and the baby stole the show

My first Christmas with a baby!

hand over that coconut!

Couldn't leave town without some authentic Pernambucan food. Coconut water and coconut-cheese-sweetened condensed milk filled tapioca pancakes of deliciousness!

hot mess moments

Esculhambacao. Translation, A HOT MESS! Here are my top ten "hot mess" moments of the semester:

1. Biking around town with a flat tire and having to store the bike in the apartment of a friend of a friend who was out of town for the weekend.
2. Using fabric softener instead of laundry detergent to wash my clothes. For TWO MONTHS!
3. Surviving a four day weekend alone without electricity (no refrigerator, no tv, no internet, no washing machine--with my clothes in the middle of a cycle after recently discovering the previously mentioned softener fiasco...)
4. Racking up an R$18 library fee for checking out one book for less than a day. I quickly learned the don't-check-out-periodicals lesson. And to pay library fees you have to print out a bill, go to the bank to pay it, and bring the receipt back to the library. Boy was I missing on-line bill pay!
5. Using matches to light the stove when I could have just flipped the switch.
6. That time I spilt chimarrao all of the couch...
7. Deciding it was the right time to discover that the bottom of the blender screws off while it was full of my precious and hard-earned pumpkin puree.
8. My phone's SIM card decided to burn out (who knew they could just stop working?) when I was on my way to meet a friend for lunch in a building I had never heard of before.
9. Let's just say polenta + a blender full of fresh juice = bad idea, expansion of polenta in my stomach.
10. Trying to navigate Argentina and Paraguay with my creative but not necessarily correct "portunhol" (portuguese + espanhol).

meu chuchuzinho

The chuchu. Literally a vegetable that tastes like water, but also used as a term of endearment. Obviously I love it. So, what started as a simple effort to eduate me in the ways of the chuchu (as my time here is coming to an end and I'd never seen one) ended up as a lunch adventure that resembled Veggie Tales.

What do you say? Is the chuchu guilty?

notice to users

One of my favorite parts of Brazil:

"Notice to users: Before entering the elevator verify that it is actually stopped on this floor."

jump!

Every day this semester as I took the bus to school I thought about the pictures I wanted to take with the sign at the entrance to my campus. Today that day finally arrived! I made my way to campus bright and early for my last school-related activity (just picking up a test), stopped by the Antonio for a "cafezinho" (little coffee), and my classmate and I trotted down to snap some pics.

juicy juice

It may not look like much, but they've got the best all natural juice! Cheap and plentiful, it comes to ya still in the blender! Perfect on a hot summer day. My favorite, obviously mango.

Foz do Iguacu

Ginger and I took a trip to Iguacu Falls, one of the largest waterfalls in the world! We started out on a trail and every time we thought we had seen it all we turned the corner and there was an even bigger fall!

The trail ended in the "Devil's Throat." Talk about getting soaked!

First we went to the Brazilian side of the falls, then hit up the Argentine side.

Some crazy wildlife!

roaming porto alegre

four sore legs

Today was a full day of exploring downtown, the public market, souvenir shopping, a great buffet, sagu, lots of pictures, the botanical gardens, a couple bus rides, lots of walking, all natural mango juice, and caipirinha.

Ginger bought her first cuia!

Woohoo! Botanical Gardens!

Ginger came to visit!

My friend Ginger from Florida came to visit Marta and I! She's staying for a little more than a week, so we are packing in as much gaucha culture as we can! Today we started with the basics...

Grocery store! She's already addicted to chimarrao, and is sporting her pride in the tea ailse.

Bananas! So many different types!

First bus ride. It's suprising how much fun the mundane things of life can be when they're in a different country!

and we're off to the beira-rio!

My first soccer game in the Beira-Rio with my classmate Audrey.

four months flew by

Tonight we went to Andre's band's show! Lots of fun and lots of good tunes.

the big brother

Happy Birthday Wesley!

turkey day

Today is Thanksgiving. But being in a different country has made my observance of this holiday a little different! Instead of waking up to the smell of a tasty breakfast (who knows, pancakes? bacon? toast with the egg in the middle that my mom makes just the way I like) which I would enjoy while watching the Macy's Parade I got up at 6:15am, scarfed down some oatmeal and caught the bus to not be late for my 7:30 class.

