My new favorite restaurant in Brasilia is this all-you-can-eat (rodizio is the Portuguese word, I believe) pizza place called Pizza a Bessa. It's not terribly expensive, especially when our kids eat for free, and they bring out the most amazing variety of pizza.
Okay, so I've gone three times in the last three weeks. But I'm 38 weeks pregnant, which is my excuse for everything these days.
They start with the regular pizzas. Now, they're not American-style pizza with tons of marinara sauce or a thick crust. No, they're more like European style, but probably not that either. They're just thin crust pizzas with a variety of toppings. My favorite is the cheese pizza topped with sun-dried tomatoes and arugula. Oooh, it's amazing! (They say it, "a-HOO-goo-la," but I can't say that with a straight face. Portuguese is still a bit beyond my grasp.) They also have Canadian bacon w/ pineapple, which is the quintessential pizza, in my opinion. There's a variety of sausage, ham, and/or onion, and the waiters just come around and offer each pizza at your table, and you yell, "SIM!" or "EU TAMBEM!" if you want some. I suppose there's a correct or polite way to say, "Why yes, I'd love some of that one," but every time I tried anything but SIM or EU TAMBEM, they just walked away with my pizza. I really should work on my Portuguese. Or just talk louder.
Then come the dessert pizzas. When we asked the girls if they wanted to go out for pizza tonight, Naomi told us, "I want the one with the ice cream and the chocolate and the bananas." You can't go wrong with ice cream pizza, right? Especially as you wash down your meal with some Guarana soda....
Then after they serve you ice cream on a pizza, a guy comes around with a pan-ful of chocolate sauce for the top. I love how Brazil isn't shy about sweets. In China, sweets are practically nonexistent, and it is the only place where I've heard people say, "Oh, it's too sweet," about something as decadent as, say, a chocolate chip cookie. But Brazil knows its sweets.
There are some Brazilian specialties. One is called Romeo and Juliet, which is cheese drizzled with guava sauce. But my absolute favorite has cheese, fresh-grated coconut, and sweetened condensed milk.
I think I may dream about that one tonight.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
Maybe not locally grown, but locally sold!
There's a farmer's market truck that parks in a nearby lot every week, but until today, the only times I've seen it were already in a taxi on our way someplace. But this morning I finally remembered. The girls put on their rain boots and coats, and we each took an umbrella over there to check it out.
It's pretty convenient to be selling vegetables in a tropical rain shower. The table of lettuce, cilantro, green onions, and broccoli was just out in the rain keeping fresh. That must be where grocery stores got the idea for their lightning and misting contraptions. Obviously.
Right when we showed up, the man running the booth gave each of the girls a banana. They ate them and splashed in puddles while I loaded up a basket with beautiful, fresh produce. The selection was about what I find in our local Carrefour, but these were much fresher and just better. The mangoes were ripe, unlike the green rocks I buy at the store and set out on the counter until they have brown spots. The one we ate today was perfect, and we're looking forward to tomorrow's. The apples were crisp and fresh. The onions were beautiful.
And it turned out everything was cheaper, too! I didn't ask about prices, both because my Portuguese is such that I can ask the question but don't always understand the answer, and because I was willing to pay a little extra for produce I could buy in my own neighborhood. But the total was quite a bit less than I was expecting, and I think everything was a few Reais less than at the grocery store.
I only wish I'd bought more. We already ate about half of what we bought today, and he won't be there for another seven days!
It's pretty convenient to be selling vegetables in a tropical rain shower. The table of lettuce, cilantro, green onions, and broccoli was just out in the rain keeping fresh. That must be where grocery stores got the idea for their lightning and misting contraptions. Obviously.
Right when we showed up, the man running the booth gave each of the girls a banana. They ate them and splashed in puddles while I loaded up a basket with beautiful, fresh produce. The selection was about what I find in our local Carrefour, but these were much fresher and just better. The mangoes were ripe, unlike the green rocks I buy at the store and set out on the counter until they have brown spots. The one we ate today was perfect, and we're looking forward to tomorrow's. The apples were crisp and fresh. The onions were beautiful.
And it turned out everything was cheaper, too! I didn't ask about prices, both because my Portuguese is such that I can ask the question but don't always understand the answer, and because I was willing to pay a little extra for produce I could buy in my own neighborhood. But the total was quite a bit less than I was expecting, and I think everything was a few Reais less than at the grocery store.
I only wish I'd bought more. We already ate about half of what we bought today, and he won't be there for another seven days!
