A Few Last Pics From Fortaleza

Here are just a few last pictures from Fortaleza...and then I'll move on, I promise. I just had these posts on Brazil partially done and wanted to finish and post them. Here's a sweet picture of one of the city beaches of Fortaleza taken by me, of course. They actually have quite beautiful beaches right in the city. This place is four blocks away from my parents' house. It is where my mom and dad go walking most nights. My mom for exercise and my dad for socializing with his "friends" that sell stuff on the boardwalk and for buying the street vendor food.

Due to my parents' frequent visits of grocery stores (see post below for details), they have made quite a few friends at the grocery store that is closest to their house...Pao de Azucar. My dad makes friends easily at the store due to the fact that he talks to everyone everywhere he goes, and my mom makes friends easily at the grocery store due to her inability to fluently speak Portuguese...I mean who wouldn't love a cute little lady trying her hardest to ask you in broken Portuguese where the ricotta cheese is?

They actually have had two people who work at that grocery store come over to their house for lunch and to meet the missionaries and be introduced to the gospel. While I was there they had this nice girl named Fernanda over. She is such a great person...I hope she joins the church.

Here's me with my parents' maid Irene. She's great. She doesn't speak a bit of English so it is always fun seeing she and my mom try to communicate. Sometimes I was able to help out with my Spanish though. It is really weird that my parents have a maid because it seems so snobby and uppity. But it is super common in Brazil. In Brazil it is said that you either are a maid or have a maid because there isn't much of a middle class at all. Actually in Brazil I think they call them Empleo (Employee) or something like that because really they do anything the people want...not just cooking and cleaning. For example buying the groceries, walking dogs, picking up kids from school, etc.

Some people there really treat their empleos poorly. It makes my dad so mad when he sees people at the store with their empleos and they are bossing them around and talking down to them. But, luckily my parents really like Irene and treat her great!

A Plea for Packages for My Parents

We spent a lot of time in the grocery store when I was visiting my parents in Brazil a few weeks ago. This is probably because: A. Obviously my family likes food (a lot) B. My parents feed missionaries...all of the time. I have come to see that a lot of what they are there to do is just to feed missionaries...and missionaries eat ton! My dad likes to compare them to the seagulls eating the crickets for the pioneers...he says it is amazing (almost miraculous) how much (an how fast) those kids can eat. C. My parents are still trying to figure out which stores have the products they like and also where they can get the best deals. We probably went to 7 or 8 different grocery store chains while I was visiting. And we're always in search of things like: dill pickles, tortillas, peanut butter, taco seasoning, Ranch Dressing, American candy, normal sugar, normal powered sugar, normal brown sugar, normal cocoa, cottage cheese (found some but it was expensive and weird), buttermilk (not to be found), sour cream (not to be found), etc. And most of the things they are searching for either turn out to be weird, super expensive, or you just can't find them. As a side note here, due to Brazil not having American food in abundance(surprise, surprise) my dad has us all bringing him an extra suitcase full of food when we go at Christmas. So if any of you have old suitcases you'd be willing to loan us, please let me know. Thanks. Here's my dad looking at the ingredients on some pickles he found...somehow wishing that they'd be Dill. But of course they weren't...they only seem to have sweet pickles in Brazil. What is wrong with those people? Dill are the best! When my parents got to Brazil they told me how expensive everything is. And I was like, "yeah right mom and dad...it's South America." I just thought they hadn't figured out the exchange rate yet or something. But, I found out for myself that they were right. Stuff is expensive there. The only things that are cheap are pretty much fruit, bread, beans, rice and unskilled labor. Like you can hire a maid for a couple thousand bucks a year but Taco Seasoning costs you $3.20...what's up with that? So here are a few pictures as proof of the high prices. Now I know that these are mostly pictures of fancy American foods and products, but even the normal Brazilian people food is expensive. How about $6.39 for some little cotton face wipe thingys? I'm so sure. They're like a buck or two in America.

Yeah, don't even think of having a breakout in Brazil. Crappy Clean and Clear Astringent will cost you $8.14! And this was at a cheap place. I saw it for like 9 something somewhere else.

Mexican night anyone? Yeah, keep dreaming. Tortillas are $11.02 for EIGHT tortillas! A quesadilla would be a luxury food here, not a poor lazy college kid food.

