ARGENTINA -  PART III
The impossible mission.

Woke up at 6:30
At 8am, dad picks me up.
At 8:40 I arrive at the State Identification Institute. Downtown.
At 9:00 I get my pass and wait for my number to be called out, so that i can hand in the documents necessary to revalidate my ID.
My number is 6114
In the screen I see: 6070

My goodness

I leave the building...  Go smoke a cigarette outsite.....    two cigarettes.....  stroll around the hall of the building....... stroll again......... get mobile, call school...... chat with the secretary..........  smoke again......... get thirsty.........drink water............walk around the block............. go back to the lobby, look up the panel.......

 

Number 6095

My goodness, again.
Time: 9:40
 

Wanted to run from there.

Time again: 9:43

it goes s......l.........o........w.........

Time again: 9:50

Omg

go outside again, ...........smoke............drink water..........read absolutely ALL the warnings about the state department and stuff that are stuck to the wall.......  observe people......a crowd......a huge crowd........... smoke again............ call the secretary again..........

Time: 10:20
Number in the panel: 6100

and only at around 10:45 I saw my number there......... 6114......desk number 45.

I sit, the woman says: good morning.  I laugh inside.

I hand in my old ID.  She takes it.  I give her R$18,00 - the fee. 
She then starts filling some forms in the computer and asks many things such as address, phone number profession, level of education, etc etc...... then.....she stops.......... she looks at me and says: "Your eyes are blue?" ............

I gasp and say: I think they are yes.  then  she types: blue.  she looks agin and says:  Is your hair what colour?  - I responded:  "I dont know anymore".   She laughs.  I laugh.  She says: I will write blonde. I said: I am not blonde.  She says: yes, you are.  Gosh!!! I could nver imagine that I would have to argue with the civil servant about my hair colour!!!!  I think them civil servants only know about black and blonde colours... no colour in between!!! What a pain.

She then asked:  Whats ur height?

I said: 1,68

She said : OK", and typed...."one.....sixty.........eight........"

Gosh.  She then told me:  OK, here is ur receipt:  In 3 hours time you come back and then, your ID shall be ready!

3 hours?????

threeeeeeeeeee hourssssssss?

She said: YES.  - and pressed a buttom which made a noise and made the panel numbers change . And completed: But before, u have to go to that other queue in there and wait to have your fingers printed. Gosh

I put the receipt into my purse and gave such a look at the woman that if she could read my eyes, I would have been sent to prison for "swearing at civil servants"  (yes, here in brazil, there is a law that says that a "normal" person cant swear or shout at civil servants, as they represent the government.)  Bullshit. 

Then, i had to wait for about 15 minutes more and I got all my fingers dirty in a black ink. They pressed my fingers against a paper where there were little rectangles  and for each finger, a different rectangle. Then i had to walk to the toilette and wash my hands.  took me a while until i could get rid of that disgusting ink. Bleargh.  

Now, the question:  what to do during 3 hours while the ID is not ready?

Well.  in downtown....i was near the korean base for ilegal products.  I decided to go there and have a look at the news,lol

I got so surprised when i found that with the money i bought my shit camera i could have bought a Sony Cyber Shot 4,1 Mp !!! Just R$750 !!!  That makes £150 !!!  I talked to the attendant in the shop: "Are you sure that this product is legal?" ............he: "Sure!!"...........me: "Do u give me a legal receipt for the purchase?"........"Yes"........."Do you give warranty?".........."Yes, 3 months"...........

Gosh.  I swear that I had to be strong and not buying that camera.

Then, spent about 1 hour there looking at the little shops and trying not to surrender at the consumist appeal.

I then looked at at a shop which sold cases and luggages.  I found a very nice travelling case , exactly like the ones I see in the centres for about 1/3 of the price!!  Gosh, that was a HUUUUUGE temptation.
but anyway...... after going to the Korean  street, I was hungry. it was close to midday.  I saw a restaurant and then, had lunch.

