It’s at times like these that my wife gives a long-suffering sigh and shakes her head as if to say “How did I get mixed up with this strange guy?”. Well I’m sorry, but I had to show you this massive leaf! Amazing isn’t it? These things are littered all over the place and even after 2 years in Brazil, they still amaze and delight me.
Unbeleafable...
Back in my England days there was one thing you could almost always rely on: somewhere in my fridge you would find half a lemon. Always half a lemon. When you have a whole lemon, there are all kinds of uses (for half of it) – squeeze it over some fish, slice it for drinks, the list goes on… But what about the other half? That would sit in my fridge for days, slowly shrinking and shrivelling and becoming increasingly useless.
Here in Brazil things are different – we have limes! Aren’t limes great? Not only do they have an amazingly fragrant, tangy, zingy flavour, but they are just the right size! You won’t find half a lime in my Brazilian fridge.
But what about lemons? Here in Brazil (in Rio at least) they seem to be very rare. After learning that the Portuguese for lime is limão, I wondered what the word for lemon was. The answer? Limão. Huh? “You use the same word for both lemons and limes?” I asked incredulously. It was like the moment I found out that Portuguese (and Spanish) uses the same word for fingers and toes! (Dedos).
Well, that is the simple answer anyway. In fact there is a way to distinguish between your limões (and your dedos). You get specific.
Apparently these limes are from Tahiti! Well, I guess the variety is at least. These particularly large and firm limes are very handy if you want to make yourself a decent-sized caipirinha - the extra juice will ensure that you can still walk after you've polished it off.
Today I would mostly like to say a big Happy Birthday to my Mum! It’s at times like this that I feel the downside of living in Brazil. The sun and adventure is all very well, but it’s tough to be away from so many loved ones for such long periods. I have also just recently missed my niece’s birthday and (unfortunately for her) I am one of those people who is useless at planning ahead, buying presents or using the postal system (AKA a man).
Happy Birthday Mum!
They say that anyone who actively wants to be a politician should be prevented from being one on principle. It’s a cynical way of looking at things, but then it’s not exactly breaking news that politics attracts its fair share of dishonest characters. If we take the example of the UK over the last decade, scandal after scandal has emerged with depressing regularity – politicians accepting money to ask questions in parliament, widespread cheating of expense allowances (i.e. stealing), and over-cosy relationships with evil media moguls to name just a few.
Despite the regularity of political scandals back home, since coming to Brazil I have been shocked not only by how widespread the corruption here seems to be, but also by the sheer audacity and greed with which it is perpetrated.
Sadly it is all too easy to become desensitised to all this dishonesty, but even against this background, every once in a while a story comes along that takes my breath away.
Those of you who’ve been paying attention will know that I started a new job recently. A simple version of the situation is that I am employed by a British company to provide services to a client of theirs which happens to be a good-sized Brazilian company based in Rio. It was a fairly demanding selection process – 4 interviews, one in Portuguese, one involving me giving a 20 minute presentation) – which stretched over a period of 2 months. At the end of all that, it became clear that they liked me and so I thought my troubles were over. In fact my troubles had only just begun!
My future portrait?