Diversity

I want to thank my good friend Ricardo for pointing out something to me that I was oblivious to. Being a gringa living in Brazil, I am chock full of amusing stories involving culture shock.
I have lived for over ten years in Rio de Janeiro. I must point out to my loyal blog readers that Brazil is not just Rio de Janeiro. It is a diverse country with all sizes and shapes of people that you can imagine. To the south, there is a strong German and Italian influence. The town of Blumenau in the state of Santa Catarina is home to the largest Oktoberfest outside of Germany. Sao Paulo is home to the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. The Portuguese arrived in Brazil in 1500. The Dutch came to the North of Brazil and tried to oust the Portuguese, but were defeated. They left behind architecture in Sao Luiz de Maranhao which is absolutely stunning. My children's paternal grandfather is of Dutch descent, mixed with Brazilian Indian.Their paternal grandmother is Portuguese. My father is German and my mother is of Irish and English descent.Multi ethnicity is what makes Brazil such a diverse and interesting country, and I urge everyone to come and discover this wonderful country.......

Screw the Bran Muffins,We Are Watching Curling

What the hell is curling? Believe me, it has nothing to do with hair. Its basically a sport invented by the Scots(single malt will cause moments of inspiration).It involves 4 players per team hurtling a large granite Bundt pan down a corridor of ice. Similiar to shuffleboard, the goal is to get the rock close to the center of the circle at the far end of the ice. To guide and direct the rock in its trajectory, two sweepers brush the ice with intensity to create a fine film of water to direct the rock to its place. The players yell encouragement to the sweepers....
HARRRRRRRD!!!! WHOOAAAA!!!! YESSSSSS!!!!!! ALL THE WAYYY!!!!!!!
In any other context ,it could be considered obscene.
As it turns out, the womans World Championship is being held right now and my mother has given up making muffins to watch the Canadian team beat the USA...I, myself, am on my 4th glass of Merlot.

Hockey Night in Canada

I AM CANADIAN....Born and raised in Calgary, every Saturday night was, and still is Hockey Night in Canada.Before Calgary got the Flames, we were stuck with cheering for either of the only two Canadian teams in the NHL,the Toronto Maple Leafs or the Montreal Canadiens. Back in the 70's, 99% of the players were Canadians.Nowadays one needs a phonetic dictionary to help pronounce the names of players who hail from Russia, Finland,Czechoslovakia(ooops.the Czech republic...)The best defenceman of all times,Bobby Orr, just turned 60 yesterday...God I feel old. I remember watching hockey with my family on CBC. My mother is the ultimate hockey fan. She yells at the players, warning them of imminent checks,cursing them for penalties, admonishing the referees for '`unjust`calls. Its hilarious. If you were to meet my mom in any other situation, you would never believe that she is the same person that transforms when the Flames are on the ice.
Hockey is to Canada the same way that soccer is to Brazil...
Go Flames GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I'll Have the Squid with a Side of Rice.....

One thing that has always fascinated me here in Brazil is the inate habit of giving everyone a nickname. Even the President of Brazil isn't spared. His nom de guerre is Lula, which in English translates into Squid...I am sure that most Brazilians don't know his full name, I sure don't. I guess his nick name is not so bad, imagine the field day people here would have with the name George Bush....Unprintable to say the least..
Last week Condeleeza Rice came for a state visit to Brazil, so I couldn't resist the temptation...A plate of Squid with Rice on the Side
Have a good week

Naomi Campbell Loves Brazil.....Lord Help Us All

In the movie, A Fish Called Wanda, the two main characters fly to Rio at the end to bask in the sun with their aquired millions. The cliche of escaping to Rio has been part of cinematic lore ever since the late Ronald Biggs of the Great Train Robbery fame,came to Brazil and was unable to be extradited to the UK.The idea of being surgically altered to fool the authorities has also been part of the 'Boys from Brazil' mystique.
So it comes as no surprise to me that Naomi Campbell has decided to adopt Brazil and Brazil has opened their arms to the famous cell phone thrower. Hold on to your Motorolas, Naomi has arrived. She has done runway shows for Rosa Cha, (the bikini maker for the local jet set)and even a campaign a few years ago for Vivo(cellphone carrier....how ironic).I guess that Brazil is the only country on earth that is willing to put up with Miss Campbell's famous temper.Even the president of Brazil has received her... She has caused furor at parties in Sao Paulo and is collecting boyfriends here like my mom collected Hummel figures.
Her latest affair is with the Brazilian owner of Parmalat, the embattled Italian dairy company that was the cause of many lawsuits and family dramas a few years back. The Brazilian sector of Parmalat was involved in a scandal awhile back involving the milk they sell. Apparently one of their suppliers was adding hydrogen peroxide to the UHT milk.Why? I haven't a clue....
Parmalat has been able to PR their way out of the embarrassment that the milk scandal caused.
Now they have Ms Campbell to deal with...She has appeared in the gossip mags here as she was whisked to the hospital for some mysterious surgery.On her face? Speculation is that she is being treated for problems in the 'pelvic' area. Infertility treatment? Who knows?
Either way,she has befitted the prerequisites to become an honorary Brazilian. Break the law somewhere, go to Brazil and have a mysterious operation.....