Where in the world is Lani?

Here in Brazil even the most mundane things can turn into adventures! Today I decided to make good use of my amigas kitchen and do some cooking, because I really haven´t had any opportunities to cook more than toast or 2 minute noodles while I have been on the road.

So, I decided to make some banana muffins for a sweet treat. Before I hit the shops, I spent about 30 minutes looking up the key ingredients on my online translator site (www.babelfish.altavista.com) so I knew what to look for. Its amazing what I take for granted when speaking english, and sometimes the spanish or portuguese for the same ingredient is totally different, and when the packaging doesnt give much away, sometimes you play a guessing game when buying something.....

The supermarkets here are pretty similiar to those back in Oz, except they include alcohol (wines, beers and other spirits) as well as a full bakery and fish, meat and poultry section so its like the butchers and fish market as well.  In addition, you must take all your fruit and veg to be weighed and price tagged before you hit the checkouts, which actually makes it much more efficient than waiting for the checkout chick to find the code for your veg or fruit......

Well, after an hour and a half, I felt quite successful! I had all my ingredients for a sweet treat! I have spent all afternoon in the sunshine of Caina´s kitchen, cooking, listening to Brazilian radio (alot better than what we have in Oz - no ads and tons of samba music!) and having a great time!

Who would have ever thought that a trip to the supermarket could be so much fun! Who needs a tour of the city museums or trapsing the streets looking at statues - happiness is in a banana muffin!

Ciao for now,

Lani 'íron chef' Shepherd