After lunch, i looked at the watch. More one and half an hour to go until i could go back to the damm institute and have my ID ready.

Then, i saw a hair dresser: "Today, hidration for hair for just R$20".

Ok, it took my time and went there.

Had a hidration, and then, a brushing. lol

Well......

Then, i returned to the Institute and OF COURSE that my ID was NOT ready.  I had to wait for about more 20 minutes.

I stepped inside my house at about 14hs.

So......  Im very tired now.  worked until 22hs.

About Argentina? well. thank god it has been postponed!!! For November 5th.  Grazzie Dio!!

Phew.

Tomorrow I write the reasons for it and why I am reliefed!

beijos, meu amor!!!

 

 

Yes, I like philosophy.

Human Nature is what impresses me the most.  Funny how people act somehow the same way, even tho they were raised in different social conditions and under different climate (lol).

Sympathy, for example: People ALWAYS want to know what is WORST about one another. The more terible ones life is , the more people will be interested in it. 

The celeb world must remain as something untouchable, unreachable, something that is nothing less than a product that we will never be able to buy. But, IF you have a friend, acquantance who is a celb, then, my fellow, you will HATE him/her to death. hehehe

Around us we only want people that can make us feel good.  And How can it be possible to feel good with a person who is ten thousand times better than us, in all aspects, more sucessfull, more beautiful, more attractive etc etc ?  This is the reason we somethimes urge to have in our social circle people who are the same level of  "disgrace" or even higher. hehe

This can sound tough.  But this is true.  It is always better to think that the world is a pink place, with smiling people and generous souls, and also, that EVERYONE gets happier in knowing about the good things that happen to your life.

This is a big bullshit. 

The truth is that people want to feel superior all the time, and if you do confess you are going through a bad moment in your life, or if you tell them a row of disgraces, then, they will be your friend.  If you start telling that your life is good, that your salary is amazing, and that your marriage is doing fine, then.....  they might smile and say: "How cool! I am glad your doing well!!", but inside themselves, they feel jealous and somehow dont find anymore your life interesting, cos you are TOO perfect for them, and they feel inferior.

This is not because the person is a jerk or not. This has to do with HUMAN NATURE. This is stroger than any religion, which prays that we shall love one another.  Bullshit.  Human NAture is stronger than any pray and any education, than any background.

HUmans hate to see similar human beings more successful than them.

Humans hate to feel inferior.

Some people even prefer to stay with pets than HUmans. Why? Some say that it is because they lack of love and caring and transfer it to the pets, or better: that they are "tired" of the company of humans and prefer to dedicate their lives to an animal.

LIE!! They behave this way cos with an animal they will feel superior.  And they are the master.

So....  Careful.

Gosh, I urge to find the Machiavelli rules for the prince.  I want very much to upload the rules in here and make comments about them. But it is very difficult to find them. I searched in the net, but all i got was the books, but I do want to have the rules he made for his prince.  They are very interesting to ponder and compare to our day by day routines and thoughts towards people.

Have you ever taken a course on sales?  How to sell a product - a service for a person? a costumer?  Those courses are clear psychology courses on Human Beings.  I have taken a few courses so far and I must confess that some i liked , some i didint.  Some are really realistic , and some are pure theory.

It is funny how it  is easy to sell a service for a costumer if you know some mandatory rules:

I will try to jot some down in here.

1) Smile - always!! Nothing is more miserable than a straight face responding to your queries when you are trying to buy a service. IF you cant smile at all, buy some stickers to stick your lips in a position that it looks like if you were smiling.  Practice.  Go in front of the mirrow and rehearsal some smiles. At the begining they will look a bit fake, but practice makes excellence. Try!!

2)  Follow your costumers attitude and body language: If he crosses his arms, you cross too, if he bends, u bend, if he comes closer, u come closer, if legs are crossed, cross your legs too, if he looks easy, look easy too, if he looks serious, you look serious too (but smile once in a while), if his voice is low, lower your pitch, if he laughs , you laugh. Be a mirror to him.  But you have to practice this a lot, otherwise you will look pathetic, and moreover, the costumer will notice you are imitating him/her and will be very annoyed.

