I've been listening to...

Vanessa da Mata. Beautiful music, this is a collaboration with Ben Harper:

Caminho das Indias

People, I'm hooked. The telenovela has cast its cheese-ridden spell and I have been sucked in. Caminho das Indias is the prime-time telenovela in Brazil, broadcast six nights per week. It runs one full hour--except for Wednesdays, when it ends early due to the broadcast of national soccer games. It is set partially in Rio, partially in India. Each night at 9pm, televisions across Brazil are glowing white-brite with Caminho das Indias. My television included.

Street food 101

Acaraje: a fried ball of black eyed pea mush fried in dende oil. Synonym: gut bomb that I like and hate all at once. We went down to eat Acaraje (Ah-kah-ruh-ZHAY) at a popular spot in town, in the neighborhood of Rio Vermelho. There are 2 acaraje stands there---Acaraje de Dinha, the most famous, and Acaraje de Regina, seemingly more revered by locals. I think the locals may be swayed by the fact that Regina has a small T.V. behind her stand that is tuned in to the telenovelas. So, you can get your acaraje on and keep up with the latest telenovela in one grand evening. Although, to be honest, I would not recommend eating acaraje in the evening--I learned that the hard way. It is "heavy food" as many people here have told me. I like it. I don't love it---though many people seem to--but when in Bahia, you have to try it. It is kind of like a giant falafel ball stuffed with shrimp and vatapa (vah-tah-PAH), a thick sauce made with shrimp, nuts...you'll have to ask Regina. Or Dinha.... and can be served with a spicy sauce that resembles salsa. I do appreciate the spice as Brazilian food in general does not have much of that. So, when you visit, bring your Pepto-Bismol and we'll head on down to visit Regina. You cannot visit Bahia without trying acaraje.

Images of Salvador

Caipiroska: mmm, mmm, mm.

While on the subject of alcoholic beverage, allow me to introduce my most favorite beverage here in the Brazil: the Roska. I find great delight and refreshment in this drink. Which is perhaps why I order it wherever we go. It is basically made with vodka and sugar, muddled with loads of fresh fruit served on ice. The standard caipiroska offerings in most restaurants and bars are pineapple, kiwi, strawberry and lime. Frequently, though, there are other offerings of more regional tropical fruits such as siriguela, caju and umbu which, for a gringa like me, are fun and adventurous. So, it is like a sweet delightful adventure in a glass. Thus, my favorite beverage.

Beer etiquette

My husband's cousin informed me yesterday that I was committing a "cree-mee"--that's a "crime" in Portuguese. My offense? I was drinking beer that was not, well, ice cold. It was not warm--though that was what I was accused of--drinking warm beer. My less-than-ice-cold-beer was then promptly dumped out and my glass was refilled with sparkling golden ice-cold Brazilian beer. It did actually make a positive difference in my beer drinking experience. I may become an ice-cold beer snob before long. I was thinking in the moment--wow, what would they say about the red plastic cups at the keg parties in the States? Major offense.

Apparently, Americans--and probably Brits alike--have a reputation for drinking warm beer. Not because we serve it that way, but because we drink pints, or pitchers of beer that inevitably get "warm" (read: do not remain ice cold). In restaurants, beer is kept in special refrigerators where the temperature is boldly displayed to assure you it is near-freezing. Then, beer is served in a small glass, called a "chopp" (SHO-pee) so that it does not have time to get warm. If you order a larger bottle of beer, it is put in a beer bottle koozie. There is an affinity for the beer koozie here. And where there is no koozie, your beer may be kept on ice in a cooler at your table, another recent experience. So, moral of the story: when in Brazil, do not settle for less (or be caught drinking anything other than) ice-cold beer.

Pelourinho

Today we met a friend for lunch in Pelourinho. This is the "old city" of Salvador echoing its Portuguese colonial heritage (pictured in the MJ video previously posted). Walking through the cobblestone streets you could easily imagine you were somewhere in Europe....like, let´s say, Portugal...though Brazil´s culture, specifically the African-influenced Bahian culture, comes shining through. There are inummerable shops selling anything from tourist trinkets to chic boutique items. There are often people playing music. If you visit on certain days, there may be a special concert, capoeira performance or an Olodum practice. For the benefit of tourists, there are women in traditional Bahian dress selling Bahian food like Acarajé (ah-kah-ruh-ZHE). Tourists are usually roaming the plazas and winding side streetstreets taking pictures of the architecture and colorful buildings. There are also churches. Lots of churches. By churches I mean 17th century cathedrals. You can stand in one of the main plazas and have at least 3 sizeable, beautiful "igrejas" within sight. Many Bahians will tell you that there are at least 365 historic churches in Salvador, enough to visit one every day of the year. If you come to Salvador, undoubtedly visit Pelourinho. It is touristy but also extremely worthwhile.

Mr. Man the Robber

My mother-in-law goes to a morning fitness class a few days a week. Today, she came home with this story, as relayed to her by her fitness class instructor--this is the basic rundown:

Fitness instructor was parked in her car, window down, when a man with a gun (a.k.a. Mr. Man) approached her and demanded her cell phone and money. She gave them to him, he left. Fast forward one week later. Fitness instructor is again parked in her car. Mr. Man again approaches her, gun in hand, and says "Give me your money and your cell phone". At this point fitness instructor recognizes Mr. Man as the man who robbed her one week earlier. She said "I don´t have a cell phone because you stole it last week and I don´t have money to buy a new one because you stole my money too". To which Mr. Man replies, in basic translation "My bad! I´m sorry!" and left.

I think I have totally freaked out my friends and family, no? While robbery is completely unsettling (understatement), at gunpoint no less, this was funny. Admit it. In general, if you are aware of your surroundings and keep a low profile while out and about it is fine. It is definitely different from home--security, especially robbery, is always on my mind here, at least in the city. Unfortunately, there is poverty everywhere and a huge, in-your-face disparity between people who have and people who don´t. This, to me, is a major challenge of living here and I believe for the country and its citizens in general. On the other hand, there seems to be this sense of joie de vivre from citizens on all levels. I have read that Brazil is a land of contrasts...no doubt, the contrasts seem to be everywhere.

Happy 4th of July!

If I were in San Diego, this is what it would have looked like...happy 4th to all of my favorite Americans in SD and beyond!

What is Bahia?

Someone asked me this--I realized I take for granted the use of "Bahia" when talking to friends and family about where we live. It prompted me to find out a bit more, particularly since yesterday was Bahian Independence Day celebrating their independence from Portugal in 1823.

Bahia is a northeastern state of Brazil, of which Salvador is the capital. It is approximately 564,692 square kilometers, making it the 5th largest state in Brazil. It borders the Atlantic ocean its eastern coast. That is where you will find those postcard perfect stretches of palm-tree lined sandy beaches. The inland areas are diverse--rolling hills, rivers, dunes, mountains, canyons, waterfalls--though i will add an personal comment here that the roads *stink* and road signs, well, it seems those aren't really important around here. It is beautiful though, make no mistake.

The population of the state in 2008 was estimated around 14 million, approximately 3 million in Salvador. Bahia has strong African influences in food, culture and customs as Salvador was the processing point for the slave trade from Africa in colonial times. I plan to write more about these influences as I have a chance to explore them. In the meantime, I would like to thank Wikipedia for providing the factoids.