I"m an unseasoned American, of course I know it all

The year was 1998. I was on my first trip to Europe.  5 days into it.  I had never travelled on my own before and had never been to Europe before. It was only my 2^nd day truly on my own. I was on a train bound for Haarlem, the Netherlands. Why Haarlem? Well, Amsterdam was too scary for me, and I had met a guy on the internet from Haarlem.

Wait wait, its not like that at all….

I had met a guy (and his wife and kids) on the internet in New Zealand, who was originally from Haarlem. He had described his hometown as such a pretty place, I just had to see it. He was no where near the place anymore.

So there I was on a train bound for Haarlem. I did not speak Dutch and had no real travel experience. Therefore I knew it all!  As I sat on the train, an elderly woman (mid 70’s? ) tried to engage me in conversation. Her English was limited, however much more advanced than my non-existant Dutch. Through the conversation she was able to ascertain that I was an American (although I probably screamed it at the time) and that I was travelling to Haarlem. She was very friendly, and most likely we were able to communicate more than I recall. The train approached a station, Haarlem was part of the name. It looked very industrial.

But remember I knew it all.

I was ready to get off. I saw the name of the place, it was the only word I recognized. I stood up, strapped on my backpack, which weighed almost as much as me and began to walk to the door of the train. This was my stop. I was getting off.

Remember I knew it all.

The older woman stood up as well, she ran down the aisle of the train and stopped me. But I was still determined to get off.

Remember I knew it all.

She tugged on my backpack, holding me back, conveying that this was not the correct stop. I was going to get off.

Remember I knew it all.

But I was unable to be rude to this woman who clearly wanted to help. I decided that I could just get off at the next stop and take the next train back. That way I would not offend her. I figured the next stop would be nearby, because this was a local train.

Remember I knew it all.

As the train pulled into the next stop, I didn’t even bother to look at the station sign. Now the woman motioned to me to get off. She said “Haarlem” multiple times. I smiled and thanked her. All the while thinking ‘I need to find a train to get back.’

Remember I knew it all.

As the train pulled away from the station, I finally looked at the sign. Haarlem was all it said.

Clearly the woman on the train knew it all.

The taste of another land

The school year began on Monday. Thus I officially have to declare summer over, and live in the memories.
It's no secret that I love to travel, I take every moment of my vacation time and live it to it's fullest. When it is over, I miss it greatly. (Please don't interpret this to mean that I don't love my job - I love my job, I also love the fact that it affords me the opportunity to travel).
So I try and recreate the experiences I had during the summer at home. It's about fooling the senses. I do so through taste. In every country I visit, I usually discover foods that I fall in love with, flavors that will forever remind me of that country. Whenever possible, I bring home whatever I can. Now there are many rules regarding what you can and can't bring back into the United States from abroad. No fresh produce, no meats, no seeds etc.
But what you can bring in tantalizes the senses. I consider myself lucky to have an international kitchen.
I make salad dressing with pumpkin seed oil fro Austria.
I use Knorr spice, soup and meal packets from Germany to cook my veggies with.
I dip veggies into Pebre from Chile.
I enjoy wine and reggio paramesano cheese from Italy.
I spice my food with Aji from Chile and with spices from Turkey.
I make my breakfast with English Ready Brek
I also make lemon meringue with Green's from England.
I've got Linsen Oil from Germany to cook eggs.
I have other oils and vinegars from Germany as well.
I have tea from Germany, England, South Africa and possibly other places.
And of course I have candy from around the world...gummys, chocolate etc.
But my international kitchen is not just about the food in it.
I cut with knives from England.
I have metric measuring cups from Germany.
I have a 'spätzle' maker from Germany.
I have several German recipe books.
And I am sure if I dug deeper, well I'd find more.....

I am lucky to have an international kitchen to fool my senses and let me take a mini vacation whenever I wish and not just when the school year allows for it.

When travel is no longer travel

This comment may sound smug, condescending or even a bit flippant. It's really just a statement of fact and is not meant as any of the above:

I don't think of going to England as traveling.

