Oh, the Madness that is Gincana!

Barriers block off most of the streets downtown and thousands of people line the street for a nearly 3-hour long parade.  Hundreds of people wearing matching shirts scramble here and there all over the region.  Speakers constantly blare the broadcast of the local radio station for nearly 48 hours straight.  Local stores sell out their entire inventory of popsicle sticks and thumbtacks.  And the city is still awake and busy throughout the night.  It’s Gincana time again!!

After hearing about it for so many years (at least 7, since we were married anyway), I was very excited to experience this unfamiliar phenomenon myself first-hand this past weekend.  The simplest way I can describe it to you is that it is a 2-day, city-wide scavenger hunt.  But that description really doesn’t do it justice.  So here come the details!

"Santa's House" Float

First, there are 5 teams that have participated in each Gincana for the past 20+ years (or one of them may have joined more recently than that, but I don’t remember).  Each team has a minimum of 600 team members, and some have up to 2500.  The event is put on by the radio station in town and sponsored by many local businesses.  It currently takes place every other year.   Most of our family have been participants with the team Fantasma since the tradition began, and therefore so are we.  One thing I didn’t fully appreciate before is that while the actual scheduled event is only one weekend, these teams begin working and preparing many months, even years ahead of time!  Meetings were held at Fantasma headquarters early this year, discussing a theme for our team’s portion of the parade, including t-shirt design and team anthem for the year.  I knew there would be a parade, but what I did not know was the level of detail and how much intensely hard work went into the preparations!  Our team’s chosen theme was “Christmas”, and hundreds of hours of work went into building and decorating floats with flawless detail, sewing costumes and props, and creating various toys and rolling carts for “jack-in-the-boxes” to pop in and out.  I’d like to say I had a hand in creating some of the colorful parade items, and we did help with some small parts here and there.  But after a painful incident with a hot glue gun, and having to chase a toddler around the majority of the time, our contributions were not as great as those of many others.  So, hats off to the many other team members who worked their tails off and made the Fantasma parade awesome this year!! 

Not just Christmas Trees, DANCING Christmas trees!

I felt sorry for the poor Gingerbread Men, wearing such
thick layers in 80-90 degree weather!

Jack-in-the-Boxes!  (The one on the far left with orange and
black stripes is the project that I helped with, and resulted in my blistered thumb.)

The occupants of these snowmen probably really did melt a little
during the parade!

Study Abroad, Part 2

Okay, another course in my University of Life:

Brazilian Culture 101: (Specifically focusing on the State of Rio Grande do Sul)

The richest cultural experiences we can have (in general) often focus around holidays or special events. Something that I wasn't expecting when we moved to Brazil was how many holidays and special events we would have.  Maybe it's because we tend to celebrate both American and Brazilian holidays in our family whenever we can, but it's easy for me to lose track of when the next special occasion will be, as there are so many! Not that we celebrate with all-out full-blown parties for every occasion, by any means, but generally Holiday = Day off from work! Which, from the mom perspective, means “Daddy is home to spend more time with us!!! Yay!!” So, just for fun, I decided to list some of the days that we have celebrated (or at least honored by not working!) this year as part of Brazilian tradition.

March 8 (or about 40 days before Easter) = Carnaval! Probably the Brazilian celebration most commonly recognized world-wide, for better and for worse. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail on this one. Here's the thing about Carnaval: There are certain places that you probably don't want to be during this celebration, and certain channels on TV that you may decide to flip through more quickly than others, to avoid seeing too much human flesh. There is a huge parade with scantily clad women dancing Samba, which is probably the most famous event associated with this holiday. But really, everyone has a different way of celebrating, and the Brazilians friends and family with whom we associate remain fully clothed and did not even dance one Samba song (that I know of).  For us, this year it meant time off from work for a family beach trip! Which was quite nice and relaxing.

April 21 = Tiradentes. This day commemorates a national hero of Brazil who lived in the 1700's. I don't know his full story, but apparently he is important enough to get a day off from work. I guess it is comparable to President's Day.

March/April/May ? = Paixao de Cristo & Pascoa (Easter Weekend). The biggest difference I noticed in how it is celebrated here is the size and type of Easter eggs children receive here! It is also a tradition for many families to leave out carrots and water the night before for the Easter Bunny, and then in the morning he will have left a 'nest' of eggs for the children to find. We really enjoyed keeping some of our previous traditions from the US, as well as learning some new ones here! And we ended up with about a 2-month supply of chocolate eggs afterwards. :)

Studying Abroad

You know, no matter how much I think I know, it seems there is ALWAYS more to learn.  And the more I learn, the more I wish I knew.  I love learning new things!!  So I decided to sit down for a few minutes and reflect on what I have learned so far in my “Study Abroad” experience in this University of Life.  Here is what I’ve come up with so far:

Portuguese 101, 102, 201, 201, etc. -   This is probably the area I have spent the most effort and energy learning.  Before living here in Brazil, I knew enough to say “Hello! How are you? I am fine, thank you.” and a few other things about myself like “I am a teacher” and “Yes, I am an American.”  I also knew some important phrases such as “Where is the bathroom?” and “I am hungry!”  (Anyone interested in learning such valuable phrases in Portuguese can email me and I will share them with you.  They could save your life!)  Anyway, thanks to my high school Spanish classes, a couple course books for learning Portuguese, and spending a great deal of time listening to others speaking Portuguese, I felt like I wasn’t entirely starting from square one when we arrived here.  Now, after continuing to listen a great deal, reading scriptures and other church materials in Portuguese, watching Brazilian children’s shows for hours each week, and continuing to occasionally study my Portuguese course book, I feel like I’m getting a better grasp on both understanding and speaking in Portuguese.  Now, I can not only ask where the bathroom is, but I can also tell others!  And I’ve learned through experience that when I’m cold, I should ask for a cobertor (blanket), rather cobrador (collector, as in taxes or debt...).  Also, one of my favorite words I just picked up on this past week is bagunça - mess.  Fun to say, and extremely useful when one has young children in the house. :)

Six Months Down...

