Brazil, pt 2

Where did I leave off? Ah, yes–last Monday.

Monday– One of abbu’s subordinates at work is moving to Brazil and was in town checking the area out to find a place to live.  Abbu, being his boss, graciously invited him over for lunch and a basic FAQ session.  So this guy showed up around noon with his wife… did I mention they’re South Indian, ??  Wery antarasting, indeed. I had all sorts of South Indian trivia questions I wanted to ask him, but I didn’t want to embarrass 1) my parents or 2) my in-laws where I picked up my little know-how.  FYI–he was very impressed that my husband is from Bangalore.  2 points for Saqib!

Ammi having done her research found out that this little h-i-n-d-u actually ate meat, so she made chicken shami kabobs, allu gosht, chawal and daal.  I realize that in my last post I repeatedly said that whatever ammi had made for kaana was “yummy” or “delicious” but foreals, the kaana was yummy and delicious!  It’s not my fault that she keeps cooking good food.

After we served them lunch we also brought out some desserts.  As we were all enjoying our little chocolate cakes and brownies, abbu offered to make chai.  This is when something happened that I thought I’d never hear:  the man asked abbu if he was serioiusly going to drink chai, abbu said yes.  The man said, “You must use dip tea bags.”  Abbu said, “Of course.”  The man then said, “But this will not taste good.”  [[needle comes off the record player]]  I had to look the other way to hide my dropping jaw–did someone just tell my dad that his chai will not taste good???  Wow.  Abbu handled the matter very nicely, he just said, “Okay, no chai then.”

Monday happened to be my pseudo-anniversary so we “celebrated” with pizza.  I requested plain old cheese, and abbu brought home a four cheese pizza from Celeiro–one of those cheeses was GORGONZOLA–wow it was umm… interesting.

Tuesday–We all got up bright and early and headed downtown to the old city.  We first drove along some ocean drive which was very pretty and ended up at a light house that was built on a peninsula.  It was a beautiful day outside so walking around the light house was very nice.  After that we went to this market place Mercado Model and I bought a bunch of little trinkets to take back home for my friends.  We then went up to the rightfully named upper city and walked around to find a place to eat lunch.  That took a lot of time.  The only place we could find was some fancy restaurant that served huge proportions.  It was called Odoya.  Before we left we had to pray Asr so we went into this really beautiful historic museum.  They had a lot of open ballrooms that no one was walking in, so we took turns praying there.  I love knowing that the world is my musallah, and I can pray wherever I want.  We went to the masjid for maghrib after all that.  Abbu who is a pretty good expert of the streets was just a little bit confused about how to go from downtown to the masjid.  Being the American that I am, I told abbu to just follow this GPS.  He insisted it wouldn’t be helpful, but I told him that it was in fact helpful.  He humored me–the streets of Salvador are organized like a loose plate of spaghetti.  There is no rhyme or reason to the way the streets are set up.  Abbu already knew this, but I insisted we follow the GPS because it’d get us to the masjid in less than 10 minutes.  Actually it only get us stuck in a small street that was so congested with fruit vendors and other things–it was like driving our car through the ISNA bazaar.  Woops!  We ended up hitting someone

Wednesday– This was a pretty relaxing day at home.  I think we were all tuckered out from the big happenings from the day before.  The only point of interest was that I went to a grocery store with ammi and abbu and that yet again ammi made AMAZING food for kaana:  roasted chicken, vegetable rice, and homemade humous.

Thursday– When I woke up in the morning I couldn’t imagine eating another breakfast of eggs and paratay.  Not that it doesn’t taste good, but anyone can get tired of eating the same thing morning after morning.  Instead I asked ammi if there was a way to make French toast out of the bread we had–why of course we can!  We didn’t have any syrup, but we did have cream cheese and jam.  That was good enough for me.

Later in the afternoon we drove out to a local beatnik town called Arimbepe to go to some restaurant on the beach.  The restaurant was called Mar Aberto–open seas.  I wasn’t in the mood for anything local or adventurous, so I just ordered the closest thing to popcorn shrimp and mashed potatoes.  It was a lot better than Red Lobster–that’s for sure!  The food itself took forever and a half to get to us, but in the mean time I had fun looking out at the ocean and beach.  Luckily the restaurant sections off the beach in front of itself, that way you don’t have to see the real local fare on the beach–ew.

After lunch was done abbu showed us around the Complexo Ford.  My dad’s drive to work basically goes through what I consider to be the jungle.  It’s crazy dense forest with random animals crossing!  This ain’t no 96 or Southfield Fwy!   I asked my dad if when he comes back to America he’d shed a tear as he turned his car on Rotunda Drive–he had no comment, which to me is a yes.   The big Ford complex is in an area that is pretty industrialized, there were a lot of other factories.  Luckily the area where the Ford plants were didn’t look like they were harming the environment, too much.  Some of the other factories for other companies looked like tumors in the rain forest.  It was very sad indeed.

