Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

I've missed flowers.  I've missed tulips and peonies and geraniums and petunias and sweet peas and more.   I've even missed my flower boxes that I used to wonder why I planted because I had to water them every single day.

BUT 

There are some pretty and interesting plants here too.  Here are a few that I've taken pictures of:

There are a lot of spiky plants here.  The only one I know the name of is the one on the left in the foreground. It is called Brazil plant.  You can't tell from my great photograph, but each spike is round and firm.  They look good in a pot,and I wish I could bring one home for a houseplant, but I doubt I could get it through customs.  

The big round shaped one in the middle is one of my favorites, BUT, every leave has a tough, sharp thorn on the end of it.  They could be vicious.

This isn't the finest specimen of this bush, but you get the idea.  The blooms seem to last forever.  This bush is at the airport.  We go there all the time and I have never seen it without blossoms.  That's what I call awesome blossoms.

I've tried a number of times to get a picture of this type of tree in bloom that really shows the intensity of the orange color.  This doesn't come close, but it is as good as I can do.  I hear that in other parts of Brazil they have varieties with yellow and red blooms, but I've only seen orange here.  They are gorgeous.  

Another very mediocre photo, but if you look closely you can see some yellow blossoms that hang in clusters from this tree.  Also, you can see a plant with a very large leaf that uses this tree to climb on.  I like the combination of leaf shapes and the variations of green colors.

This is a ficus tree.  It's been trimmed to give it this full shape.  I took a picture of it because it was an amazement to me.  I've tried more than one of these in Idaho as a houseplant at one time or another.  They always looked so great at the store and then when I brought them home the leaves would drop like crazy. I'm talking plug-up-the-vacuum-hose crazy.  

Usually a few leaves would stay on the plant; just enough to make me think it might live.  I would nurse it along until there would be only 7 or 8 leaves left.  Then I would pray it would die so I could throw it out without a guilty conscience.  There is nothing like a mostly dead houseplant looking back at you to make you feel bad about yourself.   

Here are some more ficus trees that have grown big enough to shade cars.  They are such show offs.

                                    

See what I mean about dead looking plants?  They just aren't good for your self-esteem.....or their's either probably.

I took this picture when we were at the Missionarey Training Center in Sao Paulo.  By using plants with varying colors of green and varying textures,  they created some beautiful grounds without using flowers.  (Those air conditioning things or what ever they are a not quite camouflaged, but, they probably look worse because I took the picture from above.)  

                                 

I can't believe I don't have a better picture of the bouganville that grows so well here.  It often cascades over the walls that are around all the houses.  This one shows some of the variety in the colors, but if you want to see how vivid the colors are when it's at it peak, you'll have to look at some images on the Internet.

I can't leave this one out.  It must be super hardy because it is in hedges everywhere, almost to the point that you take it for granted.  It is always in bloom even in the dry time of the year.  

And I couldn't leave out the plants in the pot holes here.  They really aren't growing in the pot hole, though sometimes it takes so long for a pot hole to be fixed, I think a plant that size could.  I haven't been able to figure out who puts the branches there to warn unsuspecting drivers, but I see it all the time.  You can tell by the size of that pot hole, that their efforts are appreciated.

I guess when you paint houses such fun, vibrant colors, it sort of makes up for the lack of flowers, but, I'm still looking forward to them.  I'm itching to get my hands back in the dirt, unless it's windy.  Oh yeah.... the wind.  I almost forgot about the wind.

Still Hanging In Here

Just a quick update and a few pictures:

We've had a LOT of rain lately.  Too bad I didn't take a picture of some of the downpours we've had or the streets when they look like rivers with so much water running through them, but I did get this picture of a group of missionaries after a District Meeting.  This is not just a Mary Poppins pose.  The sun was out by the time the meeting was over, but a couple of hours before, those umbrellas saved them from being soaked. 

We said good-bye to the Cabral girls.  They headed out to their missions this morning.  We went to their setting apart last night and it was a neat experience.  You don't see 3 sisters go on missions on the very same day too often.  In fact, it was my first time, and probably my last. 

  

We finally got some more North American missionaries.  Visas are finally coming through.  Yay!  They had all been serving in missions in the United States while they were waiting.  Three were lucky and got to serve in the Pocatello Idaho Mission for a while during the dead of winter.  One of the others had been serving in Nebraska for 10 months.  Half his mission is already over and he just got here!

AND

We got a nice big group at the regular transfer time too.  One of them will have his brother for his trainer.  We've had cousins working together here before, but this is our first set of brothers.

