Ahuacati+molli

In tribute to Maria's time in Mexico, the cheap, giant avocados you can buy in Brasil and my love for food in general I thought I would do blog about guacamole.  Guacamole isn't popular here in Brasil. They prefer to eat their avocado with milk and sugar - like a smoothie or for a dessert. Having grown up with avocado as a savoury rather than a sweet, my preference is still for it on it's own with a bit of freshly ground pepper (another impossible thing to find here in Brasil) or as guacamole. I like my guacamole fresh, chunky and tasty and its so easy to make.

The first avocado originated in Mexico,.The word avocado is from the Aztec Nahuatl word ahuacatl, which means 'testicle' in reference to the shape of the fruit.  The name guacamole is a compound derived from two Aztec Nahuatl words - ahuacatl (avocado) and molli (soup/sauce). 

The most important ingredient for the perfect guacamole is, of course, the avocado. You have to use good, ripe avocados. You can test the ripeness of an avocado by pressing gently on the outside and it should give a little. It can't be too hard, or too soft - just right. A mix of finely chopped red onion, peppers / serranto chillis for spice, lemon juice and freshly ground pepper and salt are my essentials.

My mother-in-law introduced me to roquamole the other year... and blue cheese is now one of my other essential ingredients. A traditionalist may shake their head at me but it's so good, I could have it just as a meal on it's own. 

If you are travelling in a foreign country and desperate for some fresh avocado here's some help:

Avocado  /ævəkɑ:doʊ/ in english

Avocado /ævəkɑ:dəʊ/ in american

الأفوكادو /ʼFwkādw/ in arabic

其树 (/qíshù/ in mandarin

el aguacate in spanish

la palta in argentina, bolivia, chile, peru, uruguay (a quechua name)

o abacate in brasilian portuguese

Rock the mole!!

*Translations courtesy of Google Translate

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!mamadisima!

On Thursday night we decided to meet Isaac, perhaps Monterrey’s best-kept secret. We were lucky to meet him on the second day we arrived in Mexico at the Monterrey Polo club, and lets just say he’s made our stay here memorable.

So there we were, Felipe, Nicola and I, meeting Isaac at The Corner pub in San Pedro. When we arrived we were introduced to Franco who took one look at me and mumbled to Isaac “Wey, esta mamadisima, me puede cargar!”.You can imagine my intrigue. Mamadisima?!!! What?!?! I asked Isaac but he just giggled and then giggled some more. Now, I was really intrigued. Finally he broke down and explained it meant you’re really fit. Hmmmm, I suspected Isaac was sugar coating the definition so I asked the table next to ours where Jonaz, Alejandro and Carlos said it meant either 'very muscular' or 'very drunk'. It was the beginning of my evening so I was definitely not drunk. That only left the incredible hulk translation (just google images: mamadisimo and see for yourself!). Wow! While the guys assured me it was not derogatory, the translation “Man, she’s very muscular she can carry me” didn’t particularly sound like a compliment either. Even though “Mamadisima” was a borderline insult it did break the ice with Jonaz, Alejandro and Carlos.

As it turned out Jonaz was the guitarist and vocalist of Plastilina Mosh, an indie pop band from Monterrey, Mexico, which has been rocking since 1998. Most notably recognised by the release of the “Pervert Song” from their “All U Need Is Mosh” album. See, there is always a silver lining J.

