Photos, Funny Accents & Pine Trees

Today the first group of teenagers got to see their photos and some of the writing began. Writing about their favorite photos. Writing biographies for the exposition.  Fun and challenging and all that good stuff. I love learning from and getting to hang out with these guys and girls (we're up to 2 girls in this particular group now!).

Here's a photo of Negão (the "artist name" that one of the kids chose for himself) comparing one of his photographs with its subject:

We had a number of new adolescents entering the workshops today and luckily enough leftover cameras so that they could participate in the project too. One of them did not know what to make of my accent. I can hardly imagine how I sound to a Brazilian ear especially as I mangle pronunciation of words and verb conjugations. I was working with the kids individually on their writing and talking about their photos so I wasn't aware of this particular kid's fascination and bemusement, but apparently he kept repeating quietly to one of the coordinators, "She talks so strange! She talks so funny!" Then he sat next to me just so he could listen to me speak. Ha. 

In the meantime I am feeling utterly swamped and in the mood to sleep for a week straight, but I have a mountain of work to get done before that can happen. (And since I've got so little time left I can't imagine I'll be letting myself sleep in too late even if I technically can). So this is my quick post while I'm boiling pinhões (singular form = pinhão) which taste kind of like chestnuts but come from a pine tree for (part of) dinner. They taste good but I have to say that the leftover shell ends up looking slightly like squished cockroaches, a thought I have to banish from my head when eating.

Then I've got to work, work, work on a paper...at least until my televnovela starts that is. I've been watching it almost religiously (or actually much more than religiously since I've never attended a place of worship between 3-6 times a week) and it's ending this week! Gotta have priorities, right? ;-)

Eye of a Goat

I bought these beans at the ecological farmer's market yesterday because I thought they looked pretty.



Would they taste good? I had no idea, but I hoped so. Silly me, totally judging a book by its cute cover.

They're called Olho de Cabra or "Eye of Goat" so that made them seem even more curious to me. I don't recall the last time I looked a goat in the eye, so perhaps someone can enlighten me: are these what goats' eyes look like?



Today I put them in some water and boiled them for an ungodly amount of time.



And the verdict?



They looked a little less appealing (aka cute) when cooked.

But! They tasted just like lima beans, one of my favorite childhood foods. (Is that perhaps a vegetarian version of saying they taste just like chicken?) So of course to complete the tasty meal, I added some other childhood favorites on top: nutritional yeast and soy sauce. Nothing like a good old fashioned vegetarian upbringing (thank you Mom and Pop!) translated to Brazilian food options.

I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for these guys at the next farmer's market.

Polenta

Polenta down here is usually served in fried sticks that make me think of a cross between thick french fries and mozzarella sticks. As with most things that have been fried, it's quite tasty. Crispy on the outside, somewhat soft on the inside, a little salty and with that nice flavor of corn that I associate with polenta.

The other night however I was out to eat with friends. We ordered a plate of polenta. We had no idea what was in store for us! Also, most of the other dishes were meat-based so I helped myself amply to these delicious morsels of polenta. Below is a picture of what remained after SIX of us ate as much on the plate as we possibly could. In the background is another plate that included polenta on the side.

Given that I was raised with the importance of not wasting food, I elected to package this and bring it back to the hostel. Unfortunately, I had eaten so much already that I needed a little break from the stuff and couldn't eat them the next day, or the one following...or at all...within a week or so I think I'll be ready for some more, perhaps in smaller amounts though.

Tapioca

On Saturday afternoon, A., the Man-Who-Came-From-Italia and I were strolling around the city center. We stopped to rest and have something to drink. A. pointed to a nearby foodstand asking me, "Have you ever tried tapioca?"

"Sure," I said, "I've tried it before. I think I like it best when it's these tapioca balls, sometimes called pearls, in tea."

"I don't think we're talking about the same thing," said A. shaking her head, "This is a traditional food from northeast Brazil. It's a like a thin pancake made from manioca flour and filled with either something savory or something sweet."

I went up to read the menu of fillings and convinced A. to share one with me. We decided on bananas flambe and mozzarella filling. It sounded unique anyhow.

The cook spread the flour into a frying pan. No oil or anything. It cooked about a minute. Then he added the bananas. Then the shredded mozzarella. Folded the pancake over flat and served it to me in a little paper bag.

It was sooooo delicious. I couldn't stop smiling. Neither could A. For some reason though, the Man-Who-Came-From-Italia wouldn't try this ridiculously tasty treat. From the looks on A.'s and my faces, I would have thought anybody would be convinced that it was worth a bite. Sweet and tangy. My mouth is watering just remembering.