Submarino

 I recently had the chance to travel throughout Brasil and experience many new foods and regional cultures. In Curitiba I had the chance to try a drink called a Submarino. This drink is supposedly typical of southern Brasil, but I had not encountered it prior to my visit to Curitiba. Submarino has a resemblance to a Boilermaker or Depth Charge in the USA.  The main difference is instead of whiskey you use Steinhäger in a Submarino. Steinhäger is a spirit distilled from wheat and Juniper berries. It is German in origin, and Curitiba and other parts of southern Brasil have a large concentration of German immigrants. This could be a contributing factor to the popularity of the drink. The shot glass(or canecinha)of Steinhäger is dropped into the pint of draft beer and you drink it just like that. At the Bar do Alemão (big German bar) where I tried Submarino, they also had a variant which substituted Jägermeister for Steinhäger. I will have to experiment with this one sometime. Overall this beverage was pretty good and a look at how parts of Brasil hold German influence.

Unimed 10k

 I ran my first 10k race ever here in Brasil. The race was sponsored by Unimed. I have a long history as a runner (over 10 years) and am well versed in 5k races. To be honest I was a little worried when race day came around. I did not get the chance to train as much as I would have liked, and feared I would run the last few kilometers as slow as a snail. In reality it felt pretty good aside from feeling slow in the 5th kilometer as some of the 5k runners started to pass me using up all they had left. I don't believe I tapered off as much as I expected considering I ran the first half of the race at almost the same pace as would for a 5k(essentially I raced two 5k's back to back).   The results can be found online at http://www.acorrg.com.br/resultados/r_unimed_14.pdf     I managed to finish at a pace that surprised myself. I finished 37th out of 118, my official time was just over 45 minutes, but I actually finished the race a bit before that. Due to the differences in the timing systems I delayed the stopping of the clock. The timing system I am used to in America has a chip that you tie into your shoelaces. There are then sensor plates laid across the start line and the finish line. When you cross the start line your time starts and when you cross the finish line your time stops. I should have known something was different for this race in Brasil when the time device was wrapped around my wrist as a bracelet. Well my Portuguese level was low, and I didn’t really register for the race ahead of time because I didn’t have a CPF number so I just went with the flow. That said, the timing device was not a chip at all so I can only assume that the clock started at the same time for everyone regardless of when you actually got to cross the start line (that defiantly added a few seconds). It turns out the bracelet had a barcode on it that was scanned after you crossed the finish line. Since this was about 20yards past the finish arch I started to walk, oh well. Overall I was very pleased with how I performed in the race, and I would love to train for another race soon.

Fenadoce

Fenadoce is a sweets festival that kind of reminds me of the scene from Willy Wonka where everybody enters the room with the lake full of chocolate… accept it is infested with Giant Animated Ants and all the sweets must be paid for (pictures accompany this post). Doces are Brasilian sweets that are similar to truffles but different, and they are DELICIOUS! The festival takes place in Pelotas, RS Brasil. On a side note Pelotas translates to Balls in English. The grounds have a carnival much like the ones found at festivals in the United States, but within the buildings the real excitement happens. Inside they have what looks like a miniature city and every building is selling Doces. There are also statues of cupcake people, and of course what I would consider to be the mascot of the festival Giant Ants.  This makes an enormous amount of sense since ants love sugar and crumbs, but still it’s hard not to laugh a little; I don’t know why I find this so entertaining.  There is also a part of the grounds that have tents with many vendors selling or promoting various companies or organizations. There were aspects that resembled American festivals and also parts that were unique to the local culture and specialties of the city and region. Overall this was a great experience and I am happy I was able to attend Fenadoce.

Culture

Culture is present in every level of human interaction. I will always remain open to the culture I find myself in, and I will attempt to provide my readers with a basic understanding of the customs or practices of the culture being experienced in the posts with this label.  

Food

As you may have guessed, many of the posts containing this label will be about things that are indeed consumable. However, often I will be attempting to incorporate “food for thought and soul” in these posts. I have come to realize one must feed mind, body, and spirit to be well fed in life. 

Fitness

Fitness to me is not just physical in nature. It also is not something that you have or not. Everyone has a degree of fitness, and just because one has a different degree of fitness it does not make one superior or inferior to another. In terms of the physical component of fitness, health benefits and quality of life can be affected by one’s level and this gives fitness importance, as our body is a temple for our consciousness.  A great example of how I view fitness is the Greek concept of Areté. This essentially means be the best you can be. If one thinks they have achieved Areté they indeed have not. This I believe applies to both the physical and mental aspects of fitness. I will also follow this by stating the fact that we are all human and lack perfection, this limitation is what causes the wide varieties of degrees of fitness and as long as one makes an effort they should never be looked down upon.

Moving to Brasil

Even 3 or 4 years ago if you told me I would be living in Brasil for 6 months, I would have thought “how?”, “not possible”. Yet today here I am, and it is really an experience for me. You see I have been here for a little over 3 weeks now, and this is the longest I have been away from Home. Where is Home you might ask, Good old West Michigan, USA. In one aspect the fact that I’m living here in Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, make this my home. I mean is it really that different than when I moved out of my parents house, went to College, and got Married? The big difference is that friends and family are no longer a 40-minute car ride away, they are ALL (aside from my wife) on a completely different continent. Anyway, enough about my mixed personal thoughts of homesickness/lack there of, let’s talk about Brasil! I am living in Rio Grande do Sul, Which is Brasil’s most southern state. The fact that I arrived in May and leave in November, literally means I will have gone 18 months with out experiencing a real summer. I am sure many of you already know that when it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere it is winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Despite the fact that the northern part of Brasil is in Amazonia and so close to the equator that there aren’t really seasons, the south does experience a change in weather. It is not as cold as the Midwest of the United States that I’m used to (it does not snow in case you were wondering), but what makes the cold difficult to deal with at times is the lack of indoor heating in most buildings and the poor insulation of our house. At times this makes me consider hibernation as a possibility, but then I make it out into the sun and it really isn't bad. So I'm going to stay warm; keep an eye out for some more posts. -Jake