Sunday, July 11, 2010
Kickboxing class in the city park
My chef..... I mean, friend.
This is the lunch that was made for me my first day here (I wrote about it in an earlier post). My favorite part was, of course, the Abobora Italiano, which is pretty similar to zucchini. Yummy!
Shrekee
After watching Shrek (pronounced Shrek-ee here), everyone was happy! I think this was Thursday night. I am happy to report that I understood almost everything in this film, which was dubbed in Portuguese. This is me, Nagi and one of his students, Tigelinha.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
so vs sou
The word o (with an accent over the o) means "only." The word sou means "I am." The pronunication is so subtly different that my ear can't yet distinguish between the two. (I already learned the hard way -- no pun intended-- the difference between pao and pao with a ~ over the a: pao with a ~ means bread, pao without it is slang for a hard penis. I learned this after offering someone a piece of my pao de quejo last year. I meant to offer cheese bread, but instead offered cheesy, hard penis. Last night I tried to learn the subtle difference between pouvo (octopus) and povo (the people). Who would want to eat the people? Oh....they're talking about eating octopus.)
Last night I trained at Ralil's academia. More on the details of that great experience later, but while there, I met a young kid (probably about 8 yrs old.) from the neighboring town of Cristalina whose game was so beautiful. The kid was alos beautiful, with long light brown hair tied back in a ponytail. Thus, I assumed this kid was a girl. When I was introduced, I said, "Seu jogo e bonita, your game is beautiful" using bonita to address a girl rather than bonito to address a boy. Th kid was flattered, and replied, "Sou menino." I didn't really hear the "o" for menino (indicating boy) instead of menina (indicating girl), and thought he was "so" being humble, as in, so menino, I'm just a kid.
Another guy from Cristalina was there and let me know my mistake, telling me (in Portugese) that the kid is a meninO (boy), not a meninA (girl). But since I thought the kid was being a bit humble, I somehow misinterpreted everything to mean that the adult was saying that the "girl's" game was so good because she was a tomboy. Ai ai ai. So I go on to say, No...she is a girl - a strong, talented girl. And back and forth like this for a while. Thank goodness Brazilians are so nice. Here I was, insisting that this little boy was actually a little girl, with no idea of my mistake. We started class and I was thinking of the exchange and realized my mistake. I felt terrible. So, on the next break, I went up to the little boy and apologized, saying sorry for my mistake, my portuguese is very bad, I didn't understand anything. He was sweet about it.
Such a good reminder to slow down and really listen. And a good reminder that long hair and a pretty face does not neccessarily indicate a girl.
Last night I trained at Ralil's academia. More on the details of that great experience later, but while there, I met a young kid (probably about 8 yrs old.) from the neighboring town of Cristalina whose game was so beautiful. The kid was alos beautiful, with long light brown hair tied back in a ponytail. Thus, I assumed this kid was a girl. When I was introduced, I said, "Seu jogo e bonita, your game is beautiful" using bonita to address a girl rather than bonito to address a boy. Th kid was flattered, and replied, "Sou menino." I didn't really hear the "o" for menino (indicating boy) instead of menina (indicating girl), and thought he was "so" being humble, as in, so menino, I'm just a kid.
Another guy from Cristalina was there and let me know my mistake, telling me (in Portugese) that the kid is a meninO (boy), not a meninA (girl). But since I thought the kid was being a bit humble, I somehow misinterpreted everything to mean that the adult was saying that the "girl's" game was so good because she was a tomboy. Ai ai ai. So I go on to say, No...she is a girl - a strong, talented girl. And back and forth like this for a while. Thank goodness Brazilians are so nice. Here I was, insisting that this little boy was actually a little girl, with no idea of my mistake. We started class and I was thinking of the exchange and realized my mistake. I felt terrible. So, on the next break, I went up to the little boy and apologized, saying sorry for my mistake, my portuguese is very bad, I didn't understand anything. He was sweet about it.
Such a good reminder to slow down and really listen. And a good reminder that long hair and a pretty face does not neccessarily indicate a girl.
Found: Hot water and a coffeemaker!
So, the first day I arrived at Nagi's house, the first thing I wanted to do was take a shower. It's funny how a person hardly moves or sweats or does anything at all on a 13 hour plane ride, yet can feel so smelly and gross afterwards. When |I arrived, Jad warned me that this was a "house of men," (i.e. messy), but it really isn't so bad. I've lived with men who were much much worse. His bathroom is quite an experience -- picture a stand-up shower with no curtain or other barrier. It is clean, though a bit run down. Without a barrier, the water from the shower naturally goes all over the place, but they have this cool floor squeegee to clean up afterwards. What a way to keep the floors clean! Quite brilliant actually. Anyway. I went in and found only one handle for water, so I turned it up as high as it could go. Cold water. Cold cold water. Not a big deal, but still. Cold water. Forceful pressure, but cold water.
Somehow, the next day, two showers later, I decided not to turn the faucet all the way up. Less pressure, less splashing all over the floor, less water all over my hanging towel. And what do you know....HOT WATER!!! Now I get it. The single handle provides hot water at first, then gets colder the more you turn it. Ah..... hot showers.