Mamadisimo and Mamada all come from the root word "mamar" which means "to suck". "Que mamada" means how cool, which is what the guys said when I told them my name was “Ms. Petit” The point being that not only do you get insults from the root word "mamar" but luckily also compliments since I don’t think I could handle 2 insults in one night :)

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eXpresso vs. eSpresso

In between meetings, starving and in search of a flat screen TV to watch the Netherlands vs. Uruguay World Cup Semi-final Felipe Dell’Oro and I ended up at Chili’s Restaurant. Ironic I know since we are in Mexico and can get authentic Mexican food instead of the Americanized version by Chili’s Restaurant chain. But we were desperate. To “close the deal” I decided to go for an after meal eXpresso and I pronounced it exactly how it was written in the menu eXpresso /"" ikˈspresō /. Felipe politely pointed out “you know its pronounced and spelled eSpresso.” He lives in Milan he should know but I found it even more curious that he picked up on it, the variation after all is very subtle. Until that moment I had never picked up on the variation in spelling and/or pronunciation /eˈspresō/ vs. /"" ikˈspresō /. I have been interchanging Expresso with Espresso without even giving it a second thought, the way I often switch back in forth between Spanish and English without even realizing it.

Interestingly though while Merriam-Websters and Cambridge Dictionaries have Expresso as a variant of the word Espresso, Oxford dictionary clearly states it is incorrect!: The often-occurring variant spelling expresso — and its pronunciation (Pronunciation: /"" ikˈspresō /) — is incorrect and was probably formed by analogy with express.

So when in ROME.../eˈspresō/ J

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2010 TEDprize Winner Jamie Oliver

Chef, TEDprize Winner and Delicious Daddy, Jamie Oliver is starting a food revolution. He has one wish:

“I wish for everyone to help create a strong sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.”

Jamie Oliver points out that the no.1 killer in the USA is heart disease. In fact 2/3 of America is either overweight or obese. He advocates focusing on education to catalyse change. During his TED speech he showed a video clip of children at an elementary school who struggled to identify basic food items such as tomatoes, cauliflower, beets and aubergine (UK)/eggplant (USA). Jamie’s point is that “if kids don’t know what stuff is then they will never eat it!” and “We’ve got to start teaching kids about food at school!”

JAM Fruit & Vegetable English Flashcards are a great and fun way to educate children about fruit & vegetables initiating a healthy relationship with food. We are also proud to announce that recently JAM Fruit & Vegetables English Flashcards was catalogued in the USA National Agricultural Library.

Since I’m writing from Monterrey, Mexico and in the spirit of healthy meal solutions, check out Gwyneth Paltrows’s Mexican dinner family style J Adorable Gwyneth not only dishes out her delicious “delish” recipes in this short video but also indulges in her own lingo/slang.

Guac – Short for Guacamole

Donesville – Means it’s done

Barbie – Short for barbecue but can also refer to a grill

Not down with the spicy – Does not like spicy (in this context spicy food)

Delish – Short for delicious

JAM English Flashcards: Fruit and Vegetables available online at jam.shop now!

Futebol? Soccer? Chuggu? Sakkā? Fußball? Voetbal? Fútbol?

Good guess - I am talking about the World Cup!

I think it was while I was watching Uruguay v South Korea I was wondering how players that don't speak English, manage to communicate with the officials. If there is a Spanish-speaking ref with a Spanish-speaking team, are they allowed to speak Spanish or does everything have to be conducted in English?  Surely the Koreans all speak to each other in Korean, and swear at the other team (and the ref and linesmen) in Korean as would the Spanish-speaking teams. The English speaking teams can't get away with it as everyone understands them swearing (even if you can't hear them it's pretty easy to lip-read certain swear words) or sometimes you want the other team to understand what you are saying; to rile them and put them off their game.

In my past life I use to help organise football tournaments for the Asian Football Confederation. I always remember one Team Manager's Meeting when I was in Binh Dinh, Vietnam for one of the legs of the AFC Champions League. The Match Commissioner was from Hong Kong and the referees from Indonesia. I had assumed that English would've been the one common language. The Japanese team had a foreign coach, I can't remember where from so let's say Russia, and a translator for him but the translator only spoke Japanese and Russian. So when the coach had something to say the translator translated it into Japanese, one of the Japanese translated into Vietnamese (neither of these Japanese spoke English) so one of the Vietnamese had to translate into English and then back again... I was beside myself, and as you can imagine, the meeting took about 5 hours!

