Vamos a fazenda

When we learned we were going to move to Brasilia, I was determined to find something as nice and useful as the Beijing Café. The only thing I could find from a distance was Internations, which is a sort of Facebook for expatriates, by invitation. As I was already a member, I joined the Brasilia group, and was shortly invited to join to a country side "Fazenda" a few days after our arrival. You bet that I jumped on the occasion!
So on this Sunday, after having coordinated who pick us up, we got up early and packed our things. We then waited for another Internations member to come pick us up. We learned something about Brazilian culture right there, while waiting for more than 45 minutes. Eventually we drove us following our newly found friend, to meet another group of people.
About 50 km out of town, we arrived to a large hilly area, covered with bushes and greenery, no constructions in sight. A few km later, after riding on a dusty road, we arrived to a gate of Fazenda Tobiquinhia, the farm Tobiquinhia. After paying a small gate fee, we drove in to a more built area. A few structures on a landscaped area, a main building sheltering the food buffet and the bar, a playground next to what looked like an home-made concrete pool and matching fountain, a old bus transformed into a pavilion, some sheds for the horses, a few hammocks set between tall palm trees: it is more of a weekend low-key resort than a farm.
Escaping to the countryside is wonderful. Yet Brasilia, with its particular layout, and so much space between each building, is not an oppressive city, unlike other large capitals. Yet, the feeling of getting out in the country side is just wonderful, giving me the impression of lightness and liberty. There at the Fazenda, we finally met our new Internations friends, expats as well as Brazilians. We ate and chatted while the kids splashed themselves in the pool or explored the grounds. And later we set out for a small horse ride, making the kids happy. And our bums sore!