The Internet comes back to Castelo!

Sorry we've been out of touch for so long! Castelo de Sonhos has been without Internet (and occasionally without phones!) since we arrived over two weeks ago. Now it's back, but not reliable enough for posting any photos of our exploits here in the middle of the Amazonian forest.

Some of the highlights: we became the godparents to Tainá, the two year old daughter of Douglas & Cristiane, two of Jeremy's closest friends in Castelo. We got our first taste of Brazilian rodeos, too: no cattle-roping, but plenty of hot-dogs and turns on rickety, rusted amusement rides. Since arriving here, we've eaten both pig and cow tongue; the latter is definitely tastier, though pig flesh is much more appealing to the eye.

A few days ago, we caught a bus for Novo Progresso ("New Progress"), the closest town to Castelo de Sonhos. It took us seven hours to travel 90 miles, and the problem wasn't traffic jams. We made the trip to attend an important government meeting about land reform and sustainable development in the region: basically, the Brazilian government is proposing to privatize all federal lands in the Amazon in order to combat deforestation and illegal land markets. We're skeptical.

We've spent a fair amount of time getting aquainted with the local flora and fauna, too. A good friend, Irineu, owns a 5 acre farm just outside of Castelo where his family raises chickens and manages fruit trees (açai, lime, mango, papaya, etc.). Irineu's latest project is beekeeping. Last Saturday, his son Renato took us on a short walk to see the bees: Jeremy was wearing protective gear and filming the scene up-close, while Maddy stayed back several yards as the boxes were opened. Suffice it to say, each of us ended up with wounds. Several bees got caught in Maddy's hair, while others managed to infiltrate Jeremy's bee suit and repeatedly sting him. The next morning, his face was swollen such that he couldn't open his right eye. Ah, well, that's the jungle. And questionable judgement.

We're heading back to Santarém from Castelo de Sonhos tomorrow. We should be back to regular posting by Saturday, depending on the state of the highway back north. Tchau.