As a native English speaker I use to have this assumed arrogance that everyone should speak English to accommodate me, or at least be trying to learn it, to accomodate me. As and when I travelled I would always make the effort to learn Hello, Goodbye and Thank You at minimum but I would not really make any further effort. Now I'm embarrassed that English is my one and only language and am desperately trying to learn Portuguese as fast as I can as we settle into Sao Paulo. I don't think it's a bad assumption to make (that English is the common language in a group of people) but I can't impose the same expectation I have of others to learn a second language when I don't force the same upon myself.

Source for different names for Association Football in each country

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GLOBISH

It’s everywhere and it’s invading the planet! I first stumbled across the term Globish in the Jordan Times when I was in Amman, Jordan and yet again while in Monterrey Mexico, colleague and friend Felipe Dell’Oro pointed out an article in Newsweek about no other than… GLOBISH!!

According to Wikipedia as the term is neither in Cambridge nor the Oxford dictionary, Globish is a subset of the English language formalized by Jean-Paul Nerriere. It uses a subset of Standard English grammar, and a list of 1500 English words. According to Nerriere it is "not a language" in and of itself, but rather it is the common ground that non-native English speakers adopt in the context of international business.

Interestingly enough the term Globish was coined by Jean-Paul Nerriere in 1995, but why the hype all of a sudden you may ask? Its all thanks to McCrum, an editor at the London Observer who claims in his recently published book “Globish: How the English Language Became the World’s Language”, that English has achieved a self-sustaining "supra-national momentum" that is carrying it beyond the reach of the cultures from which it sprang. As the property of all who use it, the language will soon, he predicts, "make its own declaration of independence."

The reality is that we use it and recognize it probably without even knowing “Globish” had a name and that it has actually taken on a life of its own!

As I said to my friend Frank Salazar, Internal Relations Coordinator for the State of Nuevo Leon, Mexico during one of our many discussions “Yes We Can!” A phrase, which he instantly recognized from Obama’s presidential campaign and a stellar example of Globish.

Fun, Sweet & Sticky JAM Facts:

-In 2003 both Chile and Mongolia declared their intention to become bilingual in English

-2006 English was added to the Mexican primary-school curriculum as a compulsory second language

- By 2030 nearly 1/3 of the world’s population will be trying to learn English at the same time

JAM English Flashcards: Fruit and Vegetables available online at jam.shop now!

METROsexual OR RETROsexual ?

I am the biggest advocate of a metrosexual man. There is nothing more sexy than a waxed, shaven, pedicured, moussed-up, with a skin care regimen, wearing a pair of skinny-jeans, and a smile backed by pearly whites … under 30 (that last bit is just my personal preference so it seems and a different blog altogether ☺). That was until, after a night out in Monterrey, Mexico, a metrosexual friend we will effectually call “anonymous” applied eye cream at 5AM. Yes, after an evening of extreme partying he is so pre-programmed that he felt compelled to proceed with his skin care regimen at 5AM! That left me wondering and days later while looking up a word in the dictionary I stumbled across Retrosexual. What is considered to a certain extent the opposite of Metrosexual.

Retrosexual Definition: a man who adopts a traditional masculine style in dress and manners

The definition was followed by a comment from West4th NY: "old-fashioned manners and clothes typical of the early 1960s (think Mad Men)"

So I did the natural thing and went digging some more for these MAD MEN. I stumbled across the official site for the show and you can even Mad Men Yourself! (That's me pictured above with the coffee cup).

About the show:

"Set in 1960s New York, the sexy, stylized and provocative AMC drama Mad Men follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising, an ego-driven world where key players make an art of the sell. The latest season of the show takes place in 1963..."

So whether your man is Metrosexual or Retrosexual… I still think eye cream at 5AM is where one should draw the line for a man who likes women. As for men who like men and us girls, different rules apply, we can apply eye cream whenever we want ☺

Metrosexual Definition: a man who is attracted to women sexually but who is also interested in fashion and his appearance

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The Mother's Voice

Every mother at one point will spend time away from her child – whether it’s going back to work or them going to school, going away for a weekend or them staying over at a friend’s house.