Friday–Another Friday, another Jumuah.  We got ready to go to the masjid at 11:45.  Abbu was especially busy in the kitchen because he had volunteered to make lunch for all the masjid folk.  Finally!  The opportunity to eat abbu’s kaana.  Whenever my dad is in fending for himself in Brazil without ammi, he has to cook for himself.  I always here about these dishes he prepares for the masjid that makes the locals go Coocoo-bananas, but I’d never actually had the chance to eat it.  I was impressed with him!  He made something akin to chicken pilau with vegetables in it.  And, of course, the masjid people ate it up right quick.  Good job to abbu!  A wonderful cook in the hiding

By the way, on the way to the masjid, the streets were completely DEAD.  I thought it was because it was the last day of a local holiday, but abbu knew better than me (of course, as always).  The streets were empty because it was the game against Portugal.  Which apparently didn’t even matter because both teams had already qualified to move on to the next round of the Worldcup.  Every single shop was closed.  Even the local restaurants weren’t open.  I was shocked to see that the Worldcup means so much to these people.  As abbu said, “Soccer is their religion.”

After we left the masjid we went out shopping for more local items.  I picked up some Brazilian knives which are amazing, and a pair of flip flops for the husband back home.  Fati and Hanie loaded up on similar items–knives, flip flops, coffee, etc.  I’m excited for Saqib to use the knives when I get back.  I wanted to buy a cutting board from here, but the really good ones are super expensive because the wood is from the rain forest.  Anything else is comparable to the stuff you find at BB&B, so there’s no point in hauling it back in my suitcase.

At night I made spaghetti sauce for everyone–actually I made it for myself.  I really wanted spaghetti, so I figured if I wanted it, then everyone else would just have to eat it, too.  Luckily it turned out to be good.  I didn’t feel so bad forcing it on all of them.

Saturday–My parents live in a town called Villas de Atlantico.  On Saturday I found out why.  I had no idea they were within 5 minutes of a beach–it was really nice!  Tons of palm trees, relatively private, and really clean.  We went on a day that was kinda cloudy, and we went kinda early too.  Ammi and I strolled up and down the beach a few times and then sat down on a bench to appreciate the beauty.  A man was selling coconuts on the sidewalk, so ammi and abbu bought some and we drank straight out of it!  I got to drink out of a coconut!!  The vendor moved on, and then a little later we saw his supplier.  A man came by on his bike, parked it by a palm tree, took off his Haviana chapals, and then walked right up the side of the tree like it was nothing dangerous at all.  He got to the top, knocked off some coconuts, walked back down the tree, and then put the coconuts in a bag.  We saw him selling coconuts to the man we bought our drink from.  How cool!  Local business from local products

At night ammi made matr pilau and I went it was my turn to go Coocoo-bananas.  I love love love matr pilau!  So I took this opportunity to learn how to make it first hand.  I have big plans to go home and make matr pilau for Saqib   Watch out, husband–Pakistani food is coming your way!

After kaana we went to Gelaguela, my treat.  I got some chocolate ice cream that had chunks of oreos in it.  It was really really good, and I think I liked it even more because I am jones-ing for some milk.

Sunday– Hanie left in the morning, and the rest of the day I think my parents spent resting and recuperating.  Fati and I hung around, went swimming, and acted like pretty big dorks together.  All in all a slow, relaxing day at home.

Monday–Abbu went back to work—boooooo!  Ammi, Fati and I headed out to the local shops to find some more local items.  She bought a sweater (not very useful to Brazilians, I think) and I bought some scented oil.  I was impressed that Fati managed to drive around the local streets, without getting lost!  I think I figured her out–if the streets are parallel and perpendicular, then she won’t get it.  If the streets look like spaghetti–Fati will be just fine driving in circles and making her way home

That afternoon we had our last chance in the pool.  The sun was out, the water was wonderful, and Fati and I laughed so hard I almost cried.  I’ve had too much fun with my sister over the past three weeks.  It’ll stink when I can’t see her and act goony with her everyday when I go back home.

Abbu came home early from work and we went to the Bahia plaza to watch the match against Chile.  Brazil won, 3-0!  How exciting.  I think their next game is on Friday?

At night we made pizza at home.  One of the ladies at the masjid makes really good dough, so ammi and abbu brought it home and put in the freezer.  We pulled it out and made our own pizza margherita and another pizza with shrimp and bell peppers.  Do I really need to tell you it was yummy?? It was so thin and crisp!  Absolutely perfect.  My little bambino enjoyed every single bite of it.

Tuesday–Wow–the weather stunk.  It rained a lot, so we were stuck inside.  We tried to make the most of it by inviting over one of the local masjid girls.  We entertained her with some fresh pakoray, and she helped us out by calling some people on the phone that only understand Portuguese.  I think it was fair exchange of services–food for favors

Wednesday–Our last day in Brazil.  Fati and I are leaving tomorrow early morning–cue the water works.  Even the weather was depressing–it rained all day.  We stayed in, again, and after packing up our stuff we sat on the couch and watched a movie.  At night after abbu came home, we made one last trip out to the stores to pick up a few last minute requested items:  Vuvuzelas!

It’s been good kids–real good.  My trip to spend time with my parents was, alhumdu’lillah, a wonderful, fun, fulfilling, success.  I enjoyed every single moment of my time spent with them, and I’m trying to my best to focus on that as I’m leaving them tomorrow.  Insha’Allah I’ll see them again, soon.  And insha’Allah when we get to spend time together again, it’ll be just as fun, if not more.