My birthday!

Hi everyone!

As you probably know, next June 12th is my 24th birthday! I am so excited about it that I decided to organize a party to celebrate with my friends. Since this is a World Cup year, my idea was to organize a thematic party. Take a look at the invitation:

Well, as soon as I started inviting my friends, they came up with the following excuses.

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Ana: “I can’t. My parents are visiting from out of town.”

Carlos: “I’m sorry. I have to study for an exam that day.”

Paula: “Unfortunately I can’t go. I will have to work.”

Fábio: “That sounds fun. However, I got a new puppy and I have to stay home with him.”

Cristina: “Oh! It’s my grandmother’s 90^th birthday and my parents told me to visit her.”

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Their excuses disappointed me. I had many plans for the party! Didn’t they like the idea? Was the day and time too bad? What should I do to convince them to come? Or should I cancel it because no one seems to be coming?

Save Water, Save the World

Hi everyone!

Last weekend my parents came to Florianópolis to visit my brother, Tony, and I.

Juliana, our roommate, prepared a delicious dinner for us! We are very lucky to have her here. 

Besides having dinner, we sat together to talk about the conscious use of water. Mom and Dad were surprised to see some "reminders" I have placed in our bathroom, kitchen and laundry room. Well, I had to do that because Tony is very irresponsible and does not care about the planet. 

How about you? Are you eco-friendly? 

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These are some of the signs you can see in our bathroom, kitchen and laundry room

(From: http://www.bwa.co.za/Save_water_poster.jpg)

(From: http://www.watersavingtips.org/images/saving_1.jpg)

(From: http://www.akalplumbing.com/images/save-water-pic.jpg) 

From: http://www.cityof.lawton.ok.us/WWTP/images/save_water.png)

A night of exceptions

Last week I went out with Juliana, my roommate, and Paul, my paragliding instructor. We went to COMIDA & CIA, a small restaurant in Florianópolis that serves a lot of international food, and I could not imagine how things could get so messy. 

Our first problem in the restaurant that night was that Juliana is lactose intolerant. To be lactose intolerant means that she can not metabolize lactose, because of a lack of the required enzyme lactase in the digestive system. One curiosity: It is estimated that 75% of adults worldwide show some decrease in lactase activity during adulthood. Therefore, Juliana had to order all her dishes without milk, butter and other ingredients that contain lactose. OK! I already knew about her being lactose intolerant since we have been living together for some time.

However, to my surprise, Paul is vegetarian! It means that he follows a plant-based diet including fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, nuts, and seeds. A vegetarian does not eat meat, including: red meat, game, poultry, fish, and shellfish. In addition, some vegetarians do not eat dairy products and eggs, but Paul does. So, pleasing Paul was our second problem that night.

Try to picture us choosing the dishes to please the three of us together. After discussing for more than 15 minutes we ended up deciding that each of us would have to choose our own menu and luckily COMIDA & CIA have a lot of options.

Here is a brief description of what each one of us had that night for dinner:

After that night I started considering Paul a nice date for Juliana and not for me anymore! Just kidding!!!

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When talking about food, here are some of my favorite websites. 

Take a look at them:

* You are what you eat! (questions and answers form a riddle thematically relating a person and some agreeable element in their diet)

* Glossary
 - Vegetables (pictures and audio)
 - Fruits (pictures and audio)
 - Ways of cooking (verbs)
 - Ways of eating (verbs)

* Does your mouth water when you look at this?

* Food dictionary (pictures, ingredients, definitions): Epicurus and BBC

* Food Timeline

I CAN’T STAND ONE MORE NIGHT LIKE THIS…

Hey guys! Today’s post is going to be very short. I have loads of things to do but I couldn’t avoid stopping by to say hello!

You won’t believe that I am having the worst week of insomnia ever! And this is totally weird because I am really tired of studying for all the papers and exams which are scheduled for this week, but when I lay down in my bed I simply can’t sleep!!! Well, it may be because when I go to bed I can’t stop thinking…

Oh! Do you remember that last holiday I went paragliding? For sure you remember! My mind is so messy today!!! Well, the adventure was wonderful to help me relax a bit, unfortunately the relaxing sensation was over as soon as I stepped foot on Praia Mole. Wow! I almost forgot to tell you that the beach looks even more wonderful from up there. And I also have to confess that the paragliding instructor Paul is a very handsome and nice guy! ;)

By the way, I have some really bad news. Fluff is sick… He went out Saturday night to date the neighbors’ cat and got the flu or something like that. Can anyone help me find a good and cheap Vet for him? Meanwhile what can I do? He looks so miserable…

Well, I guess I’m stopping by here. I have to write the introduction for my monograph for next week and don’t have any ideas so far. Can anyone help me, pleeeease!

                                                              *** 
Just for fun I’ll leave you with one of my favorite ads. This definitely reminds me that I have to keep an eye on Fluff! ;)

Four countries I would like to visit

Hello everyone! Today I have a guessing game for you.

Here are the four countries I would like to visit one day. Can you guess the name of the countries based on the descriptions and the pictures?

