Ouro Preto

On Friday, 3 other volunteers and I were driven the 4 hours from Iracambi to Ouro Preto. We were staying at the "Republica Academica da Cachaça". The "Republicas" are a system of student housing found only in Ouro Preto, and they are kind of like fraternities. When we got there, the beds we were staying in were empty, but there were no sheets or blankets, and the other people living there went digging through their possessions and eventually managed to find 4 sets of sheets and blankets.

We went hunting for somewhere to eat dinner, and eventually ended up at a German-themed restaurant eating pizza. We went to bed early that night so we could get up early the next morning.

We woke up at 6:00 on Saturday and took the bus into the Center of Ouro Preto at 7:00. We ate a very yummy breakfast at a hotel because it was too early for most other restaurants to be open.

Upon the recommendation of someone at Iracambi, we hired a tour guide, Geraldo, for the day. With the traveling style I am used to I would never have done this, but it was one of the smartest decisions we made, especially since we were only in Ouro Preto for one day. He had a car and thus was able to drive us easily from place to place, which saved us so much time.

First, Geraldo drove us to the nearby town, Mariana. There, we watched a short film about tourism in the town, and then we went to an art museum.

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The second picture is a depiction of a lion, but the artist had never seen a real lion, so it has the face of a monkey.

Geraldo then took us to a local store with gemstones and figureheads. The owner showed us a little of his work and some semi-precious stones. I bought some amethyst earrings because I somehow lost the one pair I brought on the way here.

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We then went to the Nossa Senhora do Carmo church and walked around in the town a bit. This was the first church of many today.

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Next, we drove to a gold mine. Ouro Preto exported one third of the gold in the world from 1700 to 1800 (over 650 tonnes). Additionally, over 300 tonnes of gold were mined and exported as contraband. There are over 2000 mines in the area and over 400 within the city limits. These are no longer being used because it would be hazardous, especially since many of the mines are in the hills which the houses and roads are built on.

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The miners in these mines were slaves imported from African countries like Benin and Togo, because the people from these countries were experienced in mining and metalwork. The life expectancy of these slaves was around 10-12 years, and many of them started working at about 10 years of age. Because their life expectancy was so low, the slave owners forced them to have children to avoid having to buy new slaves directly from Africa. The best mine-workers were small people because they could fit into small spaces, and so the slave owners artificially selected slaves for who were smaller by castrating any one who grew taller than their parents. The effects of this can still be seen today. Many people, especially people of African descent, are shorter than average, and the average height of a person in the state of Minas Gerais is lower than the average in Brazil.

Next, we went to the Ingreja Matriz de Santa Ifigenia. Ouro Preto has many opulent churches that compete with each other about who can be the most beautiful.

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Before lunch, we went to the Museum of the Inconfidência, a museum about the history of Ouro Preto and Brazilian culture. There were many interesting antiques and religious artifacts, and it was neat to see the original artifacts and tools that people used. Interesting fact I learned in the museum: the toilets were often found in the kitchen because the smells from the smoke and the cooking would overpower any unpleasant smells.

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We ate a yummy lunch at a Brazilian buffet, which was a nice reprieve from walking around.

After lunch, we went to the Ingreja (church) de Sao Francisco de Assis. All the churches began to blur together, so even though you are probably sick of church pictures by now, I'm going to add them anyway so I can remember later which church is which. Interesting note: the crossed arms (2nd to last picture) represent the union of San Francisco de Assis and Jesus.

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The last church we went to was the Basilica de Nossa Senhora de Pilar, which was one of the most opulent churches I have ever seen. After all these churches, I think I have seen enough churches and Jesus representations (Jesi?) to last me for a long time. As a rough estimate, I saw probably over 500 Jesi that day.

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In the basement of the church, there was a treasure room. The amount of gold and silver these churches possess is slightly ridiculous, in my opinion. Also, I was confused about the star of David I saw in multiple churches. I would like to learn about how that symbol relates to Jewish and Christian religions.

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This was the end of our tour, and Geraldo dropped us off by an artisan market. I didn't buy anything because I am 2.5 weeks into a 5 month trip and did not want to weigh down my bag.

Afterwards, we were tired from walking around and the heat and got a drink. I ordered tea, but realized that they hadn't boiled the water and had used tap water, so I ordered juice instead, because the last thing I wanted was to end up being sick because I drank the tap water.

We got dinner at a semi-fancy restaurant that had live jazz music (a pianist and a trombone player). I ordered one of their few vegetarian options, the spaghetti with tomatoes and mozzarella, and very much missed eating rice and beans.

On Sunday, Riho, continued her way to another city. Alex and Anna and I decided to spend the morning hiking in the nearby National Park, Itacolomi. We walked 5 kilometers from the entrance to the visitor center, and walked the 5 kilometers back. The visitor center was very well done, but we sadly didn't have time to take an in-depth look because we were supposed to meet the person who would drive us home at 1:00 and we still had to walk the 5 kilometers back and get lunch. The hike itself was very beautiful, and we saw a bird that I think was a tinamou or something similar, a caracara, and a large green lizard. The view of the surrounding area was also quite stunning as there were no clouds and we were hiking up onto the the mountain facing Ouro Preto.

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We ate lunch at an authentic Brazilian bistro, which I was very glad of because I had sorely missed the rice and beans the night before. I think once I get home I just need to have rice and beans with every meal, along with the other food I would normally eat.

We arrived back at Iracambi around 5:30, tired but happy. I'm very glad to have seen a bit more of Brazil and have more traveling experience. I learned several valuable lessons that will definitely help me in the next 4.5 months and beyond.