Last night, we moved over to Nagi's sisters house, where we'll stay for one week. She is out of town and her place has a bit more room than Nagi's, so we are taking advantage of the opportunity while it's here. One great thing about hanging out with these athletes is the abundance of healthy food and drink. These Brazilians drink more juice than a hungry baby orange can slurp from its mama orange's teat (sorry -- bad analogy... I tried. I failed...What else drinks a lot of juice?). The downside is that many of them don't drink coffee. (Don't drink coffee? Blasphemy!!!!!!) This morning I woke up to find such a great surpise at Nagi's sister's place. Coffee AND a coffeemaker! And milk! And sugar!! Oh sweet gifts of the lord and supermercado. I actually took a picture of it. (But haven't had time to upload pictures yet, so you'll all just have to imagine what the lovely coffeemaker looks like. It is black and sleek and makes one perfect cup of strong yummy cafe.)
It's the little things in life that make the difference...
Somehow, the next day, two showers later, I decided not to turn the faucet all the way up. Less pressure, less splashing all over the floor, less water all over my hanging towel. And what do you know....HOT WATER!!! Now I get it. The single handle provides hot water at first, then gets colder the more you turn it. Ah..... hot showers.
Last night, we moved over to Nagi's sisters house, where we'll stay for one week. She is out of town and her place has a bit more room than Nagi's, so we are taking advantage of the opportunity while it's here. One great thing about hanging out with these athletes is the abundance of healthy food and drink. These Brazilians drink more juice than a hungry baby orange can slurp from its mama orange's teat (sorry -- bad analogy... I tried. I failed...What else drinks a lot of juice?). The downside is that many of them don't drink coffee. (Don't drink coffee? Blasphemy!!!!!!) This morning I woke up to find such a great surpise at Nagi's sister's place. Coffee AND a coffeemaker! And milk! And sugar!! Oh sweet gifts of the lord and supermercado. I actually took a picture of it. (But haven't had time to upload pictures yet, so you'll all just have to imagine what the lovely coffeemaker looks like. It is black and sleek and makes one perfect cup of strong yummy cafe.)
It's the little things in life that make the difference...
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Eu chegei, voce chegou, eu chegei, voce chegou
Though I am being understood, my Portuguese is far from perfect, contrary to what the cute guy at the pizzaria said last night. For some reason I keep confusing the past tense conjugations for I and you (as I did in my email announcing this blog. Eu chegou? NO!!! Eu chegei!!). I only can seem to remember the correct way when I sing one of two capoeira songs. The first has the lines "Capoeira e bom para me, capoeira e bom pra voce, eu falei," and the other is Coelho's song, "Meu gunga me falou, que tipo de jogo eu preciso jogar." So, as I speak and try to conjugate in the past tense, I often drift off into these songs in my head to remember the proper form. Or, I envision the handout from one of my Portugese classes that has the regular verb conjugation list. Either way, I'm afraid I look like a space cadet and sometimes just say what comes, and what comes is usually wrong. Oh well!!
Tonight I'll go to class with Mestre Ralil and am watching the world cup (go Espana!!), waiting for Queens to come pick me up. Today Dudu starting talking to me about aking if I wanted to take a weekend trip to o lugar que so tem cachoeiras, a place that only has waterfalls. Uhhhh...yeah!!! Doing so might delay my departure for Salvador by a couple of days. Sounds like a good reason, though.
Nagi just got home...More later!
Tonight I'll go to class with Mestre Ralil and am watching the world cup (go Espana!!), waiting for Queens to come pick me up. Today Dudu starting talking to me about aking if I wanted to take a weekend trip to o lugar que so tem cachoeiras, a place that only has waterfalls. Uhhhh...yeah!!! Doing so might delay my departure for Salvador by a couple of days. Sounds like a good reason, though.
Nagi just got home...More later!
Dias perfeito
So far, so good! After a delightful flight from New York to Brasilia (I had three seats all to myself -- can you say SLEEP?), I arrived here to find my friend Bahia waiting for me at the airport in his slick business suit, ready for work. He brought me to Nagi's house where I met Nagi's big brother, Jad, and his best friend, Dudu. These guys are so nice! We talked all morning, drank suco de caja (caja juice), and began what I hope will be a tradition of laughing a lot. Nagi came home from work a few hours later with his girlfriend, Karita, who is very sweet. He rolled up on his motorcycle, saw my through the open door and said, in his sing-song way, "Abobora!!!!!!" as loud as he could. Many hugs later, we settled in for the delicious pasta lunch made by Dudu. I was a bit worried that I'd be on meat overload like I was last year, but luckily, Dudu is a vegetarian and cooks the most delicious things! (More on that later...) I gave Mestre Ralil a suprise call and he told me to carry his # with me in case I ever need anything. So nice.