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Friday, March 14, 2014
Because everyone wants to know how the kids are doing
Penelope is wonderful. She and her sister have a blast together, and I am so grateful I have two of them to be friends with each other-- especially when we move to a new country or hemisphere or whatever. She is in a little co-op preschool with some other American kids. She has decided that when she grows up, she wants to get married with one of the other kids, Lucas. They like to play together, and he is very nice and shares his toys. She asks me a lot about getting married, why people get married, and why I married Dad. It's been fun to have those conversations with her.
Sometimes she wants to listen to my heart beep.
Occasionally she and Naomi will say "chau" or "obrigada" to people whom they know speak Portuguese. I really wish we had more opportunity to learn Portuguese, but we'll get there. Meanwhile, I need to keep focusing on Chinese at home. She's excited about that, and I need to encourage it while she is.
Penny knows how to read several 2- and 3-letter words. Sometimes we'll point them out in a book and have her read them. I'm excited for her to be learning to read.
Sometimes Penny disappears into the bathroom, emerging a while later with shiny brushed teeth, a freshly washed face, and silky brushed hair. Her hair is getting pretty long, and she's getting braver about letting me brush it when it's tangled. She wants to grow it as long as Rapunzel. We'll see...
Naomi has a gorgeous smile and a lot of energy. She loves to dance with her Dad after dinner, which usually involves a lot of spinning in circles. She lifts her feet for little Arabesques, and when she's feeling particularly emotionally vested, she'll close her eyes and turn circles. She and Penny are both very expressive dancers.
Naomi is very good at puzzles. I usually help her a little bit, but even without my help she can finish all of the puzzles we own or borrow from friends.
Sometimes she plays with her ponies or dolls and has them talk to each other. That's pretty normal. But she'll tag their dialogue, like this: "Let's go," says Cinderella. "Okay," says her mommy. "Oh no," says Beauty and the Beast.
I was confused for a long time when she'd tell me, "You be Beauty and the Beast, and I'll be Belle." I've finally figured out that "Beauty and the Beast" means "the Beast," while "Belle" means "Belle." But when she tells you to be the Beast, roaring is not always what she had in mind. It's more often dancing with the nice Beast (see above).
Up until recently, the first thing Naomi would do after waking up was come and snuggle in bed with me. If it was early enough, she'd occasionally go back to sleep, but usually she'd just snuggle with me and we'd wake up together. Sometimes Penny's smiling face would come join us. Lately, though, they get up with Dad, leaving me to sleep in as long as I want-- which means I'm still up before 7 AM. Bah!
Naomi is basically potty trained. It's been a long process-- she started about a year ago because she wanted to do things herself. She's been good during the day since last May, but only when I reminded her. Ever since we left Washington DC in November, she's been very reliable herself during the day. Just recently she started lasting all night, too-- but she's gone back and forth on this. She's close.
As for baby #3, he is a cutie pie. He sticks his feet under my right rib cage and wiggles and kicks. That's mostly what I know about him, so yeah, not much to go on. They say babies move around a lot, but he's been in this same position for a long time. I got to see an ultrasound last week, and he looked quite a bit like the other two, who despite looking quite different now, looked pretty similar when they were born. Last week he was more than 5 pounds, so I think he'll be a good size baby by the time he's due next month (a month from yesterday!). We have yet to decide on his name, though we're thinking Fisher would be a good last name.
Sometimes she wants to listen to my heart beep.
Occasionally she and Naomi will say "chau" or "obrigada" to people whom they know speak Portuguese. I really wish we had more opportunity to learn Portuguese, but we'll get there. Meanwhile, I need to keep focusing on Chinese at home. She's excited about that, and I need to encourage it while she is.
Penny knows how to read several 2- and 3-letter words. Sometimes we'll point them out in a book and have her read them. I'm excited for her to be learning to read.
Sometimes Penny disappears into the bathroom, emerging a while later with shiny brushed teeth, a freshly washed face, and silky brushed hair. Her hair is getting pretty long, and she's getting braver about letting me brush it when it's tangled. She wants to grow it as long as Rapunzel. We'll see...
Naomi has a gorgeous smile and a lot of energy. She loves to dance with her Dad after dinner, which usually involves a lot of spinning in circles. She lifts her feet for little Arabesques, and when she's feeling particularly emotionally vested, she'll close her eyes and turn circles. She and Penny are both very expressive dancers.
Naomi is very good at puzzles. I usually help her a little bit, but even without my help she can finish all of the puzzles we own or borrow from friends.
Sometimes she plays with her ponies or dolls and has them talk to each other. That's pretty normal. But she'll tag their dialogue, like this: "Let's go," says Cinderella. "Okay," says her mommy. "Oh no," says Beauty and the Beast.
