Just a thought....
Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

Monday, 05 July 2010

Monday Mobservations

Ok, the title sounded funky, so I'm using it : )  Only one 'mob'-servation... I live in coffee country. Major league coffee country. The 'cafezinho' here is a way of life. It goes deeper than football. Football is a religion. Coffee is as natural as breathing.

Because of the school holidays, the trip I take with my Wednesday student is cut way short. There's a fraction of the amount of traffic on the roads in the early mornings. We stopped at a coffee shop half way. He made an interesting observation. Brazilians don't meet for coffee and friendship or chat. Ever. They may meet for a quick business arrangement, but not otherwise. Friendship and casual chat is reserved for beers and pubs. Coffee is an otherwise solitary affair.


Photo taken years ago not long after we first arrived here with a dinky 1mp camera

I was reminded of this this morning when a friend said she was meeting another friend for coffee. It's one of the things I've lamented for years here, that I can't call up a friend to meet somewhere for coffee or tea. It's just not done.

I've spent the weekend working on a photo for an old client. She always has a real challenge for me, usually involving a super-tiny, badly scanned photo that needs to be printed on a billboard. Ok, not a billboard, but you get the idea. This time, she wants a friend's face put onto a model's body. Friend in question is pale... very pale (and pixelised) and the model is lovely high-resolution with a deep golden tan. The model has flyaway hair *picture fans on the set*. The client wants me to tame the flyaway model hair too. The model in question is on the beach with shrubbery behind her. Eh... yes, a challenge.

When I was leaving for my kidlet, I stood at the bus stop dancing a little on the spot. *disclaimer: This isn't dancing in the normal sense. It is very much just bouncing a little on my feet* I can't stand still at bus stops. A guy on a bicycle came past.... I think he was training for some cycling event by the way he was dressed.... and yelled, "That's right! Keep dancing!" haha! Awesome! Then a truck driver laughed and yelled something too, but he was moving faster, so I lost what he said, but his thumbs up spoke volumes. People tend to stare at me. I'm a freak here. At least I know now that it's not because of my two heads or something. 

The kidlet made yet another mask for me. Is she trying to say something? They're all heart masks, in fairness to her.

This weekend, I came down with a boil between my eyes. I was swollen and looked like I'd been given two black eyes. That was Saturday morning. By Saturday night, I was snapping at everything and everyone and really weepy. I'm prone to the dastardly things and they usually get really bad. The last one I had around my eyes ended up with me getting emergency drainage. It was not pretty. My medical status here being what it is, I figured I have to do something drastic on the weekend. I didn't have any nasturtium (a natural antibiotic) on hand, so I made do with plenty of acupressure and EFT. This morning I woke up and it was all gone... totally! Weeeeeeeeeee!! *grins* I don't know if the acupressure did it or the EFT or just sheer, "You're not going to get me this time!" attitude, but it's gone!!! Can you tell I'm happy??

It's a perfect day. The sun is shining just so, the bumble bees were all over the Ipê tree, the kids are playing and making happy playing noises instead of screaming. Life is good.

17 comments:

  1. Wanna do coffee?? Jaldi! Jaldi!! :D
    The Queen of Hearts hey? Do you use flamingoes as croquet sticks too??
    As for the boil - bravo! But maybe you just pushed it in and now it's growing as a coffee hump on your back? Just a thought ....
    Today at the end of school I showed some of the girls how a princess walks and they were lying on the floor rolling with laughter .... evil imps!!! :)

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  2. *lies on the floor rolling with laughter* I can so do that too... make people laugh if they see my particular parody of a princess anything.

    I'd like to use bratty kids who think vuvuzelas are now toys as croquet sticks. Think the threat would work? Nah... they don't know what croquet is and more's the pity.

    A coffee hump. Now there's a thought! Just think, enough to carry us through the day?

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  3. I prefer two humps .... one for coffee and the other for mampoer for extra special voetsek days :)

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  4. Wow, life IS good! I would absolutely meet you for coffee (and yep, it got rid of my headache) ... we sat in the a/c on cushy chairs and just talked for a couple hours. :) That photo job? Sounds like a horror! Holy crap! Amazing the hoops they want you to jump through sometimes. :) I love that your dancing happiness is contagious. Amazing, isn't it? Smile, and the world smiles with you. :) Sweet about the kid and the heart mask. I think she really likes you, Tint! Smart kid. AWESOME news on the boil! Wow .. good for you!

