context is everything

context can get you places. even if your brain takes the long route. take lago and lado for example. the first means lake, the latter, side. this morning i asked a staff member who was sharing an elevator with me:

why are there no 2nd or 3rd floors for this elevator?
because they're on the other lake.
oh...thanks.

about halfway through breakfast i realized she'd said side. about that time, i caught a preview for the new batman movie on the cafeteria television. it flashed the title: 

batman: horse of the night.
that seemed odd. so i asked vicki:

cc: caballero means horse, right?
v: gentlemen. caballero means gentlemen, more or less. like on the bathroom doors.
cc: right.
v: caballo is horse.
cc: oh...thanks.
v: what made you think of that?
cc: oh, nothing really. just...batman: the dark knight...makes. more. sense.

i should have learned this lesson weeks ago in araçatuba. i couldn't figure out why dad kept starting sentences with:

a building because...
so i asked márcio:

cc: um edificio is a building, right?
m: right.
cc: then why does dad start every sentence with edificio?
m: (puzzled look. pause. laughter erupts.) edificio! edificio!
(the group conversation stops. inquiries begin. another round of laughter.)
cc: what? edificio? what's so funny? what did i say?
m: é difícil and edificio.
cc: huh?
m: they're two different things. (speaking slowly). edificio is a buliding. but he's saying é difícil. "It's difficult."
cc: (laughing despite myself). well...é difícil to hear the difference.

Floripa, Frolics, and Final Food Thoughts

I have lots more to say about my Brazil adventure, but I'm going to leave most of it to photo storytelling via Facebook and Picasa because I am in SANTIAGO now! That's right. Left Brazil this morning, had a lengthy layover in Uruguay, and am now writing you from my apartment in Chile. Time flies. So here's the nutshell version:

Floripa

We arrived to an amazing view of the beach. Loved every moment there. And cried when we left. Oh, and there were Portuguese forts. Clowns at the public market. Nude men on the beach (sorry, failed on that photo op). Familial antics. And sonnet-worthy seafood. What would you expect from a place that makes you forget what day it is before you can finish your breakfast suco?

Report from the Interior

FYI: Brazil’s a big country. And we drove through a solid chunk of it. We hit some major storms. Stopped at roadside buffets. Wound up on cobblestone roads where the donkey-cart-to-automobile ratio was at least 2:1. Happened into military police who searched our passports, trunks, and souls, before escorting us back to the main road: 2 in the front, 1 in the back. You know, so there would be no funny business or quick getaways through the alfalfa fields. Passed through beautiful countryside, including an indian reservation. And about that time rolled into Curitiba, which won a return visit on our way back from Floripa to São Paulo. More on that later. By the time we reached the coast, I was only too glad to roll down my windows and inhale the ocean breeze. But I also felt a little sad. Having grown up in Michigan, I have a soft spot for middle lands. Because, although coasts are great, there’s a whole lot of living that goes on in the middle. 

Culinary Lessons from Brazil

As a wee tot, I learned to say 4 words in Portuguese before English. They all related to food:

Pipoca = Popcorn

Sorvete = Icecream

Vitamina = Milk-based fruit smoothie

Feijoada = Black beans with meat leftovers (such as pig's feet)

And I’ve long been aware that our inexplicable love for pasteurization and longitudinal short straw thwart us on the culinary front. But this trip was a real eye-opener as to how far we fall below our food potential. Frankly, I found it disturbing.

First, condensed milk makes everything better. I used to think it was avocados…and I stand by that statement…but go ahead and add condensed milk to the list of universal smile-makers. New Orleans knows what I’m talking about with its snowballs. But why not other desserts? And why stop there? I ate um dulce a la sushi brasilianeira at the end of my meal, consisting of a banana-filled tempura sushi roll drizzled with condensed milk. Sorry, Jiro. You’ve got competition in my sushi dreams.

Second, it’s time to get fruity. I know, I know. 50% of the country is against that. But maybe it’s because they have never tasted fresh-squeezed maracujá juice with a hint of strawberry, banana, and orange. Or maybe they have never tried – actually, I can’t remember half of the fruits I ingested in magical fruitlandia. But I know this much: fresh ripe fruit is pretty unbeatable.