The panic of being separated from your child for the first time slowly subsides (well it took about a dozen times before I was comfortable with leaving her with a babysitter). But sometimes you can’t help but think ‘I should be there to comfort my baby if anything goes wrong!’.

A recent study suggests that a mother’s voice is as soothing to a child in a stressful situation, as much as a hug. A mother’s voice can help create as much oxytocin (the love hormone) in a child as physical comfort. Oxytocin is believed to be strongly associated with social bonding as well as alleviating the affects of cortisol (the stress hormone).

Source.

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Mexican-Dutch a Spicy Combination

Friend and colleague Ana Maria G. Landeta is “Mexican by birth but Dutch by choice”. Ana embarked initially on the challenge of going through the stringent Dutch Naturalization process, which lasted four years in total motivated by love. She had met a charming Dutch man in Washington DC during an Entrepreneur leadership conference. The connection was inevitable and before long they were inseparable. For the relationship to grow, however someone had to compromise. Mexico or Netherlands? In the end it was Ana Maria who took the plunge and relocated her entire life to the Netherlands. Aside from the cultural differences the biggest challenge was the language barrier. While Ana initiated self study of Dutch 6 months prior to departing for the Netherlands she confessed that it was a steep and frustrating learning curve to move beyond basic Dutch into a more sophisticated language essential to discuss relevant topics at VIP dinners with her partner’s social network or simply to be able to work in communication & marketing, her passion. The appropriate accent was critical but also the understanding of slang and innuendo’s, which can only be mastered after being exposed to the culture for a significant amount of time.

The love story that catalyzed her move to the Netherlands ended but her Dutch identity remains. While Ana Maria is Mexican to the core, she always travels with a bottle of chilies (it is true!). She is, as she likes to say, Dutch by choice, an accomplishment she is most proud of and one that changed her life forever.

*Ana Maria G. Landeta pictured above the day she was naturalized as Dutch

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The missing "P" in Arabic

Jad (جاد) our fantastic driver in Amman, Jordan is extremely endearing.

Just about every time I get in the car he asks me “Ms. Maria will you be going to BOLO today?” His English is impeccable and I know he means POLO but it’s not his fault. There is no “P” sound in Arabic and therefore all “P”s get turned into the nearest sound of “B”.

Just imagine in the states how it must have been for a native Arabic speaker to see “PUSH” on all the doors, for they read it as “BUSH”. They must have thought we Americans were really patriotic J

Cheesy jokes aside, in practice though even if “Pakistan” is spelled “Bakistan” in Arabic, the speaker will pronounce it as “Pakistan” given that the sound/word in this case is widely recognized.

JAM English Flashcards: Fruit and Vegetables available online at jam.shop now!

Taxistas em Sao Paulo

One of the best sources of Portuguese for me are the taxi drivers. Like most taxi drivers around the world they can entertain you on your journey with stories of their lives and families, their opinions on the economy, their favourite restaurant or football team.

There is a Ponto de Taxi just around the corner from where we live and every morning when I walk by they shout out their 'Bom Dia's' and 'Tudo Bom's' as I've probably caught a ride with almost all of them, if not once then at least a couple of times. I know some of them by name and some of them go to Cesar's barquinho too. My taxi rides double up as portuguese lessons too (that's how I justify it to my husband!).

I have a list of questions that I use to initiate a conversation:

'Você e Paulistano?'

'Você tem crianças?'

'Onde você mora?'

Some of them take into account that I'm just learning and speak slowly, stay on topic and we can have a reasonable conversation. Others lose me on the second sentence and even though I can catch a word or two, I just take a wild guess at what he's talking about. I'll then answer completely off topic which just allows him to either ignore me and continue or start on this new topic. I'll never know!

- One taxi driver told me I spoke really good Portuguese and that he could understand about 50%...

