Week 32: A Meet and Greet with President Obama

Last weekend, President Obama and his family came to Brazil to meet with Brazil's President Dilma Rouseff and to speak at several business and cultural events. This is my favorite photo from the Meet and Greet with President Obama. I was trying to get a shot of my wife or one of my kids shaking hands with the President, but I couldn't see through the mass of people, so I raised the camera and clicked the button. 

I had originally been assigned as part of the baggage crew to handle the luggage of the First Family, but the plans changed for them to spend two nights in Rio de Janeiro, so I wasn't needed. I did get put in with another team to help with the CEO Luncheon at Itamaraty, the main building for the Ministry of Foreign Relations, but was told the night before the visit that I had not been cleared to go to Itamaraty since I was still on the airport list. One of things I learned from this visit was that plans are changing constantly.

Because I didn't have an assignment, I did get to go to the Meet and Greet that was held employees and their families from the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia. It was held at the same convention center as the final business meeting of the day. As we were waiting, we got news that the President was running behind schedule, and there was some worry that he may not have time to see us.

I was standing near the back of the crowd while my wife and the kids were near the front. Fortunately, the President did manage to stop in, though he was only able to stay long enough to offer some words of thanks and encouragement, shake several hands, sign a few books, and then he was rushed off to his next meeting.

We had been waiting for a little over three hours when the President arrived. I was amazed at how well-behaved the children were while waiting because there really was not that much to do other than hang out and talk to your friends and play video games on iPods and Nintendo DS. Due to security concerns, back packs full of the things one would normally bring to entertain children were not permitted. A few of the younger managed a brief game of chase in the lobby, and at least one parent brought markers and paper and set up a drawing area on the floor under the stairs.

Following Mr. Obama's remarks, he passed across the front the audience and reached out to shake as many hands as possible before leaving. My wife managed to get a good handshake. She deserved it. She waited for three hours in the same spot and made some new acquaintances from the embassy while doing so as well.  The kids were also placed in a good spot to see to President, so a couple of them also were able to shake his hand.

One of my favorite moments from the event was when President Obama saw a sign made by one of the kids, and he told her to pass the sign forward so that he could sign it.

Week 31: Super Hot Dogs at the Kids' Carnaval

In the parking lot near the Kids' Carnaval, a row of hot dog vendors had set up their Chinese made vans. Each of these vans had a complete, portable kitchen and could turn any small area to a street cafe. And they all were selling the same thing, hot dogs (AH-chee DOH-gees), or "salsichas" (sawl-SEE-shahs). These little vans look a lot like the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo. The kitchenettes have stainless steel steamers and warming trays that are heated by gas from portable tanks. I had seen set-ups like this around town on other occasions, but this was the first time I had seen about 8 vans all in the same spot.

My older sons had heard rumors of this super hot dogs from their friends at school, so we decided to try them. The basic construction of the super hot dog is put inside of a bun a salsicha and bury that hot dog in mashed potatoes, corn, and fried crispy potatoes, and then season with ketchup.

The buns and hot dogs are very different here in Brasilia than what is found in the U.S. One notable difference is that the franks are a paprika color of red-orange, which also turns the water orange when their cooked. And no matter what brand, the hot dogs are all made from chicken and all look and taste the same. The buns are not precut and are about twice as fluffy as buns sold in the U.S. Also, the buns got soggy from the potatoes and corn. Overall, I and my kids are not impressed with Brazilian hot dogs, but served with mashed potatoes, corn and crunchy potatoes is pretty tasty for street food that only costs R$2.50.

Week 31: Carnaval in Brasilia

We spent the Carnaval week in Brasilia. My older boys actually went on a camping trip with other youth from our church in the area (the Brasilia Stake of the LDS church). The day we picked them up from camp was the official fat Tuesday, and there were several events going on around town. We have hoped to catch a parade, but we just didn't get home from picking up the boys from camp in time to see one. So we decided to take the kids to the Parque de Cidade, the big central park of Brasilia, to the Kids' Carnaval party.

We got their in time to catch about the last hour or so of the event, and even though many people were leaving as we were arriving, there were still hundreds of kids and their families dancing to the music of a live band and playing on the inflatable bounce toys and trampolines. The band was really fun, and I tried to get my kids to dance, but there were just interested in the big toys.

There was confetti, streamers and cans of spray foam all over the ground. Jacob found this can and was hoping that there would be just a little bit left to spray. There were vendors of light-up toys, cans of foam, and other trinkets and candy and popcorn surrounding the edges of the area fenced off by the city for the kids party. No alcohol and no smoking was allowed in the Kids' Carnaval area, and I really appreciated it. People were having fun in a familiy-friendly setting.

I took this photo just after one of the face painting booths had packed up and removed their table. What's amazing to me is that there really are no garbage cans placed out by the city for people to deposit their trash. Early the next morning after large events, a small army of workers in orange and blue jumpsuits will descend on the area and sweep everything up.

