Thursday, August 20, 2009

Avocado Milkshakes and Thousand Dollar Field Trips

I can't say my life has gotten anymore exciting lately. Maybe a little busier, but not a lot more interesting.

First up on the list of semi-interesting happenings was the avocado "shake" I had this week. Apparently here where I live, avocados are used more as a fruit than a vegetable. Pedro and I go to our neighborhood juice bar once a week where one can find about every kind of juice you could ever think of. I usually stick with the "normal juices" like orange, tangerine, passion fruit, guava, and an occasional exotic kiwi juice. But, I've always been intrigued by the avocado juice.

It's avocado, a little milk and some sugar.

I decided this week was the week I would forgo a juice that I knew I loved to try something new.

I should have stuck with the old faithfuls.

I really tried to like it; I drank more than half of it all the while telling myself, "it tastes good, it tastes good, it's not just for guacamole." Then I started to feel really nauseated.




I don't recommend trying this at home.

Oh well, at least I don't have to wonder if I'm missing out on anything anymore. Oh and one more Brazilian treat North American tastebuds may want to avoid? Corn- flavored popsicles. Also not good.

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Yesterday I was at school all.day.long attending both the elementary and middle school open houses for my kids. One of the main topics of the middle school portion was the upcoming 6th grade trip to the north of Brazil. The mandatory 4 day trip will cost just over $1,000.00. Luckily, Gaupo's company pays for stuff like that or I'd be a little peeved. But, it's par for the course when your kid goes to a super-rich Brazilian school where money means nothing to most of the students.

Anyway, they opened it up for questions. I was cracking up at the questions that were coming from the 6th graders. It went like this:

"Are we going to the beach?"

"Are we going to have free time?"

"Will our free time be at the hotel?"

"Can we pick our roommates?"

"What time do we have to go to bed?"

"Do we have tv's in our room?"

"What kind of cell phone coverage will we have?"

"Do we get to pick who's in our room?"

"Can I go surfing?"


They were actually better than some of the parents' questions:

"What happens if my child has swine flu?" (Ummm, they can't go on the trip.)

"What happens if my child gets swine flu there?" (Ummmm, they'll get sent home.)

"Are they going to fly on a reputable airline? You know there was a crash a couple of months ago" (No, we just hired some guy off the street who says he can fly who's going to take them in an refurbished WWII plane. But, thanks SO MUCH for bringing up the Air France crash in front of 51 6th graders who are shortly going to be flying without their parents.)

"What if there's someone on the plane with swine flu?" (???)

"Don't you think you should take the school nurse in case one of the kids has swine flu?" (And that would help because?)

Do you see a common theme here? People are just a little bit preoccupied with the dreaded swine flu.

May you and yours (and anyone you may come in contact with) be free of the swine flu. And remember, avocados and corn should be used only as vegetables (except in the rare case of corn bread).

10 comments:

Avocado said...

i Like avocado. Avocado is very healthy and has many health benefits. It is rich in nutrients and is excellent as conditioner and makes one’s locks lustrous and smooth, it helps to get rid of the frizz from hair, also helps preventing hair loss and its nutrients helps for good hair growth.

Stephanie said...

I like avocado okay by itself, but it is SO good with banana. You need to make it at home to taste. Blend avocado, banana, milk, sugar, and i like ice in mine. I also make mine a little thicker, like a milk shake. It is so dang good. I swear. The banana makes all the difference!

Gabriela said...

Avocado: Please don't misunderstand me, it's not that I don't like avocados-I love them in salads, sandwiches, guacamole, I just didn't like them mixed with milk and sugar. That's all. But, thanks for the hair tips- I do suffer from the occasional case of the frizzies. :)

Stephanie: Really? I'm a little apprehensive after my experience this week, but I may give it a try. I'll report back when I do.

Abby said...

In Israel, when I was 11, I was served pita bread filled with avocado slices. Nothing else. There are probably many people out there that would like this, but I remember having some serious trouble getting that baby down.

Anyway, I'm with you, I like it as guac and occasionally on a sandwich. We drank guarana with dinner last night:)

Lori - Blondie in Brazil said...

Sorry to hear about the avocado experience. Like Stephanie I was told about the abacate banana vitamina - banana, avocado and milk. I tried it recently and loved it, but I do have to admit it leaves you feeling rather blah because its so heavy.

Your list of parent questions cracked me up! How wild that the kids are required to go on the trip. I'd be a bit concerned if I had to pay for it myself as well.

Code Yellow Mom said...

Oh...if my husband read this, he would start frothing about swine flu and sharing the little known facts that more people died IN THE U.S. from REGULAR FLU in a year than have died worldwide from the dreaded swine flu. It is so funny how worked up people can get.

But maybe avocado shakes are the secret cure? That would make them good for something, eh?

The list of questions cracked me up, too. The kids inquiries are much more realistic. :)

Fabiola said...

Well, I don't like avocados, neither with salt, nor with sugar. But in Brazil, avocado is treated as a fruit :)

As for the sausages: I used Chicken Sausage and Portuguese Sausage from Sadia. They are translated in Portuguese as LinguiƧa de Frango and LinguiƧa Portuguesa.

Fabiola

Head Nurse or Patient- you be the judge said...

Wow- here in Utah they can't even hardly get permission to leave the state in High School- let alone go that far- I would probably "unrequire" my kid to go,

I pretty much can't believe the insanity the Swine flu has brought out in people. Two years ago, out school district had over 1/3 of the students out with some nasty bug- and they didn't even consider closing the schools, but have one case diagnosed in the STATE, and school closure plans are put into place- good grief.

Janice said...

Now I am curious to try an avocado shake but I have a feeling I would feel the same way, which makes me a little sad because I think avocados are one of the best food items on the planet.

nikko said...

Avocado smoothie? Interesting... I love my avocados, but turning it into a fruit might be more than I can handle. :o)