Familiar Things

The first morning in Brazil I woke up to Bob Marley singing “Every little thing’s gonna be alright,” on the radio. On the second day I arrived, I went to the supermarket with my host mother, and heard Leonard Cohen playing over the loud speakers. The second week I discovered granola in the house, what a novelty! Then there was the Beatles playing from the apartment down the hall. The first movie I went to see was “No Reservations,” yes it was in English but had Portuguese subtitles. When I walked out of the theater I forgot where I was for just a second. Eating Chinese food in Brazil is just one example of what a diverse culture this really is, it’s wonderful! And when I told my friends that I don’t like McDonald’s they said I was not American, and I liked that! This morning I made myself a cup of chamomile tea, probably the most familiar thing I have had since I’ve been here. What a treat!

Let me just add that I LOVE being surrounded by the unfamiliar, that is after all what I came here for, but every now and then it’s nice to have a cup of familiarity.

First Day of Spring

Yesterday was the first day of spring here in Brazil. As the weeks pass the days get longer, the sun starts to set a little later each evening. The sun is warmer and when it rains, that too is warm. So, I celebrated the first day of spring with my host cousin and her friends. At around eleven, we drove to a little fishing village about forty minutes from here and laid on the beach all afternoon. We ate corn on the cob and delicious fried cheese on a stick. We played in the waves and listened to funky reggae rock. As the sun become cooler, we headed home, full of sand and sun – hearts happy and stomachs full. A perfect day, for the first of spring. (I could get used to this life).

In awe of the world

I am surrounded with creativity. Everything is inspiration. I am intoxicated with imagination. Everything I see, hear, smell, taste, touch, feel brings into being a passion for life. All my sense are utilized and alive. Everyday I learn something new about me, about Brazil, about life in general. Invention cannot be stopped. I am in awe of the world. I relish in the graffiti on the walls, in the dirt of the slums. I drink in the smell of jasmine and honeysuckle. I am consumed with emotion and the need to express it. So I write.
Can you hear me in my writing?
Can you hear my voice as I tell you these stories?
Can you hear my laugh through the words on the page?
Can you hear my sense of humor and my inflection as I write these sentences?
I wan you to image with your entire body.
Can you smell the salt and garlic in the air?
Can you taste the orange color of the moqueca, warm, with fish and shrimp?
Can you hear me in my writing?
Can you see what I see?
Close your eyes and take a deep breath.
As you let your lids drop and your eyelashes kiss your cheeks, imagine yourself sitting by the ocean with your feet in the sand.
Dig your big toe in and feel the moisture, cool and damp.
Listen to the sound of the waves licking the sand by your side.
Feel the breeze as it tousles your hair.
Can you hear me in my writing?
Can you see what I see?
Let’s take a walk.
Grab your bikini and one Real and I’ll take you through my neighborhood.
As we head out the door, it is cloudy but by the time we reach the beach it will be sunny and we will go swimming.
Under your feet you will find cobble stone streets.
Granite bits line the sidewalks and scale the side of the buildings.
You can hear the children as they play across the street.
See the coconut venders with bags overflowing with green coconut shells.
Let’s buy one!
“Um coco por favor.”
Taste the juice, sweet and creamy.
As we head towards the beach, we dodge cars as they whiz by and always look twice before crossing the street, you can never be too careful.
We pass the dress store with flashy jewelry and glitzy glam.
We pass the bakery with a delicious smell wafting from inside. They sell pizzas and sweats and the bread in town.
We pass the post office where they don’t speak any English, but somehow I still managed to send postcards!
And finally, we are at the beach.
Warm sand and bronzed bodies everywhere. Some people laying on the sand and others playing valley ball.
The light, the dark, no one cares just as long as you’re in you swim suit!
I’ll race you to the water.
Ready, set, go!

Better than chocolate, better than ice cream

Crystallized banana squares are better than chocolate, and I for one, can't live without chocolate - I will vouch that these are better then chocolate! Dense, rich, delicious! The whole thing will fit in your mouth if you want to feed your carnivorous nature, or you can saver it, and eat it bit, by bit, one scrumptious bit at a time.

Açai is better than ice cream, yes it is even better then chocolate ice cream. Top that! This fruit is to die for. Deep purple in color, high in vitamins, blend it with ice, add rounds of banana, sprinkle with granola, and drizzle honey over the whole mix, and you have yourself a concoction better than ice cream.

Alcobaca, Bahia

This weekend was Independence Day in Brazil and the Barbosa family and I took a trip to Alcobaca, (in Bahia) about five hours away by car. The ride was beautiful and for the first time I finally got that I AM IN BRAZIL! It hit me like a wave, full body contact. From the window of the car I saw coffee plantations, papaya tree farms, palm trees, bright green grass, and lots and lots of trees for making paper. For five hours we drove past tall, skinny trees used for making paper. The vast scale at which these trees grew was astounding. They went on, and on, and on over hills and valleys - I simply could grasp how many there actually were.
When we arrived in Alcobaca, we were greeted with peculiar looks because the town contains approximately 2,000 people total. It is a quiet town and every body knows everyone else. We stayed threes blocks from the beach, but I don't know if they can be called blocks, because all the roads are dirt - it was more like threes dirt paths, an orange house, and a few palms trees away from the beach!
Relaxing and inspiring, all in one. Alcobaca would be the place I would bye my house from what I’ve seen of Brazil so far (but anything could change). The city is small but the home of the dance, Fohal, my favorite! I was told that the people who live in Alcobaca are joked about because they do everything slowly, as if everyday is a vacation, but for me, everyday IS a vacation! Simply terrific!
During this trip I saw so many beautiful and tragic things. There was such stimulation in everything that I laid eyes on. I was like a little kid - I wanted to stop and touch and feel everything. It was hard to sit still and I kept looking around incase I might miss something spectacular! The bottom line: I was consumed with awe and admiration.

Jaboticaba

Jaboticaba is best described as a berry. It is round and black and grows on trees. But not on the branches as you might think. No, it is attached right to the trunk and bark of the tree, stuck there as if someone had glued it. You can't eat the peel so when you pop in into your mouth, bite down, suck out all the innards and the seed and swallow, then spit out the peel. Sweet and creamy like nothing else I can compare it to, with a little bit of sour near the center. I ate about 98 total.

Last night as I turned out the light and crawled under the sheets, I heard the sound of a guitar outside my window. So, naturally, I being of the curious type, stood up on my mattress and peeked my head out the window. Down below I saw three boys. One was playing a guitar and leaning against a parked car. As I watched he started singing. A low melody, soft and sweet. The others sat on the steps of a near by apartment. The one in the red tee shirt stared drumming on his knees and the one in white shorts started laughing. But that didn’t stop their music. I perched there, on the windowsill until I became really sleepy and rolled back into bed.
The beauty of living in a place full of free spirits, open windows, and surprising new food.