3) Tease his dreams.  Smart eyes can catch in the air what the person does as a living and what he really wants (Sherlock was very good at this). As u go practicing, you become better at it.  In 13 years of full contact with people of all kinds, and having to sell my "own image" to them, I got a little bit quick to find out about a persons life without the person teling me anything. This is nto a matter of intelligence. This is a question of NEED.  For you to sell something, u ought to tease a persons dream.  As u find out in the "subliminal" messages and by the way the person speaks (more the way than the content) the way the person looks at you, u go quickly and draw in your mind a sentence of impact that will seduce him/her.  An example: a woman arrived at 20hs to me, wearing a t-shirt with the sayings: "AUSTRALIA", she was sun tanned, but not artificially, that was real sun tan, The t-shirt looked really new, she was with a very "high attitude" , looking happy and very extroverted. She was around her 40's.  What are the assumptions: She has been to Australia earlier, she has spent a lot of money there, she didnt have a wedding ring, maybe she found an australian guy in there, a bf, she has been having sex (this is an important point. If the woman is not so very young and she has been having sex, this is a very good point: they are more sweet, more delicate and extremelly opened to your words) She is vain, in a good point. Her hair was beautifully done, her nails done too. nice jewelery.  What to say: Smile like she does, mention the use of your service (the english language classes) for her life, as travelling......(she will mention then a passage about her travel).......to communicate well with people............(she will mention or not, just think about the many times she was having sex with the hot and handsome australian guy and could not tell him all the things she needed)......about opportunitties in the career...........(she certainly is under the spell of love - or sex, and wants to move to australia, and career is a point)............ about the knowledge of another culture.............(she wants to know anything related to him. This is certain. Culture is a good point to mention - she will think at this point: Gosh! she talks my language!! she has all that I need!!"  And so on.  U may be laughing now, but this is true.  If you can "catch in the air" some aspects about your costumer, you can easily sell whatever you want, even ice cubes in the North POle...

INFORMATION GIVES YOU POWER

This "maxima" is very true.  If you want to succeed, you MUST be an informed person.  Not only about teh current news. Has to read a lot, dedicate a lot of your time in papers, weird ones, and obviously you are going to become a better conversationalist.  People like to be around a person who can talk about different topics, subjects.  And your costumers too!  If, for example your sitting in front of a journalist, your prospect, I am sure that he/she will be gald to know that you read his/her columns. hehe We never know...  Once i was working for a school, about 6 years ago, and all of a sudden I had in front of me a man called Gilberto Dimenstein. But i didnt know it was him actually in front of me. We were talking about the english/spanish course, and then, he mentioned something about the writing and reading abilities, about being able to read international papers and stuff, I then mentioned some names of good papers and also they way they used to get their points stated, some were more left wing, some more center and etc, and gosh! He smiled at me, and that was one of the sales i took longer to finish,lol Now, it was clear that If i didnt know anything about editors, publishers etc, I would never be able to add to my sales an "extra spicy" ingredient!! And would sound "as the same old talk between a service sales person and a costumer"
* Gilberto Dimenstein is a very famous article writer for FOLHA DE SÂO PAULO. (http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/dimenstein/)

Also, another case, this year: I had a costumer, a woman, skinny, dressed in pants, and blouse, short hair, her voice was very low. She was married. No jewels, She was holding a folder which she put in her laps, there was writen: "Messianic Church", in portuguese, of course.  Well, no need to tell you that during my talk to her i took chance to mention about "world understanding", "reading about our interests in another language", "broaden of knowledge of the facts of the world" etc.  She looked at me attentively and gosh.  By the middle of the talk she was already talking about her church and the missionaries from US that often goes there to make speeches and stuff. And well. that was a very successful sales.  Of course that by knowing she has to do with the church i nver mentioned about points that I know that this particular church doesnt approve, such as: going to pubs, meeting new people, wars, halloween etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE COOKING CHALLENGE PART II

Again, here I am.
Me and my pans.

