Wrong side of the road

Do you know that Brazilians drive on the wrong side of the road.
It was a little scary for me when I first arrived to Brazil as Andre says it is the right side of the road (literally) but for me it's wrong. As soon a I get into a car, I buckle my seatbelt and hold on for dear life. There are so many motorbikes and scooters here and they swerve in and out of cars, on average there are more motorbikes and scooters per person here in Rondonopolis than anywhere else in Brazil. There are 2 kinds of cars on the roads here, you either drive a big pick up truck or a tiny small car. There is no in between cars and as I learnt the other night motorist do not respect pedestrians, I almost got run over at a pedestrian crossing.

I have tried lots of amazing new drinks and foods, my two favourite drinks are fresh "pineapple with mint" juice and "Guarana Antarctica" soft drink made from the Amazonian berry Guarana and is the second most popular soft drink after coca cola in Brazil. An unusual one I have tried is "cashew juice" from the fruit of South American cashew trees. Some new foods I have tried, "mandioca" a potato like root vegetable eaten steamed or in soups. "Tapioca bread", a white, soft, bread like pancake filled with meats and melted cheeses, I like this one a lot. "Corn ice cream" surprisingly very delicious, "sweet corn cake", "corn pudding" and "creamed corn". There is lots of corn here in Brazil and they have come up with some creative ways to eat it.

From time to time I get sick from new bugs and germs introduced to my body from trying new foods or eating out and it is not fun. When this happens I am usually up all night fighting world war 3 inside me but feel better within 24 hours. This does not stop me from trying new food or eating out. Everyday at midday everyone comes home for lunch and the maid Maria has a feast ready on the table of rice, beans, salad and a different type of meat each day. I look forward to lunch everyday and it is the main meal of the day here in Brazil. Dinner is usually left overs from lunch, if there is any left or toasted sandwiches.

Eating at the local plaza is quite an experience, you take a seat at the table in the food court and waiters from all the food shops come to you with a menu and take your order and deliver the food to your table. Once you have finished they bring you the bill and you pay the waiters. You don't have to queue for your food, you just sit down and enjoy your meal. Here in Rondonopolis you eat or use then you pay later, if you want to hire DVD's, you take them home and watch them once you return them you pay for them. Oh how this privilege could be abused in the wrong hands.

I am a little disappointed with the cinema's here in Brazil. All the blockbuster movies are dubbed in Portuguese and if I'm lucky enough to find a movie in English the sound quality is poor and I struggle to hear anything. They also have purple sweet popcorn and it is not very nice and never go to the movies on a Wednesday here because all the school kids go to the movies to socialise and hang out with friends, very loud and rude. Thankfully the DVD store is my salvation for because all the DVD's are originals (English) so this is a better option than the movies for me and anyway I make the worlds best popcorn. I find myself with a lot of time on my hands so I have been reading, my latest book is "eat, pray, love" I highly recommend it to all the ladies, it's beautiful.

My portuguese is coming along very slowly, the portuguese/english dictionary and phrase book are my best friends. Andre helps me but I find myself just talking in english because it's easy, but a different story with the rest of the family I have to try. My gorgeous sister in law Jerusa always is up for a chat with me and I really enjoy this time with her because she is patience as I flick through the dictionary to find my words. Graziela is moving to England early next year so I try to speak english with her, has a pet name for me already, "bunitinha" and every time she say it to me she squashes my cheeks between her hands which means cutie.

The weather has been crazy but always hot, one minute the sun is shining, the next there are wild wind storms, lightening, thunder and rain. The storms can be very violent with howling winds like out of a horror movie and make a real mess. Thunder so load that it shakes the whole house, I feel so small and powerless compared to the great forces of the almighty mother nature. My favourite time of the day here is at night when all the street lights are on, Rondonopolis looks like a sky full of stars. I sit out on the balcony in a rocking chair and just watch the world go by so calming and relaxing.
Life doesn't get better than this.