Let the Portuguese Begin!

First off, I suppose I should explain the pictures . . . This is Eric showing off his new Brazilian shoes that he was so excited to find on sale! He bought a black pair and a brown pair. I personally think that they are especially stunning with the shorts! (He will be very happy that I shared these pictures too! hehe) Now, excuse me while I hide my camera from him!!!

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I started my Portuguese lessons this afternoon and I am now up to about a 2 year old's level! I can say the letters of the alphabet with a perfect Brazilian accent now - woohoo!!! We were supposed to start our tutoring yesterday, but Eric fired our teacher after his lesson in the morning! (OK, so actually the way it went down is that the tutor that the language school sent out didn't speak any English. He possibly could have struggled his way through it and learned something, but we both knew I would need someone who could answer questions and explain things in English! So he requested a different teacher from the school.) It all is going to work out for the best I think though. Soraia, our new teacher, is really good! Her English is excellent and she is able to explain the differences between English and Portuguese grammar such as the use of prepositions, article placement, etc. The grammatical stuff doesn't make a difference to Eric, but, since my mother was an English teacher, I have a bit of a handle on those things and I find it helpful! Hopefully we'll both be speaking Portuguese in no time!

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Last night at supper, Eric presented me with his latest theory on the waitstaff in Brazil: they are all there as part of Ninja training. They stand silently still at a safe distance from the patrons in the restaurant watching and waiting for the perfect time to swoop in and take away an empty plate or refill an empty glass. I figure he's not too far off - especially if you add that at the churrascarias they carry around big swords with the meat on it!!! I had extra fun at lunch today imagining the waiter was a Ninja trying to sneak up on me. I got a good giggle out of it, but maybe I'm just strange like that! ;) (Or maybe I just need some company at lunch!!!)