Yes, obviously I pack a suitcase.
Yes, obviously I pack myself into a pressurized metal tube for over 9 hours.
Yes, obviously I need my passport.

So you might think all these facts above equal up to travel - right? Well in the literal sense of the word, yes going to England is traveling. But traveling to me is about the unfamiliar and the experience.
Wait don't take that the wrong way! I see new places in England and I have incredible experiences. BUT I don't go to England for those purposes.
I go to see my friends.
I go to enjoy their company and spend time with them.
When I go to England, some days we go out and about and do touristy things, other days we stay at home and play lego (the 'we' in this comment involves Oz and/or Edward who are both 3 years old). Sometimes I help Ruth with housework and sometimes we scrapbook together.
Its not about being a tourist, it's not about ticking little boxes off on the "to see" list. It's about spending time with friends. Thus to me, this is why I don't consider going to England to be travel.
I can't resist a few fun photos of my most recent non-travel to England:

Charlie at Guide Camp

Vee juggles at Guide Camp

Jamie and Ruth

Ruth, Paul and I

Alice sitting next to Edward

Bethan enjoys the sun

Oz, Edward, Christopher and I enjoying a sunny summer day next to the wading pool

Susan and Oz playing

Puddles are perfect for splashing - right Oz?

My activities here are not the activities of a tourist. Yes, I am a visitor,  but consider this - if I was just a tourist, would my British friends trust me to make a cup of tea?!?

Are you reading this?

Given that my blog is about travel, I thought it might be interesting to see to what corners of the earth my blog posts have traveled.
Below are the stats for this month. (Hmm...given we are only on Aug 11th, I wonder if this is really July or maybe it represents July 12 - Aug 11. I"m not 100% sure).

As you can see - my blog has been visited on most continents. I'm a bit confused by India and China - but if you are from India or China and reading this (or if you went to India or China and read this there) then hello and thank you!

Actually I"m quite humbled.

Some of the things I wrote were clearly more frequently viewed than others. This page shows the "all time" stats of which entries were most beloved. Apparently the Dirndl was quite popular. It's also interesting to see where these articles were viewed from.

I won't bore you with the next image, but I also can see where people are coming to my blog from. Most of the views have been referred through Facebook and are frequently accessed on your mobile device. A fair number come from couch surfing as well!  I can also see that most of you are PC users. I"ll forgive you for that :)

No matter which of these labels you fall into, I"m just impressed that you wish to read my blog and want to say 'thank you' :) Feel free to comment on posts - good, bad or ugly.

This one time at Guide Camp...

This year I had the opportunity to spend time T Guide Camp in England - only 2 days, but tons of memories. As many of you blog readers know I have been a Girl Scout for 29 years and spent 15 or more summers at Girl Scout Camp. Camp is a part of me. So being able to go to Guide Camp was a fun experience and well I couldn't help but compare...now for fairness' sake, its really like comparing several variety of apples with just one orange.
I was at Come To Tomers with the Guides of my friend Charlie and the Rangers of my friend Vee. Guides are 10- 14 years old and Rangers are 14 - 26. The oldest of the Rangers was 21. The camp ground is an established site with several decades of history. CTT is a 2 week event for Guides and Scouts every summer - I have no idea what. Takes place the other 50 weeks of the year at this site.
Okay so let the apples/orange comparison begin:

(note: I am going to refer to a Guide Group as a troop in this post - although technically that is not the correct word)

Campground:
My GS camp experiences have been camps with permanent / semi-permanent facilities. At CTT guide units set up their own tents and canopies. The only permanent structures were office and bathroom - maybe a few other facilities like storage sheds here and there.





Campers:
My GS camp experiences, girls come to camp alone or with a buddy or two. It's not a troop activity. At CTT the Guides and Scouts (yes, those are of the male variety) come with their troop. At GS camp the campers were either in a unit that did everything together or in a unit that did some things together and other times the campers signed up for activities. At CTT the campers signed up for activities. However a troop could sign up for a common activity as well. But the troop would come back together for meals and sleeping. Plus the girls could work on badges in the unit space as well.

