26 Oct. 2009
It is so much harder to solve problems going on back in the states from here! oh it's so slow and frustrating!
Communication is so difficult
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Português class part III: quarter grade
29 Oct 2009
So we were getting our grades for this quarter since our Portuguese class is split up into two parts. And everyone was so kind of shocked in my class after hearing what the grades were.
So our professor called us in one by one while the rest of us were waiting anxiously by the door and seeing person after person come out saying "well it's not what I expected" some looking really down, others with mysterious smiles.
Then I went in and the grade the professor gave me was a B-. And again as a straight A-of-some-sort student I was also surprised just because it didn't seem to add up to the grades I had been getting on quizes and homeworks and oral exams. I'm not quite sure what happened. And almost as the last person was called in some peers had redone the math and realized that the professor was counting the 10 point exams as 5 points! yay!
then everyone's grade went up more than one grade point. So yes!
Some people really struggle in class, so I will say it's not just a class you don't have to worry about because it is intensive learning but it's definitley doable as long as you're in the correct level. If you feel it's going to fast you can ask to change classes. that's my suggestion.
So we were getting our grades for this quarter since our Portuguese class is split up into two parts. And everyone was so kind of shocked in my class after hearing what the grades were.
So our professor called us in one by one while the rest of us were waiting anxiously by the door and seeing person after person come out saying "well it's not what I expected" some looking really down, others with mysterious smiles.
Then I went in and the grade the professor gave me was a B-. And again as a straight A-of-some-sort student I was also surprised just because it didn't seem to add up to the grades I had been getting on quizes and homeworks and oral exams. I'm not quite sure what happened. And almost as the last person was called in some peers had redone the math and realized that the professor was counting the 10 point exams as 5 points! yay!
then everyone's grade went up more than one grade point. So yes!
Some people really struggle in class, so I will say it's not just a class you don't have to worry about because it is intensive learning but it's definitley doable as long as you're in the correct level. If you feel it's going to fast you can ask to change classes. that's my suggestion.
Afro-Brazilian dance
05 Nov 2009
journal entry:
"I had a really nice day. So long though. Port class, section, long lecture, But then I ran home had some steak...then i ran to ACBEU [and unnecessarily becuase I still had to wait for other people] but to catch the bus with people because I wouldn't know how to get there and even going today I wouldn't know how to get back. But I had an amazing time! Super awesome. I sweat more than I ever have in my life in 1 hour. I was soaked and dripping--my face was dripping...It was amazing I couldn't figure out half of the steps but it was fun nonetheless. I think it's something I can eventually get the hang of but def. need to eat lightly before...it incorporated a lot of movements I remember from the candomble ceremony. [It is afro-bloco dancing, so the Afro-brazilian floats/groups at carnaval! and a drummer from olodum was one of the drummers at the dance].
It was also a big step for an ex-germophobe b/c I was being splattered like I was near a fountain [by some sweaty guy in front of me]"
So we paid for the 50 reais for the month, which is like 28 dollars. So a few of my friends and I wll be going for a month.
It was really great, it was more than just a physical experience to me because the sound of the drums was just so penetrating. I can't explain it but it really does move you. And some things I didn't mention in my journal entry was how nice people were to us even though yes most of the people there were afro-brazilian so I kind of felt like I was invading, but people were very nice and welcoming, so hopefully they didn't see it like that. There were a couple of people in particular who took the time to show us more slowly the steps.
There was this one guy who was all over the dance floor, I guess he felt like this is MY dance floor, and he was really all over the place and not watching people aroudn him so he kept hitting people while getting really into the moves, he'd also not follow the line structure that the instructors had asked for, and after a lot of times of stepping on me [while dancing of cours] and cutting me, one of the instructors told him something along the lines of if you're not going to follow the way we're doing this, then bye. and then he toned it down a little.
But there were quite a few guys in the class. Dancing is not necessarily a feminine activity, I see a lot more males dancing--even just out on the streets, than I do in the states.
