10 Things I like Better: Brazil vs the US

Just wrong

I did the US vs Brazil yesterday and here is where Brazil stands against the US.

1. Coconut water. Sure it's all hip to drink coconut water now in the states but that little box does not compare to a freshly opened chilled real coconut.

2. The beach. I thought I knew the beach before Brazil but I was so wrong. Brazilians do the beach the way it was meant to be done! I can't explain it because it is not a technique, it is an experience.

3. Flakiness. While I hate flakes and flaking, it is really nice to be able to flake when you really want to and not be judged. You will get a little shit initially but since everyone flakes on everyone every once in a while there is a certain flexibility to it. I can not go to a friends party and only get shit about it while on the phone with them. Buy them a beer the next time you meet and all is forgotten.

4. Big lunches. It took me a while to get used to having my main meal in the middle of the day but I have now been converted. Sure I still have a sandwich every once in a while but my body much prefers digesting during waking hours instead of trying to do it while I sleep.

5. Flip flops. Sorry folks but Havaianas are the only acceptable brand and yes you should own a variety of styles and colors.

6. Bathing suits. The bikinis may be small but you don't get a saggy butt and you look better all around (not to mention the fact that they really last!) The speedos the men use are flattering and not creepy like the Italians (no offense). That and why on Earth should men be forced to wear long baggie uncomfortable sand catching shorts? So not fair.

7. Brazilian earrings. I love them all, the expensive ones and the ones sold on the street. Sure you may have to sift through some tacky ones but you will still better your collection by far (and usually it's much easier on the wallet).

8. Delivery. You can get everything delivered! Stuck home with a sick kid? Call the pharmacy and have the medicine delivered. Call your favorite neighborhood restaurant and have lunch brought to you. Hell, go to the grocery store and then leave all your goods behind for the store to bring them over by bike. This is a big plus, especially if you cruise around with 2 little ones like I do.

9. Homemade food. Sure I miss food from home but my eating habits have improved greatly. I hardly ever use my microwave and the only frozen food I eat is previously made homemade food frozen so I can use it at a later date. That being said, I am 10 pounds lighter in Brazil without trying. Coincidence? I think not.

10. The people. No offense to my country but people here are friendlier. You can talk to a stranger's kid without being called a pedophile. Actually, if you didn't pat that random kid's head who stepped on your foot you'd more likely be called an ass. Brazilians love company, friends and family. There is always a lunch or event or random meet up. There are no "private space" issues. You kiss on the cheek hello, goodbye, and constantly use endearing terms with everyone. Brazilians just give out love and it is something the rest of the world should try.

Right

And you?

Hand Picking Coconuts?!

Photo from: http://www.conservationmagazine.org/2010/08/coconut-cars/

So I was at my slacklining class when some dude starting climbing his ass up a tree and hand picking some coconuts. He was totally casual about it as if he were plucking an orange off a tree.

Anyway, I took the opportunity to make a little video when he went up his second tree.

Watch:

Fresh Coconut Water: Wordless Wednesday

Picking up a little Coconut water on the way home from the beach

Why You Should Drink Fresh Coconut Water

I love the water in a cold freshly opened coconut. It's seriously good stuff. Now, Brazilians believe that this water is the cure all for everything.  When in doubt, drink some coconut water.  This goes double for the poops, dehydration, vomiting, and hangovers.

You know what, they have a point!  Check out these coconut water facts I found:

• Coconut water is more nutritious than whole milk.  It has no casein and a good balance of magnesium and calcium.
• Rich in Vitamin C
• Acts as a natural diuretic and helps cleanse the liver and kidneys.
• Reduces problems for infants helps with GERDS, failure to thrive  and other intestinal disorders
• Also helps other digestive problems such as indigestion, colitis, gastric ulcers, and diarrhea,  
• It's an antioxidant, scavenging many types of destructive free radicals and protecting hemoglobin from nitrite-induced oxidation
• Chelating properties the coconut water contains "gold: and "silver" and sulphurated proteins, which is crucial to detox mercury and other heavy metals out of the cells and membranes.  It also has certain fatty acids and sulfur holded amino acids to attach to the mercury. It is said to be water which contains  nature's own "trick".
• Found as a blood plasma substitute because it is sterile, does not produce heat, and does not destroy red blood cells and is readily accepted by the body.
• Coconut water was used during World War II in emergency transfusions.
• Kills intestinal worms.
• Aid the body in fighting viruses that cause the flu, herpes, and AIDS
• Helps prevent osteoporosis
• Helps eliminate Candida yeast infections
• Inhibits the growth of mycoplasma
• Helps eradicate eczema
• It contains sugar, fiber, proteins, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, and provides an isotonic electrolyte balance, making it a nutritious food source. It is used as a refreshing drink throughout the humid tropics, and is used in isotonic sports drinks. It can also be used to make the gelatinous dessert nata de coco. Mature fruits have significantly less liquid than young immature coconuts, barring spoilage
• Coconut water contains more potassium (at about 294 mg) than most sports drinks (117 mg) and most energy drinks..
• Coconut water has less sodium (25mg) where sports drinks have around 41mg and energy drinks have about 200mg!

Here are a few of my favorite things

Because I can sometimes seem like a negative Nelly, I wanted to post on a few of my favorite things about living in Rio de Janeiro.

1.  How Cariocas can chill. Only in Rio could you have a brunch that goes until 4pm where your childless friends spend the entire afternoon watching Cinderella with your kids and playing Uno, while simultaneously chatting amongst themselves. These guys chill so well they sometimes seem comatose.  A trip to Rio de Janeiro should be mandatory for type A personalities.

2.  The food. I've said it before and I'll say it again, who knew black beans and rice could be so damn good. Don't worry, after a while your bowels get used to the fiber and the gas subsides.  We're still waiting for that at our house but fingers are crossed.

3.  You can take your kids anywhere and everywhere and they can, gasp, act like kids. You will not be shunned if your kids scream or drop something on the floor. You will, however, be given a series of dirty looks if you do not let the table next to yours give your kids some of their fries while you are waiting for your order.

4.  The beach.  For starters, they are beautiful, all 300 + we have here.  Add in that you don't have to bring anything (city beaches anyway) and I'm a happy camper. I'm talking no cooler with snacks, no beach chairs unless you want to, and the seriously lazy don't even have to bring sunscreen although you'll pay out the nose. You can buy it all there! 

5.  Coconut water. Sir, could you please bust out a machete and whack open a stupidly cold coconut for me? Two straw and R$3 later = heaven!

6.  Chopps. I really do love cold Brazilian draft beer. Even more, I love getting together with friends to drink it. For the serious chopp lovers, you can also bring your kids. Oh yes, it is ok to bring your kids to a bar, even at 1030pm. I have yet to get to that point in my Brazilian-ness and I don't think I will, but it's always nice to have the option.  I do, however, drink beer at birthday parties, the beach, and bbqs.

7. The activities.  Rio de Janeiro is like a book of 1001 outdoor activities to do on the 359 sunny days a year. Hike, climb, swim, run, ride bikes, bird watch, waterfall hunt, or just sit on a beach chair at one of the many beaches. We really do have it all. 

8. Movies.  Cariocas love their movies, both foreign and local. There are festivals on top of the already well represented movie theater industry.  Now I just need to get a babysitter so my husband and I can start going again!

9. The culture. There's always some new exhibit somewhere, a dance performance, or a play (adult and children's). It's very cutting edge here and you will see some amazingly good stuff and total crap, all of which are pretty entertaining.  Hell, a friend of mine went to a play that wasn't even a play. They paid R$30 to go into and wait to see a play that was never going to happen. A kind of psychological experiment if you will.  So it's a grab bag and you never quite know what you are going to get.

