Onde você mora?

Boa tarde! (“Good afternoon!”) How are you doing? I’m busy today. I’ve just had a cup of hot mate and decided to relax a little and say “Hi!” to you. Mate is a Brazilian tea, the most popular Brazilian tea, actually, from a tree called Ilex paraguariensis. It’s a little bitter, but very very good! One of my favourites. And it’s very versatile! You can drink it in natura, hot, iced, with lemon, peach, guaraná, açaí (Brazilian fruits), etc., even milk! I like to drink it hot, with a little bit of lemon and a few drops of sweetener. But the mate gelado (“iced mate”) with fruit juice is delicious too! We even have a snack bar, in Brazil, skilled in different types of mate, called “O Rei do Mate” (rei means king). I usually have a glass of bomba at O Rei do Mate every time I go to downtown. Bomba (bomb) is a mix of iced mate, guaraná and açaí. It has this name because it’s a bomb of energy. Really! Guaraná and açaí give you a lot of energy! Since nowadays everything depends on images:

Mate com limão (Mate with lemon): This is the iced version (Really?!). And this is not propaganda, my favorite brand of mate is really this one (Matte Leão). I took this pic from their official website (matteleao.com.br). You can buy the (dry) mate in natura and add lemon juice after preparing the tea or you can buy the dry tea with lemon flavour. I choose the second option.

Guaraná: These cute fruits are guaranás. They’re originally from Amazônia (North of Brazil. Yes, the rain forest is also there, but I’ve never been there, so, I’m afraid I can’t tell you fantastic stories about giant snakes, alligators and piranhas. Especially because I wouldn’t like to meet giant snakes, alligators and piranhas! ) There are many ways to drink guaraná and we have, in Brazil, a very famous soda called guaraná. It seems that only Brazilians drink it. It’s a pity, because it’s the only soda I can bear (I don’t use to drink soda, anyway), so, I would like to find it abroad, to remind my country … We also have guaraná powder, but it’s a type of medicine, it’s not something you can drink like water! If you need more energy, you can mix guaraná powder with your tea or fruit juice. People who study and/or work a lot (like …me) are great guaraná powder users, in Brazil! Well … at least things were like these, before the “energetic drink fever”. I still prefer the guaraná powder.

Link of the pic:

http://www.plantasquecuram.com.br/Templates/guarana/guarana.jpg

Açaí: These tiny deep purple fruits are also from Amazônia. They have a huge energetic potential (so, also a lot of calories) and lots of good things for our health (sorry, I’m not in a wiki mood, today …). People usually use their pulp to prepare different recipes. The most famous is a type of puree mixed with cereals, banana and other ingredientes (some people mix sweetened condensed milk with açaí, too). People sell this puree on the streets, here in São Paulo. My brother knows a lot about it, but I’ve never tasted this puree. It would be an extreme experience …

Link of the pic:

http://www.arara.fr/AcaiCacho.jpg

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Oh, well … What was I talking about? Tea. Yes. I prefer tea, I don’t use to drink coffee. My brother is addicted to coffee and, sometimes, I drink it because he prepares coffee for himself. I love tea, it’s a nice subject to talk about someday, but, as I told you before, I’m busy today! So, I’m here to share something with you. A song! “Onde você mora?” (Where do you live?) is the name of a song, by a Brazilian band called “Cidade Negra”. It’s mostly a reggae band. I’m very eclectic, so, I like almost everything! Cidade Negra is a great band, they make me proud to be Brazilian! This is probably their most famous song, a classic, a lot of people in Brazil can sing that song and like it! I was organizing things on my laptop and found this song. It’s so beautiful that I decided to share it with you, today! This is the unplugged version (by MTV). Enjoy!

 

Lyrics:

http://letras.mus.br/cidade-negra/45284/

Now I need to go! Hope this song brings you good vibrations! I have a lot to tell you and will try to find some time to do it … Stay tuned, anyway! Other posts will come!

Peace!

Luna