I love this!
journal entry:
"I had a really nice day. So long though. Port class, section, long lecture, But then I ran home had some steak...then i ran to ACBEU [and unnecessarily becuase I still had to wait for other people] but to catch the bus with people because I wouldn't know how to get there and even going today I wouldn't know how to get back. But I had an amazing time! Super awesome. I sweat more than I ever have in my life in 1 hour. I was soaked and dripping--my face was dripping...It was amazing I couldn't figure out half of the steps but it was fun nonetheless. I think it's something I can eventually get the hang of but def. need to eat lightly before...it incorporated a lot of movements I remember from the candomble ceremony. [It is afro-bloco dancing, so the Afro-brazilian floats/groups at carnaval! and a drummer from olodum was one of the drummers at the dance].
It was also a big step for an ex-germophobe b/c I was being splattered like I was near a fountain [by some sweaty guy in front of me]"
So we paid for the 50 reais for the month, which is like 28 dollars. So a few of my friends and I wll be going for a month.
It was really great, it was more than just a physical experience to me because the sound of the drums was just so penetrating. I can't explain it but it really does move you. And some things I didn't mention in my journal entry was how nice people were to us even though yes most of the people there were afro-brazilian so I kind of felt like I was invading, but people were very nice and welcoming, so hopefully they didn't see it like that. There were a couple of people in particular who took the time to show us more slowly the steps.
There was this one guy who was all over the dance floor, I guess he felt like this is MY dance floor, and he was really all over the place and not watching people aroudn him so he kept hitting people while getting really into the moves, he'd also not follow the line structure that the instructors had asked for, and after a lot of times of stepping on me [while dancing of cours] and cutting me, one of the instructors told him something along the lines of if you're not going to follow the way we're doing this, then bye. and then he toned it down a little.
But there were quite a few guys in the class. Dancing is not necessarily a feminine activity, I see a lot more males dancing--even just out on the streets, than I do in the states.
I love this!
Quote: Mãe
2 Oct 2009
In the kitchen one day at my brazilian family's house, as my mãe was moving around the kitchen with a pitcher of milk:
"oh, eu ja botei leito na abacaxí...
pelo menos agora a gente vai saber como sabe abacaxí com leite"
translation:
Oh, there I went and spilled some milk in the pineapple...
at least now we'll know what pineapple tastes like with milk
Oh my mãe says and does some of the funniest things. She's so great.
In the kitchen one day at my brazilian family's house, as my mãe was moving around the kitchen with a pitcher of milk:
"oh, eu ja botei leito na abacaxí...
pelo menos agora a gente vai saber como sabe abacaxí com leite"
translation:
Oh, there I went and spilled some milk in the pineapple...
at least now we'll know what pineapple tastes like with milk
Oh my mãe says and does some of the funniest things. She's so great.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sorveteria da Ribeira
1 Nov. 2009
Today, I was moping a little because of certain issues, and my mom was trying to console me. When she then quoted the new popular novela, soap opera that just started. That we need to "viver a vida como a telenovela das oito" live life. Oh my mãe.
But anyway, then she decided that we should all go to Sorveteria Da Ribeira together as a family. Which is one of the most famous ice cream places in Brazil!
As you can see it's been around since 1931, started by an Italian family, and continues in the tradition of a lot of home-style ice cream made right there.
this place has consistently won awards with 3 walls to to post their awards and honorable mentions, and newpaper articles.
One of the reasons this place is a mazing is because of the many many many many flavors. Including many tropical fruits of the region, also three different coconut ice creams, green corn, caipiroska, and sometime equivalent to keylime pie.
That's the list of flavors on the wall.
I got a tapioca, and goiaba-natas! It was amazing! I really recommend the tapioca and goiaba, but also the peanut one (amendoim) and cacau and any on the list really. It's all bound to be delicious.
Today, I was moping a little because of certain issues, and my mom was trying to console me. When she then quoted the new popular novela, soap opera that just started. That we need to "viver a vida como a telenovela das oito" live life. Oh my mãe.
But anyway, then she decided that we should all go to Sorveteria Da Ribeira together as a family. Which is one of the most famous ice cream places in Brazil!