The first country is located in Asia and it is really big! It is a multi-racial country with 56 ethnic groups. It is also a multi-religious country, where Taoism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity are practiced. This country is linked to its ancient civilization and one of the world’s most revered treasures: The Great Wall. Today, you can also see spectacular architecture and towering skylines in some modern cities there. You can visit a diversity of land formations including very high mountains, hills, highlands, plains and basins. You should not miss the rare treasure of this country: the giant pandas. In my opinion they are very cute. However, they live in a solitary existence in dense bamboo forests; so, they are considered unsociable and eccentric.

The second country is located in South America. It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area. The official language of the country is Spanish. The national beverage is yerba mate and tango is its musical symbol. The region I would like to visit in this country is farther south. It is an open door to see the immense solitude of mysterious Antarctica. You should not miss the mountain tops in which nature overflows in granite needles and icy fields brimming with glaciers in lakes of unique beauty. Some of the animals you can see there are sea lions, elephant seals, and penguins.

The third country is located in Europe and it is fairly small compared to the other three countries I would like to visit. It is very famous for its art and ancient monuments. This country’s abundant natural gifts are really outstanding! There you can see thousands of indented coasts, imposing rocky massifs, caves, gorges, lakes, rivers, biotopes of spectacular beauty and unique natural habitats. The movie Mamma Mia was shot there. While in this country, you should visit the marine parks to see two protected species: the Mediterranean monk seal and the Mediterranean green loggerhead turtle.

And finally, the fourth country is located in Oceania. It is the sixth-largest country in the world. It is about the same size as the 48 mainland states of the USA and 50 per cent larger than Europe, but has the lowest population density in the world - only two people per square kilometer. One of the really nice things about the country is that I can speak English since it is their official language. A movie with the name of this country was released in 2008 starring Nicole Kidman and David Wenham. Since this is a very large country, you can visit many different places such as deserts, beaches, forests and national parks. The animal which is the icon of this country is the largest marsupial in the world: the kangaroo. Kangaroos can hop, which is their fast and very energy-efficient way to travel.

Do you consider yourself smart?

Can you guess the names of my four favorite countries?

Which one do you think I would love to go first? Why?

Post your guesses here. I will love to read them!

I will go paragliding!

Hey gus! Thanks for voting and helping me to decide where to go. As you voted, this holiday I will go paragliding! I am trying to convince my brother Tony to go with me, but he is too scared! I am thinking about asking my cat Fluff to go with me. What do you think? 

Here are the results of the poll:

Have you ever practiced any extreme sport?

Hi folks!

Have you ever practiced any extreme sport?

Well, I haven’t. At least not yet, since I am planning to do something different next holiday.  

 

What do you think? Can you help me choose among the following options? You can help me by voting here in my blog and also by posting comments and suggestions.

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Windsurfing: the sport of sailing on water standing on a windsurfer (a long narrow board with a sail, which you stand on and sail across water on).

Florianópolis is a very special place for windsurfing because it has constant winds from all quadrants and water all around. One can try some lagoons, surf the waves in most of the beaches, or even test one’s endurance going around the island (just picture that!). One hour of winsurfing in Lagoa da Conceição costs about 30 reais.

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Snorkeling: the sport or activity of swimming underwater with a snorkel (a tube that you can breathe air through when you are swimming under the surface of the water).

People say Ilha do Campeche is the best place for snorkeling in Florianópolis and that it is wonderful for beginners as well. The boat trip to the island plus one hour of snorkeling cost about 50 reais. 

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Rafting: the sport or activity of traveling down a river on a raft (a small boat made of rubber or plastic that is filled with air).

One hour of rafting in places near Florianópolis costs about 60 reais per person. The best thing is that I can take some friends with me (any volunteer?!?).

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Paragliding: a sport in which you wear a special structure, like a parachute (a device that is attached to people or objects to make them fall slowly and safely when they are dropped from an aircraft. It consists of a large piece of thin cloth that opens out in the air to form an umbrella shape), jump from a plane or a high place and you are carried along by the wind before coming down to the ground.

Here in Florianópolis, people say the best place to land is on Praia Mole. There are several schools which offer double flights for about 50 reais.

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Wakeboarding: the sport of riding on a short wide board called a wakeboard while being pulled along through the water by a fast boat.

Boats and equipment are available for rent in the area of Lagoa da Conceição. Classes with all equipments included cost about 150 reais per hour. People say it is better to practice wakeboarding in early mornings and at the end of the day when the wind is calmer and the water glassier.

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Sandboarding: the sport of moving over sand on a sandboard: a long wide board that a person stands on to move over sand. There is also another type of sandboard: the one you can sit on. People say sandboarding is snowboarding minus cold and snow, plus bikinis and shorts. Here in Florianópolis people call it “esquibunda”, which I think is a funny name!

Boards can be rented at the bottom of the dunes of Joaquina for about 10 reais per hour, which I think is more than enough since the only way to go back up is by walking.

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Remember, I am waiting for your help to take this decision!
Hope to hear from you guys!

Cheers, Lily