Many of the kids were wearing costumes. Carnaval is the time to be someone or something different. Most of the girls were wearing some version of a Disney princess dress. I think this boy and his brother had the most unique costumes I saw that evening.

Week 31: A Perfect Flower

I first encountered this flower last December at the Bank of Brasil Cultural Center. We went to see and exhibit of prints by Escher, who is one of my favorite artists. While playing on some of the outdoor sculptures  that doubled as playground equipment, my youngest daughter pointed out some absolutely beautiful flowers. I didn't have my camera with me, so I didn't get a picture that day, but then I began noticing these trees in other parts of town. I am particularly impressed by the spiral symmetry, the five overlapping petals, and the airbrushed look. These flowers have the appearance of something someone might make out of sugar and put on a cake. At a garden and landscaping shop, these were called a type of "mangeira".

Week 19: Caja manga and abacaxí

One of our favorite grocery stores here is Pão de Açucar (sugar bread or loaf), a national chain that is named for a famous mountain near Rio de Janeiro. They have a great selection of fruits and vegetables, and we like to purchase a new one every couple of weeks or so just to try it out.

This fruit is a "caja manga" (KAH-jah MAHN-gah), it was a not easy to eat. It was mildly sweet, had a very tough rind and a seed with several tough tendrils that extended into the fruit. I'm not sure if these are used in cooking, but eating it directly was difficult.

I bought this pineapple because it had two heads. The next week we found a four-headed one at Sam's Club. 

Brazilian pineapple, called abacaxí (ah-bah-kah-SHEE), is quite a bit different than the pineapples from sold in the U.S. that are grown in Hawaii and Costa Rica. Abacaxí is sweeter, less acidic and therefore less sour, has a lighter color, and the core is softer and more edible. These are some of our favorite fruits to eat here, and we get at least one or two per week. My favorite place to buy them is from the man across the street from one of the grocery stores who sells them from his wheelbarrow. His are generally less expensive. We pay about R$3 to R$5 each (between US$2 and US$3.50) in Brasília, though the price can be lower if they're on sale.

One of the things that has surprised about living in Brasília is that produce costs more than we had expected. I guess that's what we get for living in the interior.

Week 19 & 28: Planting a Garden

Our gardener has a cleared an area for a vegetable garden under the papaya tree. We got  seeds from another diplomat family, and then prepared planters for seedlings. Every day, Sam would check the pots to see if anything had sprouted yet. He also planted a seed from a lichia fruit.

The soil here is very red and not very rich in nutrients. We visited a nearby nursery and purchased a few bags of soil and compost, and then we had our gardener mix that in with the soil.

The seeds grew well, and we have recently enjoyed green beans, zucchini squash and lettuce. The basil and corn are also growing well, but we've yet to harvest ears of corn. The corn on the cob here has large, tough kernels, and is more like the feed corn in the U.S. than the sweet corn used for human consumption.

Week 18: Bananas and Siriguelas

We went to the CEASA produce market in Brasilia and discovered a nice source of fresh fruits and vegetables. This market is only open to the public on Fridays and Saturdays, and includes wholesalers as well as family farmers selling goods. During the rest of the week, the market is open for buyers from stores and restaurants.

There is also a well-stocked candy and chocolate shop with bulk sized sweets and baking supplies. At this shop we found unsweetened cocoa powder and powdered sugar, two items not available in the grocery stores here.

In Brazil, there seems to be a job for everyone. For example, there are people who help you guide your car in the parking lots, others that will wash it while you wait, venders of toys, maps, cleaning cloths and garbage sacks at traffic intersections, and people that juggle and entertain while you wait for the light to turn green.

At the CEASA, we hired a woman with a shopping cart to accompany us and carry the items we purchased. As we bought fruit or vegetables, either her or her 11-yr-old daughter would take the items from the vendor and place them in our shopping bags in the cart. It was a nice service, especially since there were no "free" carts to use.

A fun aspect of the market was getting to see and sample various types of tropical fruits. It has been interesting sampling these different fruits. For example, there are several types of bananas available here. I purchased these because there were the smallest and largest bananas at the market that day. The small ones are called "bananas ouro", or gold bananas. They're thumb-sized and have a very sweet, golden colored flesh. The large bananas are called "bananas nanica" and are the most common bananas here. These are the same bananas that are in the supermarkets in the United States.

Another fruit that caught my interest that day was the "siriguela". This fruit has a yellow-orange flesh, that is tart-sweet and juicy, and surrounds a large seed. These were quite tasty and the tartness left my mouth a little dry. 

In the month of February, we discovered that one of the trees in our back yard produces this fruit. Unfortunately, the branches are very far from the ground, and by the time the ripe fruit falls, the monkeys and ants have taken a the choicest bits.