As you can see it's been around since 1931, started by an Italian family, and continues in the tradition of a lot of home-style ice cream made right there.
this place has consistently won awards with 3 walls to to post their awards and honorable mentions, and newpaper articles.
One of the reasons this place is a mazing is because of the many many many many flavors. Including many tropical fruits of the region, also three different coconut ice creams, green corn, caipiroska, and sometime equivalent to keylime pie.
That's the list of flavors on the wall.
I got a tapioca, and goiaba-natas! It was amazing! I really recommend the tapioca and goiaba, but also the peanut one (amendoim) and cacau and any on the list really. It's all bound to be delicious.
Maracujá
Maracujá!!
deserves more than two exclamation marks!! ! It is another iconic fruit native to Brasil (and Paraguay and northern parts of Argentina; now also enjoyed in several other tropical areas thanks to food globalization) this variety is yellow and pretty big compared to the little purple kind found in other places. As you can see compared to my hand, they are about the size of a grapefruit. These have a lof dimples in them but I'm not sure if that's common of the ripe ones or what, but I see a lot of them very dimply.
The rind is shiny, light, and airy and pretty thin. Inside are a lot of dark seeds with yellowish pulp around them. The video below shows the inside bettter.
Maracujá is very popular as mixed into drink, or by itself as a juice blended in the liquidificador (blender) and then run through a colander.
This fruit tends to have calming effects, which I personally attest to. My mãe sometimes brings a glass of suco de maracujá to me while I'm studying, and there's no way I can reject it. A few minutes later I am falling a sleep! [although that might just also be an effect of the reading, (thanks mom, I guess I inherited that trait)]
Passionflower is also used in relaxing teas to ease tension or stress. (I am all into herbal medicine. yeah!) And is it also the most beautiful flower I have ever seen.
At a farmer's market selling maracujá in bunches.
I had taken a large gulp of the drink above thinking it was maracujá juice and it was maracujá liquor! hahaha, it burned but it was delicious.
And of course the famous maracujá mousse, which I have mentioned before a few times.
The maracujá seeds are also sometimes placed at the top of such desserts for decorative purposes.
[photo by Patricia Scarpin]
I want to try some of these!! :) yummmy.
deserves more than two exclamation marks!! ! It is another iconic fruit native to Brasil (and Paraguay and northern parts of Argentina; now also enjoyed in several other tropical areas thanks to food globalization) this variety is yellow and pretty big compared to the little purple kind found in other places. As you can see compared to my hand, they are about the size of a grapefruit. These have a lof dimples in them but I'm not sure if that's common of the ripe ones or what, but I see a lot of them very dimply.
The rind is shiny, light, and airy and pretty thin. Inside are a lot of dark seeds with yellowish pulp around them. The video below shows the inside bettter.
Maracujá is very popular as mixed into drink, or by itself as a juice blended in the liquidificador (blender) and then run through a colander.
This fruit tends to have calming effects, which I personally attest to. My mãe sometimes brings a glass of suco de maracujá to me while I'm studying, and there's no way I can reject it. A few minutes later I am falling a sleep! [although that might just also be an effect of the reading, (thanks mom, I guess I inherited that trait)]
Passionflower is also used in relaxing teas to ease tension or stress. (I am all into herbal medicine. yeah!) And is it also the most beautiful flower I have ever seen.
At a farmer's market selling maracujá in bunches.
I had taken a large gulp of the drink above thinking it was maracujá juice and it was maracujá liquor! hahaha, it burned but it was delicious.
And of course the famous maracujá mousse, which I have mentioned before a few times.The maracujá seeds are also sometimes placed at the top of such desserts for decorative purposes.
[photo by Patricia Scarpin]Cajú
07 Nov. 2009
Cajú is also one of Brazil's iconic fruits. It is the cashew fruit, the name cashew comes from that Brazilian Portuguese name but that in turn comes from the Tupi (and indigenous people of Brasil) acajú. I thought it was amazing when I learned all this.
And now I understand why cashews are so expensive in the U.S.: because for every fruit you only get one cashew.
That thing that appears to be at the top of the fruit is toasted and then opened to retrieve the cashew.