- Another told me about his three ex-wives and how 'loca' they were

- I've discussed the pros and cons of bringing up children in the country vs the city with another

- Tim can get them really going about last night's football game

- I thought one 68 year old driver knew the way until he got out at a traffic stop to walk over to another taxi 2 lanes over to ask directions

The one thing you can't avoid here in Sao Paulo is traffic (well unless you have a helicopter) but instead of getting really stressed about being late (everyone is late here anyhow), take it in your stride and use the time to practice a little more Portuguese!

JAM English Flashcards: Fruit and Vegetables available online at jam.shop now!

Amman, Jordan - The Arabic Teacher

I just arrived in Amman, Jordan and I thought I would polish up my Arabic with some one to one tutoring. I asked the concierge of my hotel for a recommendation. At first he said he didn’t know of anyone but mentioned there were some nearby schools. Then like an after thought he smiled and said “Ah yes, I have a friend who teaches English and Arabic”. He arranged the whole thing and by the evening I had an Arabic teacher waiting for me in the lobby.

Mr. Asim was most peculiar . . .

He spoke very slowly and loudly in an extremely animated manner raising his eyebrows and moving his hands around. He said to me as he pulled on his ears “A good student must listen” ….“A good student must be a good imitator”. Then he stuck out his tongue and said “A good student must pronounce like I do”

Wow what a piece of work this guy! I couldn’t stop giggling, but he just carried on. Out of the blue he said “ I bet I’m the oldest teacher you’ve ever had” to which I replied politely “oh no…” but he insisted and said “I’m 67 years old!” to which I replied “Oh, well you look great!” and then he said the unexpected “Oh its because I like my wife” “if you decide to take lessons with me I will give you advice about how to be a good wife, all in Arabic off course!”

Well he was funny and seemed harmless enough so I decided I would give him the chance. So I asked him how much he charged for the lessons. He replied, “ oh, I don’t like this question! You can pay me as much as you can!!” We talked some more and then he randomly said in Arabic “I love milk”, I repeated “I love milk” and he repeated, “I love milk” and then asked me “do you know what I mean?” I just had a blank look because honestly I had no idea where he was going with this. He finally blurted out “I love milk, every time we meet for the lesson, please bring me a glass of milk”

JAM English Flashcards: Fruit and Vegetables available online at jam.shop now!

Madrid - Dirty.jam

Sorry kids, Dirty.jam is only suitable for adults 18+ years old

Sometimes the difference between being an outsider and/or in the know or just plain understanding what is being said . . . is the SLANG. While Spanish is my mother tongue, when I first arrived in Madrid I could sit through an entire conversation with “Spaniards” and have absolutely no idea what they were talking about!!!! So in an effort to save you the embarrassment here are some essentials:

“Me lo pase Pipa!” = I had a pipe time

Translation: The phrase comes from having a good time while smoking a pipe, so if you “had a pipe time”, well you had a pretty good time. CAUTION: Pipa not PipaS as plural refers to popcorn. I made this mistake and when my Spaniard friends were done being amused they let me in on the fact that I had been running around Madrid having a “popcorn” time…

“…es la Ostia” “que Ostia” = It’s the holy communion

Translation: It’s the bomb as one would say in the USA simply meaning it’s the best of the best. CAUTION: Men say it all the time but its frowned upon when women say this expression. It’s considered too crude given the religious context. I also made this mistake and got nasty looks. J

“Eres un Crack” = You’re a crack

Translation: This nice piece of Spanglish means you are “switched on”... clever. If said “Eres un crack tio”… tio translates to man not uncle ie. You’re switched on man.

“Me estoy comiendo los mocos” = I’m eating my snot

Translation: Not literally … it just means you are bored.

“Que Coñaso” = What a cunt/pussy

Translation: Usually used to describe someone who is no fun to be around or a shitty situation. CAUTION: Everyone will say it (somehow its always sprinkled somewhere in the conversation) so don't take offense as its not considered offensive unless off course they are talking about you L

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Madrid - "madre mia!!!"

