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Gifts
My English Exercise
Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is one of the Seven Modern Wonders of the World. Of course the wonderful natural scenery where it is located influenced the votes of millions of Brazilian internauts and also the fact that it is a religious symbol for catholic people. The poll through Internet occurred more than two years ago and its result went against the will of lots of people around the world.
I was asked to make my own list of the Seven Wonders of the World. Lol Wait a minute! I’m not showing off. It’s an exercise in my English classes, and a very difficult one. Well, there are so many wonders that it’s impossible to choose only a few ones. I’m unable to express my point of view about places I’ve never seen either in person or in dreams. Now I can understand the real meaning of a grain of sand, I’m one. 
Among the very few places I’ve already known Alhambra in Granada, Southern Spain was the one that astonished me, it is really wondrous. Walking in the interior of the palaces decorated with arabesques and calligraphy, admiring the Generalife with its gardens and fountains made me feel as I was in paradise. The Islamic Architecture is magnificent, a feast for our eyes.
The whole Paris is a wonder; it’s unthinkable to choose only one of its monuments or only one of its traditional buildings. Even those who don’t like ancient buildings, Paris gives them the opportunity to appreciate radical buildings like Pompidou Centre, and La Défence is the right destination for the lovers of the modernist style, there they can admire the Grande Arche de la Défense, a cube-shaped building, whose middle part is open; you have only to take a lift to the top of the Grande Arche and you’ll have a terrific view of the “La Ville-Lumière” (The Light City).
Another place that is a treasure is the Vatican in Rome, Italy. I did enjoy it, but I’m incapable of describing what I saw there. St Peter Basilica in Vatican is definitely a wonder.
Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates catches your eye. Even so the mosque is one of my favourite wonders of the world, I’ve never been there. Internet is really a powerful instrument to enlarge our horizons, I’ve received by email a presentation on Power Point slide showing impressive photos of the mosque. According to a Internet site the design of the mosque can be best described as a fusion of Arab, Mughal and Moorish architecture. . The mosque is home to the world's largest handmade carpet designed by Iranian artist Ali Khaliqi. The marble floor with inlay, a huge amount of inlay of mother-of-pearl, the decorated columns, all of them are simply stunning.
Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, Turkey inspired many projets of cathedrals around the world, I visited the Orthodox Cathedral in Paradise neighbourhood (Bairro Paraíso) in São Paulo, Brazil so I can imagine how beautiful Hagia Sophia is. Besides I have seen photos on Internet. Without any doubt it is one more of my wonders of the world.
Is my English exercise very difficult or not? I only can say I’m really tired of doing it.
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Knowing the Amazon Region – Manaus- Brazil Part 02
My sister Myrian and her husband Alberto knew the Manaus city’s two realities:
- its similarities to any Brazilian big city,
- and its superb natural environment.
As any tourist, they went on a tour to see the rivers, Negro and Solimões, and to be in contact with the most exuberant species of trees, plants, exotic animals and the local river communities, people very friendly, who welcomed them with tender smiles. The river dwellers live along the bank of the Amazon River. These people depend on the river for every aspect of their life, so they are strongly adapted to the river, building their houses according to the changes of it. The houses are either up on stilts or float because of the dry and the rainy seasons, when the river water levels change a lot. 
The largest part of the Amazon River basin lies in the Brazilian Amazon Region, having its beginnings high in the Andes (Peru), as a series of tiny tributaries.
Manaus city, situated in the heart of the Amazon region, is near the place where the Black river ( rio Negro) meets the Solimões river to form the great Amazon river. These two tributaries are very different; each one has its particular speed, density and temperature. The water of the Rio Negro is darker, slower and much hevier than the Rio Solimões’. These differences keep separated the waters of the two rivers for about 4 km before they mix to become the fabulous Amazon River. 
The rich Amazon region folklore delights all Brazilians. The ancient story of a young Indian girl who fell in love with the moon is a fanciful explanation for the origin of the wonderful “vitória régia”. When the girl saw the reflection of her beloved moon in the water, she dived in to meet it, and ended up drowning in the river. The sorrowful moon transformed her into the beautiful vitória-régia (royal water lily). The lily pads are superb; they are easily 4-5 feet in diameter.