This is the tree that I saw, sorry if the picture makes it hard to see but it looks like a pear a little hook coming out of the bottom.
[wikipedia picture of cashews, castanhas in portuguese]
I think the riper ones are the ones that are past red and more like orange or even almost yellow but not green (unless there is a green variety). And it's supposed to be sweet at that point, but I think the one I tried was not ripe enough.
My mãe told me to eat it with salt on it and eat it like that. I think it's worth trying, but make sure it's ripe! I will warn you that it has a certain chemical reaction in one's mouth that kind of makes it feel really shiny kind of like when you eat a lot of spinach and it can be sour. This is why you must try it very ripe. But lots of people love it including my EAP peers, so go for it.
Cajú is also one of Brazil's iconic fruits. It is the cashew fruit, the name cashew comes from that Brazilian Portuguese name but that in turn comes from the Tupi (and indigenous people of Brasil) acajú. I thought it was amazing when I learned all this.
And now I understand why cashews are so expensive in the U.S.: because for every fruit you only get one cashew.
That thing that appears to be at the top of the fruit is toasted and then opened to retrieve the cashew.
This is the tree that I saw, sorry if the picture makes it hard to see but it looks like a pear a little hook coming out of the bottom.
[wikipedia picture of cashews, castanhas in portuguese]
I think the riper ones are the ones that are past red and more like orange or even almost yellow but not green (unless there is a green variety). And it's supposed to be sweet at that point, but I think the one I tried was not ripe enough.
My mãe told me to eat it with salt on it and eat it like that. I think it's worth trying, but make sure it's ripe! I will warn you that it has a certain chemical reaction in one's mouth that kind of makes it feel really shiny kind of like when you eat a lot of spinach and it can be sour. This is why you must try it very ripe. But lots of people love it including my EAP peers, so go for it.
Museum weekend!
31 Oct 2009
Today I had lunch at my friend, Algebra's house. I LOVE having lunch at other people's houses, I know that some mães don't like that so make sure you check before doing it so as to not screw up people's schedules.
But my mãe is fine with it, and my Algebra's mãe is also very sweet and apparently makes a lot of food for my friend and a lot ends up going to waste because she's the only one who eats the meals prepared for her.
We had some of that apple, pinapple, ginger, banana juice. and mashed potato cassorole with little fries, cheese, and vegetables on top.
And rice with peas.
This is a honey-dew melon
For dessert we had fruit and chocolate fondue! It was fantastic! There were grapes, pineapple, honeydew, banana! oh banana was my favorite with chocolate. apple too. It was a great lunch.
Then we went over...all the way across the street to the Costa Pinto museum. Which used to be a house/mansion for the Costa Pinto family who loved to collect antiques from all over the world, and now it has been turned into a free museum to showcase their collections.There were lots of chandeliers, and hundreds of dining accessories. There was also a religious section with things used in the Catholic church like goblets and crosses, and paintings.
It was rather intense, but it is free, if you're into antiques you should check it out. But no pictures were allowed so sorry.But here's a website. Click on the "here's".
Then we walked another 5 minutes to the Museu de Arte da Bahia, or Museum of Baian Art (there are like 6 museums within walking distance of where we live).There was a section on a concentration about the fetishism of bodies. There were some really cool photographs of people and maniquins, and at the end I'm not really sure if they were real people or maniquins or if some were, WHICH ones were and which were not.
There were also some original drawings, some of the first drawings ever made of Bahia. They have the bay and other parts of town and it's interesting to see and compare to what Salvador looks like today.
there was also an exhibition/installation about the Mata Atlântica. There were huge yarn interpretations of the rain forest, so lots of hanging knotted things that really did look very much like the trees and vines of the forest. It was amazing!
There were also these boards and dozens of balls of yarn for people--the common folks--us, to have an opportunity to use this yarn. And I was going to try to also make some tree-like stuff.
This is my friend Algebra's and my work: Tada!
There was a guy there who seemed to be helping people get started on this and he was working on a big one himself. And he came over and said he liked it. I'm like "hahah, we really went out of the box" trying to make a poor pun. But then he realized that we really did turn the yarn around the frame and going out of that box, and he said he definitely hadn't seen anyone else do that.i bet it was because it wouldn't be able to continue to be integrated in other knittings since it's wraped around the frame hahaha.
