brain in a bag

Earlier this week, my Contemporary Brazil class took a field trip to a market here in Salvador. There are a lot of markets around the city, most of which are pretty tourist-aimed. However, this definitely was not a touristy market. When we first got in, the kinds of things being sold seemed pretty usual to me. Clothes, blenders, spices, kitchenware, flip flops and so on. However, there was immediately a plethora of smells, none of which were pleasant, none of which I could identify, coming from every direction penetrating my pores. I knew at that point that this was going to be an experience I would never forget.

Eventually we got into the live animal area. First we saw chickens, ducks, pigeons and other types of birds in overcrowded cages. Then we saw a live chicken being wrapped up in newspaper. Then we saw goats and pigs. Then we saw a barely-alive-goat in a burlap sack be thrown over a man's shoulder and carried away. Another goat was pulled out of the pen screaming like a child as it's four legs were tied together and it was thrown in a wheel-barrow and carted away.

The fruit section was next, full of flies, cockroaches and dead rats. Yes, I saw dead rats next to baskets of fruit.

The meat section was the most disturbing part for me. I saw mean in every fashion: hung up, laid out, in bags, in nets, in newspaper and more. I saw intestines, eyeballs, tongues, testicles and I also saw brain in a plastic bag. Many of them. I saw every organ of every animal I had seen alive just a few minutes earlier. This is where all the smells were coming from.

I'm glad I went. It gave a much better real-life idea of not only where my food comes from, but also the kind of work some people have to do to survive. I don't think I'll ever go back to that market, but I definitely appreciate the food I eat a lot more now.

PORTUGUESE LESSON #4: FOOD

Some of my favorite foods/drinks since I have been in Brazil:

1. Pão delícia (paong deh-lee-see-ah) literally means "bread delight" and it is.

2. Açaí (ah-sah-ee) a brazilian berry most often made into a smoothie mixed with other fruit. My favorite is açaí with banana.

3. Suco (soo-koo) juice. Brazilians make juice out of every fruit, only it's not the juice we're used to. They just stick the fruit in a blender and add water. Most brazilians also like to sweeten the juice with sugar. Some of my favorite sucos are melância (watermelon), manga (mango), maracujá (passion fruit) and lime-rind, but I can't remember how to say that one in Portuguese.

Até mais! Till next time!