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São Paulo City - Brazil I have to confess, traveling has always been a subjet for stress, due to my fears. I’m very afraid of taking risks and I consider a trip a great challenge, a very dangerous one. But I have been trying to change my attitude to life and, nowadays, I enjoy travelling very much.
On February, 15th, José and I went to São Paulo, the biggest city in Brazil and the most important financial center of my country. It is the address of 10.9 million people and the world’s fourth -largest city in terms of population. Thinking about São Paulo is thinking about the people who contributed to its industrialization and development, the Italians, Japanese and Germans, the immigrants that brought their customs, food and events there.
What a pleasant surprise! I could know varied places in São Paulo and even tasted different foods that is a thing that I hardly do. I was also surprised by the metro system (subway) of the city, very very clean and in very good order. I’m really able to size it up. After all I know metros of many cities abroad.
No other Brazilian capital has a higher concentration of restaurants, movie theaters and theaters or has such a lively night life. There are 280 movie theaters and nightclubs, 71 museums and 11cultural centers there. And also lots of food: 15 thousand bars and 12,500 restaurants with 52 types of cuisine. One night I went to a “pizzaria” ( pizza restaurant house), where I ate a better pizza than the ones I ate in Italy. I guess that the best Italian “pizzaiolo” immigrated to São Paulo bringing the secret of the tastiest pizza from Italy.
I saw the Brazilian production of “Miss Saigon” at the Abril Theatre, located on Brigadeiro Luis Antonio avenue. Both the building of the theatre and the performance of Brazilian actors are “things of the First World”(we, Brazilians, love to say it when we want to value something. hehehehe) I mean they are superb. The Abril Theatre occupies the place of the old CineTeatro Paramount (1929)and its façade and the lobby, in the art noveau style, were listed as a protected historic site.
Another night I watched a French film “Dans Paris” at Reserva Cultural 900. It was a great opportunity to know that cultural place whose special purpose is the exhibition of independent films.
 Photo from: www.sinhores-sp.com.brimagensavenida_paulista.jpg
Reserva Cultural 900 is located in the floor of the Gazeta Building on Paulista Avenue, which is the cultural birth place of São Paulo. Besides the exhibition movie rooms, there are other services like “Cafeteria Boulangerie Pain de France,” which serves French food and also a restaurant , where you can admire the view of Paulista Avenue, the most cosmopolitan avenue in Brazil, lined with banks, corporations and other financial institutions. . After the movie session I drank a hot chocolate at Fran’s Café (a coffeeshop that serves varied coffees and many kind of delicious food)
The Livraria Cultura ( Culture Bookstore) that is also located on Paulista Avenue, The bookstore occupies 4.3 thousand m² in the “Conjunto Nacional”, erected in 1952, today, a completely restored building, My husband was very excited at such amount ( 190 thousand items) and great variety of titles. (I’m looking forward to meeting Arthur and Isabela in order to give them the books I bought there.)
Photo from: www.flickr.com/photos/eltonmelo/sets/72057594130633417/
The only church I visited in São Paulo was the Orthodox Cathedral in Paradise neighbourhood (Bairro Paraíso). Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, Turkey inspired the projet of the wonderful cathedral founded by the Arabian comunity in Brazil.
 photo from Elton Melo's flicker
It’s on the Byzantine style of architecture: its five golden dome form a cross on the roof. There are more than fifty stained glass windows (vitrais) that allow the natural light entry, illuminating the beautiful afrescos on the vault. A superb big chanderlier in the center of the building and other ones smaller light up the cathedral at night.
On the Saturday morning I had an old dream of mine made true, I went to the Mercado
Municipal Paulistano, where people go to buy food, trying delicacies from boxes of fruit, olives, cheeses and crystallized sweets.
