An International Lunch

On Thursday I met Giovanka and two of her friends from IEP for lunch in the BLUU.  It was really neat getting to eat lunch with people from Brazil, Columbia, and New Caledonia (a French island off of Australia) all at once.  I did not realize when Giovanka and I planned to meet that it was a special day in the BLUU where Brazilian food was served.  There were Brazilian flags all over and Giovanka was so excited.  There were a number of foods that she really enjoyed from home but had not been able to eat for months.  She made sure to get some of each of the Brazilian foods.  I ate what I think was a called arroz brasileiro, or Brazilian-style "dirty rice."  It was rice with beans and meat and was delicious!  Giovanka introduced herself to Marcello, the Brazilian chef that had come in to cook the food and she got to talk to him in Portuguese for a while.  She told me that when she introduced herself to him she reached out her hand to shake his but he said "No, no, you are not an American" and he gave her a kiss on the cheek instead (the typical Brazilian greeting).  I thought that was funny because whenever we we hug goodbye Giovanka does like an air kiss, which I have to try to remember to do each time.

While Giovanka was talking to Marcello, I got to talk to Julien & Alison.  We got to talking about music.  Alison said that she really liked some of the French songs that Julien had introduced her to.  I asked her if she listened to Belinda, a Spanish artist, and she said that she is one of her favorite singers.  I think she was quite surprised when I told her that I have some of her CD's.

It was funny sitting at a table with three other people from such completely different backgrounds.  Alison would throw in Spanish phrases once in a while and Julien would use French terms such as "Shari."  They would joke around and make fun of each other for the way they pronounced certain words with an accent.  I thought it was interesting that I found Giovanka easier to understand than any of them.  We had a whole discussion on whether the Brazilian style of creme brulee that was in the BLUU could be considered Brazilian since it was inherently a French type of food.  (It was delicious either way).  Then Julien spent a while trying to get us to say creme brulee with the correct French pronunciation.  We also talked about the term "french kiss," a term that the French themselves do not use.  It was an interesting conversation.

It was neat getting to meet some of Giovanka's international friends and getting to try some of her native food.  I'd say it was another successful meeting.