Here is the movie I took from the lookout that is situated so that you can look out and over the tree, which is massive. The first area I show, the little houses, are actually tourist shops filled to the brim with anything and everything related to cashews, including a cashew liquor that Mr. Paulo bought for my father. (Again, my boyfriend has the same name as his father, so I am dictating the difference by using "Mr." for Paulo senior.) Enjoy! Oh... and my boyfriend Paulo also pops his head into view at one point during the video...being a dork, as usual. hehe..

So on our way to the world's largest cashew tree, Paulo, myself, and his family stopped at an old, abandoned military base that was once used to put satelites into orbit. Due to the expansion of the population around it, however, they began moving many bases to the more uninhabited portions of Brazil, often in the North. Now, some portions serve as a place for tourists to stop and take a gander, while much of the other portions are barred by electric fences.
                                              



The military base was pretty cool, but the food we had after seeing the Cashew tree was spectacular. It was at the edge of a beautiful beach, and specialized in small whole crabs. They were delicious and came in a yellow (I imagine butter) sauce. There was also "Bolinho de Bacalhau", a salty fish that is deepfried and served with a sauce, and "Pastel de Camarão"(a deep fried pocket with shrimp) or "Pastel de Carne de Sol" (a deep fried pocket with salty & cured meat). Pastels may also be baked, but ours were the traditional fried kind. Mrs. Terezinha and I enjoyed coconut milk directly from the coconut, while Mr. Paulo chilled with a cool beer, and Paulo (my boyfriend shares the name with his father, so I will dictate his father with a "Mr." title beforehand) enjoyed his coca cola.

Enjoy the photos of our tasty lunch!

Cracking the shell of the crab. Eventually I found out that cracking it with my teeth was far quicker and more rewarding!
 Pastel--- Shrimp
Below: Bolinho de Bacalhau... I think this was my favorite. The deep-fried fish.
Eating the "Carne do coco"....Coconut meat.

All I can say is wow! That thing is a beast! Here are some photos. I'll be uploading a video I took from atop an elevated pavillion later. From there, you can see the rooftops of houses as well as the top of the tree. From what Paulo and his father told me, the reason the tree is so huge is that it has a disease that has made it spread outward instead of upward. Indeed, you can see the way the branches tangle and blast through the area, twisting into and out of the ground, creating its own support system in doing so. Here are some enlarged photos; again, the video will be up later.

Cool sign.... but look at the massive tangle of branches behind it!

Yep.. typical tourist! Cashews come from the tree in this form: they have a "False fruit" on top, which is very sweet. I had a candy made with it earlier today, and could not finish the tiny piece. It reminds me of an intense raisin taste. The bottom part, however, juts out of the false fruit; this is what encases the cashew nut. Terezinha gave me some cooked ones the other day; they are surprisingly very large compared to ours. I would say, in fact, that they are double the size of ours. They still have the same great taste though.

Annnnnd... of course I had to get Paulo to do it too. Hahahahhaha.. what can I say? We're nuts! (It's okay.. you can throw tomatoes at me.. I'm too far for any of them to actually hit.)

Today was definitely a good day. I woke up to a shower and another great breakfast. A fresh papaya half was awaiting me. I'd learned only yesterday how to eat a papaya, but I scooped the tiny black seeds out almost like a pro. I was soon drinking and eating a cup of strong coffee, a sandwich (which consists of a small slice of plain ham and a slice of cheese), freshly made juice (juiced directly from the fruits, not bought in the store), and a slice (a slice being a centimeter or so wide, a couple inches long, an inch or so high.. by American standards, very small) of "Cake". You really don't need much more than that, though, to truly enjoy the flavor. In fact, for the first time ever, I have felt totally satisfied with one, possibly two, of a dessert of that size.

It looks very much like this one.  The inside is firm and very compact. It is not at all like American cake, but the firmness reminds me slightly of cheese cake...but even more firm than that. You can pick it up with your fingers after you cut it. At first, I thought it was made from a soft yet firm cheese, like good mozzarella. It has a tasty yet not overpowering sweet flavor. Perfect with your morning coffee.
 This photo to the left was found on http://maternasp.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/para-quem-nao-vai-viajar/
After breakfast, the family and I all hurried to the car. We were soon at an outdoor fresh/organic fruit market, with tons of new and very interesting and enticing fruits and vegetables. Aside from passion fruits, papayas, mangos, star fruits, pineapples, bananas, and other familiar fruits, I found many fruits I'd never even imagined to exist.

I walked through, exploring the different shapes, sizes and colors, while Paulo's mother, Terezinha pointed out the Portuguese names of some of the particularly odd ones.

We ended our trip with a bunch of bananas, some tiny green fruits that I don't remember the name of (and soon found out I really, really did not like anyway..), and the best-tasting Cantaloupe I have ever eaten; sweet and refreshing, just as it should be.

For those that are interested in seeing more pictures of the Brazil trip and the fruit market, I would like to invite you to view my online photo album through Picasa, which will have the majority of my photos from this trip. For the sake of the organization of this site, I cannot post all of the photos in my blog, but by viewing the Picasa Photo Album, you can easily view, comment, and enlarge all of the photographs from this trip. I will make a similar album of all videos from this trip. If I can figure it out, I hope to make separate tabs at the top of this page. If not, you can always reach the album via the slideshow that I have just installed on the upper right hand side of this page. Simply click one of the small photos to enlarge them, and then you should be able to go through the album itself. It will automatically upload every time I put more photographs in the Brazil album on my computer, so you won't have to miss a thing!

I meant to post this the day after I arrived, but somehow it got lost in some of my other picture files. Here it is, the landing phase of my flight, at the São Paulo airport.

Today is going to be my first time watching the world cup in Brazil. Terezinha, Paulo's mom, took me with her to pay her bills and to exchange my US dollars into their money, the Real (Reais). I was shocked to see that nearly all of the shops, including the money exchange, were closed. Why were they closed? The soccer game.

Devout fans of soccer, everyone was rushing home to watch the game, which begins at 11:00 am. It is currently 10:21, and the traffic is becoming more crazy by the moment; people begin to ignore traffic signals and lines on the road are merely that: lines. When we arrived home, a delectible scent taunted my nose and tongue, coming from the patio in front of the pool. A Brazilian BBQ has already begun, with the television blaring the pre-game news. I am still full from breakfast, but I can't help but really be tempted to snitch some carne do sol, a salty kind of roast beef/steak (not sure..but it's definitely tasty!)

I am relieved to say that I'm understanding quite a lot more, and his mom is starting to call me a "Brasiliera," a brazilian girl. I hope to take some photos of the food for my next post, because while I don't like everything, it all tastes interesting enough for me to want to eat a little more, just to try it. It is all extremely different from what I am used to. I think my favorite so far is the passionfruit mousse, which is slightly more solid than the American mousse, borderline pudding, but still airy. Here is myself in the cute Brazil-Hello Kitty T-Shirt Terezinha bought for me. I was surprised it fit, but it does! Clothing here is generally much smaller than in the USA...perhaps for sadly obvious reasons. Their "Big girl" stores look more like American sizes, in honesty. I noticed this when we took a trip to a large, 3-story mall yesterday.
Today, it seems that an exciting game of futebol is awaiting me. I am sure that I won't be disappointed. Brazil's team is renown for putting on a great game and having spectacularly loyal fans.