Earlier this week, we also said good bye to four good missionaries.  It was time for them to leave us, head home, and get on with their lives.  It is always a little hard to see them go.  The elder wearing glasses missed his plane.  That was the first time we ever had a missionary miss his plane home.  I still haven't quite figured out how he did that.  Oh well, after two years, what's an extra day?  Right?  Unless it was me or one of my kids.  

Now that I think about it, we did have something like that happen. When Russell was coming home from Lithuania, his plane got to Salt Lake too late for him to make his connection to Idaho Falls and he had to stay over in Salt Lake and come the next morning.  We were bugged, but we all lived through it.

    

Speaking of bugs, how do you like this guy?

I think it's an albino cockroach, but Alan thinks I'm crazy.  All I know is that it is whitish, can move fast like a cockroach, and was big enough that I could see it on the parking lot from the car. That's enough to make me get the camera out, snap a shot, and run. 

Catch you later.     

Got Spuds?

Becca says all I ever write about is food and maybe she's right, but I thought I would share this photo of  Alan really appreciating his potatoes and gravy.  Does that look like a contented face or what?   I took this picture a few months ago, but today when we had potatoes and gravy he had the same look on his face.  The guy loves the stuff.

I mean really, who smiles at their food?  Do you?

Why I Feel Like Doing This

Rodrigo called.....They gave me back my points....I get to use my R$100......Yeah!  I have until April 10th, but Alan says we're going to the store tonight before Francisca da Souza hears about it.

Truth be told...I feel like doing a cartwheel, but probably the best I could come up with is a somersault, and that might be a little off to one side. 

72 Hours and Counting

In case you are wondering what took me so long at the grocery store the other day, I'll tell you.  This may need a little background.


It all started shortly after we got here.  Every time I went to the grocery store the checkout clerk asked me if I had a Cartao Mais.  I always answered, "Nao." At first I didn't know what the clerks were talking about, which was not surprising because the reality of it was that I didn't know what anyone was talking about.  But soon I sensed that a Cartao Mais was something desirable. Maybe it was the pitiful way the clerk and the people in line looked at me when I said I didn't have one.  It made me feel like a kid in Junior High in the 80's that didn't have a Trapper Keeper.


I started to desire a Cartao Mais.

  Since I couldn't find a picture of a Cartao Mais, I thought this would do.  It is from Brasil and written in Portuguese at least.

So I asked the elders in the office about it and they filled me in.  Cartao Mais was a card for shoppers so they could collect bonus points that would be worth X amount of $ in groceries when you collected a certain amount.  Being the sucker savvy shopper that I am, I knew I had to have one.  What would my sister Lucy, the undisputed queen of Bon Bucks, think of me if I did not sign up for a card and try to get free stuff.  

So I did.

At first it was great.  I quickly earned points because you have to buy a lot of food when you are feeding missionaries. Before I knew it I had earned 5,000 points; enough to get R$50 worth of food for free.  I was thrilled when I cashed in my points.  I almost called Lucy.

Then they changed the program.  Instead of getting R$50 at 5,000 points, it took 6,000 points to get R$50.  BUT if I waited to cash in my points until I earned 9,000 points, I could get R$100.  When they changed the program, I no longer needed the actual card.  All I had to do was register my CPF number.  It's equivalent to our SS number.  Every time I went to buy stuff, the clerk punched in the numbers and before long I was racking up points again.  I decided I was in no hurry and I might as well go for the R$100.

Late in January, I finally had 9,000 points.  It was redemption time.  

The next time I went to the store, I presented the clerk my receipt that showed my points and said I would like to use them.  She told me I needed to call their headquarters in Sao Paulo first so that I could redeem them.  

Can I just say here, that I love Brazil and all, but if there is a hard or complicated way to do retail business, they will choose it every time.  But when in Brazil, I do as the Brazilians do.

So a few days later I called the 1-800 number the clerk at the store had given me to get permission to redeem my points.  The lady on the phone said I had 30 days to spend the R$100.  Thirty days?  That should be easy.

Next trip to the store, I gathered up the things on my list and headed for the nearest cashier.  My total was R$46.73.  I told her I wanted to use my points.  I was secretly hoping the person behind me in line would see that I was going to get my groceries for free and think I was a little bit awesome.   

My delusions of grandeur were crushed when the cashier told me that I needed to use all R$100 in one transaction.  The eager smile on my face disappeared and I stood there in stunned silence.  I was informed that I could go ahead and use the points on the groceries I had that day, but I would lose the rest of the R$100 credit.  

No way was that going to happen.  

So I paid  the R$46.73 and went home.  I knew we had  two dinners back to back coming up before the 30 days was up and I would use my R$100 then.

