segunda-feira, segunda-feira...

I had my first opportunity to grocery shop on Sunday after "American" church.  I was told the store we were going to was the most American of any of the stores around, so if I couldn't handle it, I was out of luck (though it was spoken much more kindly).  I found out quickly that "oferta" equals sale and that red price tags at this store are mark-downs...that was all I needed to know.  My mother and our frugal friend Richard would be proud of me.  I didn't really get anything interesting, bananas, yogurt, milk, though I noticed big "Bugs Bunny" type carrots were much less expensive than bagged baby carrots, so I bought the cartoon carrots and I will enjoy them even more because they were cheaper.  I also had my first experience with pizza this weekend at Casa de Pizza (House of Pizza, Pizza House).  I had some with hearts of palm (I think) that wasn't too bad and one with chocolate and bananas that was sooooooooo good!  I will have dreams about chocolate and banana pizza for weeks to come.  

Sunday night was Portuguese church.  I understood "pouco" (little, not much), but I did recognize a few of the tunes to the songs that were sung.  I picked up Deus = God, palavras = words (Rosa wouldn't let me move on from this word at our Friday, waiting for the Federal Police, lesson until I quit saying it wrong), Espirito Santo = Holy Spirit, obrigado/a = thank you, vitorioso = victory, vida = life.  I was pretty pleased with myself, though without the pastor's Powerpoint and my Portuguese dictionary, it might not have turned out as well.  I also found that the church takes recyclables to raise money for different ministries, and the alternative was to throw my plastics, cans, and paper into the trash, which I JUST CANNOT DO....and now I don't have to.  I also was educated about some regional creatures, like cockroaches (who come out in masses between October and July...hmm, most of the year) and a possum who made its way through a broken dryer's vent into the house I now occupy.  I did hear that cockroaches have rarely been found in the houses around where I live and that the possum couldn't possibly get in now that the dryer has long been fixed...but it gives one pause, and the mind worries, frets even, over worst-case scenarios where possums and cockroaches frolic all over my living, eating, and sleeping space.  I suppose it could be worse.  I could have actually seen these creatures in my house instead of merely hearing of the possibility.  So far I have seen just a small spider, no big deal...unless his mama is hiding in my sock drawer.

Today is a holiday (no school) because yesterday was "Children's Day"...the kids all got whistles (looouuuud whistles), candy, and sweets at church.  Today is sunny and 80-ish, I have traded my layers of socks and sweatshirts for sandals and shorts, jealous?