Obrigado, Brazil

South America was our most exotic geography study to date. I didn’t realize Grilled Alligator was so chewy! But wait, I’m getting ahead of myself.

We covered basic Latin America geography and culture, but it was Brazil that held the most fascination for us with its Amazon River, Carnival and tropical Rainforest. Our kiddos have always been interested in living science, and there were many creatures to learn about: giant anteaters, sloths, anaconda snakes, capybaras, kinkajous, howler monkeys, piranhas, tarantulas and more. We read numerous books including the delightful titles My Amazon River Day, Capyboppy and Count Your Way Through Brazil.

Impromptu science class: "Jon-ten, is that a tarantula?" "No, Daniel, a tarantula is furry, remember?" "Oh, is that a black widow?" "No, it doesn't have the red mark." "Should we kill it?" "No, Daddy said that spiders are good guys." "Well, what kind of spider is it?" "Let's go get the insects book!"

Of course, we had to try some South American food. Inspired by the heavy Portuguese influence in Brazil, I decided to make Alan’s favorite Portuguese Bean Soup for dinner one night. As we supped, we listened to beautiful Brazilian music in the background.

A few days later, Jonathan spotted a sign at the market that read “Brazil Nuts.” We brought some home and proceeded to make a HUGE mess opening them with our nutcracker. Now I know where the phrase "tough nut to crack" came from. Lots of fun, but remind me to buy the shelled variety the next time. ;-)

By far our most memorable Brazilian meal was a dinner at the local Churrasco restaurant, where skewers of a variety of meats are grilled over an open fire. The waiters kept bringing different cuts of beef, lamb and poultry (chicken, duck and quail) to our table, and our platters were soon overflowing. We felt game enough that night to even try grilled rabbit and alligator! For those who are wondering, both were delicious. Rabbit tasted a little like chicken, and Jonathan said that alligator was like “a chewy rabbit.” So there you have it, right from the mouth of a babe!

I’ve often wondered how much three-year-old Daniel gets out of our Galloping the Globe studies. He listens to all the stories we read, but usually doesn’t say a whole lot afterward. That thought was put to rest the other night. As Alan tucked the kids into bed and prayed a blessing over them, Daniel looked up at his profile and said, “Hey, Dad. You look like South America!”

Our next stop is Israel as we prepare to celebrate Hanukkah for the first time ever. Does anyone want to see the wild menorah we made today?

"And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:25