Today I went to Parque Ibirapuera with some friends from church. Gui's best friend Roberto gave me a ride from the Metro station because I'd gone downtown to have lunch with my friend Monica (also from church). At the park, Roberto and some other guys from church played basketball and I went for a nice walk.
It's a lovely park and the biggest in the city. There are shaded walking trails, stands of various types of trees (which you already know I love), and some big lakes to walk around. Also, there are several museums and a planetarium. I went to the AfroBrazilian Museum back in December, but I want to check out the Museu do Arte Moderna soon. I'm not much of a city girl, so it's nice to be able to get a nature fix. I'm hoping to go back soon! I have a friend who likes to rollerblade, and we're planning to go there a rent rollerblades together. They also have bike rentals! And there are midieval warriors on Sunday! This park has it all!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Pizza Party!
So yesterday's item, because as predicted, I'm already falling behind, was that I really like how my hair feels a lot nicer in Brazil. I don't know if it's something in the water, or all the really nice Brazilian shampoo and conditioner, but I think Brazilians take hair very seriously. Mine has never felt so soft. It makes me happy. Gui's mom is the producer for a TV show, and she's always getting free stuff from guests on the show. Once a lady who owns a hair salon was on, so she gives them all kinds of fancy products for free! Not too shabby.
Today Gui and I went to have dinner with our friends Eliane and Tiago- the very couple who we have to thank for getting married and inviting us to the wedding where we met. We had a great time talking and joking in both Portuguese and English. They ordered pizza, which is just great here! It always comes with lots of cheese. Paulistas will always claim that they have the best pizza in the world. I remember back in Paris that my friends Eliane and Pri always telling us that their pizza was the best. I'm still hesitant to give it such a lofty title, but I will say that it is muito muito muito muito muito muito bom. That is for sure. And it's different from pizza at home. For one, the mozzarella has a stronger taste, and the popular toppings are different too. For example, we had a pizza called a "Portuguese" with ham, green olives, and hard-boiled egg. Another had a soft cheese called catupiry and corn! (To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of catupiry on pizza, I'm more traditional...) They also have pizzas with palmito - which is palm heart, and more classic Italian flavors as well. There's so much Italian influence in the cuisine here!
So if you didn't guess, today's taste of Brazil was pizza. Sorry if you were hungry when you were reading this. You'll have to try some for yourself sometime! For dessert, I brought banana muffins. Normally a breakfast food, but hey, since Brazilians have never heard of such a thing, they can have it for dessert no problem. After all, they think pancakes are for dinner!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Vamos lá! (Let's Go!)
Hey Everyone!
It's me, Maggie! I'm in Brazil!! This blog is going to have a bit of a different format than my French one. Already, I feel bad for having let so much time pass without really keeping you informed. Be assured that I'm doing well and adjusting to my new surroundings as quickly and gracefully as I can manage. I still haven't found a job, but I find plenty of things to occupy my time. I'm learning a ton about life, Brazil, relationships, and Portuguese!
I have an agreement with Gui that I have to tell him one thing that I like about Brazil everyday. I'm going to try- though I know already that there will be days I forget -to publish this item as my blog. That way, rather than putting off starting for some day that I feel like writing a small novel of all that's happened, I'm going to start giving you a steady supply of tasty, bite-sized pieces. Consider it your daily dose of Brazil. Hmm...not a bad name for a blog. Better than my original, uninspired, "Hey Look, Everybody! This Time Maggie's in Brazil!"
So let's start with your daily dose of Brazil. Actually, today is a special day that you get several doses since we started this on the 10th...
September 10: The apparent simplicity of life here in São Bernardo do Campo (the suburb of SãoPaulo where I live with Gui and his mom). It just seems like there's a nice community with kids playing in the streets, neighbors chatting on the sidewalks, and friends gathered in the restaurants and bars everyday swapping gossip and trying to stay out of the rain.
September 11: Brazilian trees. They're crazy compared to ours! They have bright purple and red and pink flowers. Some are completely covered in spikes, others in ferns. Some have weird, green fruits the size of softballs. They're always entertaining.
September 12: Cigarette warning labels. There's one with a naked guy and a strategically-placed hand giving a thumbs down and a label reading "Impotency."https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7sP5lf1nNVwBGv3ofox1uOWOVdN2Uo98Jt1v8K-5gl6SjZAGbsnAEYIZbeMSWKQK8FCh1ihpKUwa5-QLa5PrdMjFNECnxh4EVaHQj-uC16ijJMhEuRDyBU2EUlpSTHo3mVI26lLwfWClE/s400/cigarro-4.jpg
September 13: Djavan, a great Brazilian musician, and one of Gui's favorites. I especially like dancing around to this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y106vlqyQ3Y This one's really nice too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey2Us5AQ844&feature=related There are so many good ones!
September 15: Free MASP Tuesdays! MASP is the main São Paulo art Museum. They have a nice collection of European and Latin American artists, and it's not so big that you can't see everything in an afternoon.
September 16: Godfried, the gecko that was on the wall in the living room when we got home one day! Gui didn't think it was anything exciting to have a lizard in the house. In fact, he was just kind of annoyed. I however, was very excited. I only ever heard of spiders on the wall, not geckos!
September 18: Friendly people on the bus. I'm so impressed with how nice and helpful people are riding public transportation. Gui's mom and I were going to a museum and needed to ask for directions but were too far away from the driver so a little boy was acting as our messenger asking the driver things for us. Then other passengers overheard and started chiming in to help. The buses can be kind of confusing, but thank goodness people will help you out!
September 20: Battling the medieval warriors in Park Ibirapuera. We went to the park with friends from church to go to the planetarium, but it was closed. Then walking around, we ran into a group of teenagers playing with homemade jousting spears and swords made of plastic and duct tape. They noticed us staring and we decided to go ask them about what they were doing. They were eager to tell us all about their role playing troop of knight warriors. It was pretty crazy. They were very sweet and let us try out there "weapons" and taught us the rules of combat. In the end their leader called them to assemble so that we could take a picture with them all. You can check it out on facebook. Something you never think you'll do...especially not in a Brazilian park...
September 21: Only taking one hour to get home from downtown! I was sincerely happy about what good timing we made. Normally it take at least an hour and a half. Everyone starting laughing and exclaimed that I'm becoming a real Paulista as my sense of what a good communiting time becomes radically changed.
Today: Avocado smoothies. I'm in love with them! Gui's mom, Ana, introduced me, and now I'm hooked. Now she buys big, sweet avocados every week. :) There avocados here are much larger than ours, much less fatty, more light and sweet, and also so much cheaper! You can get 3 for 2 reais. That's like a dollar! Oh avocado smoothies, how I love thee! Speaking of which, I just finished drinking one...hehe
So there you have it! Now that I've got the ball rolling, I hope you'll tune in from time to time. :)
Boa noite, gente!
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