Or how about 8 Ziploc bags for $3.06? And there aren't any knock off brands so that is as cheap as it gets. Now I guess it is a good thing that my mom has been washing Ziploc bags and re-using them her whole life. I guess I shouldn't have made fun...that was great mission prep for her.

And here's that $3.20 taco seasoning packet I mentioned. I just had to show proof. I bought some the other day here for 50 cents and it wasn't even on sale!

The largest bag of M&M's they make in South America (including at Macro, which is like Costco). You get 200 grams for $4.15. I don't know for sure how many grams are in our M&M's here in the USA but I would guess that 200 grams is a little bit bigger than our King Size Bags...and remember, this is the biggest it gets for them. I saw a bag that was over 1200 grams at Target the other day! No wonder we Americans are all fat.

Campbell's Soup at $5.04 a pop. And this isn't even the low fat or reduced salt or anything. Just normal. I bought a can here the other day for 50 cents (not on sale). Too bad like 90% of American Mormon recipes call for cream of chicken or cream of mushroom. I guess my mom will be learning to cook some new things.

Well, that's it for this addition of "Things that are a rip-off in Brazil." Maybe when I'm there for Christmas I'll find some more great deals for you all. I'm thinking of doing a section on electronics as those are pretty dang pricey there. Until next time...

Who We Really Are

I have a few posts about my time in Brazil that I had partially done and just decided to finish and post them today, even though I've been back a couple of weeks. Here's a cute picture of my mom in front of an adorable and well-maintained house that was across the street from the LDS Branch building in Russas, Brazil. The house had such a great yard so we had to get a picture. My last Sunday in Brazil my parents and I and one of the APs went to Russas so my dad could do a Temple Recommend interview. Russas is a cute little town maybe about 2 and a half or three hours outside of Fortaleza. I guess I should find out the actual distance since the time it takes doesn't really mean anything as the roads are quite rough on the way to Russas and it could actually be pretty close to Fortaleza. At one point we were on a road (a highway actually) with potholes big enough to swallow a car. It was a pretty interesting drive...especially because my dad was driving...and there are a lot of sound effects that go along with my dad driving in Brazil.

The "parking lot" at the church building in Aracatchi (I'm pretty sure that I spelled that wrong, but that's how the name of the town sounds). Our car was the only car in the parking lot. I can't even imagine going to church via bike. I can't even make it on time to 1:00 church in a car...imagine if I had the excuse of riding a bike to church. I guess God places us all where we need to be and I need to be somewhere where I don't arrive to church with bike hair.

Back to Russas where my dad is chatting with the Branch President and one of his Counselors and the AP. The Branch President looks like he's 12 but I'm pretty sure he isn't as he has supposedly served a mission and is married. But some of the leaders are so young...so much responsibility.

Dad, if you are going to try to hide so you don't show up on my blog, you'd better find a bigger tree! Deep Thought Time:

I have this thought that I have sometimes at church when I am in areas of the world that are poorer or just where the church is newer...whether it is a branch in Ethiopia, Argentina, Paraguay, Guatemala, Ukraine, Thailand, Brazil...or anywhere else where I have attended church. This time it really hit me in Paraguay but was re-enforced to me out in some of these smaller branches of the church in my Parents' mission.

Here's the deep thought...What if we were all stripped down to just what we were...our basic characters? What would we really be? What if we didn't have a nice fat wad of cash in the bank, a retirement fund, or a beautiful, comfortable, large and spacious home? What if we didn't have cars, snowmobiles, or 4-wheelers? What if we didn't have nice clothes or even food to eat? And then after all of our physical things were taken away what if we didn't have our educations and experiences...our Bachelor's Degrees, Master's, PhDs, etc? Our travels, hobbies, or opportunities to progress? What if we didn't have the pride of doing well at our jobs or of starting our own successful businesses? Or even families...what if we didn't have families anymore? What if no one was married with kids...so you couldn't even base what kind of a person you are on how good of a parent or spouse you are? What if you were just you? Who would you be?

I don't know if that really makes sense to anyone but me. I have been told before that I don't see the world like a normal person does (I'll take that as a compliment thank you very much!) But if you do get what I'm talking about, think about it. It is sort of a scary thing to ask yourself. Take away everything that makes me feel successful in life and every opportunity I have had and who am I? And the really scary thing is that at some point in our existence that will happen. I know that I will fall short.

