Mad's Happy Life: MONDAY - March 11, 2013

brasillians for your monday

dear friends and family,

I have no big news this week to share, so i figured i would give you all a little look into brasillians for your week (i know, i know its exactly what you wanted). And in no particular order-

1. esperança é ultima quem morre. (hope is the last thing that dies). They have a saying here that goes like this-hope is the last thing that dies. If your husbands mother is named hope-switch husbands. I think this is the funniest thing in the world. mostly because here in brasil once you get married you dont move out of the house and into your own little property. instead you build a house or a continuation of your in-laws house and live with them on the same property. So literally, you are marrying the man AND his family. Its quite funny to watch to be completly honest because some couples LOVE their in-laws, and others the minute you enter its like youve entered war zone. and I remember how thankful i am to be an america.

2. zerão- a game teenage boys play where they grab onto the end of the bus or a truck with their foot while riding their bikes. (get places way faster)...and you also die faster...you know. They do it all the time and sometimes the crazies just hold onto the back of the bus with their arms and ride until they need to get off. We are teaching a young man who has a large scar on his shoulder. I asked him what it was this past week and he told me he was riding the back of a truck (trucks are more dangerous because they dont stop like the buses do) and he needed to get off so he hit the truck because well, sometimes the drivers will stop for you...no such luck this time so he jumped off the truck while it was going down the freeway. ...yeah. enough said.

3. when the t.v. isnt working or some electronic isnt doing its functions they say the word ``churchill``. I just think its funny.

4. the women here swear that if you are fasting and drink a tablespoon of straight vegetable oil you will lose 5 pounds because the vegetable oil eats your fat in the stomach. I have yet to try this...and probably wont, but it gives you an idea of how gullible the society is. they also think eating chocolate gives you zits.

5. coisas feias. (ugly things) When your child isnt doing what you want them to do, or when they disobey or cry or basically do anything considered wrong, instead of punishing them you just look the poor child in the eye and say ``oi que coisas feias!`` and then pout and make a good long humph noise. thats how they resolve things here in brasil. throwing a fit yourself.

6. Another mans treasure- it is totally acceptable to rummage through the trash. Sister anderson and i took this into practice for ourselves and ended up finding lots of good treasures. Anyone and everyone does it. Yesterday a woman from the ward (a classy woman at that) saw an old gatorade bottle on the side of the road, picked it up and was all ``sweet i was needing one of these``

7. a woman´s second toe- if you have ever seen my toes, you would know that the second toe far exceeds the first. From the moment i got here in brasil, they have been noticing too. And every time someone notices they comment on the fact that if a womans second toe is bigger than the first, she will rule over her husband. Look out!

8. So this morning i was walking to email and an old man was all ``gosh your pão de queijo looks good`` so i gave him a piece and he gave me a carmel candy. Its quite acceptable here to see someone eating, want a bit of what they are eating, ask for it, and the person give it to you without being rude. When you are talking to someone and have food with you, you should always offer whatever it is. Including that one time when a woman answered the door with the very last bite of a watermelon rime or that other time when a man was drinking what looked like chicken blood. Totally normal, you know.

ah. its like i was always meant to live in brasil.

maybe joking kind of, ...but not at all at the same time...

sister mad

Pictures!