It has been a little more than 6 months since we moved to our new home, and probably time to update everyone on how we are all doing.  I’ll start with Elissa, as she is the most fun to write about.  Lissie has grown at least one or two inches taller since Christmas, and her vocabulary has grown substantially as well.  People here often think she is around 4 years old, as she is much taller than other children her age!  We speak mostly English when we are at home, so she has still learned more English than Portuguese so far.  Currently, her favorite phrases/sentences to use are “I love ____” (she fills in the blank with such words as chocolate, blanket, dress, shoes, Xuxa, letters, and any other random thing she is excited about at the time) and “I need ____” (the blank is often filled with the same words listed previously).  She is absolutely obsessed with letters and the alphabet right now!  She has a small set of foam letters which she must have with her in her bed at night or she won't fall asleep.  At least once a day, she sits in the computer chair, ‘types’ on the keyboard and says “ABCs??  ABCs????” until I come over and turn on an alphabet video on Youtube for her.  She will then stay seated and continue watching various ABC songs, number songs, Elmo, and pretty much any other children’s video that looks interesting to her, for as long as I allow her.  She also continues to LOVE watching the old classic Christmas shows, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Frosty the Snowman.  (I keep my fingers crossed that one of these days while playing with her DVD’s, she will scratch these movies so badly they will no longer play...  6 month have passed of not-so-gentle playing, and no sign of lethal scratches yet.  Sigh.)  Elissa has also become quite the singer and dancer, keeping us well-entertained!  One day while watching an ABC song for about the bajillionth time, she suddenly blurted out “I need to dance now!”, hopped off of my lap, and starting running around the living room, every few seconds pausing to stand on one foot or twirl like a ballerina.  As always, she enjoyed showing off and making me laugh, up until the instant I got the camera ready for filming...  Elissa has also recently been singing the alphabet song in Portuguese, and when asked or told to do something that she doesn’t like, she responds adamantly “Nao, nao, obrigada!!”  I’m pretty sure she picked this up at a pizza restaurant we ate at recently, as we passed on several pizzas brought around that night.  However, she feels it applies when told to put on pants, lay down, sit down, put a toy away, etc., yelling as she runs in the opposite direction.

Urug-Why?!

 Last week Tiago and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary with a trip to the Uruguay- Brazil border.  As exotic as Uruguay sounds, I can say now that traveling there was about as scenic as traveling through Nebraska or Iowa.  And I don’t know much about Uruguay, but there isn’t much on the border that we saw - no amusement parks, fancy restaurants, cushy resorts, etc.  Still, I’d estimate that every week, thousands of Brazilians and probably Uruguaians travel there - Rivera, Uruguay/ Livramento, Brazil.  Why??  Because the streets are completely lined with stores that sell various items (many name brands, like Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, etc.) for prices considerably lower than you can find anywhere else in the country - Duty-Free shops!  (In most cases, the items sold are commonly found in the US for cheaper still.  I used to wonder why my in-laws always wanted to go shopping in New York City or Las Vegas when they came to visit...)  Since we gave away/sold practically all of our earthly belongings in January and had yet to replace several things, and since I had never experienced shopping in Uruguay before, we were excited to plan our trip.  

The hotel restaurant barbecue

We knew in advance that the hotel we would stay in was no Marriott or Holiday Inn.  I would say it wasn’t even a Super 8.  In fact, had it been in the US, I believe it would have been shut down years ago.  The front desk had no computer system, just a paper calendar book with scraps of paper stapled to it for ‘reservations’.   There was an elevator, which had only a thin door on the outside that swung open.  It reminded me of the front door on a trailer.  The elevator itself felt like it should be in some scary movie where the hero gets caught in it with monsters tearing through the roof.  (The monsters wouldn’t have much difficulty at all.)  Then, there were the hallways and rooms.  If we didn’t know better, we would have thought we’d accidentally checked in to a hospital.  The rooms were small, some with a single bed (yes, A single bed).  Ours had a double.  There was a small, old school tv mounted on the wall, maybe a 15 or 17 inch screen.  Rather than a closet, there was a fairly decent sized wardrobe, and there was a small vanity that looked like it could be an antique.  And of course it had a bathroom, complete  with toilet, sink and shower.  Since it appeared to be clean (other than some spots on the ceiling) and it really was conveniently located right in the middle of all the best shopping spots, we went ahead and stayed in our little hospital - er, hotel room.  It was a great decision!!  After visiting store after store and accumulating several shopping bags worth of treasures, we were very grateful that we could then go back up to our room, drop them off, and relax for a while before going out again.  

My Morning Wake-Up Call

This morning I was awoken by an 'alarm' that I have been waiting a while to hear:  “Wake up!! No more sleeping!!  Mooommy!!”  Now to be fair, I am pretty sure most of the vocabulary there was learned from watching Finding Nemo over and over again for the past 2 weeks.  (Remember when Nemo plays dead and Darla is yelling at him, trying to wake him up?)  But it was still impressive and made me smile for several reasons (besides the fact that anything my daughter does is adorable to me :)). 

#1 - Usually when Lissie wakes up in the morning or after a nap, we can hear her talking to herself, singing to herself, and occasionally crying.  After letting her play in her bed for a few more minutes while I wake myself up in the morning, I go to her room to pick her up.   “Good morning!!” I say, and “Did you sleep well??”  To which she often responds “Good morning!!”  and then rattles off some jibberish that seems to make sense to her.  But when I offer to pick her up, I get a “No! No get up!!” as she reaches for a nearby book or toy or blanket.  So I then allow her to play for a few more minutes while I brush my teeth and make my bed, and when I go back to her room she is usually ready to get up.  So it was a pleasant surprise to walk into her room, say “Good morning!” and see her smiling and reaching out to me, ready to get out of bed already. 

