People often say, oh, I´m from the interior of São Paulo, and leave it at that. Easter brought my first day of vacation in Brazil, and with it, a trip to Sertãozinho. Sertãozinho literally means “little country”. The contrast between the rolling green farmland of the interior, and the rolling landscape of high rises of São Paulo city is incredible. Unlike the US, the green farmland is nearly all sugarcane. Sometimes used for sugar and sometimes for ethanol, depending on prices, it is what has fueled the economy of the region.
My time in Sertãozinho was perfect- relaxing with good food, good drinks and good company at the house of my little Brazilian brother and his family. We marked Good Friday with bacaulhau, dried cod traditional to Brazil and Portugal, ate Italian food from a region once nearly all Italian, and had giant chocolate ovos de Pascoa to celebrate Easter. I’m back to the grind of the city, but the countryside may beckon once more.