Meals:
My GS Camp experiences typically included a large mess hall where the whole camp came together for most meals. Generally a unit would cook out only once a week - one dinner and one breakfast and over the weekend as well. At CTT every meal was a cookout! I loved it! While I was there we cooked eggy-bread (known to Americans as French Toast), soup, pasta, sausages, fried bread, jacket potatoes (known to Americans as baked potatoes), custard and more. It was soo good to be at camp cooking over a fire. Heck not having a burn ban and actually being able to light a fire was priceless!




Activities:
Both GS Camp and CTT offer a variety of activities for the campers. Every camp offers different activities based on facilities, climate and age of campers. CTT had a lot of fun activities - many of which I wished I could do!
Slides, rock climbing, zorbing, fire lighting, rifle shooting, laser tag, rafting and so much more! Activities galore.















Clothing:
Camp is camp, no matter where you are, you've got to be prepared for the weather. At CTT this meant everything from shorts and T-Shirt to sweatshirt (in British-speak: jumper) and cap and don't forget your wellies and waterproof (rain gear to us Americans). In the 2 days I was there I needed it all! But the big difference was neckers. Everyone wore a necker to signify who they were. The campers had cow-patterned ones (western theme week), the Guiders and Leaders had bright orange (me too!) and staff had navy blue. This was not optional and MUST be worn around the neck, held on either with a woggle or a friendship knot. I liked knowing immediately what the role of a person was!









Theme:
At GS Camp, often the unit would have a theme for the week - and the camp might hold an all camp theme dinner or theme night. At CTT there was a theme for the entire program: wild west / cowboys. Fun theme - hence the cow patterned neckers. Many people wore cowboy hats and had stick horses with them. They also had flags flying to signify the wild west. One was the American Flag. The other - well first I was told "we have the Texan flag up", then they said "that's the one with stars and bars - from the Dukes of Hazard, right?" uh. No. Yes that's correct the Confederate Flag was flying. I must admit I was less than thrilled. I was telling my friends Charlie and Vee why I had problems with it and they explained that everyone there thought of it as the "Dukes of Hazard" flag. I was amazed at how strongly I was opposed to it flying at the same level as the American flag -after all when I was a freshman in high school this was the flag of my high school. (that's a whole other story - quite a year it was as it was removed) heck the school I teach at now even used to have this flag as their school flag. I live in the south. I am not a stranger to seeing the Stars and Bars - but I really did not like it. I know that the flag was flown at CTT for completely different reasons.




Leaders:
At GS camp the girls come to camp and the leaders do not. Instead there are paid camp staff. I was part of that camp staff for many years - loved it! We worked our tails off and had as much (if not more) fun as the campers. At CTT the Guiders and Leaders come with their troops, but are not responsible for the activities. We are responsible for meals and campsite. That meant we had more time to relax. (relax at camp? Crazy isn't it!) We also did more of the cooking because girls had activities. So my day went like this:
Wake up, help cook breakfast, eat.
Girls to sign up for activities, we enjoy a cup of tea
Girls return, finish clean up.
Girls to activities, we straighten camp site, walk around watching activities, work on badges (yes - there were badges that even a leader could earn), talk to/ do crafts or badge work with girls who had a free period and well enjoy the time
Elevenses - we'd prepare a snack of squash (it's a punch), fruit and biscuits (cookies) for the girls
Girls off to activities, begin prepping lunch.
Cook and eat and clean up from lunch
Girls to activities - more relaxing etc as in the morning. Wander up to camp store for an ice cream
Cook and eat dinner, clean up
Head to main camp for flag lowering and announcements
Girls to evening activities
Evening activities for leaders (we had a pub on camp - seriously - with beer, wine and sodas. One night we had a trivia night at the pub - fun but the questions were all a bit easy!)
Good night!
Yes, quite an easy day for the leaders...... The staff ran everything.

