Today was definitely a good day. I woke up to a shower and another great breakfast. A fresh papaya half was awaiting me. I'd learned only yesterday how to eat a papaya, but I scooped the tiny black seeds out almost like a pro. I was soon drinking and eating a cup of strong coffee, a sandwich (which consists of a small slice of plain ham and a slice of cheese), freshly made juice (juiced directly from the fruits, not bought in the store), and a slice (a slice being a centimeter or so wide, a couple inches long, an inch or so high.. by American standards, very small) of "Cake". You really don't need much more than that, though, to truly enjoy the flavor. In fact, for the first time ever, I have felt totally satisfied with one, possibly two, of a dessert of that size.

It looks very much like this one.  The inside is firm and very compact. It is not at all like American cake, but the firmness reminds me slightly of cheese cake...but even more firm than that. You can pick it up with your fingers after you cut it. At first, I thought it was made from a soft yet firm cheese, like good mozzarella. It has a tasty yet not overpowering sweet flavor. Perfect with your morning coffee.
 This photo to the left was found on http://maternasp.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/para-quem-nao-vai-viajar/
After breakfast, the family and I all hurried to the car. We were soon at an outdoor fresh/organic fruit market, with tons of new and very interesting and enticing fruits and vegetables. Aside from passion fruits, papayas, mangos, star fruits, pineapples, bananas, and other familiar fruits, I found many fruits I'd never even imagined to exist.

I walked through, exploring the different shapes, sizes and colors, while Paulo's mother, Terezinha pointed out the Portuguese names of some of the particularly odd ones.

We ended our trip with a bunch of bananas, some tiny green fruits that I don't remember the name of (and soon found out I really, really did not like anyway..), and the best-tasting Cantaloupe I have ever eaten; sweet and refreshing, just as it should be.

For those that are interested in seeing more pictures of the Brazil trip and the fruit market, I would like to invite you to view my online photo album through Picasa, which will have the majority of my photos from this trip. For the sake of the organization of this site, I cannot post all of the photos in my blog, but by viewing the Picasa Photo Album, you can easily view, comment, and enlarge all of the photographs from this trip. I will make a similar album of all videos from this trip. If I can figure it out, I hope to make separate tabs at the top of this page. If not, you can always reach the album via the slideshow that I have just installed on the upper right hand side of this page. Simply click one of the small photos to enlarge them, and then you should be able to go through the album itself. It will automatically upload every time I put more photographs in the Brazil album on my computer, so you won't have to miss a thing!