My Brazilian appliances

Some of you lovely readers have been asking for a home tour lately. I've been planning on doing a video tour and posting it on the blog, but haven't gotten around to actually making the video. Today however, after yesterday's post, I thought you might like to see some Brazilian "appliances".

So here goes...

Our washing machine.

Our dryer.

Our dishwasher. (complete with luxury "quick dry" option)

Our 2011 edition coffee maker.

Our central air conditioning system.

Our hot water heater aka electric shower head.
(I agree... I thought electronics in the shower was supposed to be dangerous...)

*Our totally modern walk-in closet. 

          
        

           Not Pictured: The Brazilian doorbell. (Clap your hands together loudly... and voilà!)

      

      

*Not a Brazilian appliance, but still worth sharing!

      

      
  

       

Hope you enjoyed a sneak peek of our home...more to come soon!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am thankful for...

My husband.

My family.

My second family.

My friends...You know who you are!! You don't all fit into one picture!

My front yard.



A roof over my head.

Food on the table.

A warm bed to sleep in.

An internet connection/laptop allowing me to stay connected to the world!

The wonderful education I received over the years.




And I will NEVER EVER again take for granted the following:




Washing machine/dryer

Dishwasher

Sanitary water out of the tap

Hot water heater

Air conditioning/Heat

Public safety

Smoothly paved roads

Screened windows

Quality health care

US wages/salaries

Clean streets, sidewalks, rivers, etc



What are YOU thankful for?

Mutuca Month

It's November 7th and for the last 7 days, all I heard about is this mysterious insect... Mutuca. Everyone keeps saying... oh, you live at the beach? Watch out for the mutuca. They infest the areas near beaches, rivers, lakes, etc in the month of November. From what I've heard, they look like flies, but bigger, and they bite! Not like a mosquito bite though... a bite that bleeds and hurts! So for the last 7 days, anything with wings or that somewhat resembles a fly has scared me half to death! They only come around in the month of November and then they go away. I debated closing up the house and staying inside for a month ...but it's hot and I like the beach! Anyways, I encountered my first mutuca today. It was big and very scary looking and it definitely wanted to bite me. Too bad for him, he met my little friend chinelo (flip-flop). Upon closer examination, it looked a lot like a fly disguised as a bee, or vice versa. I decided to google it. How could I not have guessed!? You probably already have! This mutuca insect is none other than what we Americans call the horsefly! This really does not ease my fears though. Although my contact with the horsefly has been limited, I remember being bit as a child and it bled and hurt a lot! I also think the Brazilian version of the horsefly is somewhat different. See here:

Mutuca, butuca, moscardo...it has many names.

I'm already hoping the month of November goes by fast and without any mutuca bites!!!!

Wish me luck...

Foreign Language FAILS!

If you've ever tried to learn a new language, you know it's no easy task. It takes a lot of time studying, reading, writing, listening and practicing in order to really get a hold of it. The hardest part for most people is speaking. It may sound silly, but it can be embarrassing to open your mouth and speak a foreign language when you're not 100% sure of whatever it is that you're trying to say! Especially when you're not in the classroom speaking with other struggling classmates... instead, you're out there talking to native speakers! It can be very intimidating. You never know if :


A. They'll be able to understand you.
B. You'll make some embarrassing mistake.  
C. They'll laugh at you/be rude.

I'll tell you from LOTS of experience that you will probably experience all 3 at some point in the process of learning a new language. Hopefully C doesn't happen to you...I think it's really only happened to me once or twice, but you just have to think to yourself... "I'M the one trying to speak your language. If you're so smart, why don't you speak to me in MY language?"

There are people who don't have the patience it takes to make the extra effort to try to understand what it is you, as the foreigner, are trying to say. They also don't have the patience to help you understand what it is they are saying to you in response.

However, there are also MANY people who are very understanding in these situations. From my experiences in Brazil, Spain, Italy, Morocco, Puerto Rico, Portugal, and Paraguay, most people are more than willing to have extra patience with us extrangeiros. Sometimes, they are even curious as to where you're from and how you ended up on their side of the world!

But back to what I originally meant for this post: B. You'll make some embarrassing mistake.


It happens to the best of us. Some of you readers (ahem, Allie and Sarah) may remember a certain time in Spain after a night out at a discoteca that I inadvertently ordered a "shawarma de polla" instead of "shawarma de pollo". For those of you who don't know, a shawarma is a middle eastern pita-style wrap of shaved lamb, chicken, turkey, or beef with various vegetable toppings and sauces.

I was trying to order the chicken shawarma but accidentally ordered a shawarma of male parts. Just like that, changing the "o" on the end of pollo to an "a", and had I ordered the most vulgar shawarma the shawarma guy had ever heard of. After everyone dried their tears of laughter and my face faded back to white from beet red, I got the CHICKEN shawarma I ordered with no harm done. This definitely falls into the B category, wouldn't you say?

Here's another good one... While teaching Spanish to High School kids back in the states, I heard this from a male student:

"Estoy tan embarazado!"

What he was trying to say: I'm so embarrassed!
What he really said: I'm so pregnant!


See how languages are confusing?!
 FALSE COGNATES, people.





And now for my inspiration for this post:

Tiago would kill me if he knew I was writing this. We were on the ferry boat headed to Guaratuba the other day (see post here), and it was pretty windy/chilly on the ride over. Tiago turned to me and said in English, "Hot me!"
I died. I knew what he was trying to say. Poor guy. It makes sense, doesn't it?
What did he mean, you ask? "Warm me up!"
This falls into categories B and C. I couldn't help but laugh!