#2 - She called me Mommy!!!!  Lately to Lissie, Tiago and I - and most other people - are called “Honey.”  (Ie “Honey!?  Liggoo liggoo liggoo chocolate!” means “Mommy, I want some chocolate.”)  Apparently I need to lay off of using ‘honey’ as a term of endearment...  So anyway, for her to actually refer to me as Mommy was a very nice change!   And for her to call out to me like that, rather than crying or using her new trick of fake-crying: the icing on the cake. :) 

#3 - She communicated to me that she wanted something, without the usual morning whining and/or wordless pointing!  Now I know as well as the next mom or early childhood educator that nonverbal communication is an important step in language development for young children, and I have been grateful that she has been making such progress thus far.   Of course our current goal is to get her to use more words (and preferably phrases or short sentences) to tell us what she wants.  And with the introduction of Portuguese into her little mind, with all the new sounds and words being spoken around here, this goal was sure to slow down some as she sorts through everything and learns which words/sounds to use with which person.  But I can’t help feeling relieved each time she does actually try to communicate with words what she is thinking or wanting.  Especially when the words come out perfectly!!

I’ve decided that it’s kind of scary to try to raise a baby to be bilingual.  Yes, I’ve heard all the advice from experts and read the textbooks in college that say that during their early childhood years is actually the best time to introduce a second, third, even fourth language.  And yes, I also get that small children learning multiple languages can seem like they are behind at first, but later on actually can perform better in school because of their bilingual experiences.  It’s a great thing, I know it is.  But somehow it doesn’t make it any less scary when you are going through the ‘seemingly behind’ part.  That is why my little wake-up call made my day. :)  And that is why I smile and laugh so much when I hear more and more new words and phrases spoken and songs sung, in either language, by my little girl every day!! 

Oh and as for her Portuguese, it’s coming along too.  My favorite new trick of hers is when she counts “Um, dois, tres, quatro, cinco, seis, sete, oito, nove, ... queijo!!”  She does love her cheese. :)

Comidas Gostosas! (More Recipes :))

For those looking for something a little different to cook/eat, here are a few more of our favorite recipes:

Pasteis, Risoles, and other snacks served at Lissie's birthday party

Pao de Queijo (Cheese Bread - one of our favorite snacks!  This recipe is from Tiago's grandmother, who makes my favorite cheesebread ever!)

2 cups Polvilho Azedo (which on Google Translator comes up as "Sour Powder"... other translations I found are  Mandioca Flour and Tapioca Starch, and supposedly you can find it in Asian grocery stores.)

2 eggs

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tsp salt 

4 tbsp grated cheese (usually parmesan)

1 cup milk

Grease muffin pans.  Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F).  Mix wet ingredients in a blender.  Add dry ingredients and blend again.  Pour mix into greased pan(s).   *Note:  After experimenting, this batter does NOT lend itself to rolling into balls.  My mistake before, sorry!  They should grow some while cooking and will be a light brown on top when ready.  Some people cook them less as they prefer the gooier middle.  And yes, they SHOULD be a little gooey in the middle, but crispy on the outside.

Cachorro Quente (Hot Dogs)

There are many variations on this recipe, but here is how we eat Brazilian hot dogs in our house. :)

1 package hot dogs, sliced into bite-sized pieces about 1/4-1/2 inch thick

Tomato Sauce (about 1 cup)

Corn, Peas - either canned or frozen work.

Water (about 1 cup)

Hot Dog buns

Parmesan Cheese

Boiled Eggs (about 1 per person), chopped

In a medium sauce pan, mix hot dog pieces, tomato sauce, water, peas, and corn.  You should have sort of a runny stew at first.  If too thick, add more water and/or sauce.  (I usually cook this by sight so not sure exact measurements.)  Bring to a boil, continue cooking at a lower temp until the hot dog pieces become plump.  Add salt, pepper and other seasonings of your choice.  

When ready to serve, put a large spoonful of hot dog mix on bun and top with eggs and parmesan cheese to your liking. 

Of Bunnies, Eggs & Chocolate

This past Easter weekend was an especially exciting one for our family! I had never experienced first hand Brazilian Easter traditions until this year, and I must say, Santa Claus definitely has a HUGE rival in the Easter Bunny around here. I asked a friend one day how their family celebrated Easter and especially how it worked for the children, and this is what she said: Long before Easter, her daughter (currently age 7) starts looking at all the different large easter egg options in the stores for the ones that she thinks will have her preferred toys or candies. She then writes a list for the Easter Bunny of the ones she would like most. On the night before Easter, she then leaves out some carrots and a bowl of water for the Easter Bunny to snack on when he visits her house. The next morning he will have left a hidden “nest” with treats and eggs and such. (Let me clarify here that hard-boiled eggs are not normally involved in these festivities, but rather large, hollow chocolate eggs wrapped in fancy papers. There are some chocolate bunnies and smaller chocolate eggs as well, but as they do not have as many nice toys inside, the children prefer the big eggs.)  There will be a few bunny foot print clues and some dirt and things that mark a trail for the little girl to follow, which eventually lead to the nest. Then of course she gets to open all of her eggs, ignore the chocolate shells (or at least most kids do), and play with her new treasures.

