The Beginning of a New Beginning, Part 2

Okay where did I leave off… stories, yeah. So, Friday we go to Hillbilly (a country western bar cuz well I live in the country,lol) Let me explain the going out system here. You don’t have like 6 packs where everyone has their own. It’s a communal culture so everything is shared. You also don’t pay for stuff before they bring it to you. Kinda like a tab but it’s just on paper. I went to a bar Saturday where I had to pay for my drinks upfront for the first time since being here. It was rather strange, but I understood cuz the bar is outside with no door so that’s how they prevent people from just walking off. Anyways, at places with doors, you’re handed a ticket when you pay and you have to show that to leave.

So we leave Hillbilly and within the hour a friend’s mom calls like are yall ok?? I heard shots.  So we find out the table next to ours has a fight, then somebody pulls out a gun and starts firing in the air and everybody starts throwing chairs, breaking bottles, and hopping the fence. Shortly after someone else pulls out a gun and starts shooting across the street. The police took 10 mins to get their despite the bar literally being on the same street within eyesight.  Though injured, no one was killed. Apparently no one was questioned either. I can only imagine how much money the bar lost.

So we get home and go to sleep. A little while later I wake up to this crash and subsequent yelling. Now it seems like Dona Esmeralda’s apartment (directly below us) literally breaks something every day. That being said I assumed a grandkid broke an important dish or something looking for a midnight snack. The next morning Michol informs me that two men tried to rob the house across from ours. The crash I heard was them landing on the air conditioner holder (we’re still using wall units) after jumping the wall. Every week is a holiday and people generally clear out of town.  The family was home and came out with knife and shotgun. Spiderthief #1 steals a dish towel from Dona Esmeralda and ties the electric fence (never woulda thought to do that)

Spiderthief #2 then scales our wall (houses have walls built around them here so you never actually see anybody’s house unless you’re invited over) and hides on our balcony.  He then shuffles his way (leaving shoeprints) to our laundry room bars because then he will be inside Dona Esmeraldas gate with access to the much shorter wall they came over. They got away unscathed and I was left wondering how dude survived the fall.

Also, a man who apparently was involved in the killing of a police officer was hospitalized last week. Somebody then walked in the hospital and shot him. Yep.  In lighter news, Elisa’s daughters Nina and Nanda were winners in a state wide authorship competition.  The prize was getting their manuscripts published. They both had very different but equally awesome book release parties. Below are a couple of pictures from Nanda’s release.  

These salgados get a picture of their own because they are the best salgados I’ve ever tasted and that’s saying a lot since you eat salgados here regularly.

This is a picture of ingá. The accent is important because without it the word means bait. It has a peel like a banana and it has really large black seeds inside so you suck the white part off. Very tasty.

Since being here I've eaten a lot of farm raised animals that were killed and then taken to the kitchen.  As sad as it sounds, I actually prefer our hormone injected, processed meats. Like a healthy chicken really has no meat on it and the meat that is there is tougher. I will say that farm raised chickens make the best eggs I've ever eaten.

For those who don't know, this is what a cashew looks like 

Finally this is an açai (ah-sigh-ee) store. Açai is a berry that is used to make this paste. People eat it with fish or they add sugar and ice and eat it as a dessert.