The ship on which we came was called Villa Garcia.

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I was asked to relate my memories of our travel from Germany to Brazil, but it’s a little and not so interesting what I still remember. The dates I don’t know anymore, but the first thing that I remember was that on boarding on the ship, my brother Heinrich was carrying me and told me to close my eyes and pretend I was asleep, once that I was with my eyes a little swollen. On the contrary, they would not have allowed our presence on the ship, but I was obedient and so everything went well.

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On the ship it was beautiful and because I would not get seasick or throw up, I won a bed on top for sleeping. On the ship women and men were separated. On the side of our cabin there were lodged many friends, and as the partitions weren’t very tall, you could smuggle. I many times received chocolates by over the partitions. This family, the name was Madowitsch, also came to Guarani, and later came to be our neighbours in Saint Angelo.

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When we arrived in Rio Grande our father wanted to give us something good and bought us watermelons, which he already knew from Italy. They were very tasty, but our sister Anny went sick because of it, so when we went back to the ship Ms. Madowitsch gave her a little brandy to drink, what certainly saved her life. She was sick for a long time, was still sick when we arrived in Guarani. From Saint Angelo we had to travel on two cars, only one had roof, the other one had none and the sun burned us. Anny still had to stay layed down and so mommy and Anny travelled on the car with a roof and I was so sad because there was no room for me.

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In Rio Grande we had lunch and in there I ate black beans for the first time and ended up eating from the other’s tables too because I liked it too much.

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When we arrived to Guarani, we lived at first with a Feuerharmel Family, because the family from whom daddy had bought the settlement had not left yet. Don’t know if it was for two weeks, or maybe a little longer. In there I got to know the chigoes, oh how I cried when those were taken out, it was like a surgery, but without anesthesia.

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From the ship travel what stood a lot in my memory was the sunset, which I found really beautiful. When the commander would give chocolates on the ship’s bridge I was the first, because I always liked chocolate. But my disappointment was big when I looked at it, and so I gave it back, until they screamed to me that it was really chocolate. Unfortunately I cannot tell you anything more interesting, what certainly my brothers could have done. 

Clara Zirr.