It was fun, be we realized it's really hard to do more than 2 museums in one day!
Molho de Cana (sugar cane juice)
This is a stand on the street offering what you see on the paper: água de côco, and some other things but also freshly pressed as the vendor is doing now--sugar cane juice.
oh my family bought me a whole cup all to my self. It turned out to be too much for me because as you can imagine it was super sweet. So I saved half of it in the fridge,
but a tip: sugar cane juice is 300% better fresh than even 20 minutes old, so drink up or I also encourage sharing!
It was pretty cheap but I do recommend caution. My friend's mãe who is a researcher in plants and biology said to not drink this because there is some parasite that is found in a lot of these cane stalks, but nothing happened to me, so it's just a risk.
Remember whatever you get, foodwise especially be cautious and check it out well before ingesting it. :) thank you
oh my family bought me a whole cup all to my self. It turned out to be too much for me because as you can imagine it was super sweet. So I saved half of it in the fridge,but a tip: sugar cane juice is 300% better fresh than even 20 minutes old, so drink up or I also encourage sharing!
It was pretty cheap but I do recommend caution. My friend's mãe who is a researcher in plants and biology said to not drink this because there is some parasite that is found in a lot of these cane stalks, but nothing happened to me, so it's just a risk.
Remember whatever you get, foodwise especially be cautious and check it out well before ingesting it. :) thank you
Pinha
Pinha is one of my new favorite fruits now!
They have a history in tropical Latin America, India, and Pakistan.
Different names:
Annona squamosa (scientific)
In Brazil: fruta-pinha, pinha, fruta de conde, or ata
other Latin America :
anón, anón de azucar, anona blanca, fruta do conde, cachiman, saramuyo, and many others.
India: Ata, aarticum, shareefa, sitaphal or seethaphal or seetha pazham
Indonesia: srimatikiya
Taiwan: sakya
Philippines: atis
Thailand: noi-na
Vietnam: mãng cầu ta or na
Middle Eastern regions: achta
English: sweet-apple, custard-apple, or sweetsop, I think it's related to graviola (soursop).
Description:
It is bumpy on the outside but really soft and easily opens when ripe. The outside reminds me of dragon skin. But the inside is the part you eat. It reminds me of the structure of pomegranate because it has a lot of little kernel type things with seeds but this is white flesh instead of red and the seeds are bigger and it's easier to take the meat off of these. It's so soft that the flesh easily comes off of the seed.
The texture of the fruit is also not crisp and watery or squirty like pomegranate but more like the texture of guava, and it tastes like...oh I don't know. It tastes like a more mild pineapple but not really pineapple. and it's definitely not that acidic or sharp-tasting.
It is definitely something you should try before you die, thankfully it's available in lots of places in the world so if you're in any country or area listed above, look for this fruit!
They have a history in tropical Latin America, India, and Pakistan.
Different names:
Annona squamosa (scientific)
In Brazil: fruta-pinha, pinha, fruta de conde, or ata
other Latin America :
anón, anón de azucar, anona blanca, fruta do conde, cachiman, saramuyo, and many others.
India: Ata, aarticum, shareefa, sitaphal or seethaphal or seetha pazham
Indonesia: srimatikiya
Taiwan: sakya
Philippines: atis
Thailand: noi-na
Vietnam: mãng cầu ta or na
Middle Eastern regions: achta
English: sweet-apple, custard-apple, or sweetsop, I think it's related to graviola (soursop).
Description:It is bumpy on the outside but really soft and easily opens when ripe. The outside reminds me of dragon skin. But the inside is the part you eat. It reminds me of the structure of pomegranate because it has a lot of little kernel type things with seeds but this is white flesh instead of red and the seeds are bigger and it's easier to take the meat off of these. It's so soft that the flesh easily comes off of the seed.
The texture of the fruit is also not crisp and watery or squirty like pomegranate but more like the texture of guava, and it tastes like...oh I don't know. It tastes like a more mild pineapple but not really pineapple. and it's definitely not that acidic or sharp-tasting.