Despite the laughs I got for my last "masterpiece" of cookery art, the CHICKEN PIE WITH CHEESE, I am back again with a new recipe.

Tonight, I will present you the world famous "crissy potatoes" with beef and Capeletti with cheese seasoning.

This is to celebrate childrens day, which is on October 12th, along with Virgin Mary Day and "Dia de La Hispanidad" (Spanish day) - celebrated in spanish countries - not in here, but anyway, they are all in the same day, so, VIVA to all!

Take a look at the ingredients:

 potatoes

 Capeletti filled with meat.

 Meat, a good one, eh?

 Cheese: Catupiry ( a sort of cream cheese we have in here, the white package), Parmezzon, in thin slices, and grounded cheese.

  The milk cream. Could be in tin or pack.

 Portuguese Olive oil (the small tin) and Soya Oil.

The rest of ingredients you already know: herbs, onions, garlic and the salt. This recipe calls  for a special salt. the one we use in barbecue.

So!!!

Lets prepare the recipe!!!

You have to slice the potato using a special slicer.

Potatoes are already done!! :)

Heat the soya oil, in a small frying pan.

group all potato together

With a spoon, kind of "smash" them in the pan, so they can really get fried together.

 

 

Check if it is already fried in the borders.

Yes, it is, see how it gets smaller in the size. and u can round it inside the frying pan.

Turn it over. to fry the other side too. Those brownish parts are not burned, before u ask.

Let it release the remaining oil from it. Look!! how it looks interesting!!

oooooooops!! one for me and one for Chris, lol

 

SEASONING OF THE BEEF

 

Get the beef

Rub salt in the meat.  The salt is not the powder one, it is thicker, proper to prepare barbecue.  Dont worry if u let a lot of salt over the meat, it will vanish, as u will only get the meat to grill, not the sauce u will prepare for the seasoning of it.

Now add some of the Herbs u like to use in meat.  And I usually add some crushed garlic too.

Ok. now have to rub it to the meat

There you go.  Now, put it back to the fridge while you prepare the sauce.

As usual, our "basis" , onions and garlic, in olive oil.

Get the "creme de leite" (milk cream, natural)

Add some of the cheese, special one called "Catupiry". Only in Brazil u can find it, but i think u can add a creamy cheese instead.  Add some salt aswell. whisk them.

Add the mix of milk cream and cheese into the pan with the onions and garlic fryed in olive oil

Dont let it cook for more than 2 minutes, otherwise you will spoil the milk cream. Add teh parmezzon cheese aswell, and mix (i usually take the pan out from the stove and mix the ingredients)
Get the empty pack of the milk cream and fill it with proper milk or water, , sot hat the liquid gets the remaining cream from inside and then, u pour it over the cream in the pan, to make it more liquid

There you go! The cream now looks more liquid. :) 
Heat it up for more 3, 4 minutes. be careful!! your dealing with Milk!!!

 

 

 

The sauce is ready!!

Get the Capeletti

Boil them for 5 minutes - 7 minutes, depending on the stove. Careful not to let it too soft, better have them "al dente". Int he water, add some leaves of herbs, salt and very little oil, or butter.

There we go!!! Marvellous capeletti!!! Add a little olive oil to them, to let them not get stuck to one another.

fry the beef with no oil. just heat up the frying pan, when u think it is heated up enough, just place the beef in there.

With a meat fork, u press the meat hard against the pan, so that it releases a bit from its juice and gets brownish.

Cover the beef, so that it gets well done inside quicker.

Let it covered for a few minutes.