In comparing. GS Camp with my experience at CTT, I am not saying that one is better than the other. I love camp and am so glad I had the opportunity to spend a few days at CTT!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Tomers Campground, Caffey, England

Diverting plane, part deux

The flight was going well. I was spending time, as I often do, in the back galley chatting with the flight attendants. This crew was unique in the fact that they were 100% male. The air was smooth and a small group of passengers were back in the back, when one flight attendant, he looked to be in charge, came back and used the phone to speak to the pilot. I didn't hear what he said, but no sooner than he hung up, the fasten seatbelt sign came on. Coincidence? I didn't think so. I thought possibly he just wanted to clear the galley. I returned to my seat and a moment later, a flight attendant came to talk to the man opposite me in the aisle. Eavesdropping, I quickly learned why we were all seated. The flight attendants came to this man because they knew he was an MD. A first-class passenger pregnant with triplets had begun to bleed fairly heavily and there were concerns about her miscarrying. The girl next to me asked me what was going on. I told her and she said "oh my god, that's my boss." (note: it was actually her ex-boss, she had been fired on this trip) She then told me that the ex-boss had had problems and also a reduction surgery two weeks ago and that all of her doctors had told her NOT to travel. So, I suggested she tell this info to the doctor seated next to us who was about to go look at this woman. She did, plus she tried to go up to the ex-boss. Why? Well the ex-boss had a 1 year old daughter traveling with her. The girl next to me promptly returned, they wouldn't let her into first class. However a few minutes later the flight attendants came and got her and a few minutes after that she returned with the one year old. The *crying* one year old. We both tried to calm her. The best solution: looking at my photos of Chile on my iPad. The girl next to me comments that she's been fired but is still having to do work! Then after a bit she returned the girl. Fast forward twenty minutes and they decide they need her again up there. She leaves for first class to go amuse the one year old and comes back about 30 min later. She tells me they had been discussing diverting the plane and making an emergency landing, but decided against it. We only had 1.5 hours to go at this point. As the air actually began to get a bit bumpy, the fasten seatbelt sign was finally turned off. The doctor returned to his seat and nothing more was said until just before landing. The flight attendant came back to the girl next to me and discussed her moving to first for landing, but also told her that the paramedics would remove the ex-boss last, so she could stay in economy and just walk up as we disembarked. Bueno. We landed and most of the plane was apparently clueless to the situation and began to line the aisles. Then once the majority of the passengers were standing, they announced that we should all sit down because paramedics were coming to remove a passenger with a medical emergency. No one sat. Not a single one person. Oddly they all began to de-plane almost immediately after that announcement. The two of us waited. After a bit a flight attendant told her that the one year old was with another colleague (presumedly one not fired). In the end, I have no idea what happened to the woman. I commented to the girl next to me that maybe she'd get her job back, her response: I don't want it!
Ah adventures on an airplane.....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:British Airways Flight 69 LHR to PHL - somewhere over the Atlantic

Chileisms

Many people questioned why I would learn Spanish in Chile. They told me it was the same as going to Scotland to learn English - hard to understand and many unique words that are only in use in Chile...
But, as I countered, if I could understand Chilean Spanish, I could understand most Spanish around the world....plus I liked it.
Chilean Spanish is musical. They speak fluidly and run words together. Once on the subway I heard a man singing, or so I thought....he was just talking on his cell phone. Chileans speak beautifully.

Now what about the differences..... Well of course they exist, but I liked them.
Chileans often drop 's's from words, so for example Buenas Días becomes Buena Día. Actually they would more likely just say Buena. But I also learned this is a class indicator. People who drop the s are thought of as lower class / less educated. But honestly, I heard it frequently.

Another difference is the pronunciation of 'll'. In Chilean Spanish it sounds like a soft j in English, such as the g in the word giraffe. So for example llaves (keys) sounds like javes. Milliones sounds like mijones. It's correct pronunciation for Chile, but incorrect for other Spanish speaking countries.

And finally we come to words. I'll give the word in English and Chilean.... And if I know it, I'll put the word in Spanish as well in parentheses.