While we definitely enjoy trying out local traditions for all of the holidays and special events, we also tried to incorporate a lot of my family's American traditions as well. (I'm just not sure I can let an Easter go by without coloring some hard-boiled eggs!)  This proved to be a bit more of a challenge than expected. Since there were no egg-dying kits for sale in any of the stores here, we decided just to use the good ol' reliable food coloring, like our family used when I was growing up. :) There was only one problem: None of the stores we normally shop at carried food coloring. There is one candy/party goods store that we were pretty sure would have some, but on the day before Easter (yeah, we kinda procrastinated this one a bit) when we stopped by, there was no parking and long lines at each check-out register. (Remember Walmart the day before Christmas?) So rather than hunting 30 minutes for parking and waiting another hour to check out for just a few bottles of food coloring, we decided to try one more grocery store. Still nothing. It was time to get creative: Jello!! It comes in so many colors, and stains everything it touches! Surely it would work on eggs too!! :) (Kool-Aid was my other idea, but here there is no Kool-aid powder without sugar already added... Equally sticky either way.)  So we bought some jello packets, went home, poured in some boiling hot water, and dunked those eggs. 

Settling In

After 3 months in our new home, things are really starting to feel more like a nice, normal, every-day life for us.  We've managed to collect most furniture and appliances that make a home more comfortable, and have even started decorating the walls a little!  I enjoyed a very happy birthday this year, an electric oven and dishwasher being included in my gift list.  (Oh how I missed baking!!  And not having to wash silverware by hand!! )

After many dinners in the absence of overhead lighting, our dining room area is now well-lit with a chandelier, and we can also appreciate fine art while we dine. :)  (The paintings in the following photos are borrowed indefinitely from Tiago's parents, who are art collectors.  Obrigada Mae e Pai!!)

 We've managed to add a bit more color to our living room area . . .

 . . . and thanks to our sounds system, a little more noise as well.  (Also please note the change in light fixtures in this room as well.  The ugly one has finally been replaced!  Yaaay!  See previous blog entries for pics of the old, tacky one.)

Another reason we've greatly enjoyed the addition of the rug in our living room:  It provides a much softer floor area on which to play.  Lissie and I worked together on the puzzle you see below.  Can you tell which pieces she put in and which ones I did?  While she is still not quite proficient at making all the princesses in the picture look the way they're supposed to,  she is starting to figure out how to match the colors on the pieces.  Sure, arms may be attached to heads and corner pieces may be in the middle... But she is getting closer all the time! :)

 Here is Lissie's little play area, now complete with toy box and fine art decor. :)

One of Lissie's current favorite games is "Rock-a-bye Lissie" on an upside-down chair, like the one below.  These little chairs go with her table and serve MANY important purposes in our home.  Besides just daily playing and eating snacks at her little table, sometimes they are helper stools in the kitchen. She can "help" (watch) me cook or help put away clean dishes.  She especially likes to help put away silverware and tupperware.  Or in reality, once the tupperware is put away, she enjoys pulling it all out again and spreading pieces around the house.  And a final use for these little chairs has just begun recently:  the dreaded "Time Out" chair.  She's starting to learn that when mommy says "Crayons, pens, and pencils stay on the paper; NOT on the couch.", that mommy means it. (Luckily, ink pen comes out of the upholstery fairly easily with a little rubbing alcohol. Thank you, inventor of rubbing alcohol and/or alcohol gel!)   

The painting we hung in the stairwell was painted by one of my favorite artists, Marilene Maffei.  Tiago calls her "Mom".  We think she is very talented!

It has been a great experience for us, living in a different land and starting from scratch again.  I can't say that everything has been perfect.  (One word:  BUGS.)  But I feel like the installation of our dishwasher got our house a LOT closer to perfection! :)  Oh, and we did have an exterminator come and spray for bugs and spiders.  So, life is good.

More Food, Glorious Food!

(At last, here is the continuation I promised of favorite places to eat/meals here in our area!)

#3 – Imperador

This is not just ANY churrascaria. This is (in our opinion) the BEST churrascaria in our area! When we lived in Utah, we tried out all of the different Brazilian barbeque places as they opened up – Rodizio Grill, Tucanos, Samba Grill, etc. And I really enjoyed them. Imperador is the same style of restaurant, only better! Here's how it works: When you are seated, salads and bread and other small appetizers are brought to your table, and you order drinks of course. There is a huge churrasco, where about 20 types of meat are being cooked on sword-like skewers, rotating over the fire/coals below. As they finish cooking, the waiters bring the skewer of meat around from table to table, fresh from the grill, and offer a huge slab to you. (I think this is what makes it different from the US versions. Instead of a small sliver that you can practically see through, here you basically get mini-steaks each time.) You can eat as much as you like of everything, and more will always be brought until you tell them to stop. The meat selections usually include several types of rib cuts (pork and beef), Picanha/top sirloin, Alcatra (an extremely tender cut of beef that you can't find easily in the US), filet mignon, lamb, chicken hearts, chicken legs/thighs, pork, sausage, … I'm not sure what the names are of the other cuts, but there are a LOT. This particular restaurant also barbecues thick chunks of provolone cheese, one of my favorites! Then of course there is my other favorite - barbecued pineapple smothered in cinnamon. You can get as many slices or pieces as you want, and if you want more of anything, you can ask any of the waiters and they will bring it out just for you. There is one other main reason we go to Imperador, besides the meat: Fried Polenta. Theirs is AMAZING. Served fresh, perfectly crispy on the outside and moist inside! I don't know what the chefs do that makes such a difference, but we could go there, fill up on nothing but polenta frita, and be completely satisfied. But wait, there's more! After an all-you-can-eat dinner of meats, salads, polentas, etc, there is also a dessert bar with about 15-20 different desserts to choose from. Usually they have about 3 different types of pudim, 6-7 types of mousse (You have got to try the mousse de maracuja – passion fruit.), fresh fruits and whipped topping, and ice cream.

