Month: June 2010

Road Trip Munchies

About a year ago my husband began working in the state of Espirito Santo, just north of Rio. As a result, road trips have become part of our weekly routine. And you know the best part about roads trips? Junk food!

I believe road trips offer a brief hiatus from rules of healthy eating. Any car trip lasting longer than two hours puts the world into a state of suspended animation allowing you to eat whatever you want without consequences.

True road trip food must come from either a fast food chain or gas station convenience store. (Rest station vending machines work too.) My go to road trip munchies in the US are Yoohoo and ranch flavored corn nuts. Mmmmm, delicious! Sadly, neither of these exist in Brazil, so I’ve had to explore new options.

First, candy! Brazil has two big candy makers, Garoto and Lacta. Garoto sells many delicious candies including mini chocolate bars, only four squares, in a variety of flavors. In my opinion, Lacta is a second-tier candy maker. The only Lacta product worth consuming is a Bis, a type of Brazilian Kit Kat.

Another popular snack is Japanese peanuts. They’re roasted peanuts with a crunchy, salty shell around them. I don’t know what the shell is made of or what exactly makes them Japanese. They sure are tasty though.

You can also find small bags of pretzel sticks. Based on the exclamations points and the word “NEW” all over the packaging, I can only assume pretzel sticks only just made it to Brazil and everyone is very excited about it.

There seems to be a lot of dried fruit. I don’t really know. I don’t shop in that section.

A favorite of many Cariocas is the biscoito de vento, air cookie. It’s salty so it’s not really a cookie but it has so little substance I’m at a loss as to exactly what it is. It’s crispy, filled with air pockets, and dissolves immediately upon hitting your tongue. Is it corn? Wheat? I can’t say but it has a very satisfying crunch.

Finally, potato chips. I can sum up the difference between American and Brazilian chips in two words, meat flavored. Yes, the US has BBQ flavor but it’s referring to the sauce. When a Brazilian chip bag says “roasted meat” the chip is going to taste like pot roast. Unmistakably and disconcertingly like pot roast.

If you’re not a red meat fan, there is also grilled chicken and turkey breast. Even the “herb” flavored reminded me, oddly, of tandoori chicken.

And here we have the limit of my cross-culture understanding. I do not want my potato chips to taste like meat. Ranch dressing, fine. Turkey breast, no. My tolerance goes only so far. This is one tradition I will not be adopting. I’m going to stick with my Japanese peanuts.

June 22, 2010
World Cup Trivia

Americans are embracing soccer as never before. According to FIFA, Americans bought more tickets to the World Cup than any nation other than South Africa. Last Saturday, more than 17 million Americans watched the US play England, a larger audience than the first 4 NBA playoff games and twice the size of the audience for the Stanley Cup final. (Apparently, the Stanley Cup is a championship for some weird ice-soccer game.)

While Americans are watching more soccer, by Brazilian standards we’re still novice fans. If we want to call ourselves true fans, than we need to have an appreciation of the history of the Cup. Here are some facts you can use to impress any Brazilian you might run into during the World Cup. Toss a few of these out in conversation and you’re sure to earn his or her respect as a fellow soccer fan.

Very Important World Cup Trivia
1. Brazil has won more World Cups than any other country. They are penta-champions, hence the five stars around the logo on their jerseys.

2. Brazil is the only country to have qualified for every World Cup. That’s 19 Cups if you want to sound extra impressive.

3. Brazil holds the record for most consecutive wins in World Cup play. They won 11 straight games from 2002 – 2006.

4. Brazil also holds the record for most games without a loss, 13 from 1958 – 1966.

5. Pelé has an accent at the end of his name which puts the stress on the second syllable. His name is correctly pronounced pay-LAY, similar to the word touche. And he’s the greatest soccer player to have ever lived. (Maradona is from Argentina and therefore not eligible for consideration.)

6. Maracanã, the world’s largest soccer stadium, was built for the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. 173,000 ticket holders came to Maracanã to watch the final between Brazil and Uruguay but officials estimate there were actually more than 200,000 people in the stadium. (Btw, Brazil lost that final, a fact you might want to avoid in conversation.)

7. Brazil will once again host the World Cup in 2014.

8. Brazilians call soccer the jogo bonito, beautiful game, and superior skill on the field is futbol-arte, football art.

9. Brazil has been, is and will be the best soccer team in the world. Forever and ever. Amen.

You probably only need to use that last fact to impress the Brazilian. That plus a joke about Argentina and you’ll be embraced as a fellow soccer lover in no time.

June 17, 2010
The World Cup aka The Single, Most Exciting & Greatest Event Ever

In case you’ve recently emerged from a cave or live in the United States, the World Cup, the global soccer tournament which occurs once every four years, began last Friday. Well, it technically began last Friday. As far as Brazil is concerned the World Cup truly begins today. Today, Brazil plays it opening game against North Korea.

I grew up playing soccer but being a soccer fan in the US is tough. In terms of media hype, international soccer ranks above curling and below high school football championships. That trend is changing but, Americans have, at most, a passing interest in it. Brazilians, on the other hand, have a fanatical obsession that if directed at any other object would require medical treatment.

