Opa.

Floripa with Bubbe

For a real treat, we celebrated our birthdays in Florianopolis with Bubbe and enjoyed every minute -- staying in a charming still-quaint Azorean fishing village at a lovely pousada, testing out a different beach every day (and then returning to our favorite on the last day), sipping cool coconuts, strolling, swimming, and relaxing. Here are some photos that capture the highlights -- you can see the full album here:

Click HERE to see the full photo spread on Picasa.