It is definitely something you should try before you die, thankfully it's available in lots of places in the world so if you're in any country or area listed above, look for this fruit!
Mousse
Mousse (/moosey/) seems to be a popular dessert, at least in my family. It is kind of like home made ice cream except it's not churned. It has
receita:
uma lata de leite condensado
uma lata de creme de leite
dois copos de suco
It looks so much better in portuguese, but it says a can of condensed milk, a can of milk creme, and two cups of whatever the fruit juice.
This Mousse de maracujá is typical in Brazilian culinary.
This one is Mousse de ameixa (plum). It was really delicious too, you can see the layers in it, this one has a little crust at the bottom.
receita:
uma lata de leite condensado
uma lata de creme de leite
dois copos de suco
It looks so much better in portuguese, but it says a can of condensed milk, a can of milk creme, and two cups of whatever the fruit juice.
This Mousse de maracujá is typical in Brazilian culinary.
This one is Mousse de ameixa (plum). It was really delicious too, you can see the layers in it, this one has a little crust at the bottom.
Sucos (juices)
28 Oct 2009
Sucos, or juices, play a big role in main stream Brasilian culture. There are many juice bars all over the place, and in most lanchonetes--which are something like delis or cheap cafés that offer some dishes but lots of on-the-go or fast food--they have a variety of juices to offer.
But also in the home. Many brazilian homes' most common beverage is juice.
Sometimes it is fresh from the fruit,
like this tamarind juice:
At my house my family makes sucos de genipapo/jenipapo (Genipap), abacaxí (pineapple) and sometimes with a little bit of mint, acerola.
[fresh jenipapo juice]
[suco de acerola from the fruit]
[suco de acerola from the pre-made juice packages]
But many other juices made in my house are from packages with frozen fruit pulp. And see the difference between the two acerola juices.
Clockwise from the top left is pulp from graviola (soursop, guanabana, guyabano), mangaba (Hancornia speciosa), manga (mango), and cacau.
Sucos, or juices, play a big role in main stream Brasilian culture. There are many juice bars all over the place, and in most lanchonetes--which are something like delis or cheap cafés that offer some dishes but lots of on-the-go or fast food--they have a variety of juices to offer.
But also in the home. Many brazilian homes' most common beverage is juice.
Sometimes it is fresh from the fruit,
like this tamarind juice:
At my house my family makes sucos de genipapo/jenipapo (Genipap), abacaxí (pineapple) and sometimes with a little bit of mint, acerola.
[fresh jenipapo juice]
[suco de acerola from the fruit]
[suco de acerola from the pre-made juice packages]But many other juices made in my house are from packages with frozen fruit pulp. And see the difference between the two acerola juices.
Clockwise from the top left is pulp from graviola (soursop, guanabana, guyabano), mangaba (Hancornia speciosa), manga (mango), and cacau.
This is graviola pulp about to be prepared, my mae puts water and sugar in it, but I have recently asked her to not put sugar in mine. :) 
This is acai juice from the pulp. One of my favorites!
I know that a lot of other families in the program are also into juice--especially one of the moms in the program. She is passionate about making juices and is known for them. Here at my friend's house when I went over for lunch, her mae had made an apple, pinapple, ginger, and some other stuff. It was really good.
Then the one that my mae makes with pinapple and a few minced leaves of mint I will replicate in the U.S. when the pinapples come in season. I also really like this other summer juice that my other friends' mae makes, with watermelon, mint and ginger. !!!mmmm..!
This is acai juice from the pulp. One of my favorites!
I know that a lot of other families in the program are also into juice--especially one of the moms in the program. She is passionate about making juices and is known for them. Here at my friend's house when I went over for lunch, her mae had made an apple, pinapple, ginger, and some other stuff. It was really good.
Then the one that my mae makes with pinapple and a few minced leaves of mint I will replicate in the U.S. when the pinapples come in season. I also really like this other summer juice that my other friends' mae makes, with watermelon, mint and ginger. !!!mmmm..!
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