I was confused for a long time when she'd tell me, "You be Beauty and the Beast, and I'll be Belle." I've finally figured out that "Beauty and the Beast" means "the Beast," while "Belle" means "Belle." But when she tells you to be the Beast, roaring is not always what she had in mind. It's more often dancing with the nice Beast (see above).
Up until recently, the first thing Naomi would do after waking up was come and snuggle in bed with me. If it was early enough, she'd occasionally go back to sleep, but usually she'd just snuggle with me and we'd wake up together. Sometimes Penny's smiling face would come join us. Lately, though, they get up with Dad, leaving me to sleep in as long as I want-- which means I'm still up before 7 AM. Bah!
Naomi is basically potty trained. It's been a long process-- she started about a year ago because she wanted to do things herself. She's been good during the day since last May, but only when I reminded her. Ever since we left Washington DC in November, she's been very reliable herself during the day. Just recently she started lasting all night, too-- but she's gone back and forth on this. She's close.
As for baby #3, he is a cutie pie. He sticks his feet under my right rib cage and wiggles and kicks. That's mostly what I know about him, so yeah, not much to go on. They say babies move around a lot, but he's been in this same position for a long time. I got to see an ultrasound last week, and he looked quite a bit like the other two, who despite looking quite different now, looked pretty similar when they were born. Last week he was more than 5 pounds, so I think he'll be a good size baby by the time he's due next month (a month from yesterday!). We have yet to decide on his name, though we're thinking Fisher would be a good last name.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Conferencia da Estaca
This morning we had stake conference at church. Usually we drive 20 minutes to a different ward, but this week we decided just to go to stake conference at the stake center, which is a 5 minute drive from our house. Last time we went, we got pretty well lost, thanks to a sudden 1-way street right between us and our destination. So that means that not only do we now know the surrounding area pretty well, but we also studied it out on google maps before setting off.
We also have new (temporary) neighbors in our building. They have kids our kids' ages and also go to our church. So we caravanned together. Our plan was to meet 30 minutes early, drive over together, and have our pick of the cushioned pews. When 3 wards are meeting together, this is an important strategy. But I had sort of a stressful morning (What, on a Sunday morning? Never!), leaving the car keys up in our apartment-- among other things-- which meant we didn't leave until 10 till.
Five minutes later we were in the chapel, which was fairly full, looking at the gym full of uncomfortable chairs and deciding where to sit. For the conference, though, they had ushers, who said, "Oh, you have children with you," and ushered us to the very front pew. I guess the USA isn't the only country where the last row to fill is the very front one! The pews were sized such that our friends sat down, our children sat with their children, and there was no room for Kevin or me. Sadly (trying to contain myelation emotions), Kevin and I sat across the aisle from them-- with no children for the next two hours!
Honestly, it was great. Penny and her friend sat quietly and colored for the entire meeting. Naomi and her friend played quietly together on the pew and on the floor in front of it. With our pooled resources, there were twice as many kids, toys to play with, and snacks to eat. It was a little piece of heaven for everyone involved.
If I listen carefully to the speakers, I can understand the gist of what they're saying. If they quote a lot of scripture, I can follow it even better, being familiar with the verses in English. When people share personal experiences, they use more conversational language, and they also talk faster. I'm sure it would be interesting, but it's usually pretty hard for me to understand. I got enough out of the meeting-- and definitely more than if I'd been wrestling my kids for the entire thing!
It started to rain during the last 15 minutes of the meeting. At first I thought that everyone had just started moving around and talking, growing suddenly restless at the end of the meeting. But it was just one of Brasilia's rainy season cloudbursts. We rushed to the car, getting pretty soaking wet in the process. After buckling Naomi into her car seat with my backside out in the pouring rain, I was pretty drenched by the time we drove off. And of course, once we'd pulled out of the parking lot, the rain was over.
It's raining again this evening, with some distant lightning and soft rolling thunder. It's really one of the most beautiful sounds in the world.
We also have new (temporary) neighbors in our building. They have kids our kids' ages and also go to our church. So we caravanned together. Our plan was to meet 30 minutes early, drive over together, and have our pick of the cushioned pews. When 3 wards are meeting together, this is an important strategy. But I had sort of a stressful morning (What, on a Sunday morning? Never!), leaving the car keys up in our apartment-- among other things-- which meant we didn't leave until 10 till.