    Your blog made me smile. :D

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  5. What a surprise about the coffee. I tend to be a solitary coffee drinker too---but I'd be happy to meet you for some if it was possible. It seems logical to sit and chat while drinking and dunking donuts. I suppose that's not allowed either.

    The photo job sounds horrible!

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  6. Oh, I would so miss chatting over coffee. It's the one thing we Dutch are really good at ... meeting over coffee. When two people meet, the first thing they do here is ordering coffee.

    I love your happy dance at the bus stop! It sounds like what my pastor calls the "kangaroo hop" ... the only way a real Dutchie can dance. LOL

    Glad to hear the boil has gone. Sounds really nasty!! But I like Katey's idea ... a coffee hump. Now that's a thought!

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  7. Katey... dis nou vir jou 'n plan!!

    Kippy, what a lovely way to spend the morning. Coffee often does that for me too. The job is a horror. The hair is giving me fits. The kid thrives on hearts... they're everywhere, so the heart isn't really indicative. Yes, I'm so happy about the boil or lack theirof. Glad you smiled : ) Smiles are always good.

    Kat, I love meeting with friends for coffee. They're not big on doughnuts here really. Their cookies are small and rather dry for the most part too.

    Riete, I'm moving to Holland lol You dance and meet for coffee. All good! Besides, I'm a Dutchie too. I think a kind of coffee canister with a straw... one day I'll get myself one of those travel mugs and never use it because it's one more thing to carry around, but the thought is nice. Yes, a hump is more practical LOL

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  8. Oh, coffEE! I don't function without coffee. All day long, my coffee is at the ready. Could never tell, tho, nope, no one would ever know just how much of the stuff I drink, never in a millions years, never affects me, just used to it I guess, and I never,ever do the decaf stuff, whats the point in that?

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  9. I would so meet you for coffee, tea for me, scones, I miss that so much!

    I am glad that your boil is gone! That must have been no fun, painful PLUS the fact that it looked like you got whapped! Twice!

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  10. Funny, here in downtown Salt Lake, coffee is for the "not mormon" crowd. And this "not mormon" crowd sits and fiddles with their wifi instruments, barely talking. My daughter and her friend were going to Nostalgia for coffee and she said they were the only ones chatting. Ah well, silly people.

    I'm all for coffee, Tint. I used to work for Starbucks roasting plant in Nevada. I got a free pound of coffee a week and I think I had every type imaginable, but my favorites were Indonesian. Sorry, the South American came in second with me...but a close second!!!

    Don't you have any topical antibiotics? Just curious. I'm sorry you had to push a boil around-seems like it saved you from being pushed around by IT. =)

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  11. I'm not a coffee drinker, but also, I've never really understood meeting to visit over coffee. I guess I just don't understand coffee. I would rather just sit on a couch and visit and not spend the money, either!

    I had a boil a year or two ago, same spot. It was crazy. And super gross. And required spearing and drainage at the clinic. I feel your pain.

    I already saw the end result of your photoshop work. What an assignment!

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  12. I could meet over coffee, tea, whatever every day :-)

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  13. Debbie, I love my coffee too, 'cept it doesn't keep me awake. I think people drink decaf when they don't want the caffiene and like the taste? Dunno. I think it tastes awful.

    Marty, I'd meet you for coffee too. Heck, I'll make the scones. Hm.... methinks I could rustle up a batch right now. Yep, the boil was no fun. I'm just grateful it went so quickly. They usually hang around for a very long time... and take ages to go away completely.

    Kat, I'm officially jealous. How can I get a job at Starbucks? lol I'm with you on South American coffee. It's not the best. My favourite coffee was a blend we used to order back home from a tiny coffee roaster (he'd blend and roast your coffee freshly in front of you). The blend had Arabic and Columbian coffee in it. Blend 97, it was : ) I don't use any antibiotics of the commercial kind if I can help it.

    Sandy, I find that sad. The 'coffee' concept isn't restricted to coffee. Heck, one can drink tea, juice, even water. It's the social side I'm talking about. What do you do if you don't even own a couch? Here they don't meet unless it's for beer or lunch. Not even in a park where it's free. Luckily, my boil pain, this time, was short lived. I've always been prone to them and many, many doctor's visits have been purely for boil removal.

    Thanks Marty! One day I hope to meet my friends 'live' over coffee again.... or tea... or whatever : )

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  14. I wish there was an English/ American version of the term "kuier saam". Somehow nothing translates.

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  15. Ah yes... Ons sal nog lekker saam kuier!

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  16. Working on it... fast, fast! Now translate that!

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Tint~