Last Saturday morning I went in armed with the list of groceries I needed for the dinners. I filled my cart,  adding things up in my head so I would know I had reached the R$100 mark, and headed for the cashier. The total was R$128.78.  I told the cashier I would like to use my credit today.  She punched in a few numbers and said, "You don't have any credits to use.  My computer screen says the points were used yesterday."  

Now, I am usually a mild-mannered person, and under the circumstances I think I acted in accordance with that image, or delusion, whatever it is, that I have of myself.  However, had I been drawn as a cartoon at that moment, there definitely would have been steam and or smoke coming out of my head.  I wasn't giving in on this one.  

The cashier turned me over to his manager who got on the telephone and called store headquarters in Sao Paulo and turned me over to someone there.  The woman on the other end of the line had a lot of questions.  She was a pretty tough cookie herself, but I  insisted that I had not used the credit, and that I was not accepting this as a final answer. She finally said they would investigate and call me back within 72 hours. 

72 hours = 3 days, right? 

After 5 days and still no phone call, I went to the store again and found the manager on duty.  His name was Anderson and he was very nice.  I, too, was nice.  He called their headquarters again.  They said that a certain Francisca da Souza had used my credit and they had the receipt she had signed.  They asked if I knew her.  I told them that I did not, and of course, I don't.  BUT... I would like to be introduced.  Though I probably wouldn't have a sufficient vocabulary in Portuguese to tell her everything I would like to, I'm pretty sure she would get my drift.

So as of today, this still isn't resolved. Rodrigo from the store headquarters in Sao Paulo is investigating a little further and he will call me in 72 hours.

I'll be waiting.

You Know It's Time to Buy a New Sand Turtle When...

Your old one can't even hold his head up, his shell is dusty and faded and he loses sand every time you move him.  

I've been on the lookout for a replacement and Lady Luck was with me today.  

I know, I know.  I swore I wouldn't by stuff off the street again after this sad incident, but today when I stopped at a stoplight, I looked over and saw a row of fabric sand turtles looking back at me.  Their glued-on sequin eyes caught my eyes.  It was meant to be.

Luckily I had some cash with me and I purchased 4 of these beauties on the spot.  The transaction was swift and nobody even honked at me.  (That was really lucky.)

I promise I haven't lost touch with my Mini Bazaar senses.  I know these are not cute or fashionable for the home, but they are very functional.  We always have the windows and sliding door open so we can get a little breeze through the apartment.  When the breeze catches the bedroom doors just right, they SLAM shut with an amazing force.  Remember this other sad incident?

Anyway, to prevent the doors from slamming or from having to use canned goods as door stops, I bought 4 little sand turtle buddies today and I'm pretty excited about my purchases. 

 Door stop turtles rock! 

(That's especially for you, Becca, since you are the one that thought the cans of peaches and pumpkin as door stops were a little tacky and weird.) 

P. S.  

I just noticed the my new turtle has lost his sequin eye.  I'll have to see if I can find it, and in case you are wondering, yes, that is a fabric yo-yo on the top on its head for a hat.  I guess the little fella has style after all.

Another P. S.  

These little guys are a little too heavy to be packing home on a plane, so you can all relax.  I won't be bringing you any for souvenirs or gifts.

One More P. S. 

 Maybe I should have titled this post "You Know You've Been Away from Mini Bazaar Too Long When You Buy A Turtle Door Stop." 

 That's kind of a long title though.

Wrapping up Christmas 2010

I realize these are not the best pictures, but they are the best I have so I am going to post them.  I also realize that Christmas 2010 is sooooo over, but I did start this post just after Christmas if that is worth anything. 

The picture above is of a choir from our stake that performed at a local mall.  They positioned themselves between the up and down escalators and sang beautifully.  It really sounded nice in the open space and put us in a Christmas mood just a few days before Christmas.

They put up a big fabric tree every year in a little park in the center of a roundabout that is on our beaten path.  Every year it is a slightly different style.  They have been quite impressive. 

Hiper was way into creating trees out of their products this year.  Here is a tree created from boxes of candy.

Here is one created out of bottles of green olives.

Here is the Coca Cola tree in progress.  This tree building looked like risky business to me, but in an all out effort to celebrate the season and sell more Coke, it had to be done.

The Quaker oatmeal tree, 

the wine or champagne or some other alcoholic beverage tree,

and last, but not least, the tree of canned corn and peas.

My favorite tree this year was one they had outside one of the malls.  It was covered with lighted toy trains, wreaths and stockings all on a huge metal frame.  We thought the rope light-wrapped palm tree was cool too.  

Apologies again for photography that is on the minus side of the scale of good photography. I think I either need to take better pictures or quit blogging.