Five minutes later we were in the chapel, which was fairly full, looking at the gym full of uncomfortable chairs and deciding where to sit. For the conference, though, they had ushers, who said, "Oh, you have children with you," and ushered us to the very front pew. I guess the USA isn't the only country where the last row to fill is the very front one! The pews were sized such that our friends sat down, our children sat with their children, and there was no room for Kevin or me. Sadly (trying to contain my
Honestly, it was great. Penny and her friend sat quietly and colored for the entire meeting. Naomi and her friend played quietly together on the pew and on the floor in front of it. With our pooled resources, there were twice as many kids, toys to play with, and snacks to eat. It was a little piece of heaven for everyone involved.
If I listen carefully to the speakers, I can understand the gist of what they're saying. If they quote a lot of scripture, I can follow it even better, being familiar with the verses in English. When people share personal experiences, they use more conversational language, and they also talk faster. I'm sure it would be interesting, but it's usually pretty hard for me to understand. I got enough out of the meeting-- and definitely more than if I'd been wrestling my kids for the entire thing!
It started to rain during the last 15 minutes of the meeting. At first I thought that everyone had just started moving around and talking, growing suddenly restless at the end of the meeting. But it was just one of Brasilia's rainy season cloudbursts. We rushed to the car, getting pretty soaking wet in the process. After buckling Naomi into her car seat with my backside out in the pouring rain, I was pretty drenched by the time we drove off. And of course, once we'd pulled out of the parking lot, the rain was over.
It's raining again this evening, with some distant lightning and soft rolling thunder. It's really one of the most beautiful sounds in the world.
Sunday, March 09, 2014
Cristalina
Our car's not here yet, and won't be here for another few months. Sometimes it feels a little restrictive. We live inside the city of Brasilia, and Brasilia was made for driving. No, really! It was a great achievement of urban planning in the 1960's, and there is a lot to be said for it. But they wanted a modern city, and a modern city obviously has people driving cars in it. So there is a lot of green space and nothing feels very cramped. It does mean, however, that being without your car limits your options.
And being pregnant without a car limits those options even more.
During the week we only go out occasionally. But then on the weekends, Kevin rents a car from the embassy. Not every embassy or consulate has this system in place, but we're really glad this one does! The embassy owns a bunch of cars in its motor-pool, and on evenings and weekends when they're not being used, they're available to rent at a reasonable rate (per mileage). (Do you say mileage when you're talking about kilometers? Hmmmm.)
So last weekend we decided to leave Brasilia and go for an adventure. There's a city to the south of us called Cristalina, named for the quartz crystals all over the place. It's a small city, and it reminded me of the towns in southwest Colorado, like Dove Creek or Bayfield. It's spacious and rural, with the John Deere dealership on the side of the highway next to the gem stores. I liked the feel of it.
We headed down there to see some rock formations and dig for crystals.
 |
| After driving along an unmarked dirt road for several miles (7 km or more), we were about to turn back. We said, "Okay, after we go around that bend, we'll turn back." Then we said, "Okay, just at the top of that hill up there, we'll turn back." Good thing we waited! This sign was just there, telling us that Pedra Chapeu do Sol (Sunhat Rock) was right around the bend. So we found it after all! |
 |
| Our little city girls are pretty proud of themselves for climbing up the rock in front of the sunhat. |
 |
| And I even made the trek up to the balancing rock. It weighs a gajillion tons, and it's balancing on a space of less than a meter squared. But we figured if it had been there so many millions of years, it would likely stay while we crawled around under it. |
 |
| The precariously balancing rock. The path leading up to it is paved with quartz crystals. In Cristalina, I think they call them "gravel." |
 |
| Everyone in my family loves sparkly rocks. As we drove along the dirt road, Kevin would holler for me to pull over so he could go get a big crystal or two from the side of the road. It was a lot of fun for our family. |
 |
| Penny was pretty thrilled with these beauties she found! |
 |
| Naomi found these little guys. She may have lost most of them before we got home again. But she had fun collecting them! |
 |
| On our way home we took a few pictures. After living in Shenyang, I don't think we'll ever take green grass, trees, clear air, or bright blue skies for granted ever again! Everything here is so alive! |
It was a great adventure for our little family. The hike was about 20 feet long, which was perfect for me. (Hey, I'm 8 months pregnant, and it's just about my limit!) With our family of little kids, digging around in the dirt for sparkly rocks is pretty awesome. And there are several shops selling inexpensive crystals and geodes and stuff. Kevin has always loved rocks and geodes, and the prices here sure beat the prices at the Smithsonian Museum gift shop!
It was also great to leave Brasilia for a day. Brasilia is very unique and very planned. It's very Brasilian, but it doesn't really represent the rest of the country. It was fun to get out and see the country a bit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
