14 May 2016 A Vida Brasileira

When I was in France last year, I was a little disappointed that I mostly did tourist stuff, and as far as normal French life went, I didn't get as much exposure as I would've liked. Now I'm here in Brazil and it's quite the opposite. I'm really enjoying experiencing normal everyday life as a Brazilian.
I'm really getting to know a lot of traditional Brazilian food living with the Ribeiro's. I'm going to have to have them write them all down for me, because I don't remember all the names.
The other night a senhora Ribeiro asked me if I liked tapioca. I told her yes, thinking that she meant pudding. I was surprised when they gave me a white crepe like think. The texture was very different though and it with a flour that came from a root called Mandioca. The tapioca was really good, and a lot sweeter than you'd expect.
Also, the other night we had something called pastel. Now pastel in Spanish means cake, but it's completely different here. It was kind of like a deep fried taco, with various things inside. Some had beef, others ham and cheese and others had bananas. All of them were really good.
Yesterday I got my haircut; it's become kind of a tradition when I travel. My Brazilian haircut turned out a lot better than my French haircut, for those of you who remember that.
The more I think about it, the more I realize I'm learning here. I had an interesting thought yesterday. I'm sure most people who read this won't be surprised when I say I'm a little quirky. However, my Portuguese isn't good enough for me to be quirky here, so I come off more shy. It's almost like I had to leave part of my personality home, and I'm discovering a new side of me. It's interesting how much language affects our personalities.
Well that's what's been going on here. Even though I'm enjoying living Brazilian Life, I'm excited that we're going to do some tourists stuff now that ours Saturday.