I guess the reason this thought sometimes comes to me at church in areas where people don't have all of the worldly comforts and opportunities we have is because it is easier to see people for who they really are because who they really are isn't masked as much by success in a career, service in the church, or even success in family. Many of them are poor, are new converts to the church and some come from horrible family situations. But they are still amazing people pressing forward and trying to live the gospel as they best can.

I love going to church in other countries, I do. I love meeting the members and hearing their stories of conversion and feeling the Spirit with them. I love meeting people who are so proud to be the first member of the church in their family and who are AMAZED when you tell them you were baptized at the age of 8. I love seeing a darling little girl in front of me in Sacrament Meeting quietly pretending to paint her fingernails with her spit and then holding her hand out in front of her an sort of turning it side to side in admiration of her work. I love that the girls ALL proudly wear their Young Women medallions. I don't think I ever even wore mine once...what a brat (except for maybe when I was a nerdy Beehive).

And even when you are a visitor in some of these foreign wards people seem to look up to you as an example or at least look at you like you are a freak show because sometimes you are the first American they have ever met.

I mean, I have been a member all my life, I should be an example. And it almost makes me feel bad when people do seem to sort of look to me, as a long time member and as an American...when the little boy at a fireside in Brazil tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around and he stuck out his hand with a big grin on his face...you'd think he'd met a celebrity. Or the kids and adults running up to you after church to meet you. Or the little girls sitting next to me saying "I Luv Voce (I love you)" minutes after meeting them.

And I think to myself, 'Don't be amazed and excited to meet me...when you strip us all down to just what we are I am less than you. I have done less with what I have.' That's what I think. Now I don't feel I am some horrible person (contrary to popular belief). I have just been thinking lately of what I really am and who the real me will prove to be when that day comes that we are just what we are...not covered up by Citizenship in the greatest nation on earth, being born in the church, having money, clothes, and an education.

Sorry for the deep post. I know though that those who can't handle deep thoughts saw the length of this post and skipped right over it...so I guess I don't have to worry about being too deep! THE END!

Are You A Believer?????????

This is in response to my sister-in-law's last two posts on her blog. Sasquatch my A_ _! Addendum to Bigfoot Are you a believer in Sasquatch? Because I am getting really made fun of for being one (see the posts above). I know that at least some of you from Mud Lake might be...most people I know from out there have at least one good story of someone they know who has seen and/or smelled Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Cain. So let me know...what do you think about this? It has been a hot topic with my siblings the last couple of days and I am just wondering if we are the only weird ones out there...okay, okay I know there are other believers (mostly in the Southern United States) but are we the only educated, non-white trash believers that you know? Let us know.

Today I'm glad I'm a Spinster because...

Today I'm glad I'm a Spinster because... My life is crazy right now and I am neglecting a lot of things in my life but at least I don't have the added guilt of neglecting a husband and children too. So I'm grateful for that. Here's a quick review of my week. Sunday night flew back into Idaho Falls from visiting my parents in Brasil. Ate a yummy Sunday dinner prepared by Lee and Kim. Took a shower and went to bed. (Oh yeah and of course while I'm in the shower my brothers have to slip a picture of a frog under the door. They also had a three-dimensional one waiting for me in my room. My family is so hilarious. Ha ha.) Got up Monday morning. Got an awesome cut and color from my favorite hair stylist Audrey. Went back to my parents' house. Filled my car with my closest belongings in sight and drove back to SLC. Arrived in SLC Monday night around 9 and moved in to a new house I had never seen with roommates I had never met. (LEAP OF FAITH, big time). Tuesday morning I was up bright and early and off to work...later that day I started back at school too (Biostatistics...YUCK!). Spent the rest of the week trying to maintain the very delicate balance of working full time, graduate school and not having a mental breakdown. No wonder I enjoyed my peaceful, work-free summer. I forgot how busy and crazy my "normal" life is. So anyway, I'm just glad that by living this crazy life I live I'm not neglecting anyone but myself really. Instead of neglecting a family I am neglecting things like: *School work *Work *Working out...only did one-half of a Pilates class this week. Missed the other half because I got locked out of my new house. Nice. *Cleaning my room and unpacking *Social life And...last but not least...MY EYEBROWS This isn't me but it is a close match. I could really go for a good pluck right now. The end.

