Down in the heat

Ah, I write again! I´m still down here in the heat of Brasil, but it´s not so bad. The last few days have seen highs in the low 80´s and even in the 70´s (I think) which is downright heavenly in comparison with 110F. I think God was giving me a favor so I don´t die when I get back home.

I have learned that cold, snow, and ice are infathomable concepts even for people who have spent half of their lives in it, when the temperature is hovering around 100. However, under 80, the concept is once again obtainable and imaginable.

So, what have I done since I last posted? Answer - bought souviners! Now I´m not going to tell you what because I want them to be at least a little bit of a surprise, but I will say that I bought a lot of flip-flops... and good luck finding them in anything bigger than a man´s 11.

Since I should be home in five days or so and I don´t think I´ll learn anything too terribly earth shattering over the next five days, let me now share with you some of what I´ve learned about Brasil.

First of all, there are pretty much just two colors down here - red and green. The trees are green, the sugar cane is green, the coffee plant is green, the lemons are green, as are the parrots, coconuts, mangos, oranges, and bananas. Everyone keeps telling me that yellow lemons and orange oranges are dyed, and we´ve all been lied to all these years. I´m fairly certain that just as there are different colors of apples, people, and birds, there are probably different colors of lemons and oranges too. And I´m willing to wager they are suppose to be yellow and orange. Oh, and that silly notion some of us have about dirt being black or brown... yeah, it´s red. And it coats everything.

So, driving down the Brasilian highway the only colors you will see are green because anything living is green, and red. The dirt is red and so are the bricks and shingles made from it. Now, if I had to pick a third color for down here, it would be white... but only because the houses are white... ish...

Okay, so now that you understand what colors I´m looking at and that our thoughts on fruit colors are dead wrong, let me tell you what else you´re dead wrong about. Patterns on clothes. I have learned that stripes and plaid go together as long as the same colors are involved in both patterns. I have also learned that anything brightly colored, no matter how freakishly tacky in cut and pattern, is fashionable... even if you do want to burn it for the betterment of man kind.

Oh, and did you know you are suppose to put a sort of salsa, corn, beans, and peas on your hot dog? Yeah... And hot dogs taste like overgrown Vienna sausages. Oh, and corn goes in basically anything you want. Oh yeah, and chicken is shredded and stuffed in anything breaded. Runners up on being stuffed in anything breaded are ham and cheese.

Okay, so enough about what they think we´re wrong about - here is what we actually are wrong about:
- mangos: any of us living outside of a tropical clime that have never tasted a fresh mango before honestly have no clue about mangos. Eating one is an interesting experience, regardless of what form it is in. Those things are kinda like a fibrous melon in texture. I got more mango sinews stuck in my teeth... anyway! the flavor, well we have but tasted a weak parody of the actual flavor. I can´t say I like the original better than the parody, but just trust me when I say, we don´t have a clue.
- papya: if you have managed to eat one, trust me when I say it is just not the same. Although, Dole ones in a glass jar are pretty good, they still don´t taste like the real thing.
- bananas: Everyone who grew up before the 80´s and complains on how bananas don´t taste like they used to, and they miss the old ones, should come down here and eat bananas. I think I finally understand what you are talking about.
- heat: I do not think even the deepest part of the deep south can get as wretchedly hot as the average temperature on a summer´s day down here. When you firmly believe that 82 is "pretty cool out" you know there is something horribly wrong with the world.
- seasons: December through February is summer, March through May is fall, June through August is winter (with those bone chilling highs of 50 degrees), and September through November is spring. Wrapping my head around the concept of Christmas as winter holiday was very difficult... and thinking of Santa´s suit made me even hotter than I was. Ugggghhhh!!!

As for what I´ve done while I´ve been down here - well, I have taught a lot of beginner English, eaten a lot of food, tried gobs of fruit I may never *sniff* be able to taste again, and become a Guarana addict. If you are wondering what Guarana is, I will tell you: awesomeness in a bottle. Yes, for all of its many, many faults and oddities and general dysfunctionalness, Brasil has managed to bottle awesome. I think Guarana comes from a berry look fruit named guarana (shocker). Its almost the Brasilian Vernors. In fact, for you unfortunate souls that will never taste it, let me vainly try to describe the awesome flavor. Start with Vernors in color, and almost in taste. But before you get to that gingery goodness of Vernors, change it to a sweet, fruit flavor. Not fruity or you´ll drift off into Hawaiin Punch land and that is very far from it. Fruit. Think a mellow fruit, like a cherry or blueberry. Nothing that will hit you with its flavor but a soft flavor that will go down smooth as it tickles your tongue. Marvelous stuff. America needs to import it. Badly.

I´d give you more day by day details, but then I would have no stories left for when I got back home. But, that´s a little bit of it.

Happy 2010!

Well, 2009 is officially over and 2010 is officially here. I would like to be able to post for you my official 2009 playlist, but that my friends is back in the States and sitting somewhat incomplete because I have not picked out my last song for December. When I get home though I will be quite sure to put it up for you.

I know, you are not terribly anxious for it... but I think it´s fun.

Where I am now compared to where I was last year at this time is about as opposite as it gets. I am south of the equator in Brasil for starters. But more than that, I am spirtually moved on and mentally moved on and much happier for it. As a writer... Well, there is a marked improvement for several years ago that is for sure, but I feel more inspired now than I have since high school! Not that I have the time to work on them as I would like, but oh well. As a poet, I haven´t felt this inspired in years, which makes me very happy! However, I am noticing a very nasty pattern with most of my poetry in that the rhyme scheme and meter are getting too predictable. Thus, I am on the hunt for a book. A big book. A big book of rhyme schemes and meters of English poetry. If it exists, I will find it. Until I find that book however, I go back to what I did in high school - copy the masters until I get it down and then make it my own.

This year was also exciting for my musically. I discovered a number of artists... some older, some new... and my music library just keeps growing. I also discovered the wonderful world of putting movies and TV shows on my iPod! Wheeeee!!!! Regretably though, my iPod is back home. I miss it.

Socially, I have met a few people and made a couple of new friends, which I always find a joy! Now if I can just figure out how to leave my room and hang out with people in the Rec Hall, I may develop a social life... just in time to graduate!

Oh yes, I am to graduate this year... Lord willing. I would be much more excited if a) I believed solidly I am going to graduate on time and b) I wasn´t so tired of fighting tooth and nail to get all my credits in to graduate. I have a feeling I will hit graduation with a sigh of relief and the song for the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy movie running through my head: So long and Thanks for all the Fish. If I laugh during graduation, that is why. And if it is not that song and you see my head bobbing then I promise you it is a Jonas Brothers song. If it proves that an unforseen song pops into my head, I´ll be quite sure to let you know.

I actually rather like that fish song - it´s silly. I like it so much, I am listening to it twice in a row on YouTube! Hehehehe!

Now I´m watching Marvin´s Moments. That reminds me - I didn´t bring a towel to Brasil and the FIRST rule of Hitch Hiker´s Guide... or maybe it was the second... no matter, it was very important! ALWAYS CARRY A TOWEL! I forgot one. I thought about it, and then didn´t bring one. Come to think of it, I seem to forget to bring a towel quite frequently! AACK! Wait, The other very important rule - DON´T PANIC! Alright, so I will simply go home, pick out my towel to travel with ever after and not panic. Right. And the 36 hours of traveling I have coming up in 16 or 17 days will be survived with out one. The first 36 were easy enough... *note sarcasm*

In any event I have rambled quite long enough. Plans for this year include spending quality time with my stories and poetry, reading, figuring out a life, not panicking and carrying a towel.

Happy New Year!