Boyfriend/Girlfriend - Pololo/Polola (novio/novia)
Corn - chocolo (maiz)
Pumpkin- zapallo
Zucchini - zapallo de Italia (zucchini?)
Caramel - manjar (dulce de Leche)
Mini bus - migro (autobus)

There are others, but I just can't recall them at the moment.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Chile

I could live here

I was home. Well that is how I felt. The last couple of years I have had a desire to live in another country. I'd always thought it would be Germany or England. Germany because I love it there and I speak the language, England because I have such good friends there. Going to Chile I didn't even put the idea of living there on my radar. But it crept up on me until it became a big flashing beacon shouting out "look at me!" I love Chile and I could live there.
The first time I explored Valpo, I found that my favorite Cerro (hill) was Alegre. I felt safe there, I liked it. I went back and realized that if I lived in Valpo, I'd want to live on this Cerro. The houses have character and history. The walls are bright and colorful with art/graffiti. The streets are clean and charming. Even the funicular is a fun one! I love the charm of Cerro Alegre. On my second visit, I mentioned to my teacher from ECELA that I would want to live here if I lived in Valpo. She told me it was a pricey area. (jeez that figures). My third visit I was walking around with two gringo friends, and I mentioned again that I wish I could live here. One of my friends simply said: you can.
He's right. I can.




Me at the lookout of the Cerro - ocean and Andes in the background.




One of the charming corners of the Cerro. This house was actually the scene of a soap opera that was simply called: Cerro Alegre.




Some of the incredible graffiti in the Cerro.




Calle Tempelman - one of my favorite streets. Posed for this photo are Brishon and Carolina.




Cafe Brighton - they make a mean Pisco Sour!




I knew that this was my home when I saw graffiti in German that reads: we can do everything!!

And a few more pics of the Cerro.....












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Location:Cerro Alegre, Valparaiso, Chile

Where am I?!?

Often it is said, "I don't know if I am coming or going". This morning that was the truth. About 10 mins before my alarm, I woke up to my phone alerting me to a text. The text was from American Airlines updating me on gate info etc. I read the info and saw that the flight was departing from DFW. I went into a momentary panic: I'm not in Ft. Worth, this is wrong! Then in a moment of semi-lucidity I wondered.... Where am I? I looked around the mostly dark room, trying to figure it out. Finally I realized the answer: I was in my own bed in my own room in my own home! Such a strange place to wake up.....

¿Yo spreche good, não?

This has been a summer of confusing and confounding myself linguistically.
I started out with a three week exchange with my students in Germany. There I spoke mostly German, although occasionally English was used as well. This was simply a pleasure, not a challenge.
I returned home, spoke English for about three days and boom, headed off to Chile. In Chile I was plunged immediately into Spanish, a language I learned in high school and a bit in college and have seldom used since then. My first week couch surfing I mostly spoke Spanish. But I would somewhat frequently use a German word without even realizing it. The more Spanish I spoke, the less I used German words. Throughout this I continued to communicate in both German and English as well. I also discovered that as my Spanish improved, I became more fluid in my speech and used it more readily. This actually harmed my German, I can't seem to say a whole sentence in German right now without including one Spanish word. Most frequently used words: pero (but) and yo (I).
Two weeks after I arrived in Chile, I took a trip to Brazil. Yes that's right, another language to input. Portuguese. While I was in Brazil I spoke Spanish, listened to Portuguese and read a novel in German. Confused yet?
Now I was not trying to learn Portuguese, but I soon found that I could have a fair conversation if they spoke slow Portuguese and I answered in Spanish. Plus, I began picking up words and realizing patterns.
For example, frequently a word that ends in -tion in English, ends in -ción in Spanish and in -não in Portuguese.
L's in Spanish are often r's in Portuguese. Example: Playa - Praia (beach)
Plus there are just a whole bunch of similar words.
But in was not (intentionally) learning Portuguese.

I returned to Chile and it was back to Spanish.

I am writing this in my airplane bound back to Texas. It's Monday around 5am in Texas. On Thursday I head to Philly, where I have an AATG committee meeting and expect it will be all German through Saturday. To wrap up my language adventures for the summer, I will fly to England and speak British English for a week this coming Saturday.