One last foreign language fail:

A loooong time ago, Tiago and I were talking to my mom on Skype. Tiago was trying the best he could to speak some English and he was doing a pretty good job! That is until he said, "I love your son very much."
We laughed as he instantly realized his mistake and she said "That's sweet of you, but he has a girlfriend!"


Do YOU have any embarrassing foreign language fail stories to share?

Bieber Fever in Brazil

Bieber fever is alive and well here. He's the token teenage heart throb and he happens to have had a few concerts in Brazil awhile ago.

J.B. sporting Brazil's flag.

 I know this because there were thousands of tweens sobbing with joy all over the news for days! They even had a Justin Bieber special and aired his concerts live! Although J-Beebs is famous internationally,  he does have some competition here in Brazil, and his name is Luan Santana.

His hair-do didn't make headlines like Justin's, but he seems to have a signature style of his own goin on.

Luan Santana on the cover of some teen magazine.

A lot of people love to hate on Luan Santana, but just like Justin Bieber, his songs are all over the place and without fail, get stuck in your head. I wouldn't say he's a musical genius, but his songs are catchy and I have to admit, I don't mind listening.

See for yourself!

Amar Não é Pecado

If you liked that, you'll LOVE this video of my adorable niece singing Amar Não é Pecado:

Isn't she cute?!?

All Soul's Day

Today was another feriado here in Brazil. Some of you may have already known November 2nd to be "All  Soul's Day," but I doubt you got the day off of work! This day is very special to many Brazilians, as it is a day to honor all those loved ones who have passed. It is a day to remember happy times and memories with those loved ones and to bring flowers to their graves. This particular All Soul's Day marks one year since my sweet Nana passed away. I thought about her a lot today.

Nana and I - Puerto Rico 2006

Since Tiago had the day off of work today, we decided to visit a nearby town called Guaratuba. It was a beautiful, sunny day- perfect for the ferry boat ride to get there!

On the ferry boat! (Car parked on lower deck)

Enjoying the view of Guaratuba.

It's no Cristo Redentor... but it's a Jesus statue and I like it.

Tiago and I 

Almost hot enough to jump in!

We met up with friends at the beach! Tiago and Neneco.

Elis and I.

  What did YOU do today? 

Likes and Dislikes

After being here for 289 days (or 9 months, 16 days), I feel like I can give you a fair list of my likes and dislikes of Brazil.

LIKES:
*Amazing scenery everywhere!

*Learning Portuguese.

*Churrasco - Brazil's version of a BBQ...see my explanation here (towards the end of the post).

*The beach!

*Summer 8-9 months out of the year.

*Learning to cook new things! Sometimes Brazilian, sometimes not!

*Sunday. It really is the day of rest here...EVERYTHING is closed. Perfect time for get-togethers with family and friends.

*Feriados- (holidays) I swear there's some random holiday at least once every 2 weeks and everyone gets the day off.

*Futebol- No not the American kind (although I'm still a fan, don't worry dad!)... I'm talking about soccer. I really do enjoy watching the games. AND hearing the fireworks shot off in the neighborhood for every goal scored. AND seeing the reactions of the die-hard fans over their team's win/loss.

*Learning to live simply and be happy with what little you do have...learning from the Brazilians :)

*Arroz e Feijão - rice and bean deliciousness.




DISLIKES:
*Potholes - They're everywhere and they are huge.

Sometimes this really does seem to be the only solution!

*Stray cats and dogs all over the place. - Many of them are injured or have infections/open wounds. It makes me really sad and also concerned for the diseases they could be spreading.... Where's Bob Barker when you need him?? "Have your pets spayed or neutered!"

*Cockroaches -  It doesn't matter how clean you keep your house... there's always one hiding somewhere and they're HUGE.

*Novelas - I just can't seem to get into these Brazilian soap operas that take up 95% of the airtime. They are way too dramatic for me. That, and the story lines are just plain ridiculous sometimes! Just take Morde e Assopra for example: Man's wife dies or goes missing (I can't remember). Man happens to be a brilliant scientist. Man creates a robotic replica of said wife. Wife wasn't dead in the first place, returns home and discovers robo-wife. There was also something about dinosaurs thrown in there, but I never watched it enough to figure out what was going on... Okay, so American soap operas aren't much better. I think I remember aliens at some point on Days of Our Lives, but at least soap operas at home only air while everyone's at school/work.

*Lack of security - Don't worry mom! I'm totally fine. Just in comparison to home, there's definitely not that same feeling of security. Everybody has to live behind high walls and barred windows with a pitbull or german shepard out front.

*Corruption - Brazilians pay ridiculously high taxes on EVERYTHING but unfortunately don't receive much in return from their government due to all the money embezzled by corrupt officials.

*High standards for appearance 24/7 - We Americans certainly do deserve the label "lazy" we have been given by the rest of the world. But hey! I can't help it if I like to go to the grocery store in sweatpants and a sweatshirt on Saturday mornings when it's really cold and I have nothing important to do that day. That type of apparel is only acceptable inside your own home, here in Brazil. Once you step outside the door, be expected to have perfectly flat-ironed hair, manicured nails, flawless makeup, and a well thought out outfit with a nice pair of heels! Even if it is just to go to the bakery on the corner...

That is just too much for me! Don't get me started on gym apparel... since when is it okay to exercise in a hooker-looking, leopard print, spandex suit !?!

This is for real! These ladies are on their way to/from the gym.
How do you exercise in THAT without exposing yourself?!

All in all, there are more "likes" than "dislikes" (I counted!) so it seems the positives are outweighing the negatives. Adjusting to life in another country is never easy, but is always very rewarding! I find it really interesting to see how other people live their lives and to see all of the cultural differences. Sometimes it is overwhelming, and can even be frustrating trying to adapt, but little by little it gets easier and the craving for American culture/way of life subsides.