Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Slangs, sayings, pharses and idioms

Don't you love when slangs, sayings, phrases and idioms get lost in translation?

English is my husband's (Luiz) third language.  I know I know.  I've tried learning Spanish, Italian, and now attempting Portuguese and I can't master any of them!  When we first met he spoke very very basic English.  So over the years he continues to learn our (American) slangs, sayings, phrases, and idioms.  This weekend's lesson was the idiom "cut the cheese"

We bought some fancy cheese at Costco and when we got home he asked if I would cut the cheese.

Me:  (Laughing) lifted leg and made a farting noise
Him: Blank stare
Me: Cut the cheese haha
Him: Blank stare
Me: Cutting the cheese means fart
Him: So if I ask someone at work "who cut the cheese" people would know what I mean?
Me: Yep
Him: (Smiles)

Passaporte Brasil



Several Central Markets in Texas are hosting a Passaporte Brasil event from 24April-7May.  Fact: I perk up when anything about Brasil is mentioned because my husband is Brasilian.  (FYI I am not spelling Brasil incorrectly, that is the way it is spelled IN Brasil).  Anyways, the event was advertising on the radio and I thought it could be fun to go check it out.  Now I should explain my husband is a broke Brasilian, not in terms of wealth but in embracing Brasilian culture abroad..he is broken.  Not that he doesn't love his motherland, more that he doesn't advertise that he is Brasilian, doesn't wear futbol jerseys, doesn't frequent the ever popular churrascarias, you get the point.  So when I told him that I wanted to go to the Passaporte Brasil event he wasn't excited and it took some arm twisting to get him to agree to drive downtown to go to our Central Market.  When I pulled out the camera at the grocery store, his gray mood turned even darker..."This is embarrassing to me."  I ignored him and kept the pictures flowing.  And as we weaved through the selection of fruits tasting guava, strawberry papaya, star fruit and red banana, perused the coffee, fish, cheeses his mood lifted.  He got excited.  This doesn't happen much.
Great selection of fruits that are common in Brasil

One of my husband's favorites.
Coffee selection.  I love me some Braslian coffee, but we didn't know any of these brands so decided to wait til we go to Brasil to get the brands we like.
Add caption
The high point for him was when he was able to find his beloved maneioca flour to make farofa a kind of bread crumb mixture you put over your rice and beans. 

Cheese selection. 
 The cheese selection was small and way over priced.  See the cheese on a stick (left side of the picture).  That's basically all I get to eat at barbecues there since I don't eat meat. (Grilled vegetables you ask? Nooo absolutely not at barbecues)  You just put the cheese stick on the grill over the open fire.  The cheese grills but keeps its structure and doesn't really melt.  It's gooood.

The event was all throughout the store so you have to go through all the aisles to find products...kinda like a treasure hunt!

And volunteers and employees were dressed up.  It was definitely a party atmosphere.




Desserts usually equals carbs so always a favorite in my book.  I ended up buying a honey chocolate cake that I had never had before.

Can't represent Brasil without Havaianas
 
Our haul- Guava, spreadable cheese, maneioca flour, honey cake and strawberry papaya
After making our shopping purchases we went to the outside tent and got a cheese and spinach pastel (like a hotpocket) and fresh sugarcane juice with lime.  The probably was the best thing I tasted that day.  It was like a sonic limeade but way better.  I will demand this the next time we go to Brasil to visit!
Sugarcane juice with lime- AMAZING
 Definitely recommend visiting the event.  Apparently when I read reviews on the internets they host other countries (duh) and I will be look out for those.  Heard the French one is pretty good.  I can just imagine all the cheese and wine...yummmm cheese and wine.

Check it out!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Compact car of the week

One of the reasons I wanted to start a blog is to chronicle my travel experiences.  I travel A LOT, like weekly for my job.  So far my travels take me all over the central and eastern parts of the US.  Because of my disdain for taxis, outside of New York City, I rent cars.  Apparently I just achieved 5 Star status with Hertz, whatever that means. It is basically like I get to test drive a different car every week.  I am a HUGE TopGear (UK version) and MotorWeek fan.  The knowledge and opinions I have accumulated need to be shared! So I am starting a series on the compact car of the week.

This week's car is.....drum roll please.....
KIA SOUL
File:2010 Kia Soul Sport - 1.jpg
 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2010_Kia_Soul_Sport_-_1.jpg

This isn't the actual car I drove, but the same make/model/color.  When I landed in Cleveland this week I had to laugh when I got my Hertz Gold email telling me that I would be driving a KIA SOUL, this was a first for me.  When I think KIA SOUL I instantly think of mice in tracksuits dancing to techno music with robots.  Ahhh the power of marketing.  From the outside I think these cars are not stylish (to put it kindly) but whatever, I would be driving it for 24 hours in a town that I know no one, what do I care.  Apart from the massive blind spots in the rear and horrible SOUL labeled upholstery (seriously?!), I must say it isn't bad, or I should say not as bad as I thought it would be.  The seat had adjustable height so I was able to sit high up like in an SUV.  The steering was just right, not to loose, and the brakes were pretty good.  You know, some brakes you barely touch and you do an anchor stop and your head whiplashes forward while others you push the pedal all the way to the floor and you barely come to a stop.  Well this was the Goldilocks of brakes....just right.  The console and stereo were nothing to write home about, but were adequate.  Some of the cars I get I can't even figure out how to turn the thing on or get a station, not joking. (I found out later from my husband that apparently the SOULs are known to have a good sound system.  Sorry, I didn't blast the music.) Roomy interior for front and back seats; however, the trunk was surprisingly small.  You couldn't fit the 2 kids, dogs, and luggage for a trip longer than a weekend in the car, but remember I rent compact cars.

Overall review: 3 stars (1 star being only if that was the last car on the lot= POS, 5 stars being I would buy it)

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Just another person who started a blog

I really got started reading blogs in 2011 when I got my iphone.  I downloaded the soon to be non-existent Feeddler app and started another obsession.  I started rooting for the people on the other side of the posts, experienced the highs and lows of daily life with complete strangers.  None of them know I exist.  I rarely post comments because either a) too shy or b) it requires me to get out of the feeddler link and actually go to their blogsite (ain't nobody got time for that!)  I may or may not have anything common with these people, but I have become completely engrossed.  I love the uncensored stream of consciousness, the "telling it like it is" idea of blogs.  Which brings me to today...2013.  Let's try this form of therapy.  Like with 95% of the blogs out there, I don't have anything really interesting to say but thought this would be a good place to post this carboholic's life story. 


PS- I'll figure out how to post pictures because posts without pics are bbbborrrring