8 February 2011 - email

Hey Family! Oh, and friends who are reading this. And people who I don't really know that well but know my family members and for some reason feel thus obligated to read the scrambled ramblings of a scattered 19-year-old teaching Brazilians the truth. Hmmm...I think that's everyone.

 

So there's some weird Brazilian traditions and superstitions that I don't think I've written about, and since it's been really slow this week, I'll catch up some lost time.

 

WATER:

 

So here it's a superstition that cold water makes you sick. Drink it. Bathe in it. Touch it. Look at it. Any of these things can cause you to get the flu or "pass bad" (Brazilian for really bad diarrhea. Sorry, I decided to be frank). I'm not sure how many times I've drunk warm water here, but I've realized that its worse than hot water. No wonder God spews lukewarm people from out of his mouth!

 

On the other hand I had a comp (Trindade) who told me that drinking warm water or hot water was bad for your intestines. Hmmm, so all of the studies saying that it helps are wrong. And can you explain why you drink chimarrão (a very bitter, very hot tea)...

 

BODY AND FOOD:

 

"I was really active and did a lot of sports when I was younger and that cleans out your pores, so I think that's why I don't have body hair!" ... ... WAIT! Hair comes from clogged pores! Does that mean that zits are genetic?

 

The 'gum stays in your stomach for 20 years and gives you cancer' thing is also pretty big here. Makes no sense, but sure. You'd die of clogged colon long before dying of cancer, but sure, it's true.

 

So almost everyone here loves farofa. They like to put it in their beans and rice, on their meat, salad, etc. What exactly is farofa? FLOUR. DEEP. FRIED. FLOUR! Sometimes it's mixed with vegetables and little bits of meat so I can see it being used. But sometimes they just put flour. Just flour!

 

 

Well, that's all for now!

 

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