Don't forget your ID

I heard it the other day through the window.
Young neighbor girl arrives home and I hear the sound of the chains on the gate opening.
The girls mother comes out and shouts at her for not taking her identity documents with her.
The girl doesn't reply.
The girls mother shouts again and tells her she has no idea how serious it is that she isn't taking her seriously.
My roommate/friend turns to me and starts up a discussion about this type of attitude.

Surprisingly we were not talking about the girl not paying attention to her mother. We were talking about the mothers fear. This is not the first time I have had this conversation about ID, nor do I think it will it be the last time. The problem is, the dictatorship only ended in the mid 80's and Brazilians have only had a short time to recover. Most people don't like to talk about it much, but you might get lucky and find someone who will open up about it.

Many people here know of, or have someone in the family, who was either arrested, beat-up or tortured during the dictatorship. So the idea of leaving the house without identification would truely frighten anyone above the age of 25. It isn't as dangerous anymore to leave without ID, you can't just be stopped anymore and asked for your documents. I think though that just like the neighbor lady did to her daughter... the older gerneration is passing this fear on to the younger generation.

The effects of the dictatorship are not only seen in the fear of the police and being caught outside without identification, but it can be seen in many aspects of the Brazilian culture. Just an example of this, is the lack of censorship on Brazilian TV. It is really common to turn on the TV during the day and see a half naked girl dancing around a group of boys in a studio.

I was shocked when I was here in 1999 and Feticeira was on tv dancing in nothing but a g-string and a cloth covering her..... mouth! I turned to my friend and asked how they could allow that on tv with little kids watching. It was then that I realized that the truth is, the people are not ready to give up the freedom they have to not be censored and it is only recently that they are starting to slowly place a few restrictions on what can be shown on day time TV.

I guess it is like a child that has grown up in a repressive household and when they get out on their own... they want to experience everything and they don't want anyone to come in and place rules again.

I have several friends who's family members were tortured during the dictatorship... so, I learned to hold my tongue when it comes to wanting to make comments about the lack of censorship and the irrational fears of the police. I don't leave the house without ID, but that is for clearly different reasons than those of my Brazilian friends.

See this box? This is my space!

Over the weekend, I went to visit a friend of mine. She gave birth to two boys about a month ago. She has been trying for almost 20 years to have a baby and after many unsuccessful IVF treatments, she finally gave birth. I was holding Henrique in my arms and watching him snuggle up to me, and started to think seriously about something. At what point in our lives do we start to reject this need for closeness and start to draw the invisible line around our bodies ? You know what line I am talking about, it is that line that very few people can cross and not make us feel like taking a step back. Most of us started out as cuddly little creatures with an insatiable thirst for cuddles and attention, why then, do we grow up needing our free space?

I recognize that this personal boundary line is bigger in some cultures and smaller in others. There are even some cultures where the line does not exist at all. Most Americans have an understanding about the boundaries that each individual has. The majority of people in Brazil don’t have a personal boundary line, and if they do, not many people know that it is something to be respected. Being an American, I started drawing my line at a young age, as I got older this boundary line got wider and more solid.

Something amazing happened though over the last few years. I had hundreds of Brazilians trampling over that line, that now I can't even tell it is there. I have actually felt my boundary shrink quite a bit. I no longer cringe or lose focus when someone steps into my space. I really didn't have much of a choice in the matter. I think it is kinda like what my Grandma J used to always say… "you can like it or lump it". I didn’t have a choice when I got here, it wasn’t like I could tell every single person I knew, that I had a boundary and then go into an explanation about what it was and how I got it. I just had to accept it and move on.

It was hard at first to feel any comfort with someone holding my arm or my hand when they talked to me, it is very common for an older person to talk to someone younger this way. Brazilians are not afraid to show affection and this even includes school aged children. It isn’t uncommon to see two boys all up in each other’s space.

I am not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing. I just know that it feels much better having one less thing I need to worry about. Now… the big problem is when I go back home for a visit, I wonder how many people I am going drive up the wall with my boundary crossings.

Peanuts!

I know this is another post about food, what can I say, I love the stuff!

Peanut butter is something I have found myself craving since I have been here. If you go into a Brazilian supermarket expecting to pick up a jar of the good old Jiff, you will be disappointed to find out the creamy goodness is missing from the shelves.

I know, can you believe it? What do these poor kids eat? I can't imagine my childhood without peanut butter!

What do they have? Well... I did find this (see picture) thing called Amendocrem (translated means peanut cream). the only thing similar to peanut butter is the color and that it is made with peanuts, the similarities end there. It is some strange concoction of peanuts, sugar, honey and oil. You can feel the sugar granules scratch against your tongue as you eat it. The peanuts are a mix of chunky,smooth and stale. I was thinking today about how the texture reminds me of a facial scrub.

A tub of 250 grams of this stuff will cost you about 5 Reais (about $2.30). So, I think I am going to smuggle some real PB into Brazil the next time I travel home. Maybe if these Brazilians get a taste of Jiff, they might stop looking at me like I am crazy when I say I am craving Peanut Butter.

Udderly Strange!

At first I was going to write this big long
text about the milk box, but instead I am just going to throw it out there and you can look it up if you’re interested.

I love milk, and prefer it to soda. There is a pleasure when I go to the refrigerator and pull out the gallon jug and fill up a glass full of that cold white stuff. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to mess with that process. So, imagine my surprise when I saw my friend pouring me a glass of milk straight from a cardboard box that was in the cupboard. I have to admit, there was a lot of stuff going through my mind when I was drinking it. I could not stop thinking about the bacteria and how warm it was. I wanted to spit it right back up when I first tasted it. It had nothing to do with the taste, it had everything to do with my head.

UHT milk is the milk you will find in Brazil. You can find pasteurized milk, but it isn’t as common and it is sold in plastic bags, not in plastic jugs. UHT milk is processed with a higher heat to kill all the spores in the milk. It has almost the same nutritional value as Pasteurized milk(it took me a year to take the time to look that up on the internet). Once I did a little research I was able to relax a bit more and enjoy my milk once again. I just put the box in the fridge the night before I want to drink it.

If you do some research on UHT you will see that the shelf life is up to 6 months, it is being used to ship to starving families in third world countries, it does not use refrigeration so it helps with the environment . So, I bet you can come up with a lot of reasons to switch to UHT.

Taste: Well, I think it tastes a bit sweeter than what I am used to. I think the sweetness comes from the fact that some of the sugars in the milk get caramelized during the heating process.

So, if you are ever in Brazil, don’t go to the refrigeration section to look for milk.

Blog is heading in a new direction.

I have been a bit jaded with my blog and didn't really know what direction to take it. This morning, over my cup of UHT milk and toast the idea hit me, I need to share the life and culture of Brazil. What I have read and seen on the internet about Brazil, is mostly a tourists or natives view. My blog will be a perspective of my life as a foreigner living and trying to assimilate into a foreign culture. Living in a culture and tying to assimulate gives a totally different perspective than that of a tourist who only visits the places set up for them. I want to bring the Brazil I know to life for my family and friends. I think the idea is a good one, and I am excited about it. Enjoy!