Food! Lots of Food!

I GOT INTO GRAD SCHOOL! My lovely husband decided the best way to tell me was to post a picture of the school mascot on my Facebook wall; nothing else.

Saturday night Catherine and I decided to venture downtown. It was just starting to get dark, but we thought maybe we could find a modem. Although almost everything was closed, we were able to find an internet café. This was the first time we had been on Facebook since arriving in Rio Grande Thursday night. Of course the first thing my husband sends me on Facebook is, “Have you seen your wall?” As I was about to scream, the lovely Ms. Catherine gave me that “don’t you dare” look. I stifled the urge and carried on.

In addition to the excitement of getting into grad school, I had a handful of friend requests. Earlier in the day, Catherine and I went to a churrasco (the Brazilian barbeque graduation party). It was a group of mechanical engineering students, so Catherine and I were 2 of the 5 girls in a group of 20ish people. When our friend arrived to take us to the party, he was 30 minutes late. As we got into the car, he asked, “Have you gotten used to the Brazilian way of telling time yet?” Which means, if someone says 11, the person will show up around 11:30. Then, when we arrived, we said hi to everyone. This consisted of starting at one side of the room (since the 15+ guys and 1 girl were sitting in a circle), and kissing each person on the cheek with a greeting of “tudo bem?” until we had greeted each person. It was a very long, but personal process. However, we weren’t introduced to everybody. Instead, we gradually met them as the day went on. Similar to making our way around while greeting everyone, every time one type of meat was done cooking and cut into small pieces, someone walked around in front of each person offering food. There must have been at least 4 different kinds of meat, all of which were amazing. (Kudos to the cook!) I was surprised how many people at the churrasco spoke at least rudimentary English. I felt so bad that I couldn’t speak Portuguese with them. But, everyone was so nice about it!

By the end of the day, we had made a handful of new friends! One of the friends, Luan, came by Sunday to hang out with us. Due to the weather, we didn’t make it to the beachs of Cassino. Instead, we walked to the nearnest supermarket to buy food for lunch. Catherine and I watched as four guys worked together to make lunch. It was quite an expereince! They made panquecas, which consisted of ground chicken rolled in a crepe-like thing, topped with a tomato sauce. Here is a picture!

as panquecas

See the part without cheese? Since I am allergic to dairy, one of the guys made a special batter without milk just for me. I felt so bad about my dietary restriction, but he was so nice about making a section specifically for me.

I think Catherine and I have started to see the humor of many of the people here. One of the cooks told us, if it tasted good, he made it. And, if it tasted bad, the other guy made it. Then we were asked which one made it. Catherine ended up serving the food and she kept giving me more! I guess the first guy made it because it tasted amazing!