BRAZILIAN IMPRESSIONS

This is not exactly about Moldova, genealogy or History, but about impressions on imigrating to a "new" country. These are my first impressions when I moved back to Brazil coming from Los Angeles, a month ago:

1) I'm now certain Kafka lived in Brazil.

2) Burocrats here love paper, pity on the Brazilian trees.

3) Things are much smaller. Like in Europe.

4) Service is cheaper, products are MUCH more expensive, food can be cheaper too.

5) Medical doctors can hug and kiss you.

6) People are less formal, but not as polite. And smoking is popular, even if you’re pregnant.

7) English language is more practical than Portuguese, whatever that means.

8) I still don’t know when it’s going to rain. And neither does the forecast.

9) J-walking is the law.

10) Happy to have plenty of affordable sparkling water back in my life.

THE LAST MOLDOVAN WINE... IN LOS ANGELES

 This was probably my parent's last visit to our home in Los Angeles, the last time we went to Canters together and the last time we drank Moldovan wine in LA. So many "last" words, all because on the verge of moving back to Brazil, after 11 years of American life and constituting a family here, many memories come to my mind.

Of course these memories or the anxiety of leaving cannot be compared to what my ancestors experienced when moving from Bessarabia to Brazil. The only common factor is that we are all immigrants, and "leaving/returning" will always be a constant for me.

That makes me think of the last things I'll do in LA.

I won't be able to do all I wanted and could. Grand Canyon may have to happen in another opportunity. It's funny when you live in a place, you don't go to all famous destinations. It's like my relatives who live in NY and never went to the statue of liberty. But one thing I know I'll do: finish the film about our Moldovan roots.

And nothing better than some Moldovan wine I brought back in 2012 to enter the list of "last things" - done.

MAMALIGA BLUES IN THE STREETS OF LOS ANGELES

Distributing flyers around Los Angeles is not an easy task – the city is so spread out. So we had to document it. Special thanks to Lia, Briley, Julie and Erin!

THE QUEST FOR THE MOLDOVAN SALAMI

I had just moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 2005 when my dad came to visit me. I was sleeping in a cheap futon, which he then slept on and I moved to the floor, had no job and was feeling horrible. You need at least one year (and a job!) to start getting used to Los Angeles. In any case, having him around for a few weeks cheered me up. I remember when we went to a grocery shop once and found a salami from Moldova. We were very surprised and bought it right away. This was before our trip to Moldova in 2008, and anything from Moldova would trigger our curiosity. We went home and ate it. It was not great, but it was from Moldova.

My parents returned to LA for a 20-day visit a few days ago and my dad and I thought of trying to find the salami again. I looked in a few grocery shops but could not find it. The one we bought it last time was closed. Then we went to Jon's, a traditional Armenian market where you can find the most interesting produce, beer from Estonia, cookies from Malasia, guarana from Brazil and maybe salami from Moldova.


We went first to the meat/delicatessen produce section, but the attendant had never heard of it. There was salami and sausages from Romania, Russia, Armenia, Germany and Hungary. But nothing from Moldova.




We walked around the place, got soda from Lithuania and cookies from Poland, saw marmalade from Israel and cheese from Greece. It was then that, all of a sudden, we saw the salami. It was actually the salamiS, as there were 3 distinct kinds.


We picked up one and went back home for dinner - very happy.


This one was different than the one from 2005. Soft and not spicy, an almost delicate taste to it. True that the salami is made in the US - but who cares? It's Moldovan style!


NEXT: More adventures in Los Angeles!