Different kinds of Bananas

Who knew there were different kinds? I guess I thought there were maybe just different shapes, but this one looks totally different. The skin looks different, it's a tooootally different size, and it tastes like a grapefruit! Okay, I lied there. I actually didn't eat one yet, but it probably just tastes like a banana.

-Side note, since I wrote this draft we bought yet another type of banana (let me specify, when I buy bananas, I take a close look at them, pick out ones that look good, and look familiar. My husband grabs a bunch and heads to the checkout, that's how we keep getting these different types of bananas) and the husband normally eats all of the bananas, and this type must have tasted somewhat different, because nearly all the bananas are still in their bowl, brown. Oh well. We'll freeze them and I'll sneak it into food somehow.

Brazilian State Flags: Rondonia

A little backstory on these posts. We've lived in Brazil for about a year now. I can hardly name 5 of the 26 states (and 1 Federal District), much less pick out which flag goes with which. But as a designer, I love flag design and was interested. And I would also love to learn the names and locations of all the Brazilian states. Flags and information found here on Wikipedia. 

Worldwide Fame and Fortune!!!

This week we attended a recording of the new English Made in Brazil podcast, put on by the US Consulate in Recife. We've recently figured out that there is an expat group here, so we went to a meetup, and gained some new connections, some of them being in the US Consulate. It seems that the vast majority of people living here are here for work. And nearly every expat we've met is married to a Brazilian. Which, I guess I am too, but Toby has never really lived here, so it seems less like it.

Check out the podcast HERE. I'm not sure when our episode will come up, but I'll let you know when it does. We play a single girl and a guy trying to ask her on a date. It's a pretty funny dialogue. Toby tries three times to ask me out, and...well, I'll let you listen to the rest.

Life is Good

In our apartment we have this one guy, he's a worker guy, he cleans and takes care of the lawns and such. He is a really incredible guy. When we moved here we didn't get our stuff (we shipped everything we own) for about 4 months. He delivers our mail to us, and I guess at some point he saw inside our house to our kitchen, and realized we had nothing to cook with. So he started bringing us food. It was the gosh darn sweetest thing. He brought us probably three or four soup/bean dishes, and he was super proud that we were getting our first tastes of Brazilian cuisine from him. What I'm saying is he's a super nice guy.

Any time I ask him how he's doing, he's always answered with one of these:
'tudo tranquilo' -everything's tranquil/peaceful/in order
'tudo otimo' - it's all great!

So pretty much, life is as good as it can get. This guy works 12 hour shifts, rides his bike to and from work, and doesn't really make that much money. But seriously he is like a little Buddha. He's so nice. Every now and then I get a little worried about life, like am I making enough money, I'm not learning portuguese very fast, you know normal stuff that people worry about. But man, talking to this guy just sets me in the right mood. This morning I went for a swim (I'm trying to get in our pool more often, in the case that we ever end up without a pool, I don't want to regret my time with one) and on my way up I saw him and said hi. He said hi back, and asked me how I'm doing. I said 'tudo tranquilo!'. He said 'oh your portuguese is getting so good!'. I told him that I learned that little word from him and what does he say? 'Life is a school'. Buddha, I swear! This guy always makes my day.

-Side note, I found that breadfruit on the ground the other day. Free fruit, that's what I'm talking about! I waited until the next day to cut it up and it was just mush by then. Are they the sort of thing you need to eat right when you pick it? Anyone know about breadfruit?

Brazilian State Flags: Rio Grande do Sul

A little backstory on these posts. We've lived in Brazil for about a year now. I can hardly name 5 of the 26 states (and 1 Federal District), much less pick out which flag goes with which. But as a designer, I love flag design and was interested. And I would also love to learn the names and locations of all the Brazilian states. Flags and information found here on Wikipedia. 

Exorbitant Grocery Prices

We have one really fancy grocery store here, Pao de Acucar. It's got an organic section, but in general everything they have is more expensive, not just the organics. They do offer some things that I have a hard time finding at other stores, which is helpful. And I really love grocery shopping, so I go there a lot. Over Thanksgiving (November) I was on the search for marshmallows. They're pretty simple, and yeah, I know you can make them, but I thought I'd be able to find them in a store. After going to literally (okay, maybe not totally literal, but close!) every chain of grocery store, I finally found them at Pao de Acucar. And the price was ridiculous! I didn't get them (so our canned yams had to go without their delicious marshmallow topping), but really wanted to take a picture. I finally went back and brought my camera. I caught a few more goodies that cost way too much. Mostly from one brand, La Preferida, which is mostly Mexican type food.

Check out these prices (I've roughly translated them to USD so they make more sense):

Canned Nacho Cheese: $11.00

Marshmallows: $13.00

Canned Salsa:  $14.00

Are you kidding me? Canned nacho cheese sauce? I would have thought it would be the 'cheap alternative' to using real cheese, but I think real cheese would be more reasonable in this case. And cheese here isn't cheap, by any means, so that's saying something!

 

Water traffic

Our coastal area has a shark problem (read about it here), which doesn't concern us completely because we have a great reef right in front of our house which provides an enclosed swimming area. But locals are super weary about swimming past the reefs. Surfing is prohibited because of the shark attacks, but there are a few beaches where people still do it. Lately I've been seeing other water traffic. These two stand up paddle boarders were out past our reef, headed towards a set of covered reefs (where we've seen tons of sea turtles before, so I totally understand why they were headed that way). I figure if surfing is prohibited, these SUP's probably would be just as easy a target for a shark. I didn't watch them the whole time, so I can confirm that they weren't eaten, but I think they probably survived. We also see windsurfers all the time, but they go SO FAST that I think even a shark would have a tough time catching them. I swear, they must be professional windsurfers or something. 

Also, a cruise ship. I don't remember seeing a ton of them the first year we lived here, but I see them all the time now, I've probably seen like 15 total? They're super pretty traveling at night, with all their lights on. I've taken pictures of them at night, but, haha, the photos are horrible. You'll just have to imagine them.