Roosters!

Imagine a nice,  peaceful morning. 

It is sunny with a light breeze. 

You have the windows open and the neighborhood is quiet. 

You sit down to a nice cup of Starbucks coffee, which has traveled 5,000+ miles via interoffice mail (THANK YOU JESS!!!!). 

Suddenly...you hear a noise. Is it the gentle whisper of the wind? 

Could it be the rustle of the palm tree leaves? 

Or is it the percolating of the coffee brewing? 

NOOOOOOOO.........

It is the ROOSTER roosting or crowing outside of your patio!!!

Since I live at the end of this block, the only thing next to me is some open farm fields. It's common that people have a small shack or house with a plot of corn or other fruits/vegetables. Well, sometimes they have farm animals too. Like cows....chickens...or roosters. 

This morning a rooster found his way to my yard! He was making all sorts of noise. First he was on the wall that I share with my neighbor. Then he decided to hang out in my yard. No, no, no! I was not having him in my yard cockling and going on! Anyway, I chased him around the yard, then he flew out of the yard. I couldn't believe I was CHASING a rooster around in a circle in my yard. I'm sure my neighbor saw me out his window running around in a circle flapping my arms. Thank goodness no one video taped me...I think. 

Here are pics of the little bugger!

Um abraco,

Mollie

In the backyard

A real rooster!

Where I first found him on the wall I share w/ my neighbor!

Half Marathon/Meia Maratona em Porto Alegre

I have been training for a half marathon with two other American girls living here. One of them has never done a race before and just picked up running last June. We found a half marathon in Porto Alegre ( 6 hours or 450km) away from Horizontina. We trained for about 3 1/2 months. The goal was to finish together!

We did the race on April 25th. It was a night race that started at 7 pm. It was tough to determine what to eat, but somehow we managed!

They handed out these small containers of water with a foil top. It was like a dixie cup with foil on the top. You had to peel the foil off, which was a pain. We saw a guy running with NO shoes, a woman running in flip flops, and completed our first international half marathon!

The funniest thing was they printed your first name on your race bib. It was funny because you would see someone and say (In portuguese of course), " Go Maria...", " Go Rafael" , "Go Marcio", etc. 

Here is a picture of the medal and race number!

Um abraco,

Mollie

Road Trip! Mission Ruins

We had a holiday here in Brazil and I wanted to go somewhere for a day trip. It's not the easiest to find someplace like that here. However, if you drive 2 hours, there are some amazing ruins of some Jesuit and Guaranese (native Indians) missions. 

Basically, Spain and Portugual sent some Jesuits to the Americas in the 1600's to convert the Indians to Catholicism.  The Jesuits and the Indians created many communities and over a period of roughly 150 years became very strong with over 100,000 people! There were 30+ communities in present day Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. The Church as well as Spain and Portugal became concerned that the Jesuit missions were becoming too strong and operating independently.

The  Treaty of Madrid was signed in 1750 where these areas (Brazilian) were handed over to the Portuguese.  Basically, the Indians and Jesuits were also to abandon their homes (the missions) and move across the river. They didn't want to leave their homes (do you blame them?!). As a result, the Portuguese came to take "slaves" (the Indians) and in the process, the Guarani Indians revolted. There was war, death, etc. and the missions were set on fire and razed to the ground!

They have some ruins/remains which are now a protected historical site. They are amazing since they were basically small communities and housed over 3,000 people at one time! 

If you watch the movie, " The Mission"  with Roberto DeNiro, you'll get a better understanding of the story. 

Enjoy!

Um abraco,

Mollie

Easter in Prague with Johnny...and Baking a Kasekuchen

I was in Germany for work right before Easter and decided to stay a little longer and take a side trip to see my brother. He is working/living in Poland and we decided to meet in Prague, in the Czech Republic to sightsee. He invited his two friends, Chris and Kevin, who are English with the quintessential accent! It was a lot of fun!! I used the old stand-by guide book " Rick Steves...Europe through the Back Door."  He never lets me down!! 

I also had a chance to see my good friend, Corinna, who lives near Mannheim, Germany. She is a really good friend, also working for Deere. We have always wanted to make a real german cheesecake. I stayed with her one night and we baked and had a great time!

Here are some pictures...

Mollie

View of the Prague Castle & Basilica

Me and my brother

Monument to the survivors of communism

View from the faux Eifel Tower looking down onto Prague

Tulips blooming in the New Town, Prague

Johnny and green beer

Prague market and church

Jen Hus monument in Old Town Square

Me and Corinna enjoying our Kasekuchen

Corinna was supervising me!

My new amigos

I've been feeding these two cats for about 5 months. They are outdoor cats and only really see (or hear) them at night. We have a regular routine. I leave food out and they come eat it. I try to get close to them and they run away. Kind of a cat and mouse game, no pun intended. I have even named them. The one black cat is called Pretinho, which means little blacky, in Portuguese. I named him that because he's all black. The other one I named Bellazinha, which means little Bella.  My mother has several cats and one of them looks like Bellazinha. One of my mom's cats is called Bella so I named my cat little Bella. 

Well, this week I discovered I am feeding not 2 cats, but 5 or 6! They run away pretty quickly when I spot them eating. I have given them names too...there is White Boy because he is all white and an orange cat I haven't named yet. Oh and then there is the little kitten I've just seen once and then this fluffy cat. I think fluffy cat has a home, but not sure about White Boy and the others. We'll see how long they hang around. 

Anyway, I believe Bellazinha is pregnant because she's getting fat in the middle. Probably the only time I can get away with calling some female fat and it's socially acceptable! Anyway, she lets me get close to her, but she always runs away. Lately, I've gotten pretty close to her. She kind of just stares and at me and tries to pretend like I don't see her. If she doesn't move a muscle, I think she thinks I won't see her! Ha!

Well, I've caught her eating during the day lately and then caught her cat napping this morning! Here are some pics of my new amigos. At least, it's something to entertain me!

Um abraco...Mollie

Happy Moments!

I did a little happy dance today in the grocery store called Nacional, which is owned by Wal-Mart.  Yes, I really did a little happy dance. 

I have been unable to find a certain pasta I love, which are pasta shells. I'm having a dinner tonight for all the ex-pats and I wanted to make stuffed shells (a favorite dish!) for them.  A few key ingredients necessary for stuffed shells are:

1) The pasta shells

2) Ricotta Cheese

Well, first I could not find ricotta cheese...then I found it earlier this week! Whoo-hoo! It's called Queijo Tipo de Quark. I basically bought several kinds of cheese until I found the ricotta. Ingredient #2 - FOUND!

I looked at 2 different grocery stores in Horizontina for the shells. No luck. I decided to drive to Santa Rosa (about 45 minutes away) to go to Nacional. I figured it wouldn't hurt to see if they had them. I was 99% sure finding the pasta shells was only a dream. Well, I found them in the pasta aisle. I couldn't believe it!  I did a little shriek then the happy dance. People were staring, but if they only knew!!!!

Then, as an added bonus, I found Roma Tomatoes!!! I can use them to make a homemade pasta sauce tonight. So, all of my ingredients have been found and now I can make a real Italian-Brazilian recipe of stuffed shells! 

Yippee!!!!  Photos of my finds attached!

Um abraco......Mollie

Shells and a Roma Tomato

Trip to Florianopolis with Karen

Karen eating lula (calamari). Yum!

Guys selling fresh fruit juice on the beach. 

Me drinking an agua de coco...coconut water. Please no comments about my whiteness!