So it would seem that Paulo Coelho was right. At least about my Brazil dreams: Quando você quer uma coisa, todo o Universo conspira para que possa consegui-la. When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it.

araçatuba

like bakersfield, california, araçatuba is not your typical tourist destination. tripadvisor tells me it has nine hotels, but if that's true, i'm pretty sure they operate on an invitation-only basis. yet, once we started planning our brazil trip, dad, jim, and i all agreed that araçatuba was a must-see.

for dad, the reasons seemed obvious: he lived in araçatuba for one year during his missionary service in the 1960s and became very close with the saito family who lived there. except a single visit with mom in 1979, dad had not returned since.

for me, i wasn't sure why it was so important. maybe because i find the notion of dad prior to aarp-eligibility comparable to the loch ness monster; totally bogus, regardless of any photographic evidence. maybe because i had grown up sensing that araçatuba possesses a critical ingredient for understanding dad and his faith. or maybe because i love people and out-of-the-way places.

i was a startled when, after greeting me, senhora saito remarked that i look just like mom. sorry senhora, but mom is 5'1" and has straight, white hair. and please don't call her bonnie. the name is mom. closer inspection of a 1979 photo from my parents' visit revealed that the skirt mom was wearing currently hangs in my closet, we have strikingly similar 'dos, and she totally out-hipsters me with her thick frames.

what ensued over the next two days was pure magic. marcelo and marisa drove from são paulo to join us. thanks to the saito family's hospitality, we shared meals together and visited nostalgic places. and the stories came pouring out. i just sat back and watched it unfold. mostly because, on a good day, i could understand only 35% of the primarily-portuguese conversations.

but araçatuba wasn't just about the saito family. on saturday afternoon, i went out on a walking expedition. lingering on a stone bench outside igreja de são joão, i watched as people trickled in for evening mass. i stumbled into a half-completed building, unsure whether it was on its way to viability or deconstruction. and i got comfortably lost wandering through residential streets, taking in the architecture, sounds of motorcycles and music, and semi-paved roads. i'm not sure if i will ever go back to araçatuba, but i'm pretty sure i left a piece of my soul behind as we drove on toward paraná.

que não mata, engorda

two words: brigadeiro and maracujá. if i don't make it to santiago, scan the washington luís highway for churrascurias (sorry, katie b, i've gone full-fledged carnivore on this trip). i will probably be outside in a food coma. if not, try calling around to bakeries in são paulo. be warned: there are many. tonight, i learned that the portuguese equivalent of what doesn't kill you makes you stronger is que não mata, engorda. it translates roughly as what doesn't kill you makes you fatter. yup. lest you think me only a glutton for good eats...

são paulo
minha familia brasiliera: sílvio lived with the fam as an exchange student when i was in 5th grade. between his abilities to roller skate backwards and add bossa nova flair to piano renditions of "a whole new world," sílvio single-handedly raised my popularity stock by 10 points. after nearly 20 years, it was wonderful to visit with him and his family. left to right: jim, leonor, sílvio, dad.

leonor, too, enjoyed the churrascuria.

ibirapuera park: riding bikes with leticia (leonor's daughter) was a highlight. the others made for pretty good company, too.

we obvi ditched our bikes upon discovering a labrinyth made from recycled materials.

meeting the saitos: dad became very close with the saito family while living in araçatuba. their daughter, marisa (2nd to back, left side), came to live with the fam in evanston when i was first discovering my love for monologuing and eating rice with italian dressing.

marcelo (3rd to back, left side in photo above) drove us to the são paulo temple, which was dedicated in 1978 and was the first in mormon temple in south america.

street art: what would travel be without a spontaneous rendezvous with a space invader?

thanks to a pair of friendly musicians, dad, jim, and i found our way to beco de batman (batman's alley). scott n and sam c, if you ever find yourselves in são paulo, promise me you'll have a photographic hayday in batman's alley.

favelas: lining the highway on our way out of town, these communities reminded me that i had a very privileged tour of são paulo.

são carlos
although it was a brief visit, i was thrilled to see gabriela in this beautiful college town 3 hours west of são paulo. i met gabriela when she was teaching free portuguese classes in detroit as part of a fulbright fellowship. after several weeks of classes, she made me promise that when i made my first trip to brazil, i would visit her. she sweetened the deal with a promise of homemade mousse de maracujá.

araçatuba

dad, jim, and i took in the fazendas and landscape as we continued west to araçatuba. 

senhora saito (to dad's right) welcomed us into her home, much as she did when mom and dad returned for a visit in 1979. hearing the senhora recount how she met dad as a young mormon missionary, and the influence that has had on her life, will be a potent memory for years to come.

it's long past bedtime and we have a big day tomorrow: traveling to buritama with the saito family to see what has changed since the days of dad's snake story...love from brazil!