Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Beach Economy

When we woke up this morning we headed straight for the beach, before the rain clouds had a chance to gather. We weren't disappointed, especially with our breakfast of beach-cheese and a coconut popsicle (which was basically just coconut and milk and sugar on a stick, and will give the grilled cheese a run for its money as my favourite beach snack). About an hour into our lounging I realized that my SPF 15 wasn't going to protect my creamy white Canadian thighs against the tropical sun. Luckily, you can buy little bottles of sunscreen right on the beach! Oh, those enterprising Brazilians. We summoned a sunscreen dude over to enquire about the prices of his wares. I pointed to the little (60mL) bottle of SPF 30 and asked how much it would cost.

Sunscreen Dude: 22 reais.
Me (to Ken): How much?
Ken: 22. [about 11 USD]
Me (to SD, in Spanish with my best Portuguese accent): No, that's OK, obrigada.
SD: OK, 17 reis.
Me: No, that's OK.
SD: 15.
Me: No, obrigada.
SD: You understand? 15 reais. [he started to write the number in the sand]
Me: I understand, but no thanks.
SD: Too expensive?
Me: Yes, it's OK, obrigada.
SD: 12 reais.
Me: No, obrigada.
SD: Still too expensive?
Me: Yes, but thanks.
SD: OK, 10 reais, so you will be my customer.
Me (to Ken): Pay the man.

My mom, with her superior bartering skills, will be proud.

Like yesterday's maracujá, today's FotD is also nondescript-looking on the outside. In fact, I bought this one not knowing anything about it except its name, goiaba (I don't think it has an English translation), and that it smelled delicious. Ken predicted that it would be red inside, and I resisted looking it up until after we cut it open to see for ourselves. Turns out it's watermelon-pink, and oh-so-pretty! Goiaba flesh is soft enough to scoop out with a spoon, so that's how we ate it. It was sweet and mild and was kind of the texture of mousse or soft ice cream. It did have a lot of little seeds, so it would probably be better pureed and strained.

Update: It's guava! Thanks Kari, and Parabens!
UFF Fruit Rating:

1 comment:

Kari D. said...

That's guava baby!