Finding Joy in Spinsterhood

The picture below was taken by my sister-in-law Kim. She and my brother Lee just said that they thought of me when they saw the sign...on their HONEYMOON by the way. I wasn't offended at all that they thought of me when they saw it...it was probably because I'm always joking about the SRM (Singleton Rights Movement) and how just like the Civil Rights and Female Rights and Handicapped People Rights and all the other Rights Movements of the past, someday we will have the Singleton Rights Movement. And then people will look back on the time before the SRM and say, "Wow, I can't believe we used to treat single people that way. I feel sick inside." Now, married blog readers and leeches, don't go thinking I'm all weird and depressed. Sometimes I like to joke, complain, and/or talk about being single because guess what, that is what I am, SINGLE. I don't know why but sometimes I feel like I have to hold back in writing about single life on my blog. I mean, young mothers have MOM BLOGS (thank you Christa for explaining that one to us)...and on those MOM BLOGS they share the ups and downs of being a mother...the blow outs, the fits, the potty-training (that's a popular topic), and the daily struggles of being a mom along with the joys of motherhood and wifeyhood too. But as a Spinster for some reason I feel that if you say one thing about Spinsterhood...whether good or bad...that all of a sudden people think you are "bitter" or "don't want to get married" or "selfish" or "fill in the blank." But in life the grass is always greener where you water it. And if you are spending all your time looking over your fence at your neighbor's grass, then you'll forget to water, mow and fertilize your own...and then you're in trouble. So as an attempt to water my own grass I've decided to start a new installment on my blog called "Today I'm glad I'm a Spinster because...," where I'll occasionally give a reason why I'm glad that I'm still single. Some reasons may be serious, others funny, and others just simply reasons that are neither funny nor serious. (This installment was designed specifically with my good Spinsty friend Kate in mind.) Now, does this mean that I don't want to get married? NO, of course not. I would love to be married to someone normal...and by being married be considered normal myself. Does this mean that I want to be a Spinster forever? NO, of course not. However...I am going to enjoy and take advantage of every Spinster moment I have. Does this mean that you all should stop setting me up with all those normal, employed or seeking higher education, English speaking, non-HALO playing, LDS guys that you all know? NO, NO, NO! Bring it on! Does this mean that I think that everyone who isn't a Singleton has a boring and horrible life...NO, of course not. I do have a lot of married readers but I am watering my own grass, remember? And you can water your own and come up with things that are great about your lives...no matter what stage of life you are in. So I'm not trying to say what is bad about not being single...I am just trying to say what is good about being single. So that was a very long introduction to this new Becca's Blog installment. But here we go. Today I'm glad I'm a SpInSTer because... Tonight I was shopping at TARGET...looking at the Thank You cards (because I love buying Thank You cards) and there was this young pregnant couple in the aisle with me looking at cards too...Baby Shower Gift Thank You Cards. The wifey found some she liked and the husband for some reason didn't like them...maybe too expensive or something, I don't know. I was trying not to act like I was paying attention but I totally was as they went back and forth comparing cards, prices, and talking about which of their friends had already used which Baby Shower Gift Thank You Cards. And I thought to myself, 'Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa I can buy any stinking cards I want (well, maybe not the Baby Shower Gift Thank You Cards as I would have no use for something like that) and there isn't anyone to tell me that they are too expensive or not practical...or just someone else to complicate the decision. I can buy the cards that are $2.99 a pack or the ones that are $12.99 a pack! And that's why today I am enjoying being single. The end for now.

Too Young To Lie

Super sad news everyone...

I turned 29 last week. I know what you are thinking...how can someone so vibrant and full of energy (and immature) be so old? I have no answer to that other than...time flies when you are having fun and the more fun you have the younger you seem. But what does my birthday have to do with that horrible picture of my sunburned leg posted above? Well, last Friday, the day after my 29th birthday, I went to the beach with a whole bunch of the Young Single Adults here in Brazil. Friday was a big holiday here in Fortaleza...I think it is in honor of a Saint or something...and so the YSAs invited me to come with them. I decided that I still qualified as a YSA and so I was legit to go. We had a super fun day at Futuro Beach. The weather was perfect and the water was warm. We ate crabs and drank coconut milk on the beach. (I would love to share some pictures with you all but I didn't take my camera that day...I know, bad blogger.) During the course of the day however as I got to know the other YSAs I found out that they were mostly between 20 and 23 and the oldest one in the group besides me was probably 24...maybe 25, and there were probably some in the group that were only 18 or 19.