I decided against attending my afternoon class which would require me to eat at the University Restaurant. Dining hall food--I don't think the government would let me back into the country if they knew I ate that on Thanksgiving Day! This was my Thanksgiving meal:

A little unconventional, and no site of turkey, but still tasty!

And since it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie, that's what I made! Quite a few disasters (including accidentally dropping ALL of the pumpkin puree I strived so hard to make in the sink, burning the pecans, burning my thumb, and spilling pumpkin down the middle of my shirt) but it was well worth it! My first pumpkin pie!

See how excited everyone is?

The dinner table, thanks to the lovely cook Laura Kohmann.

The traditional Thanksgiving drowsiness.

blog 2.0

This blog is now available in a variety of languages! Okay, by variety I mean two. But still, pretty cool! I figured it'd be a good way to train up the Portuguese! If you want to check it out, the link is to your right...

baa, que tri!

Want to convince everyone you're an authentic gaucho? Gotta learn the lingo! Here's a list of some of the essential phrases you'll need to get by here in the south:

• baa - wow! expression used for really good things or really bad things
• que tri! - how cool!
• barbada - piece of cake! something really easy
• bacana - cool
• guri - boy/guy
• pia - young lad
• (bem) capaz - no way, yah right
• tche - hard to define. sometimes it means you. just add it to the end of sentences and you're good to go.
• assar uma carne - barbeque!
• Fulano - any unspecified person, so-and-so, Joe Shmoe
• Sicrano and Beltrano - Fulano's friends, unspecified person of secondary and terciery importance
• gremista - Gremio fan
• colorado - Inter fan
• rango - food
• pila - nickname for the currency (I think it comes from an old currency they used to use.)
• cafundos - not even the middle of nowhere, but the edges of nowhere
• inho - just had "-inho" to the end of everything and you'll sound more Brazilian

Okay, these have nothing to do with the south, but they're fun nonetheless!

• pochete - fanny pack!
• brega - cheesy
• pantufas - slippers
• exibido - show off
• desastrado - clumsy
• trilhasonora - themesong, soundtrack
• manha - knack
• pedalinho - paddleboat
• defenestrar - to throw something/someone out the window

the "turma"

Meet my Bible study! Don't they look like fun?

so much good/thanksgiving prep

2 Corinthians 9:8-12

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, "He has distributed freely, He has given to the poor, His righteousness endures forever." He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also the overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

cronk's

With a name like that, how can it NOT be the best ice cream place in the city?

two bus stops away

Welcome to downtown! On my days off I love taking a little trip to the center. There's always a ton of people and lots of hustling and bustling... Here people rule the streets, fruit and newspaper stands on every corner, lots of cafes and Rua dos Andrados has all the shopping you could want!

Probably one of the most recognizable buildings in Porto Alegre, this is the Public Market. It's huge! Built in 1869, it's a great place to go grocery shopping, even if it does smell a bit like fish!

This is the inside. The bottom floor is shops that sell all sorts of produce, meat, nuts, seasonings, baking supplies, sweets, breads, etc. It also has an artesan section with lots of handmade items. The top floor is all restaurants.

"levo minha cuia para onde eu for"

It was a hard choice, but after a turn about the Mercado Publico and some help from Vanessa I found a cuia that had my name written all over it. Give me some erva (tea leaves) and hot water and I'll give you Rio Grande in a cup!

My very first cuia! This is VERY exciting.

friday

My classmate Vanessa and I took a little trip downtown to take advantage of the ever so popular book fair while it's still here. Afterwards we stopped in for a snack at McCafe (they have an overwhelming chocolate croissant and according to Brazilians the best espresso!) and then she showed me some of her favorite places downtown.

Exploring "Casa de Cultura"

a very BRIGHT church that happened to be across the street

books, books, books!

Everyone loves a good book fair! For the past two weeks a whole section of downtown has been turned into a huge outdoor book fair, the largest in the country.

I'm stocking up on some reading in portuguese...I just hope it will all fit in my suitcase!

Nothing better than lunch with the gals and a walk through piles and piles of books!