Brazil

Hello Friends! I have been in Brazil for over a week now, so I wanted to write you a short update on what is going on here. Usually it feels like I am in a whole new world, yet sometimes it feels as though I am still in the USA. With this in mind, I want to tell y’all about the differences between Brazil and the USA, more specifically Michigan. This way you can be prepared when you tour Brazil and spare the Brazilians your shocked face, as practiced as you might be.

No. 1: The Weather. I hear there is snow in Michigan. This just in: there is no snow in Brazil. Everyone is pleased. The only downside to the beautiful weather is that the drastic change has thrown me into an allergic frenzy. This is upsetting to everyone, but really only my mother who does not like used tissue to be left unattended on the rug next to the couch for more than like five minutes.

As I type this, thunder rolls in the background. This reminds me: there is a thunderstorm every afternoon or evening. Similar to the snow situation, nobody is upset by this.

No. 2: The living arrangements. Below and to the left is the door to my house. It is a double door. During the day it usually just stays open. I do not know if there is a reason for this, it is just a fact. Below and to the right is my room.

Sorry you guys, but this is being sent to a co-ed audience and it is not open hours, which are strictly enforced here.

No. 3: The food. People here eat a lot of rice and beans and meat. Usually, one would go to a churrascaria to get this. A churrascaria is a restaurant that is like a small buffet and at the end you tell them which fresh-grilled meat you want. Usually you pick from lingüiça (some form of sausage), frango (chicken), or picanha (the most prized cut of steak). When you have all the food you want, you set your plate on a scale and are charged per kilo. Of course, there are alternatives, one of which is staying at home and eating ramen noodles like a real family. Also, I have had hot dogs twice.

Let’s say I am outside jumping rope or some other fun activity and I suddenly realize I want a snack. I do not even have to go inside to get one! I can just get a nice piece of fruit from one of the trees in our yard! From what I have experienced we have banana, mango, mamão (which I just discovered is a papaya), and jabuticaba (also known as the Brazilian Grape Tree). It was especially exciting when my dad found a pomegranate tree on our road!

Chicken is like super-duper popular here. When you go to the Mercado or Frango Assado, you can get chicken-stuffed, breading-covered things that my father and I affectionately refer to as turd-dropplings, due to their unique shape. One really funny moment was when we picked up some hitchhikers in São Paulo and one of them commented on how much he liked those. Even though such a large amount of chicken is consumed, there must still be a thriving chicken population somewhere near, because when I arrived there were three cartons of eggs in the refrigerator.

No. 4: The birds. As you might assume, they speak Portuguese here, which I did not even know until today when Alencar was talking to them about their mud houses. Anyway, when they all talk at once and my mom yells “shut up!” they seem to understand. This makes think that like many of the humans here they are slowly learning the English language.

No. 5: The refrigerator magnets.

There is just no explanation for this.

No. 6: The swimwear. I hear it is more comfortable.

No. 7: Activities. If I was in Michigan for winter break, I would be spending a greater part of my day drowning myself in snow or hot chocolate. But I am not in Michigan and there is no snow or hot chocolate.

While Dad is at work, we girls spend our day participating in numerous activities.

A.  “Enjoying the pool.” When a person says this, they usually mean doing something around the pool, not necessarily in the pool. This could include cleaning the pool, sitting under the shade of the umbrella next to the pool, sunbathing around the pool, jumping rope in the grass a few feet from the pool but still in view of the pool, or looking at the pool. Usually I swim in the pool.

B. Sleeping. A few of us have been feeling a bit under the weather, so a nap is necessary to make it through the day. 

C. Boy Meets World. My dear sister Manda sent the first three seasons of BMW on DVD down here with us. I really am not sure what we would do when the sun went down if we did not have these DVDs.

D.  Ping-Pong. My mother loves Ping-Pong, but she and Dad cannot play together anymore because they get too competitive. So sometimes we allow Mom to indulge her fancy and we give her the smack-down for a round or two.

E.  Reading. Mmm…literature.

F. Running.

Soon a new activity will be added to this list, as tomorrow I start my internship at Paiol Restaurante e Pousada.

So yeah, that is all for now.

Peace.