I thought I’d give my faithful readers some idea of my life in a different culture, since some sort of explanation as to why this blog isn’t being updated as often might be nice!
Recife, Brazil. Photo by Esther S.
I wake up in the morning around 7:30 (thankfully my fellow Canadian, Esther, has an alarm clock, or I’d never know what time is it…) For breakfast, Brazilian usually keep it simple bread (pão), maybe with cheese or eggs, and coffee. How I love the coffee part… the coffee here is always strong and sweet, and you can add milk if you want. I probably would never wake up if it weren’t for coffee.
Of course, the bread is a no go for me as a celiac, so I’ve eaten a lot of eggs. And rice. Somehow, even though they eat rice all the time here, everyone still thinks it is incredibly weird to eat it for breakfast. But what’s a celiac to do?
In the mornings, I spend of a lot of time practicing English with the people I’m staying with. They’re very enthusiastic students! Many people in Brazil do want to know English, as it’s very useful since so many books, etc., are in English. But I’ve never been anywhere where the average person knows less English than here. In Europe, it seemed like everyone knew enough English to help a poor, hapless tourist from Canada. Here, even in the airport, it is hard to find someone who speaks English fluently. Fortunately, the friends I am staying with do know a lot of English, and enjoy practicing.
Turtles that live outside the place I am staying at. Photo by Esther S. (Yes, I do not own a camera)
Lunch is the big meal of the day here. As I’ve spent more time here, I’ve come to realize I love Brazilian food. It’s not known world over like French cuisine is, or anything, but I enjoy it. Just give this celiac rice and beans, and she’ll be happy 🙂 But there’s usually plenty of meat and salad to go with the beans and rice. They take their meat pretty seriously here… and somehow their beans always taste fantastic. And their rice too…
While practicing English with the Brazilians, I am still attempting to absorb as much Portuguese as possible. On rare occasions, I find myself understanding a whole paragraph. But more often, the random phrases I understand just confuse me. (Why are they talking about chickens? And policemen? And jiujitsu? And sharks?) If I understand enough to respond in Portuguese, it’s even better. It’s such a rush to have a conversation of more than two sentences in another language.
Between all of this language stuff, I still find time to take a dip in the pool, learn about cooking in a Brazilian way, play Risk, and just get to know Brazilians better.
Well, hopefully that’s enough to give you an idea. You can probably tell I’m enjoying myself. Unfortunately, before I know it, I’ll be on a plane back to Canada!
Olinda, a lovely seaside town. Photo by Esther S.
Hmm... 