By the way, our 2^nd favorite place for churrasco = the home(s) of the Maffei family. And by that, I'm referring to my in-laws and Tiago's uncles, not us. :)

Food, Glorious Food!

The time has come. The world must know about the delicious dining options that await here in Southern Brazil. Here are some things to be aware of before ordering from anywhere: 1. When you order a dish, in most cases you are ordering for 2 people. (Entrees are usually at least twice the size of those in American restaurants.) 2. There are no refills on drinks, and most places do not have fountain drinks either. If you order soda, it will come in a bottle or can. If you try to be cheap (like our family often does) and order water, it will come in a bottle also. Sure you can order additional bottles/cans throughout the meal if needed, but you will be charged for each. 3. (This makes up for #2.) There ARE free refills on side dishes in most places. These often include french fries, rice, various pastas, polenta, salad, and so forth. 4. You will have to look pretty hard to find spicy food here. Brazilian food is well-seasoned and very yummy, but most people here do not like hot peppers or other spicy foods. (You can tease Tiago about how he used to think beef jerky and barbecue sauce were “too hot,” if you like. :)) Now, let me tell you about our “Top Ten” places to go:

#1 – Galeto Feltrin.

This is the chicken place, unlike any I have had in the US. You have two choices when you walk in the door: “per kilo” buffet or chicken meal (I'm not actually sure what the meal itself is called as Tiago does all the ordering).  If you decide to eat from the buffet, there are about 50+ different dishes to choose from, from all different food groups and cooking types. Fresh fruits, vegetables, quail eggs, pickles, olives, salads, and other lighter foods on one side. Then there are the hot food choices – feijao (beans), rice, stroganoff (which varies between chicken and beef), bife milanesa, chicken parmigiana, several types of pasta and sauces, chicken (which I cannot remember if it is grilled or fried, but it is their specialty dish), and lasagna. There is also a dessert buffet with about 10-15 different options – fresh strawberries and cream, mousse, pudim, ice cream, jello, sagu, and other creations whose names I cannot recall. Of course the buffet is nice for several reasons, which you have probably already figured out. Lots of options, get as much as you want, and you can always return and get more if you are still hungry. It is called “per kilo” because you charged by the weight of the food you eat. You can fill up your plate as much as you choose, as long as you are prepared to pay for it afterward. I can't remember the exact cost per kilo, but I do know that I can get a full plate of food for about the same price I would pay for a Big Mac meal at McDonald's in the US. So, high quality, fresh, somewhat healthy food for the cost of fast food. Galeto Feltrin is probably the busiest restaurant in town at lunch time every day, for this reason.

Now remember the other option I mentioned before: the chicken meal. If you order this way, you are seated at a table and your food is served to you fresh and in several courses. First there is a pate of some sort, which we usually don't eat. Then there is the Italian soup and bread, which we do eat. The soup is a broth with dumpling-like filled pasta which I can't remember the name of. The bread is freshly made white bread, soft in the middle with a crunchy crust, the way people like it here. Then the salad tray and maionese is brought: two or three types of lettuce, sliced tomatoes, pickles, and cabbage (I think). Each person takes which ever veggies they choose, as many as they choose, and if the plate becomes too empty, the waiter will appear and bring a refill. The maionese is Brazilian potato salad – boiled potatoes cut up and mixed with what amounts to a home-made mayonnaise mixture. (This is almost a staple food here and is served by nearly every restaurant with every meal. Some put in peas or carrots or corn. My favorite is with green olives or dill pickles.)

A Small Town of 60,000+

We currently live in Farroupilha, Rio Grande do Sul. I found out the name Farroupilha actually means "Ragamuffin", which I think is kind of a fun name.  There is a story behind it, but I don't know it well enough to tell, and unfortunately neither does Tiago.  Well, Tiago calls Farroupilha a “small city.” Let's see... I grew up in Abingdon, Va, population 7780 (according to Wikipedia). For the past three years we lived in Wise, Va, population 3300. Seeing as there are more than 60,000 residents of Farroupilha, I always laughed at his description before. To me, 60,000 residents sounds like it must be a pretty exciting place!!  Now that we live here, I have begun to understand a little better why he says this city is small. So let me tell you a little about why we feel like we still live in “hickville.” :)

First, there is relative size:  Our neighbor city about 20 minutes away, Caxias do Sul, has a population of about 200,000. Then there is Porto Alegre about an hour away, which has a population of about 1.4 million. Of course, these are nothing when compared with Sao Paulo's 19 million residents... Basically, what I have learned is that in Brazil, there are also no small independent towns spread out around an entire county, with only 2000 or so residents apiece. Apparently, if an area is worth settling here, it is worth settling completely. You will come to a huge city, and once you leave it, you can go for miles without seeing much of a community at all until the next city. There are HUGE gaps of basically empty land in between cities. (I will link a map of our state here, so you can see what I mean more easily.)

Our Little Mermaid

     This little girl has become quite the little fish in the past month!  She likes nothing better than to be in water, any water at all.  (Unfortunately this also includes doggy drinking water and soapy mopping water.)  When we first arrived here in Brazil, she wanted to play in her cousin's swimming pool, but she did not want to wear water wings, or an innertube, or a life vest.  She would have nothing of the sort!  On our last swimming visit, suddenly she decided that the floaty vest had become a necessary accessory, which made us all feel a little more at ease.  What was even better though, was as she continued playing in the water, she wanted to add more and more floaties to her outfit.  As you can see, in the end there was really no way this child could sink!  