Recently restored, the neo-classic building, erected in 1933, has beautiful stained glass windows depicting coffee farmers. I tasted the famous codfish turnover ( pastel de Bacalhau) at the Hocca Bar ( I’ve always watched in newscasts on tv important people from all over the world tasting this delicious fried pastry). I took many photos and did what is one of my strongest characteristics : 
I talked to people I have never met before. The Municipal Market of São Paulo or just Mercadão, as it is called by everybody, is among the main tourist attractions of São Paulo; there you can see people from many states of Brazil and a lot of foreigners. I loved walking on its streets coloured by fruits, vegetables and varied spices. In its 291 boxes you can find everything: from fruits of the
Amazon region ( rambutã, cupuaçu among others) to Orient dried fruits as apricots and figs, from Norwegian codfish to Caspian Sea sturgeon spawn, from Brazilian Canastra Mountain cheeses to Greek olives and Spanish jamons.
I insisted on strolling round the Liberdade , the Asian neighbourhood founded by Japanese immigrants at the beginning of the 20th century. I thought I would meet many Asian-descendant Brazilians there but the fair on Liberdade square was full of Northeastern Brazil people, I even saw a “nordestina” (Northeastern woman) doing Japanese handicrafts. Nowadays the nordestinos ( from the Northeast Brazil ) are an indispensable workforce in São Paulo, they leave their homeplace and go to the rich city, seeking a better way of life.
I also went to “Rua 25 de Março” (March25th Street ), a famous and popular shopping street whose characteristic is good prices. When I got married , I lived in São Paulo for three months and I bought newborn baby clothes there. Visiting this street was a kind of “revival” of my youth.
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The New 7 Wonders Of The World 7 candidates have been elected to represent global heritage throughout history: Chichén Itzá, Mexico The Great Wall, China Machu Picchu, Peru Petra, Jordan The Roman Colloseum, Italy The Taj Mahal, India Christ Redeemer, Brazil  photo from www.psg.com/~walter/se.htm Would you like to see other wonderful photos?
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My Adventures in Spain - 03 Carminha ( Little Carmen)
Andalucia was the region of Spain that we could really enjoy thanks to Carminha’s help. We arrived in Granada by air and then our tour of Andalucia started. Walking the streets and visiting the historical places was very pleasant but... when we had to go to another city, my brother-in-law ( Roberto) drove us. Besides he is a great driver, Roberto had Carminha that helped him a lot. Someone of us said that Carminha had to stay near Roberto, and my sis, his wife, said quickly: _” No... no, I will sit beside him and Carminha will stay with me. My hubby doesn’t obey no woman except me, so I will repeat her suggestions to him.” We laughed a lot. Travelling through the Andalucia lands was an incredible experience for all of us; we could compare its landscapes with the Brazilian ones tangled in our heads. For the first time I saw an olive- tree... And Carminha, always patient, repeated her instructions through the infinite olive plantations. Carminha led us to Cordoba, Malaga, Ronda and Sevilha. What a precision! Sometimes my brother-in-law, Roberto, who is one of the most polite and kind men I’ve ever known, showed signs of impatience and he rebelled against the poor Carminha: “- Honey, say to Carminha that I won’t turn to the left” -“ Honey, Carminha should go to HELLLLL......” We laughed.... laughed... Carminha was always right and our disobedient driver was wrong. Speaking with its Portuguese accent ( from Portugal) and its female voice, the GPS (Global Positioning System), whose nickname was Carminha, said .... “Calculating” ... and its screen showed a better option than the driver’s ones.
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This is the first rose that blossomed in my backyard. I've been admiring it through my kitchen window. Of course my rose isn't as splendid as Nikki's ones.... She is an expert in Roses, isn't she! Congratulations, dear Nikki!
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To the member 3389 of The Cloud Appreciation Society and all my friends around the world: 
That's the Brazilian sky in my city today. I'm enjoying a clear and warm Spring evening. The colours of the sky are superb. 
Photos taken from my veranda. PS. Can I say "To the member.... " or I should say for...? I'm afraid I'm going to have a heart attack lol
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