Brazilian Sign Language

A clean, well-lighted place

What you see there is the juice bar on the corner across the street from me. I went there last night to read and enjoy a vitamina. A vitamina is a drink that can include any number of things, but I think it almost always involves some sort of cereal. I got a banana and oat vitamina. It’s among the least refreshing things one could drink, but it was nice nonetheless. I felt like I was getting some important fiber, and—of course—vitamins.

I saw a great thing last night on the bus. A thing I wish everyone could see, but a thing that would be nearly impossible to photograph for a number of reasons. First of all, my bus ride is remarkably violent. These whale sized machines try to zip through the city like sharks, jerking me from side to side and throwing me from my seat (I flew straight up on the way in this morning!). At night, it’d be very difficult for me to get a clear picture on the bus since I refuse to use a flash. But that’s not the real issue. The fact is that I’m too shy and I also don’t speak Brazilian sign language.

There were about five deaf people on the bus last night, engaged in a passionate discussion about something involving blow guns. I wanted to capture their faces, their arms, the way they kept raising their pinched thumbs and forefingers to their mouths and blowing between the pressed tips. And their faces! Well, this one kid’s face, so severe and intent between his wide ears. He moved his wiry arms urgently forward and backward while his furious eyes stared down whoever he spoke to through thick wire-rimmed glasses, his furrowed brow oscillating, his mouth rarely opened. It might sound like a joke (the blow gun thing), but I’m serious. It moved me. If I could, I would have told them how much I loved their dance, how I envied their ability to communicate beautifully with every visible muscle on their bodies, how I wished I could express myself so thoroughly. I wish I could have taken some pictures, but they would have done no justice anyway.

There are some really great advertising campaigns going on down here. Incidentally both by companies owned by Pepsi.

The first is Ruffles’ invitation to Travel via Mayonnaise! (Viaje na Maionese) Buy a bag of Ruffles and you get one of three different packets of mayo to enjoy with your chips: original (Brazilian), lemon (which I’m guessing is italian based on the packet design), and English (English). So far I’ve only tried original, and it tastes like mayo and makes me feel like I’m on a trip to Brazil. I’m a fan of mayonnaise. I know a lot of people who hate the stuff, but I don’t mind it so I’m stoked to hop on board and take a trip through mayonnaise! Even if that involves eating it with potato chips. When in Rome!

The other great thing is the Pepsi Twist campaign. Pepsi’s marketing a lime tinged version of its cola with a great personified lime character. I got a kick out of the happy lime on some ads around town, so I checked out their website. I was overjoyed to find that they offer a handful of animated .gifs that I think they hope kids will use as avatars when they chat (instant messaging is immensely popular here). Anyway, these limes are AMAZING. Check it out! They’ve got:

Elvis

The file name of this one is limao_black.gif, so I guess this lime is black.

Dancing with tattoo

and…

Peeing?

I would think that people wouldn’t like to think of urine when buying a beverage, even if it’s lime urine. But, apparently I’m not Brazilian, and I’ve got a lot to learn about marketing. What a world! I’m so glad I’m not making this up.