Lots of stores are right across the street from Nagi's house, and after lunch we went to the market, then came back and took a great nap. I had the funniest dream during this nap! I was at the market with Nagi and Tapioca and we were waiting in line at a machine to fill bottles with fresh water. I was next in line but a woman came and cut in front of me. I tried to explain to her politely that I was next, but she began screaming at me and causing a scene. Then she called the police! They arrived and questioned us both separately and called in the Cheif of Police. He noticed that Tapioca was wearing a maid's uniform and understood that she was here on a tourist visa but was working as someone's housekeeper here. Knowing he now had us on a real charge, he threatened to take us in. I called Nagi over for help, but though he tried, he got frustrated with the police and the woman causing the trouble and started yelling, making things worse. I was seated next to the Cheif so I whispered in his ear, "Voce conhece Ralil Salomao? Do you know Ralil?" All of a sudden, the dream cut to later and, sure enough, name-dropping Ralil was enough for the police to lift the charges and set us free. Phew!
After waking, I went with Nagi to his class. It was great. I wore my ankle brace and sneakers and didn't feel any pain at all (though I was winded from being so tired). His students are great --very talented and fun to play with. We did a combination of 1. Armada 2. Armada 1. Martelo datrais 2. ponteira 1. bande em pe. It was great. My old friend, Sinistro, who I met in Santa Cruz, came to class and I got to play with him a lot in the roda.
We stopped for pizza and juice on the way home at Dom Bosco, where Coelho is famous for having eaten there every day when he was here last year. They serve two small pieces of pieces folded on top of eachother so that the bottom of the crust is outside and the cheesy part is inside (kind of like when we get a big piece of pizza and fold it in half). Yummmmmy.
We came home, drank a beer and went to bed.
So far today, I spent the day with Dudu. He is a great cook! Our lunch today was massive and amazing. Tomato stew with carrots, potatoes and soy protein, Abobora Italiano (specially bought for me, the Italiana Abobora), which is zucchini, cooked with farofa, onion and a little bit of sausage, rice with corn in it, beans and tomato salad. Yummmmm. But more satisfying than the food was the conversation. I'm pretty amazed at how much I am able to understand in Portugese, and pleasantly suprised that so many people know at least a few words in English. It's nice to have a break from always thinking in Portuguese. Though I have learned two new words already -- roncar (to snore) and zooando (to mess with someone).
Tonight I think we're going to Mestre Ralil's class. That's all for now. Oh -- even though everyone here is very cold, I think it's perfect. 70ish degrees during the day, 60ish at night....ahhhhh! Perfeito!
Lots of stores are right across the street from Nagi's house, and after lunch we went to the market, then came back and took a great nap. I had the funniest dream during this nap! I was at the market with Nagi and Tapioca and we were waiting in line at a machine to fill bottles with fresh water. I was next in line but a woman came and cut in front of me. I tried to explain to her politely that I was next, but she began screaming at me and causing a scene. Then she called the police! They arrived and questioned us both separately and called in the Cheif of Police. He noticed that Tapioca was wearing a maid's uniform and understood that she was here on a tourist visa but was working as someone's housekeeper here. Knowing he now had us on a real charge, he threatened to take us in. I called Nagi over for help, but though he tried, he got frustrated with the police and the woman causing the trouble and started yelling, making things worse. I was seated next to the Cheif so I whispered in his ear, "Voce conhece Ralil Salomao? Do you know Ralil?" All of a sudden, the dream cut to later and, sure enough, name-dropping Ralil was enough for the police to lift the charges and set us free. Phew!
After waking, I went with Nagi to his class. It was great. I wore my ankle brace and sneakers and didn't feel any pain at all (though I was winded from being so tired). His students are great --very talented and fun to play with. We did a combination of 1. Armada 2. Armada 1. Martelo datrais 2. ponteira 1. bande em pe. It was great. My old friend, Sinistro, who I met in Santa Cruz, came to class and I got to play with him a lot in the roda.
We stopped for pizza and juice on the way home at Dom Bosco, where Coelho is famous for having eaten there every day when he was here last year. They serve two small pieces of pieces folded on top of eachother so that the bottom of the crust is outside and the cheesy part is inside (kind of like when we get a big piece of pizza and fold it in half). Yummmmmy.
We came home, drank a beer and went to bed.
So far today, I spent the day with Dudu. He is a great cook! Our lunch today was massive and amazing. Tomato stew with carrots, potatoes and soy protein, Abobora Italiano (specially bought for me, the Italiana Abobora), which is zucchini, cooked with farofa, onion and a little bit of sausage, rice with corn in it, beans and tomato salad. Yummmmm. But more satisfying than the food was the conversation. I'm pretty amazed at how much I am able to understand in Portugese, and pleasantly suprised that so many people know at least a few words in English. It's nice to have a break from always thinking in Portuguese. Though I have learned two new words already -- roncar (to snore) and zooando (to mess with someone).
Tonight I think we're going to Mestre Ralil's class. That's all for now. Oh -- even though everyone here is very cold, I think it's perfect. 70ish degrees during the day, 60ish at night....ahhhhh! Perfeito!
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