     And since I'm on my favorite topic (Lissie, of course), let me tell you a little more about how she is enjoying our new home:  I think one of her favorite new games is "How high can I climb?"  I often find her sitting next to (or in this case, IN) the bathroom sinks.  I think she has decided that since mommy uses these hair products so much, maybe she should too.  She also greatly enjoys brushing her teeth, as many times a day as we let her.  (To be honest, there really isn't so much brushing that occurs, as there is sucking on her toothbrush.  But if it gets her in a healthy habit, I can't really complain, right?)  Often when it is time for her to go to bed or take a nap, she can be heard saying "Brush???  Brush???" and becomes very upset if we skip this very important brushing.  Luckily she has not yet found a way to climb on top of kitchen counters and shelves!

House Pictures

 We still have not started the true decorating in our home.  However, here are some pictures to give everyone a general idea of what our home looks like.

We are actually in a condo, I guess you could say. The building has 3 separate homes, and ours is the one on the right end.  The middle unit is currently empty, which is nice because sometimes Lissie likes to yell at the top of her lungs.

I'm also including some up-to-date pictures of our neighborhood, as I know at least one house (the one that was bright red and yellow before) has been painted a little more neutrally. :)

Here you can get a pretty good idea of color schemes chosen for homes around here. I actually feel very grateful that our place is the nice, mellow cream color that it is on the outside.

 

 Here is what people here call the "service room", because usually the hired maid uses this room the most.  You can see our washer/drier, nifty machine that it is, and next to it is a very deep sink which can also be used to wash clothes if there were no machine.  Across from the sink, not in the picture, is a storage closet that goes under the stairs with TONS of shelves.  We hope to make it our food storage closet, but for now Lissie thinks it is a great play place!

 We are still trying to decide what to do with this half of the kitchen.  There are hook-ups to put another TV and DVD player on that shelf in the corner, but that would require another TV and DVD player.  And that still leaves the really open paneling area and glass counter top, about 8 inches wide, that we don't know how to use.  We tried putting our iMac there, but it got zero internet signal and wasn't the most comfortable set-up, particularly leg-room-wise.  One thing we absolutely love though is the cupboard space!!

 This is our garage, of course, complete with tiled floor (as are most garages in Brazilian homes I have seen).  The lovely black car is our "new" Honda Civic hand-me-down car from Tiago's father.  I am not sure about the year and all, but I do know that it has all the extras to make it comfy - leather interior, electric windows and locks, tinted window, etc.  We get to buy this car from his dad, as he decided he wanted to buy a new BMW.  Hey, it works for us. :)

 I do not know who picked this 'lovely' piece of lighting for our living room, but I've decided it needs a different home.  Like a junk yard.  Once we can afford to replace it with something we like, that is.

The next two pictures are both of our guest bedroom.  (The bed is so exquisite that it can only be seen by those who are pure in heart... or something like that.)  Again, I just love all of the shelving and cupboard space!!

And now, the pictures below are our bedroom.  I realize that I posted a picture with the bed in another blog entry, but didn't show the rest.  So here it is.  The cupboards and shelves go all the way around two sides of the room, with (again) TV hook-ups that we probably won't use.  I think that our house would be a perfect place for little kids to play "Hide and Seek", as the closets and cupboards in every room give so many great hiding places!  Tiago is just thrilled to have a place to hang his clothes, finally. :)

 Our extra upstairs bathroom (probably Lissie's, when she gets older and actually uses it... :))

 

Lissie's bedroom, full of pretty pink furniture. :)  On the other side, there is a built-in desk and more TV hook-ups.  Her room has lots of closets and shelves as well, and a little "reading nook" in one corner.  (Bottom picture)

We are enjoying having space to spread out, and are continuing to accumulate stuff to fill it up!  The next addition to our home which we are very excited about, will be our new sofa.  We have been very blessed and are extremely grateful to our family here in Brazil who have taken such good care of us!!  

Some Culinary Adventures

Since becoming a full-time stay-home mommy, I have also taken on another part-time job: Family Chef! There are some meals that I feel I am an expert at preparing, like bean burritos, spaghetti, and pretty much anything that can be made in a microwave. (Thank you, poor college student days!)  But for some reason (I just don't understand it...) my husband has told me that he does not want to eat spaghetti every day, and the stores here don't seem to sell cans of refried beans and microwave-able dinners. (Well, they do have some, but not the same ones I'm used to... :)) So I've spent the past few weeks adding a few new and fairly basic recipes to my cooking repertoire.  I've decided to share with anyone else who reads this blog and is interested in learning a few different recipes for their own family meals. Trust me, none of them are fancy or time-consuming, because that is not the kind of chef that I am! But they are all taste-tested and approved by my husband (which says a lot actually, because he is an expert on how Brazilian food should taste) and daughter (which doesn't say as much; she has been known to eat some pretty strange things).

Bife Milanesa (Possibly the same as “Chicken-fried Steak”?)

Ingredients: Either thinly-cut or tenderized Steaks (about 1 per person), about ¼ - ½ inch thick

Bread Crumbs (I probably use about 1 cup total for 3 bifes)

Seasonings of choice (salt, pepper, garlic, etc)

1 egg, beaten

oil for frying

First mix seasonings of choice with bread crumbs and put in a fairly flat dish (plate or shallow bowl). Put the egg in another flat dish. Then coat the bifes in the beaten egg, both sides as well-coated as possible. Then coat with bread crumbs. Fry them in a pan (oil about ¼ - ½ inch deep) until they are as cooked as you desire. When finished, let them sit on a plate covered with paper towels, to drain as much of the grease as possible. (Tiago has informed me that this dish goes well with black beans and rice, and maionese - Brazil's version of potato salad. I haven't learned how to make the maionese yet, but his dad has assured me he would teach me one day.)