In the end all I can say is who knows what I will say next time we talk!

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Location:Germany, Chile, United States

Even I liked this church!

When I travel I visit churches and cathedrals frequently. For an agnostic with atheist leanings, I certainly spend an extraordinary amount of time in houses of worship.
You may ask, "if you disdain religion so much, why visit churches?" there are several reasons:
1. Artistically they are amazing
2. Architecturally they are amazing as well
3. I like climbing massive amounts of stairs to the top of a tower (seriously - no sarcasm here) the views from the top are amazing!
4. In the hot season, they are usually quite cool and refreshing.

In Brazil many of the cathedrals we tried to visit were closed. This was a bit surprising..... But in the town of Penedo, one was open: Nossa Senhora Concente Church. (the name is in Portuguese, it pretty much mean our lady of something - the virgin Mary I assume).
Walking in the church, which was plain and unassuming from the outside, I was struck by it's beauty on the inside.






But that is not why I dedicate a whole blog post just to this church. Take a look at this next photo and notice that there appears to be a door or part of the wall with a not quite flush board.



This was a door to freedom. When opened, we saw a space between the wall. Just wide enough for people. Before slavery was abolished in Brazil, this church was part of their underground railroad. Escaped slaves would hide in this opening during the day and at night could roam freely in the church. The town is on the San Francisco River which leads to the ocean. The slaves would hide until passage on a ship to freedom (away from Brazil) could be arranged.
This is one church whose actions I not only approve of, but find quite admirable!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Penedo, Brazil

Let's go surfing now...

Several of y'all have asked some of the following questions:
How can you afford to travel so much?
How do you have friends in all these countries?
Isn't it lonely to travel by yourself?

Now there are multiple answers to all of these questions, but there is one answer that I want to focus on: couch surfing

Right, so couch surfing is an organization that connects travelers to the part of the world they are visiting. It's totally free and a fun way to meet people (and no it's not a dating website).

Basically the way it works is you set up a profile (like facebook) and you indicate your couch status:
Able to host
Might be able to host
Meet for coffee
Traveling

You join communities for the area you are in or of a topic that interests you. For example, right now I am in the communities for: Ft. Worth, Chile, Santiago, Last minute couch in Santiago, Viña del Mar, Valparaiso and Language Exchange. Each community has a message board, and you post or respond.

You can also seek people out individually - searching by name, region and other factors (such as couch availability).

The third way to meet people is that when you log in, you see a link to other profiles of people who have logged in near you.

Couch surfing takes a degree of trust. After all you are potentially going to the house of a stranger and or inviting them into yours. But the system is set up to safe guard this: every member can choose to be verified, messages and couch requests are recorded, feedback is left and one member can vouch for another. Is it perfect, no, but I am comfortable with it.

My first couch surfing experience was through Hospitality Club www.hospitality club.org in 2004-2005. I stayed with 4 different members in Germany, even being invited to Christmas / New Years celebrations. It was great, I met some people who I am still in contact with today. But after a while I stopped being involved.

This past year, I met several couch surfers and decided this was a great idea for Chile. In Chile I have been hosted by two different Chileans (one of them twice), have traveled with a CS member from France for a day trip, met up with a CSer in Viña who quickly became a friend of mine and met with a group of CSers in Santiago to go see the World Press Photo exhibit. Additionally I've exchanged messages with several others, but for various reasons, meeting up did not work out.

It's a leap, trust is involved. You don't have to travel to couch surf. If you are only comfortable with meeting a traveler for a cup of coffee or to show them around your own city, I totally recommend it - it's great!

www.couchsurfing.org

Below are a few photos of my CS experiences in Chile.





















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Location:San Martín,Viña del Mar,Chile

Dear Flyers

Dear Fellow Flyers,
We are about to spend a period of time ranging from 30 min to 18 hours in a pressurized metal tube as we travel from point A to B. Thus I would like to offer some suggestions on little things that could make it a more pleasant journey.

