Week 34: Ovos de Pascoa--Easter Eggs

A couple of days after Carnaval, these canopies of beautifully wrapped eggs started to appear in the supermarkets. About a week ago, Rebecca and I stopped in at the Walmart Supercenter and saw the largest display of chocolate Easter eggs we have seen yet in Brasilia and decided that our kids needed to share in this cultural experience.
These egg displays were larger than any similar Christmas display we saw.

In this Walmart, the displays extended from the seasonal display area by the electronics department near the entrance of the store, around a corner and all the way down and past the 13 or so cash registers. The eggs were arranged by brand, size and type, and most of them were hanging from a canopy. Others were in bins and on shelves next to the canopies. There was even a castle of candy and eggs.

The eggs ranged in size from 100g to 1000g, and prices ranged from about R$6 to R$70 depending on the size, brand and contents of the egg. The eggs themselves were made from the popular types of chocolate candies, and most of them contained wrapped chocolates and/or little toys inside as well. For example, the Sonho de Valsa (Waltz Dream) is a popular chocolate covered wafer ball filled with honey-peanut butter flavored truffle-like filling. The egg is chocolate lined with a crunchy peanut and honey flavored coating, and filled with Sonho de Valsa candies.

Nestlé, Garoto, and Laka brands each had representatives under the canopy to assist customers with locating eggs and prices. To find prices from the store's selection, you needed to refer to laminated signs hanging from the canopy. The Nestlé girl even had a fanny pack filled examples of the toys one might find inside of the eggs. Laka's rep handed out a pamphlet that described the various eggs from their line. He even helped find a couple of small boxes to carry our eggs in.

We ended up purchasing 11 eggs, 8 for us and 3 to send to family and friends back in the U.S. We arranged a "secret" exchange and had our family members choose a name out of the hat, and then find an egg that that person might like. We're not so good at keeping the secret part of the exchange, so the kids made sure that they let the others know which eggs would be acceptable, and which would not. We thought we might be a little unusual in purchasing so many eggs at one time, but we saw at least two other customers with boxes filled with eggs for giving away. It ended up being a fun field trip for our family.