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 …
4 Lessons from Tuning into the Other Side of the World
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 …
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Hygge-Happiness
Have you heard of the Danish idea of hygge (hue-gah)? Alex Beauchamp explains it this way: The Danish word hygge (hue-gah) is a feeling or mood that comes from taking genuine pleasure in making ordinary everyday things simply extraordinary; whether it’s using real lights on a Christmas tree or breaking out the good wine when friends come …
Repost: Trash
Dear friends, for the next few weeks I’ll be off taking a class in our state capital of Belo Horizonte (if you want to sound like a local say: “Beh-Agha” — B.H.). Travel always gets my pen (cursor?) rolling, and I have no doubt that I’ll have lots of observations and crônicas to tell by …
Fotocrônica: “Flesh”-toned
I put on this “transparent” band-aid today and was amused that on my pasty-white skin it wasn’t transparent at all! I guess in Brazil the “flesh”-toned band-aids are of a different shade. Which makes sense. Even when I’m very tanned from lots of time outside working on the farm, I’m still whiter than most people …
Surprise Saudades
Saudades is the unique Brazilian word for the blues/that-ache-when-you-miss-something. When you’re away from home for a while there are many things that you miss, of course (I’m looking at you, mac’n’cheese). I’ve also been caught by surprise by a few things that I didn’t realize that I missed until I got home and stumbled over …
iPhone Apps for Escaping into the Exterior
One of my smartest USA exit purchases was an unlocked iPhone4. USD$800 was a bitter pill to swallow. Now a year later, it numbers within my top 5 of things I would grab if I had to flee a burning building. I’m sure that to my Brazilian in-laws my constant fiddling with this little black brick …
My Brother’s Keeper
Each finger ached. My hands were full with grocery bags: peppers, broccoli, squash, beans, soap, coffee, sausage, and all the other things that we need for a week. My eyes and mind were focused on my destination a few blocks away. He stepped into my path and asked me a question. He was tiny–not even …
On Happiness
Happiness is in the language here. You greet someone: “Como esta? Tudo belleza?” And the appropriate, automatic response is always “Tudo joya.” (How are you? Is life beautiful? Yes, it’s joyous). It is so very easy to forget that we are in charge of our own happiness. I’m in a country where most people, even …
