As visions of churros dance in my head....

Not too much in the way of excitement happening here lately. Just been doin' the class thing, watching the World Cup games (for Brazil and Spain--the US is now out of it), shopping, reading/sleeping at the beach and beating my head up against the thesis wall. Being here and seeing how things really are makes me question my original topic. It seems pointless and irrelevant given the plethora of things that could be written about that seem much more pressing. I keep oscillating between the old idea and several different new ideas (though I haven't told my advisors yet). I'm starting to freak out a bit since my time here is roughly half over and I have no real work to show for it---just a lot of thoughts and observations. I've been making "To Do" lists that have nothing checked off yet. I can't figure out if it's the tropical atmosphere, my own procrastination and laziness or something as yet unidentified that is keeping me relatively stagnate here; it's quite annoying to have writer's block and not even be a writer, per se.

These photos are were taken when Felipe and I went to (takes a breath) his brother-in-law, Christian's, parent's apartment along the beach in Barra da Tijuca to watch Brazil play against Japan in the World Cup. For anyone who is following along, the U.S. has been eliminated but Brazil and Spain remain undefeated and at the top of their groups. There is a possibility that Brazil will play against Spain sometime in the near future which will make me very sad, no matter the outcome.

Hmmm....what else. Well, on the food front I had my first experience with Brazilian fast food--Bob's (it's like the Brazilian McDonalds, though those exist too). I hate fast food but, Felipe convinced me to at least try one of their milkshakes, since they are different than those in the U.S. This is what I had....

It is a chocolate milk shake made with good old Ovaltine. It has little crunchy chocolately bits of Ovaltine in it and it's really good. Apparently, Brazilians are rather attached to the stuff. "More Ovaltine please!" Also, on the way back from class one afternoon, Felipe had me try a churro. It is basically a hollow, cylindrical donut that Brazilians fill with chocolate, coconut, guava, and doce de leite (caramel). They look like this....though they are sold by a street vendor with a little cart in Brazil....

They taste REALLY good and are highly addictive. In fact, I want one now.