Oh, these Brazilians do love their English. They’ll put it on anything. Sometimes they like to mix and match. They often have no idea what they’re actually saying. So I had a good chuckle when my very god-fearing in-laws checked in on Facebook at the “Top Less” Restaurant for lunch in São Paolo. oh. MY. It’s funny …
Parking Job
Wandering the streets of Belo Horizonte we looked up and were dumbstruck by this parking job. Now, I’m not sure what to marvel at first: the courage of the driver, the daring nature of the plan, or the apparent teeny size of the parking lot that led to this predicament. In any case, bravo. I’ll …
Insect Bites
The ants were swarming all over the gate. Why? Who knows? They’d never done this before, but tonight, there they were. I paused a moment to size up their black motions in the shadows from the car headlights. There was no way to unlock that gate without standing right in the middle of them. Without …
12 Things About Brazil the Guidebooks Never Tell You
Waiting in line is over-rated. Brazilians don’t really do lines. Unless otherwise directed, they tend to form a large, organic crowd and all push forward to the front. Why is this important? Banks, grocery stores, bus stations, they’ll probably have lines that people respect. But if you’re trying to get through a market or a concert …
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Daring-Do
“Heard of rainbow hair?” I said, “You wanted me to go more platinum blonde. Ok. Deal. And when I do, I want that.” I showed her a photo. She said, “You’re feeling radical?” I said, “I’ve always been radical, you just never asked.” But clearly this was beyond my hair stylist’s comfort zone so I …
Fotocrônica: Import Taxes
I nearly cried in the post office. My mother sent us a box of used Legos, used baby clothes and other assorted items (none worth more than USD$10 each). The Brazilian Customs upon x-raying our box re-valued the items, deciding that in total they were worth R$350. They issued a tax based upon that worth. …
Tanajura Time
All the littles at the farm are excitedly chasing flying insects around the yard. Anesio (age 4) is the most excited of them all: “TANAJURA, Tía! Achei uma TANAJURA!” The rains have come. The adults sigh a breath of relief as the fields start to green again. Women sweep cupim wings out of house every …
Aerial Slumber Party
Have you ever flown internationally? Something strange happens when you pack two hundred people together in a confined space for nine to twelve hours. We lose all sense of propriety; really, it takes a strong individual to stand on formality past the second hour. First shoes come off, before you know it we’re telling deepest …
Anniversary: Year Two
I’m a little late on this post. We arrived in Brazil on September 9, 2011. Somehow I blinked and this year’s September anniversary rolled by. I’ll blame it on the pregnancy, my scapegoat for all things memory-related in 2013. Last year on my one-year anniversary here I wrote about how life will slip by unless you …
