On Christmas Eve, I walked to the local food store and picked up a few things for Christmas dinner.  On the way back to the apartment I met a man on the street selling roses.  I asked: Qunta? (how much?) and he said Trinta, (30, which equals $7.75).  Now I didn’t know it it was 30 Reals for the whole bunch but decided to purchase some.  I gave him 30 and he handed me the whole bunch.  I smiled slightly like I expected to get the whole bunch and told him:  Obrigado e feliz natal  (thank you and Merry Christmas)

I will tell you that they lasted only a few days but I did have 13 beautiful roses on my table during Christmas, which is all I wanted.  And I remembered, that as I stopped and purchased these roses, the little guy in the back of my mind commented, This is what Terese would have done.

@}-}–  *  –{-{@

A few weeks ago, I gleefully received a much anticipated bread machine in the mail, along with a bundle of bread mixes to use in it.  Notice how shiny and new it is. We had a machine in Turkey, but gave it away because it was a 220 volt machine and we knew we would never use it again.

Now, since living in Russia, I’ve had a craving for the black Russian bread – chernyy khleb that we called “chorny bread”.  It is a dark pumpernickel bread with garlic butter and just a touch of coriander.  I know this, because that is what Terese said it was.

So, the first pack of bread I made was the Russian black bread and ate a few slices.  At the time, I had neither garlic butter nor coriander, but it was delightful.  Afterwards, I made some honey-something bread, and it too was amazing.

Then, something bizarre took place.

My innards rebelled in such a way, I thought I would die.  Die, I thought I would.  It was not a pretty picture.  The only thing nice about it, was the flatulence.  For those male readers, you will understand that men do not mind the act of farting, especially if they grew up with an older sister.

But a dark cloud began to roll over me as I realized (to my horror), that I may have become gluten intolerant in my old age.  It took several days for the symptoms to subside, during which time I ordered several bread packs of gluten free breads.  I also found the shelf at the grocery store that has specialty breads and purchased a few miniature loaves of pão sem glúten – bread without gluten.

The gluten free breads were nice and satisfying, but I still did not know for certain that I had suddenly acquired this … deficiency.  But I can tell you, that since that time period I have gradually been testing the waters (sort of speak) to see if the symptoms would return.  Yesterday, I ate at the Olive Garden with a lunch loaded with gluten and so far …

I will either die, or not die.  If you do not hear from me again, I have kicked the bucket.    D.

At the last minute, I decided to host a Christmas Eve wingfest and I had some very pretty ladies show up.  There were three in particular that made the evening … er, chaotic, but everyone survived.  Below are pictures of Ava and Anna sitting with several of us at a nearby restaurant before the wingfest.  They were sitting on a bench and waving at the vehicles on the street.Then during the actual wingfest, I caught the two sisters at various places in my apartment looking guilty of something or another.And the third pretty girl is Kwynn who I often have the pleasure of visiting with.  She the little one in the middle.  You’ve seen her before squealing at the  irritating mechanical furry animals in the previous post.Additionally, there were two other couples, one who were the parents of the two previous ornery girls and a little one that is new to Brazil.And some of the food prep :I always enjoy hosting these and have several other people who I need to invite.

And before I leave you again, I wanted to show you a gift a “friend” gave me for Christmas.  She said it reminded her of me.  Seriously, I never saw myself as a John Wayne type of guy.

I see many strange things that can be bought on the Internet these days, and recently purchased several of these furry devices that repeat anything you say, and jump like fools when doing so.  Here is what they look like at rest:

I asked one of them its name and got this:

Then I sat both of them together for an intelligent conversation:

I gave one to the beautiful daughter of a friend of mine and she sent me videos of her reaction to this crazy furry thing.

Another interesting story:  When I first came to Sao Paulo, a neighbor who also works at the Consulate took me to the nearby store and showed me how to get food.  She said, at the check out they will always ask you two questions, (something about a tax receipt) and your answer will always be No.  Sounded simple.

But occasionally, I noticed they would ask me three questions, and I would always give them the safest answer of No, especially if you don’t know the question.

As I started learning more and more phases, I realized one day, that sometimes when I went to the checkout the first question would be boa tarde?

… and it hit me.  boa tarde simply means, Good Afternoon.  Which explains why they gave me a funny look when I resolutely stated, No.

An old friend of mine once told me, Life is pretty damn tragic if we don’t learn to laugh at ourselves.

I tend to laugh at myself quite often.

I was graciously invited to hang out with a good man I work with and his family.  Instead of the usual Thanksgiving feast, it was a very comfortable BBQ.  I found it relaxing and I will repay the favor with a wingfest for them.  Here are some pictures taken for my 99-year-old mother.  (That excuse always works) I love these types of BBQs because they are more a social event then just chowing down.

And then Yesterday, Saturday, a good man who I usually eat lunch with, Ricardo Rios had a birthday party celebrating his 60th year.  I was the only American from the Consulate he invited, but there was another good American, (actually a fellow Texan) who knew Ricardo from years past, and lives in Sao Paulo with his lovely Brazilian wife.  I enjoyed just sitting and watching everyone as I realized it was actually a family reunion for them.  Brazilian hugging and kissing.  Very nice.  Right before I left, I had a picture taken of me with him, his wife and daughter.

One of the many things interesting about foreign countries, is the taxi rides.  Sometimes in a taxi, the driver will ask me some question.  Usually I can decipher what he (or sometimes she) is saying, but when I can’t, I will say Desculpas. Eu não entendo português  (I apologize. I do not understand Portuguese).

What happens then is either of two things.  Either the driver will say nothing else, or he/she will start practicing their English on me, which is always enjoyable.  So on the way home from Ricardo’s party Saturday, the young man was glad to have me in his vehicle.  At one point, while trying to think of something nice to say, he gave me a belated holiday greeting.  He told me (in so many words) Happy Black Friday.

I could have spent time telling him that Black Friday was in no way a holiday, but it just wasn’t worth it.  I simply replied, Thank you.

So, until next time, Kick butt, seize the next adventure and I hope you had a happy Black Friday.

Occasionally, one of the good guys from the Facilities Department will come to me asking for donations for a BBQ.  I never turn them down.  Underline Never.

Here are a few pictures from tonight’s BBQ: These Brazilians know how to cook meat, and I know how to eat it …

Just something sitting in the bottom of my belly to make me sleep good tonight.  And I watch them play a card game that made no sense.  Here is a video of them playing it.  Click the pretty red Game.

It actually got a lot more livelier than that with hands slapping on the table and cards whirling in different directions.

D.

After posting the Marine Ball pictures, I realized I forgot the most important one, where I had my picture taken with the Marines.  Here it is below.  I am the one in the middle smiling on the inside:The good Marine on the far left in white trousers, was the guest speaker.  Extraordinary gentleman.  Within the first few minutes of hearing him speak, I had a great respect for him.

A week earlier, we had our first Churchill Gathering of cigar smokers and hard drink drinkers.  There were about twelve of us which included three members of the feminine gender, two of which partook.  I took a picture of the group as we sat under a covering while Mother Nature poured rain down on us, probably trying to put out our cigars.  You will notice one good man whose face was covered by smoke.  He is one of my many bosses and even though you cannot see his face, trust me when I say he is a good man and I am proud to have him as one of my many bosses.So much for that.  Kick butt, look for the next adventure in Life and remember to always take time to breathe.

D.