This is where I get off on a tangent: I don't know why but for some reason I had forgotten that usually where there are fewer members of The Church people get married younger and faster. (So the Young Adults that are still Single are usually younger.) I won't go into this in too much detail because I could write a whole book about this phenomenon, but in areas where there are many choices for a Mormon spouse (such as in Utah, Idaho, California, Arizona, big East Coast cities, etc) there are more people who take their sweet time in getting married (not everyone...some get married super fast but there are plenty who wait). Because why hurry and settle down when there are a million choices of people to marry and there just might be someone prettier, smarter, richer, more talented, more like your mom(or dad I guess), etc. who might show up later on? But when you live somewhere where there aren't what feels like an unlimited choice of active LDS spouses...people just seem to find someone active, good, nice and fun and they fall in love and get married and make lots of little Mormon babies. Kind of how our grandparents did it before the days of Internet dating, Singles Wards, and commercial airplanes...just find someone near you with similar beliefs that you enjoy being with, fall in love and get married. Easy. End of tangent So there I am feeling like a GRANDMA as I'm basically hanging out with kids my youngest brother's age when one of them asks me how old I am. Here's the little conversation that transpired with myself as I processed the question... 'You're 28 Becca' 'Wait, wait, wait, no, you're 29...remember your birthday yesterday?' 'Oh, yeah, I am 29...but I can't tell them that I'm 29...I'm already so much older than these kids.' 'Well your birthday was just yesterday and you don't need to seem any older to them.' So, I totally lied and answered "I'm 28," in my Sportuguese (Spanish+Portuguese) that I speak here. It just sounded so much less worse than 29. Why am I lying already? Aren't people supposed to lie and say that they ARE 29? So, not a great start to my new year. But I did have a great birthday here in Brazil with my parents. It wasn't hard to beat last year's bawling on my long drive back to SLC from Idaho...not wanting to go back and not wanting to be 28. But this year was better. Even though I am one year older and am still going back to SLC in a few days I am happy as ever. A few months ago I chose an apathetic approach to life and it is really helping me be more happy. You should try it sometime. Just stop caring. Anyway, here are a few pics from my B-day. Oh yeah, and the sunburn picture is my attempt to get a little tan on my legs so that they wouldn't remain the bluish purplish white hue I've been sporting all summer. But I can never seem to tan my legs and not burn some places and not still be totally white in others. I should just give up, but NO, I just keep trying every summer. So instead of getting tan legs I got burned ankles and knees and nothing else in between. And the burn was pretty bad. I didn't peel or anything but on my right ankle I had some weird reaction to the sunburn and now I look like I have a skin disease...you know the one where all your pigment clumps up? Yeah, I look like I have that. I hope it isn't permanent. A cute picture of my mom at the mission offices. She totally looks like she's faking that smile but it was real.

On the morning of my birthday my parents had four missionaries that finished their missions that were going home so they had a brunch for them at the mission office. Normally they have dinner the night before at the mission home but these missionaries were leaving on an odd transfer (because they needed to get back before school started) and flying out at a different time of day so they did a brunch for them instead. I made banana bread because that was always such a hit with the Argentines and my mom made some cinnamon rolls. Then we had stuff for little sandwiches and fruit with fruit dip (my mom even found marshmallow cream here to make her dip although it is expensive and weird like most the other food here), and fruit juices. It turned out pretty nice I think.

Just enjoying brunch.

Me and my mom and dad on my B-day. Oh, and Elder Coelho hopped in the picture to give my dad bunny ears. Coelho is the Portuguese word for rabbit so I guess it is fitting that he hopped in the picture to give my dad bunny ears.

Later that night my parents took me out to a Churrascaria for dinner. It is just a place like Rodizio Grill but had way more choices for food and was really nice. They even had a sushi bar so I had a little. I'm not a huge lover of sushi but it does just seem so much less disgusting when you are actually really close to the ocean so you know the fish is fresh...so I figured I'd rather eat some there than in Utah or something.

Me and the padres at dinner. The wine wasn't ours (of course). It was just on the table I swear. After dinner we walked down on the boardwalk area by the beach and had ice cream. I had tapioca ice cream with acai berry ice cream. It wasn't my favorite but both acai and tapioca are huge in Northeastern Brazil so I had to try the traditional flavors.

Anyway, I had a great birthday thanks to my mom and dad. And I've decided that from now on (at least the rest of the year) I'll tell the truth about my age. Then I'll start lying after this year like everybody else does so that I can stay 29 forever. Yay for 29!