Every building I’ve walked into over the last week, from banks to grocery stores to juice bars, is decorated with Brazilian flags. Green and yellow streamers hang over the streets. Walking in Leblon, I came across an intersection that had been repainted as the Brazilian flag. While I’m writing this, I can hear Brazil’s version of the vuvuzela being blown and the game doesn’t start for 6 hours.

The World Cup is everywhere. In the grocery store, all soda, candy and chips have soccer themed packaging. The tournament is on the front page of every newspaper and covered in every broadcast. Every commercial features groups of green and yellow clad fans having what is clearly the best time of their lives. I can only imagine how lonely a non-fan must feel right now because the media’s message is pretty clear. If you are not watching the World Cup, then you are an eccentric and probably dangerous recluse who is missing the greatest party and most thrilling display of human athleticism ever.

So as not to miss out on the party, I’m going to put on my Brazil jersey and watch what the commercials promise to be the most exciting sporting of my life or at least of the next four years.

Don’t miss it! Brazil v. North Korea 2:30pm EST

June 15, 2010
Hosting family

Last week, I played host to my cousin who flew down from Atlanta. It was her first trip to Rio. And she did her research.

We drank coconuts on Copacabana beach and watched footvolley on Ipanema. We shopped in Leblon and rode bikes around Lagoa. We hiked up Morro da Urca and fed monkeys. We explored the botanical gardens and got harassed by some aggressive strawberry salesmen at the market. Salgados, acaraje, tapioca, sushi, and pounds of red meat were consumed in addition to 16 different kinds of fruit juice. (Not even half of the 41 fruits on the menu.) Her trip ended with the obligatory visit to Cristo Redentor.

After a week with my cousin, I now have some idea what it’s like to have a five year-old on summer vacation.

I’ve had to translate for all of my family but, unlike other visitors, my cousin has an endless supply of energy and tendency to shout recently learned Portuguese phrases at totally inappropriate times. A pre-departure nightmare involving a kidnapping meant leaving her on her own was out of the question. Her first question every morning was “What are we doing today?” So, she couldn’t read or speak to anyone, couldn’t be left alone, needed to be entertained every day, and she found the Portuguese word for armadillo absolutely hilarious. In Rio, my cousin becomes a 23 year-old child.

Our week went like this. “What would you like to do today?” “What do you feel like eating?” “What do you want to drink?” “Who else do you need to get gifts for?” “The word for opossum is gambá.” “Where do you want to go now?” “Let me ask him where the bathroom is.” “Not a good idea to shout ‘gambá!’ in the middle of the market.” “What would you like to do if it rains?” “Fui assaltada means ‘I was assaulted.’” “What size do you want?” “It’s 35 reais.” “Please don’t tell the taxi driver you were assaulted.”

On her last day, she proudly announced that this was the first time she had ever exhausted a guidebook.

For my cousin every new experience, no matter how small, was worthy of being celebrated, turned into a joke, and discussed repeatedly. While her constant enthusiasm is tiring it is also her most admirable trait. She still has that childlike wonder which turns a trip to the grocery store into an adventure and pot-roast flavored potato chips into a treasure.

Our week together in Rio was great fun! Exhausting but great fun. She helped me realize just how much fun Rio can be with a sense of adventure and that I will probably be sending future kids to summer camp.

June 14, 2010
Winter Fashion in Rio de Janeiro

It’s 73 degrees and partly cloudy in Rio. Lows are around 63 and the sea breeze is decidedly nippy. You know what that means? Shake out the sweaters and get the mold off that leather coat. It’s winter in Rio!

Of course, this only applies if you’re a Carioca. If you are from pretty much anywhere else (ok, anywhere outside of the tropics) you grab a light jacket to wear over your tank top or opt for a long-sleeve t-shirt (the sleeves of which will be pushed up for the entire day until the sun sets). But if you are Carioca, you’ll wear enough layers to be comfortable in deep space.

The Carioca reaction to cool weather is charming. The temperature drops below 80 and store mannequins are clothed in knee-length coats and turtleneck sweaters. A drizzly rain plus a temperature of 60 degrees requires scarves, gloves, and boots. While the Carioca may dislike having to wear closed toed shoes, it does give her a chance to wear that beautiful leather coat she bought in Buenos Aires.

I’ll admit the last two days have been chilly. I brought a jean jacket with me to class last night, but even with the jacket, I seemed to be dressed for an entirely different climate than the office staff. One assistant was wearing what appeared to be a wool sweater over a long-sleeved, button-up shirt. The office manager was dressed in a black suit, with jacket buttoned, black stockings and pumps. While I don’t know how they avoided heat exhaustion, they both looked killer.

And that’s what I miss about winter. The clothes. I do not like cold weather and unless you’re in a Lifetime Christmas special, snow is simply a cold, wet mess. I do, however, miss the clothes. Turtle necks, long coats tied at the waist, gloves, lined slacks, boots, sweater vests, corduroy pants, jewel toned anything. The human race appears so much more competent in winter attire.

Would you want the guy in the speedo and tennis shoes holding the nuclear codes? No. Nothing says “We’re doomed!” like a speedo accessorized with gold chains and athletic footwear.

I do love the weather in Rio. The lack of freezing temperatures is one of the city’s greatest assets. But I miss the sophistication of winter clothes. And a speedo with a parka on top does not count.

June 3, 2010