Guisado (Beef & Vegetables)

Ingredients: 1 pound Ground Beef

½ onion, chopped

1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced

tomato sauce

1 can peas

1 can corn (frozen would probably work as well)

salt, pepper, & other seasonings of your choice

Brown the beef in a frying pan. About ½ way through browning, I add the onion and garlic. When beef is done and onions are cooked, add vegetables and about ½ can of tomato sauce. (I don't actually know exactly how much sauce as I just eye-ball it.) The consistency should be moist but not soupy. Add seasonings as desired, to taste. You can eat alone or served over rice. (Tiago assures me that this recipe also should always be accompanied by black beans and rice. I admit, they do go together well.)

Pudim (I'm adding this one because it's one of my all-time FAVORITE dishes here!!!) (A type of Flan)

Ingredients: 1 ½ cups sugar

1 can sweetened, condensed milk (the better the brand, the better the results)

1 can regular milk (use the same can as the other, once you've emptied it)

4 eggs

Melt the sugar in a saucepan over low-ish heat until it liquifies. While still liquid, pour into bottom of pudim pan and spread by rotating the pan, to cover the bottom of the pan as much as possible. (The pan looks a lot like a bundt pan, with a hole in the middle. We actually bought a silicone bundt pan and used it for making this in the microwave several times while in the US.) Mix both milks and eggs together well (in a blender if you have one). Pour mixture into pan (sugar has probably re-hardened). Cook using a water bath (330-350 F) for about 1 hour – 1 ½ hours, or until the pudim has become firm. (Be careful not to let boiling water get into the pudim.) Allow to cool, then refrigerate in pan until ready to serve. When removing from the pan, it's best to use a butter knife or spatula to loosen all the way around the edges, middle and outer. After loosening, place serving dish over the pan and flip. You may have to shake it gently. Then, enjoy! And try your best not to eat the entire thing in one sitting... which is what I always want to do! :)

Feijao a Brazileira (Brazilian Black Beans)

This, along with rice, is actually a staple food here. I will not pretend to actually be an expert on this one as so far I have only made them once and it was almost a disaster. I will testify that it is 100 times easier to cook these recipes with a pressure cooker! So instead of me trying to tell you how to make them, here are links that can show/tell what to do – the links I used to make mine. :)

Recipe 1 for Feijao

Recipe 2 for Feijao and/or Feijoada (Can you tell the difference between the two??  I don't think it's necessary to use all the meats listed for the feijoada recipe. In fact, we just used some leftover pork from a previous dinner and cooked it with the beans. It turned out AWESOME.)

I actually like several of the recipes from the last site, as they are fairly simple and very traditional. So try something new and culturally diverse for dinner in your own family this week, and let me know how it turns out!! :)

Happiness is . . .

Well, it has been about 3 weeks now since we arrived in Brazil and it seems the current most frequently asked questions (FAQs, if you will) are “How are you adapting?” and “How do you like Brazil?”, that kind of thing. I was hoping to incorporate pictures into my answer, but since my internet is not cooperating today, you will just have to check back again later. :)

We all knew that Tiago would have no problem adjusting to living back in his home town. He is thrilled to be working full time and to be the bread-winner in the family. And honestly, I am happy to let him. Of course Elissa enjoys getting to play outside more, being fed all sorts of new, yummy treats by all of the family here, and having a much bigger, nicer space to play and spread her toys. So far she continues to be saying more new words in English than Portuguese, but I'm sure that will change before much longer.

Now, how about me? I still struggle with understanding and participating much in conversations going on around me, I spend all day at home with my munchkin and clean up after her, I have tried to cook new foods and already failed a few times - somewhat miserably, and I have limited social interactions during the day. And yet somehow, I'm happy! :) Considering all of the changes we've made, I feel everything is going very smoothly and I love our new home and our new life. I've learned that being happy is not so much a matter of having everything I want and doing everything perfectly. (I know, that's a tough lesson to learn.) It's a choice, regardless of surroundings and experiences. The other day I was thinking of a song from several years ago, when I was teaching 1^st grade, called “Happiness”. It's actually from one of the Charlie Brown movies. The song lists a bunch of fun little things that help them feel happy. Well, here's my rendition of the song: (Don't try to sing it though. The rhythms just won't work... :))

Happiness is...

• being there each day to watch my baby grow and learn new things, hearing her laugh, and seeing her smile
• cleaning a home that is MY home, NOT a rental, and feeling like a queen in my castle :)
• having a kind, sweet husband who is willing to help with chores and diaper-changing when asked... most of the time :)
• relaxing in my hammock after the chores are done
• experiencing new delicious foods each day (prepared by other family members, not me :))
• going to church and feeling right at home, even though I only catch about 20% of the lessons taught and talks presented. (I've already been asked to play their 'old school' organ for Sacrament Meeting!)
• feeling more comfortable asking questions and initiating conversations in Portuguese
• being offered a job teaching young children English, before even putting out applications or resumes! (This won't start till March, and so far there are 3 children in this particular class. They are scheduled to come all at the same time and either 1 or 2 days per week for an hour, or two hours of the same day...)
• knowing we have kind, caring neighbors and family just down the street, who would help us out at any time
• fresh, ripe, juicy mangoes for breakfast :)
• Churrasco!!!!! (Mmmmmmmm)

I could go on and on, but in the interest of not boring everyone to death, I won't. :)  Please know that we DO miss our friends and family members that live far, far away now. Anyone who feels like taking an adventurous trip to visit us is more than welcome.  Some day our guest room may actually have a bed in it, but in the meantime, we will soon have a very large couch with reclining seats (great for sleeping on :)) and there are several family homes very close by whose residents would be happy to have guests.  So come see us!!
Ate depois!!