Upon boarding:
- please watch the 8 carry-on bags you are schlepping, I am not keen on them hitting my face.
- when you put this 15 bags in the overhead bin, please watch your body parts, I'm not keen on your rear or armpits being in my face either.
- when you finally drag your self into your seat please watch the arms, bags and jackets that you drape over the seat in front of you. again I am not keen on them hitting me in my face.
- oh and please don't pull back my seat like it's a roller coaster bar - I am sure the pilot will do his best to give me whiplash via turbulence. You do not need to help him, neither does your child every 10 minutes.

Now speaking of your offspring, please remind them that:
- I really do not appreciate the massage effects on my chair every time they kick it.
- the tray table is not a toy to be opened and closed repeatedly.

Lastly I wish to remind you that we share the arm rest, please react accordingly.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read these tips. I appreciate that you give them just as much attention as you give to the flight attendants during their safety lecture.

With greetings from the friendly skies,
Your fellow traveler.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Any airplane, anywhere in the world.

I need yet another napkin

And once again I feel the need to write about food - I love the foods in foreign countries. I was treated to so many tasty things in Brazil it was amazing.....

Queijo d Coalho:
This is a cheese that Brazillians love. It is served at breakfast, with snacks and at dinner. I had it on bread, but most soften it had been pan fried, allowed to melt a bit, then recongeal. With breakfast, I ate it with eggs (that may have been very American of me, but both were on my plate...) one day at coffee I had it over some bread, and at dinner I had it just by itself.

Speaking of meals, lunch tends to be the big meal in Brazil. Dinner is typically served a bit later and is often coffee with bread and cheese and sweet things (cake, pastry etc)

Many restaurants are self service. You walk in and get a plate. These plates are huge! Even American plates are smaller. Then you fill your plate with whatever you want and before you eat it is weighed. You pay by the weight. It's not just for meals. Ice cream shops are very similar. We went to one with over 70 flavors - you scoop your own ice cream into the bowl and then weigh it and pay.

And back to foods.....

Pamonha:
This is a sweet mixture of cornmeal, sugar and juice. Daniel's Mom made it herself and described the process to me. She described it in Portuguese and I asked questions in Spanish, so I may have missed some information....
The cornmeal mixture is cooked into a mush. It is then squeezed to remove excess moisture from it. At this point several corn husks are rolled together and tied with string at one end (think sausage casing). Then this corn husk casing is filled with the mixture and tied up at the other end with string. These are then cooked by submerging them in hot water. If done just right, they are a bit sticky, but not pasty - and they are sweet.

Cous-Cous:
Corn is a staple ingredient in the Brazilian kitchen. Many varieties of Cous-Cous exist. Some have cheese or vegetables in them. Often hot milk/cream is poured over it before eating.

Arroz Dulce:
A sweet milky rice dish with cinnamon. Delicious!

Arroz Tropical:
Rice cooked with mango and bits of papaya.

And on to the drinks....

The stereotypical Brazilian drink is a Caipirinhas. Its a sweet, lime flavored drink with a strong alcohol content. Very nice, but there are other drinks to mention.

Coconut Water:
It's exactly what it claims to be. Sometimes it's even served directly out of the coconut with a straw.

Kuat:
This is a soda with the flavor of Guarana. It's a favorite drink of the locals. Foreigners tend to not like it, but I fell into the small group that DOES like it. It reminded me of a really sweet Ginger Ale.



Sucos:
These are fresh fruit juices made of tropical fruits and mixed with sugar and milk. My favorite is Suco d Caju. I saw a picture of this fruit, I don't recognize it - so I really have no die what it is that I so like!

Cerveja:
Aka cerveza in Spanish.. There are of course Brazilian beers - some are better than others. What I thought was really neat is that when you ordered a beer it always arrived in an insulated container that not only prevented large sweat rings, but also kept it fairly cold. Clever idea!



