Comida para o pensamento.

It was my last day in São Paulo, a Sunday. Most places of business are closed on Sundays, but I managed to have a wonderful day walking around the once lively, and now abandoned, city. I went to a market in the Praça da Republica, which featured a variety of art vendors including such works of carvings, paintings, and various types of rocks. There was a great variety of food vendors as well, and I could not help but devour the best looking, and tasting, lime tart I had ever had. My eating habits were improving as my speaking capabilities enhanced. I learned that in order to eat, I must speak. After the first few days of light eating, due to the mere uncertainty and fear of trying to order food, I could now order my food with dignity and confidence. I am growing up, as I am now able to feed myself. Not only was my Portuguese improving, but I was learning about standard Brazilian cuisine as well; rice, beans, and ungodly amounts of meat. The previous day, I had gone to lunch at a local restaurant, ravished with hunger from hardly eating the day before. Colette, my companion for the feast, and I were about to learn a thing or two concerning the expected meal portions. After not recognizing anything on the menu, we decided on the one thing we did know, Feijoada, a traditional Brazilian meal consisting of pork and beens. Because this ever unique meal takes a considerable amount of time to cook, it is traditionally served one day out of the week. It was our lucky day. There were three options of course sizes: large, medium, small. Just to be safe, I went with the medium, as to not seem like to much of an American. Little did we know, Feijoada is an extremely large meal, and is expected to be shared between several people. We doubled down, and each ordered the R$ 14 meal for ourselves. So here we were, white, American and hungry, with two large portions of Feijoada and just barely enough room for the two large pitchers of juice we each ordered. The meal was satisfying, and could have fed roughly six people comfortably. At least I didn’t have to speak up for another meal for a while.