The Joys of Moving... Internationally (Part 2)

Okay, more pictures this time!  We move into our own house this afternoon, and we are very excited!!!  There is still a lot to be done and a lot more to be bought, but we have thoroughly enjoyed our beginnings. One thing I've observed:  The customer service here is amazing!!  Whether looking at the most expensive of household appliances or just picking up a can of hairspray, store employees always greet us, ask what we are looking for, and then show us exactly where to find it.  Then they proceed to describe each type of the item and differences between brands, etc, making recommendations of what they feel would be best for our situation.  Once we choose the item we want, they then take it to the check-out counter for us and hold it while we look at other items.  When it's time to check out, everything is waiting for us at the counter and we just have to pay.  Now, with things like furniture or kitchen appliances, I love this system!  But hairspray or toothpaste, well, some things I think I can figure out on my own. :)  (Two exceptions I've found are grocery stores and 1 shopping center that is probably comparable to Walmart.)

Now, on to the fun stuff!!  PICTURES! :)  I recognize this is not the best picture to see Tiago or Elissa, but my main goal was to show the stairway.  It just happened to be Lissie's first place to explore.  I'm not sure what material the steps (and counters) are actually made out of, but they are definitely some sort of stone, maybe granite... or maybe something cheaper...

Here is one view of our kitchen.  The funky-shaped door on the left is our churrasco (barbecue). 

And now we have... a Microwave!!!

This is our bedroom with our lovely, soft bed.  (Apparently in this area, most people prefer to buy firmer beds.  We got some funny looks when we asked for something softer and with springs in it.)  Not much else in here yet, besides a few clothes we brought with us.  

The Joys of Moving... Internationally (Part 1)

It's hard to believe it's only been four days since we left the US. We've been so busy this week that it feels like we've been here forever! So here's a quick run-down of our travel experiences, and some observations I have made so far:

First MAJOR hurdle – the flight here! Our biggest worry at this point was the weight of our luggage. I know, this probably sounds silly as there are so many other much bigger things we could worry about. But moving our entire lives (as much as we possibly could fit) inside of four suitcases and 3 carry-on bags meant some VERY heavy bags!! On international flights, this is not a big deal as long as they stay under 70 lbs each. But our last flight was a domestic flight bought separately from the others. The baggage weight limit for domestic flights = 50 lbs PER PERSON. With unknown charges for extra weight. Yeah. But we decided it was worth it to us to pay any extra fees in order to take as much as we could anyway, and hope for the best!

Well, thanks to some VERY generous grandparents (who I think were willing to do just about whatever it took to get their granddaughter closer to them) Elissa had her own seat on each flight – which, incidentally also meant we could bring more luggage! :) The first flight began with a teary-eyed goodbye to my dear mommy who was SO nice to drive us to the airport (and in such nasty, snowy weather conditions!!! Yeah, she's pretty much the best. :)). We had a quick connection to Miami, during which Lissie enjoyed looking out the window and exploring her new surroundings. She had a great time, so much so that we did not even have to get out our secret weapon yet – the portable DVD player with various “Wiggles” DVDs. In Miami, we had a bit of a layover – about 3 hours I think. Have you ever tried to keep a toddler happy in a busy airport for that long?! I was thinking “If only airports had playgrounds...” and shortly discovered that in a way, they did. :) They're called “Moving Walkways.” They provided hours of entertainment going around and around in circles! At first I thought we had made such an original discovery, but after a while we noticed another mother and her toddler doing the same thing. Lissie and the other baby squealed with delight upon seeing each other, and ooooh what cuteness!! They were even wearing matching outfits! (Awwwwww!) I think the airport personnel were glad when our flight finally loaded...

I'm a blogger!!!

I've resisted for so many years, but now that we will be a hemisphere away from family and friends, I've decided to give in and join the blogging world. :) For anyone who hasn't already heard, Tiago and I are moving to the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil. Our flight out is Wednesday, January 12. Lots of people have asked us the same question about our plans: WHY? I guess the shorter answer is "because Tiago has a job there." But for those who haven't heard the longer story, here goes:

Even before we were married, we have discussed the possibility of one day living in Brazil so that I can learn to speak Portuguese and get to know his side of the family more. But we knew we wanted it to happen at a time that made sense for our family and would be minimally disruptive. For example, he needed to be an American citizen first, or he could lose his permanent resident status while we were gone. He also needed to finish his degree as colleges/universities in Brazil are very different from the US and ideally, he would find a good job here first to get experience in his degree area. So we did not expect to make such a drastic move for at least a few more years. As most of you know, Tiago finished his degree in May 2010, and has been job-hunting for nearly a year now, mostly looking for biology-related or laboratory-type jobs. In the meantime he has gotten to be a stay-home dad for Elissa (which has been great!). Well, after very few responses to many many job applications, of course we began discussing other options, one of which was working with family in Brazil. As you can imagine, this was definitely not my first choice. But we prayed for guidance and studied out pros and cons for all options, and we received answers. The answer I received was simply "Trust my husband." Tiago then told me that he felt we needed to move to Brazil, and that it should happen at the beginning of the new year. I was still skeptical at first, seeing that he still was not a US citizen at the time and I thought for sure he would have to wait at least another 6-8 months just for the next step in that process. So I wasn't quite convinced, still insisting he needed to be a citizen first, but he felt very sure everything would work out. The next day I checked the mail and we had received a letter from the immigration office regarding his next appointment, and we found out that the timing would work out almost perfectly! (I think that was Heavenly Father's way of saying "See? I told you to trust him." :)) So then we were both on board with the Brazil plan, and everything has fallen in to place one step at a time, to make this move work.

There are still many challenges ahead for our family, but we know that challenges are a part of life no matter where you live. And we know that we are going where our Heavenly Father needs us and if we follow the Spirit and keep the commandments, He will continue to help us through difficult times ahead. Meanwhile I am planning to keep everyone updated on our adventures - both good and not so good - through this blog. So stay tuned!!! :)