I'm Easter kinda slow.

I am really slow... I have been in Brazil long enough now that my daily pace and rhythm has slowed down to match that of a Brazilian. So, you can't really blame me for being late with this post can you?

I wanted to post this before Easter, but I think I am lucky that I am getting it posted before the end of April.

Brazilians don't wake up to a basket of chocolate and jelly beans on Easter. The traditional gift for Easter is a large chocolate egg that is filled with more chocolate treats. It is common for you to give one to each member of your family. So, if you have a large family and lots of friends, you might end up with kilos of chocolate for Easter. The eggs can be purchased in a smaller size but the smaller sizes are usually give to children. To give you an idea, some of the largest ones you will see are the size of an American football. The average size is smaller than a football, but still very large if you compare it to the easter bunnies we are used to getting in the USA.

Funny thing happens though each year, the house ends up filled with these eggs, one of the perks of being a teacher. We usually choose one egg we want to keep and we re-gift the others. This may sound cheap and like cheating, but when each egg cost around 30 bucks, it is a great way to not go broke at Easter.

On Demand

There are a lot of things in Brazil that are on demand. What I mean by that, we make it when we need it. One of those things is hot water. You wont see a water heater in a typical Brazilian home. If you want hot water, you do what any normal person would do, you mix water and electricity!!!

I think this is still one of the things I have never totally relaxed about. You walk into a Brazilian shower and you will see a very large shower head with wires running from it into the wall or to a box on the wall.

There is something strange and frankly frightening about standing under live wires while water runs town your face. When I first used these showers, I used to take my shower as fast as I could and then run out, thankful I was alive. I don't think I fear it as much as I used to, I find that I am able to relax and enjoy the super heated water a little more (but it has taken a few years). I have never personally heard of anyone dying from these showers, but is it possible to mix electricity and water and not have accidents? I don't think that little nagging voice of common sense will ever go completely away (at least lets hope it doesn't).

The advantage to having an electric shower head... it is a lot cheaper than keeping the water heater running all day long. Also, lets face it... it is much more entertaining than a regular old water heater shower ... ha ha!

Window Watcher.

Last night I had an appointment here in the neighborhood and I decided to be a little more Brazilian and walk there instead of taking the car. I have two sets of keys and I absentmindedly left the one set in the lock on the inside of the door. When I returned home, I tried to unlock the door and it would not unlock. I don't even know how I got it locked in the first place, but I was stuck there with no way in. I then checked all the windows and was totally in luck, I had forgotten to lock one of the windows and was able to reach in the window and pull the keys out of the door lock (bruising my arm in the process). Anyway, I had been thinking about the fact that I had not written anything for my blog yesterday and for some reason at the moment I was messing with the window, it reminded me of something I found interesting about Brazil the first few weeks I was here.

I didn't have a car the first time I was here, so I would take the bus everywhere I went. It was such a different experience from the bus rides I had been on before. It felt like no matter where I went, I would always see something I had never seen before or experience something I had hundreds of people waiting a single bus stop; seeing houses stacked on top of each other on a hillside with not a spot of ground showing between the homes. The point is, it was all new and I was just sucking it all in. One thing I noticed right away that seemed to be consistent every day were the window watchers.

I don't know what else to call them but "window watchers". As I was watching the houses from the bus, we would pass by house after house were there was someone standing or sitting just looking out the window. Some had cups of coffee that they sipped on as they watched the world outside their windows. I don't know what it was about this whole scene that captured my attention. I just remember thinking to myself, how do these people have time to sit and watch people from the window. It was certainly strange, but I loved it! I have always been a people watcher, I love sitting in a public place and just watching peoples interactions. Anyway, I found it fascinating that life was going on at such a pace here in Brazil that people had time to sit at the window and watch what was going on around them.

I did get my own opportunity to window watch one time... it really was very interesting. I got to see a little boy crash his bike and then be helped by several people passing by at the same time; a woman walking home with a basket of something on her head (this is not as common as it used to be so I was lucky to see that); a man pulling a hand cart as he was collecting recyclables from the garbage bins. I actually took pictures of the window watching event... but those images have since gone missing. I just might have to take some time out and do it again soon and take some pictures for you... that way we can all be window watchers for a few moments.

Fountain of superstition.

I thought Americans were superstitious, I have been amazed though by how many things Brazilians are superstitious about. I could make a list that went on for pages and pages of the superstitions I have encountered while I have been here. I wont though! I will just tell you a few of my favorites.

First there is the superstition about eating lentils on new years. You have to eat them so you will have luck all year. More of a financial success rather than just good luck.

You wear a certain color of underwear on new years and depending on the color it will bring something to you for the new year. White clothes will give you luck.

You need to have a pepper plant in your home to ward off the "evil eye".

Placing a bottle of water with charcoal in it at your door will absorb any bad energy that comes past it.

If you carry a American dollar bill in your wallet, you will never run out of money. This one is my favorite... My mother visited Brazil and gave a dollar bill to a lady. The lady was going through a divorce. She found a new man within 3 months and is now a very happy and rich lady. So... who knows, maybe there is something to this.

That is all for now... I might post again some other day, with some more of these superstitions.