March 30, 2012

Some Funny Things

One of my favorite things about Brazil so far is that they don't really hate Americans...  This is something I have never experienced before in my international travels where I usually try to speak as little as possible in order to trick passerby into thinking I could be a local or at the very least, British.


I saw this first hand when I went to the grocery store yesterday and a little kid heard me speaking English and ran to his mom and told her what he had just witnessed... I can remember feeling the same way as a kid when I heard a foreign language (and honestly, and those who know me already know, as an adult.)  But it is a weird feeling to be on the other side of the fence!  Although I will be diligently working on my Portuguese while I am here, it will be pretty cool to be able to give an aside to Fernando without too many people knowing what I am saying!

I saw my first capybara yesterday and just in case you didn't know, it is the largest rodent in the world.  If anyone wondered if I was a foreigner or not, I made it clear by making Fernando's mom stop on the side of the road so that I could take pictures... There was a whole family!  They are so cute, but I'm pretty sure this is about on par with  taking a picture of a  rat in a New York City subway station...




And last but not least, this morning I helped Fernando's mom volunteer in a used clothes store.  We folded clothes and sat around for a few hours until the shift was over but I couldn't resist taking a picture of this gem (to the right).  It's a purse that must have been made by a blind Cambodian man because I think it is supposed to be English...  It reads "This product is guarantppd is besigned by odie bag 02 genuine originality and duradleperpormance baded the 75'svintage spirit."  I do have a sneaking suspicion that it is not in fact "genuinely originality."  My favorite part about this bag is that it is in the used clothes store, which means someone that didn't know English bought it and it settles in my mind that I will never buy a piece of clothing with Chinese words on it without my nephews along to make sure it's legit...






2 comments:

  1. I for one am appreciative of the capybara picture! We love and respect those ROUS' (Rodents Of Unusual Size) in this household.

    I for one, hope to be able to have a product someday that is duradleperpormance - sounds quite amazing.

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  2. I too look forward to owning products of durardleperpormance. I'll make sure Chi-boa and Chi-de (that would be the boys) give any Chinese the once over before you wear it.

    Your posts are hilarious and make me weep with laughter (and a touch of missing you!)

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