Tidbits

Lost in translation: Most apartment complexes here have a doorman, and one of ours recently greeted me, "Oi, Nega." I had to look over my shoulder, but sure enough, he was talking to me. Further confusing me, he's black and I'm not. I checked with our Brazilian friends Marcel and Marina who explained to me "nega" is a term of endearment, in the same category as "dear" or "sweetie" and has nothing to do with race. Ok, but I don't think I'll every say to Eri, "How's my little nega doing?" Just doesn't seem right.

The accent, again: Leo Steeves is a big kid. I often have the same conversation when I'm out and about with him:

Brazilian: "How old is your baby?" 

me: "He's fill-in-the-blank months." 

Brazilian: "Wow, he looks double-the-number-I-said months." 

me: "Yeah, thanks." 

This was particularly painful during his third month of life. When you speak portuguese with an accent, "tres" rhymes with "seis," forcing me to hold up three fingers and clarify,"No, no he's not six months, just three," which was once followed up with, "Are you sure?" Um yep, pretty sure. 

Some firsts: Geoff and I started back at the university this month for the fall semester, which is also our last semester of classes! (Next semester we work solely on our dissertations.) Eri, 4, also started the new school year in the "Jardim Um" class and likes to be dropped off at the door to walk in by herself. And Leo, now 7 months, has started quite successfully on solid foods.

Crying for another avocado. (Love him!)

Something funny or irritating (or both) usually happens at the grocery store.
A guy checking out next to me was buying beer, a bucket and a mop. Gross. 

Wheeee!!!!

Eri's portuguese is excellent, as
evidenced by her 'don't cut the cuticles, please' request.

Leo at 4 months (above) and Eri at 4 months (below).
I'm always told how much they look like Geoff. I don't see it.

I love this picture. Is it just me, or is it really obvious
Geoff is not Latino even a little bit?

I love this picture even more. This is Leo's passport photo, in which he
could be a baby or an 80-year-old man.