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Location:Maceió, Brazil

And lest we forget

Brazil is making headlines.....paying off international debt early, hosting the 2014 World Cup, hosting the 2016 Olympics. Brazil is known for it's party atmosphere (Carneval in Rio anyone?), Capirina's, amazing nature and tropical paradise. This positive image paints in ones mind the idea of a perfect country. But Brazil is also known for it's high crime and poverty. Seeing the extreme poverty, I feel the need to make sure that my corner of the world remembers.
Travel is about experience. Some experiences will light up your life, explode your senses and blow your mind. Others are a big shock yo your system, the face of reality.
I only experienced a small part of Brazil, the city of Maceió, the capital of the state of Alagoas. Located on the coast, it's a tropical paradise. The beaches are picture perfect. The area where I was, was near the beaches. This is the area that attracts tourists and thus it is the area of affluence and prosper. It's beautiful, fairly safe and the people who live here can basically say: I live where you go for vacation.
The houses in Brazil are different than those in America. (note: my generalization of Brazil is only referring to this area and I do not claim to know anything about other parts of Brazil.) they tend to be one story, but even if they are two-storied, they are more squat and flat. EVERY house (no matter the neighborhood) has a gate and bars on the windows. Some are surrounded by high fences, some of the fences even have glass or electric wire on top. The houses are generally close together, appearing to share side walls. From the front they look smaller because they are long rather than wide. They are painted many colors and often the gates and par have a design.
My friend Daniel P. lives in the well-to-do section of Maceió. His house is one of the rare two-storied ones that is a bit wide as well. He has a high fence with glass and electrified wire. His house is gorgeous. Inside is open and airy, decorated nicely. He is very fortunate.
We went to visit a friend of his. The area that this friend lives in was a poorer section of town. The houses were smaller and closer together. The paint was a bit faded and the area was a bit shabby. It did not feel dangerous, just obviously poorer. They were a bit further from the ocean. Visiting his friend we went into his house, the front door opened directly into the living room. There was a hall to the back of the house. I saw no more. The walls were bare, the furniture a bit shabby, but the friend and his family were warm and welcoming. This is an area where some poverty is evident but not extreme either. The people are most likely (basing this on the 2 that I met) hard working, proud of their house and it shows.
Going a bit further and further from the ocean we drove into a very poor area of town. Daniel teaches a Spanish class in a community education center once a week. It's a course for enrichment and his students range from about 10 to 70 years. This area broke my heart. The poverty here is extreme. The houses are even smaller and in a state of disrepair. Driving past, looking in the windows, I could see a lot of the houses did not appear to have much furniture, maybe just folding chairs. Many of the curtains were bedsheets. A lack of furniture is not what made me so sad. It was the environment around these houses. Trash and pools of dirty water were everywhere. Many kids of all ages were running around without shoes or supervision. The paint was peeling and there was a lot of graffiti. Again there were gates on everything. I observed at more than one store that the store was gated with the employee on the inside. The customers did not come into the store, instead they passed money and products through the gate. People stood around, watching the police who were watching them. It was as if they were all waiting for something to happen.
The most extreme poverty I saw was a Falavel (like a shanty town). I only saw this from the highway and not close up, but the houses appeared to be constructed of scrap metal, cardboard etc. It was so far from the ocean i wondered if it's inhabitants have been able to see it. I've never been to India, but this reminded me of photos of India that I have seen.
Poverty does not make people bad, nor do I think that tourists should expect that everything will be the same as at home. Poverty exists in every country, just in some it is stronger than others.
As you celebrate the beauty of Brazil, don't forget to help those in need.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Maceió, Brazil

Superrrrrmarket

Ok I admit it, I get excited about daily life activities when I travel. It's fun to see and learn how others live their lives. Sometimes it's the tiniest differences that make you say "wow".
That being said, one of my most favorite tourist attractions is not a tourist attraction at all. I love to visit supermarkets in other countries. I love to see the products that are the same or similar, but even more so to see the ones that are completely different. Im curious about flavors, packaging and presentation.
The supermarket I visited in Brazil is called: Bompreço which basically translates to: good prices. My friend Daniel P. Described it as the "Aldi of Brazil". And now I am going to treat you to a photographic visit of this supermarket.













































- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Maceió, Brazil