We arrived to Bauru the night before Christmas Eve, pretty late, and ended up crashing at Kay’s cousin’s house before heading to Pirajuí the next day.

Brazilian family is pretty much the best thing ever. They are extremely friendly, generous, and love to please. The whole family just wanted to feed and entertain us the whole time! We had such a blast enjoying time with the family, even me with my almost-no-Portuguese-skills. Also, since it was my first time coming back as a celiac, the family had prepared ahead of time, all of them, and every single house we went to, someone had gone out of their way to buy or prepare gluten free food for me. It was really, so sweet.

In addition to the food, they knew I couldn’t drink beer, but that I like caipirinhas, so I started getting the nickname “Caipirinha Kaitsch” which is how they pronounce Katie. It sounds really funny and basically one of the cousins would yell, “Caipirinha Kaytsche!!” at 10am and by 11am, someone was putting a drink in my hand.

I couldn’t complain. 🙂We had lots of family dinners, enjoying Christmas Eve and meeting tons new people that I hadn’t met or didn’t remember from my 2010 visit as Kay’s girlfriend. I also loved when I was handed random, cute babies to hold. 🙂
Brazilians are loud, talkative, and jovial. It’s always a good time! And hilarious even if you only understand half of what is being said.Kay’s little second cousins were funny too. I’d last seen the girl in the polka dot dress when she was just a baby, but Kay has been to visit both her and her plaid shirt brother several times since then. He is the one who knows how to speak Portuguese and all, but for whatever reason, they thought I was hilarious and at the end of the trip, they were hugging me goodbye and giving Kay the cold shoulder. 😀

I think they just liked me because I couldn’t tell them off for making trouble. 😉We got to celebrate Manu’s birthday and I was marveling at finally seeing the house I’d seen pictures of on Facebook for years and years.I got to try brigadeiros!Also, how much does Kay’s cousin below on the right look like him?? 🙂 It was really cute to see him and Kay together again. They look like brothers more than Kay’s own brother does! 🙂
So many sweets!Also, the weather made me just want to pack and move to Brazil and have my own patio and pool with hot weather. Ahhhh.Pão de queijo from Kay’s aunt. 🙂Below was the little playhouse that Kay’s uncle built his grandkids. He was so crafty, he showed us all the things he builds around the house and it was incredibly impressive. The family was also sweet enough to set us up to participate in a small exchange on Christmas eve. They thought of everything!On Christmas itself, we headed to the farm where Kay’s mother was born and raised. It was an emotional experience, because I had always imagined Helo showing me the farm herself. Originally, we were planning to spend a Christmas holiday in Brazil together, and I’m really sad that that never happened.The land where she grew up was beautiful, and Kay was also filled with emotions as we walked through her history without her.Some of Kay’s other uncles were also interesting, funny guys, like Tio Oswaldo.He likes fixing up old cars and had a VW on the property he was taking care of as well. He took us around for a little tour.Tio Oswaldo also told us a story about an anaconda snake that was living in this lake. It’s illegal to kill anacondas (good Lord, why??) but the snake would go around and eat dogs and animals and things, so the farmers got together and something may have happened to the snake. I still didn’t want to swim in the lake anymore…. :O
Driving through Pirajuí on Christmas day, we headed to the first celebration of the day.What is more perfect on Christmas Day than a churrasco get together??
When we weren’t gorging ourselves, there was always the pool.And back at home, the family was so nice to even have gluten free pasta for me!And jello! Which is kind of a Brazilian thing… we’ve had Brazilian jello waiting at home to be made for ages, but Kay is not a fan, so I haven’t made it yet.More photos with the family. I could see where Kay’s mother got the photo taking from. Brazilians love family photos… and for once, Kay was happy to take them! Christmas night!
All the love!Ahhh I love this little cousin baby… so cute! I wanted to take him home. 🙂 It was such a big, happy family moment. Kay and I were both so happy to be there.On Boxing Day we headed somewhere else for a family reunion from another side of the family with a party with like 150 people. It was nuts! They were even roasting whole pigs!It was a little hard for me at the reunion without Kay, if he would leave to go to the bathroom, I didn’t know almost anyone there and the people I did know, I couldn’t communicate with, but I managed to get through the night without too much social awkwardness. Here’s a photo of “some” of us!Soon it was time for us to leave, which meant leaving drinks.I had been nick-named “Caipirinha Kaytsche” by now, after all.We decided to go wild and try the different flavors of caipiroskas as well, like kiwi and passionfruit. I still like normal caipirinhas the best!
We headed out to Rio de Janeiro more stuffed than ever before, and I left feeling like I had finally started to get to know Kay’s Brazilian family a little. It makes me look forward to all the moments I’ll see them in the future!