Stories Inspired by Life in Rural Brazil
Aren’t memories grand? Life is made of both the big milestones and the tiny pebbles under our feet.
This tree blooms twice a year. We love it. We want more. Today I looked out over the orchard at it and realized we had a spitting image of a Truffula Tree from Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax in our back yard. Now I love it even …
We are without satellite TV. This is a big deal because in this small town there’s really there’s not much else to do most nights. We used to have a pirated satellite box which decoded over 100 channels for us. When we got it the guy explained that some day, he couldn’t predict when, the …
4 Lessons from Tuning into the Other Side of the WorldRead More
This little gal has been sitting neglected at the farm ever since we arrived. She has seen a lot of kids in her lifetime. According to legend, this is the crib that held my husband as well as most of our nieces and nephews. Since we arrived she’s been serving humbly as an impromptu shoe …
The meat was sizzling on the grill. The men huddled round puffing at the flames and performing arcane rituals to minimize the smoke and maximize the heat. The women were in our kitchen pulling together some side dishes. Carrots were being grated. Collard greens were being chopped. Community news (i.e., gossip) was being shared. I …
An important thing to know is that Brazilians have a flexible definition of the truth. White lies are social necessities; everyone knows that’s not true, everyone says it anyhow. This extends from the street corner all the way up to the highest levels of government. So it’s got all sorts of implications, both good and …
See this lovely flower? Her name is Cansanção. Her name is lyrical—like canção (song) or cansaço (weariness). She lives right next to and her flowers look just like those of the delicious-smelling marsh plant (shown in the forefront of the above picture). Trust her not. There is no end to the number of stinging plants …
I am generally disappointed with most things chocolate in Brazil. Cue the violins and sad clowns because I am a devotee of Chocolate Church, the darker the better. You would think that in a country where cocoa grows wild, for chrissakes, that the chocolate here would be fabulous. So far, not so much. I crave …
I was absolutely dumbstruck by the sight: Brazilians standing in line. No pushing, no shoving, no line-cutting. A neat, orderly line that wound around the block. All waiting for the bus. I don’t think that I’d ever seen anything like it before in Brazil. Clearly metropolitan living is a whole new ball game. There’s just …
Ok, you guys, I survived weeks of classes away from home. I stayed with relatives who generously extended a spare bed and dinner every night. Dinner invariably consisted of a triple-carb combo (beans/pasta/rice), meat, and they avoid vegetables like they were are an endangered species. It was all yummy (and hey–free!), but I´m pretty sure …