10. The people. People here are so helpful and kind.  They are so helpful that strangers have no problem telling you that your kid is going to die of strep throat just because you gave them cold water.  And they will chase after you, 2 city blocks, to give you back the shoe that your kid kicked off.  That's caring with a capital I know how expensive shoes are and you were going to be pissed when you got home.

11. Destinations. Want to get away for the weekend? There's Buzios, Paraty, Ilha Grande, Visconde de Maua,Teresopolis, Petropolis, Cabo Frio, etc etc and so on and so forth. We have country, "mountains", beaches, and islands.  It's all beautiful and you can go cheap or expensive or rich and obnoxious. 

It comes down to Rio de Janeiro being a truly unique place.  Smiles, sunshine, live music, large asses, street food, and beans on the side. I'll take one please.

Neurosis of a Carioca

I can´t speak for all Cariocas, but I can speak for my husband. I find that as mellow as this specific breed of Brazilian is, the Carioca has some really funny deal breakers.

1. Coconut water: My husband will not drink pre-packaged coconut water. He says it tastes dirty. Plus it´s just ridiculous to drink it out of a box when you can go outside and get it fresh.    It´s a good point. And as a processed food, everything comes in a box and loving it American, I never even thought of that. 

2. The dirty beach:  My husband hates dirty beaches. Funny because I consider any city beach dirty but there are degrees of dirty in the mind of my Carioca husband. For starters, you can not even step on the sand at Praia do Flamengo.  It will eat your feet right off. Ok, maybe not but it´s still not recommended. You can, however, walk on Praia Vermelha (Red beach) but can not go in the water. You get the point.

3. You do not, unless it´s completely unavoidable, go near the ponte on the last day of a holiday weekend. This is just insanity and will cause your spouse to call in the professionals. Of course if you are returning from Buzios or something like that, it´s ok.  Then again, I´m sure my husband would say there are even better routes. 

4. You can not plan to meet someone on a beach without getting their cell phone number. It does not matter if you designated a spot, are going to put up a sign, or will have a plane circling. It´s madness to not have the person´s cell! We had this discussion yesterday when I, oh dear goodness the sanity of it all, didn´t get my friend´s cell number.  By the way, we found each other just fine.

5. Sit on your bed in your street clothes:  He will not sleep well if he sees me do this. Seriously, the microscopic germs he imagines transferring from the butt of my jeans, through the blanket, and into the mattress will keep him up at night.  He´s not the first person I´ve seen with this rule.  The entire family does it.  People in the family wouldn´t hold my newborn because they had just been outside, on the street. I was like, then unless you move in with me, you´ll never hold the kid. Apparently, just walking outside makes you a dirty sack. 

Just a few little things that make me laugh every time.  I wouldn´t even notice these things if it weren´t for the people closest to me.  Got to love their little crazies.  Goodness knows they love mine, or at least are good at faking. 

By the way, the great image highlighting this post is from the book I am Neurotic.  The brilliant Lianna Kong composed a book of people´s random neurosis.

What are yours?

The Baby and the Poop

Good Morning all!  So I planned on taking Thursday down but I'm going to forfeit now.  My littlest one is still a little poop factory. I'm bummed that I can no longer blame it on the whole mango juice debacle.  It's been over 24 hrs and we are still pooping (the royal we). 

And how does the little man feel about this?  He seems just fine. He's in a good mood. He's running around. And, most importantly, he ate breakfast!  I fed him eggs.  I read in a wonderful book called Toddler 411 that eggs are good for the poops.  Btw, the pediatrician said to do the BRAT diet but I don't believe it. Goes back to the whole stubborn thing.

I do avoid triggers but I don't limit.  Call it what you will. I don't feel it's right to give my little poop machine apples, bananas, toast, and rice only.  He can't even eat apples.

So what would you do in my situation? It's 730am and we're already at 2 in the poop count, not counting the poop at 2am.  Would you do the BRAT diet?  Would you feed them something special?

I am giving him coconut water and floratil (something for a healthy intestine)