Madre Mia!! Shouted a guy out of his car window as I was walking Homer (picture below.. my rent-a-dog). This could only translate as follows:

Madre Mia!!!!! = My mother !!!!!

Translation/Meaning 1 = Mother of God!!!! I've Died and Gone to Heaven!!!

Translation/Meaning 2 = Mother of God!!!! How annoying!!!!

The meaning is left to the context, intonation, etc

Not sure which one he meant to be honest but if its Meaning #1 I'm sure he was referring to the dog...just look how cute he is!!!! Clearly anything but annoying!!! :)

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Madrid BABEL

One Sunday afternoon in an effort to escape a boring engagement (no names to protect the innocent J), I excused myself and said I had to go to Madrid Babel. I explained it was work related ... market research stuff !!!

I really had been meaning to go but it never really fit into my social agenda until that point. I had stumbled across it in the city events section of ASW (“ASMALLWORLD a private international community of culturally influential people who are connected by 3 degrees” … slightly pompous …I know!). Fortunately, Madrid Babel is completely down to earth. It’s an ongoing gathering of people from all over the world for language and cultural exchange. The creator, Fran Rodriguez Veiga started Madrid Babel over 10 years ago and has managed to keep it going this entire time. Madrid Babel was even recently awarded “Best Exchange of the Year” by Vibe Magazine.

I arrived at The Quiet Man, the pub tucked away in Chueca was loud and overflowing with people. I walked in confused and disoriented and made my way to the check-in counter where I met Fran. He had a big smile and gave me the basic intro “There’s the bar and just talk to people, there are different groups, French, Spanish, English etc”. Uh huh, I was beginning to think my initial engagement had way more potential when a confident 21 year old said “Are you here to practice your Spanish or English?” I wasn’t interested in either ( I consider them both my native tongues) but decided I would sacrifice my time for the greater good and practice English with the university boys J

EVERY WEDNESDAY 21:30 at Café Madrid (c/ Escalinata s/n - metro Opera)

EVERY SUNDAY 19:00 at The Quiet Man (c/ Valverde, 44 - metro Tribunal)

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Madrid - Teatro Real

I was regrettably running late for the Opera and I would now need to wait until intermission to claim my seat. In the meantime though I was escorted to the 5^th floor of the Madrid Teatro Real where I could catch a sneak view. As I settled in and looked around I realized I wasn’t the only one who was late. To my surprise we were all women (I speculate age range between 30s to 70s), impeccably dressed for the occasion and alone at the opera.

Without the benefits of the centre stage Spanish subtitles, I listened to I Puritani in Italian intently and enjoyed it all the same even though I had no idea what they were saying.

Eventually I made it to my assigned seat and in the final act, Elvira asks Arturo “Do you love me?” In our modern world a simple yes or no answer would suffice but in the realm of the opera Arturo replies with passion and believable conviction:

Italian: Viene, vieni fra queste braccia, amor, delizia e vita, vieni: non mi sarai rapita finche ti stringo al cor. Ad ogni istante ansante ti chiamo e te sol bramo.Ah! vieni, vein, tel ripeto t’amo, ah, t’amo d’immenso amore!

Spanish: Ven, ven a mis brazos, amor, delicia y vida, ven: nadie te va a apartar de mi mientras te estreche contra mi Corazon. A cada instante anhelante te llamo, y te deseo solo a ti. Ah, ven, ven, te lo repito, te amo, ah, te amo con un inmenso amor!

English: Come, come to my arms, my love, my delight, my life, come: No one will take you from me as long as I embrace you against my heart. I call for you eagerly every instant and desire only you. Ah, come, come, I repeat that I love you; I love you with infinite love.

I can’t speak for the other ladies but this is one of the reasons I go to the Opera.

JAM English Flashcards: Fruit and Vegetables available online at jam.shop now!