While turning the beef, u can place the other one, so that the juices meet (that sounds erotic), but one thing is good to consider:  when making beefs, frying, grilling, never make them all at once.  Have to be patient and ) For the sake of a good beef! ,lol

 

And voilá!!!
A very good meal:  beef, capeletti with cheese sauce, crissy' potato, and why not a good salad?


Hope u liked it.

The taste was superb! :)

Buenos Aires - Part II
The ID mission

Ok. Got up this morning, at 9am.  As i was getting up an enormous sense of "i have to rush and do something that i dont know what it is" invaded my mind , and i went to shower thinking: Gosh! I still have to decide about my ID !!

Then... while passing the soap on my body, I went on thinking: ok, if i cant make out my ID in time (as i need my birth certificate, which is at my dads home who is in the countryside with my mum and wont be back before wednesday, and it takes 5 working days to get my ID renewed), i will at once go and take the revalidation of my passport.

well.  I quickly got dressed up and picked the phone and called my dad mobile.  Asked him where my birth certificate was.  He said he had it.  I asked: when are you coming back? He said: on Tuesday or wednesday. I said: may i talk to mum?  Yes.

Mum told me that it wasnt necessary to take the birth certificate to renew the ID, as the document is already in the police, in the occasion i took the first ID. 

well.  I then, talked to some ppl about it and they all guaranteed me that the birth certificate wasnt necessary for a second issue of the ID card. 

Well.  that made feel better, as I can go easily on Monday and take the damm ID , if the civil servants are working... (which i doubt. They love to extend holidays) But, anyway. I will find out about it in the papers, this sunday.

Well.  I hope i have the chance to renew my ID card, otherwise i wont be able to make the trip.

And, sincerely, if i dont make it, i wont be sad, as i am too tired to go on trips and moving, and somehow, living under stress even on the weekends.  That would be like working non-stop from wednesday up to next saturday !!!

Also, i dont like the idea of spending money that i am saving for my real Trip, which i hopefully hope it will be on December 27th.

Well, this is another point.  The guy from the agency told me that i should give them 40% of the trip now.  Buut i dont want to give him my money, so i just paid the reservation (booking) fee and thats it.  He said: be careful, ur taking the risk of not having the places available for the december season.  I said: No problem. If i dont have the flight available on dec. 27th, then, i go to england on another day.  At this point i dont care anymore about going on december or leaving to january. 

The most important thing is to go.

And, if i find out that i can save money if i go in january, then, of course i go in january.  no big deal.  i wont die.

But back to the Argee topic.

Well. I was talking to some ppl about this trip and was wondering: what to do in Buenos Aires in the night? (when i first went there i was with mom, and well...u know... had to sleep early,lol)

The ppl who went there told me: Cris!! you will be in the most frenetic night in the south america!! the night starts at Midnight and ends at 5am !!! The best discos, night clubs, bars , cassinos are in there!!"

Gosh.

This is another reason im not so keen of going there,lol

I dont want to spend money in bars and cassinos and stuff!!!!

But, the thing is: It is OBVIOUS that if the group decides to go spend the night in a tango place or cassino, or disco, or bar, i will have to go, otherwise i will sound "unpolite" or whatever.

Sad not being able to do the things u want to.

I could fake a menstrual pain and then, stay in bed watching TV...

Or, better, i could say: "Ok, you ppl go , and i will be following you in a minute", then, i would hide in the hotel lobby and never turn up....

hummmm

Or I could say that i belong to a religion which bars and night life are not allowed...

I will have to be a very good actress.

Well..  I was reading a site about Buenos Aires and found this:

The dining options in Buenos Aires are endless. This is a city that takes dining seriously, and meals can easily last a few hours. Like the national norm, nobody here really starts eating until 9pm. Main courses usually consist of an asado, a barbecue of excellent quality beef. Beef is dominant, and it also comes in the forms of bife de chorizo (sirloin steak) or empanadas (meat pies). The local wine is also good, especially the reds. You also might want to try mate, the traditional gaucho drink. The national deserts are dulce de leche, a milk jelly, and alfajores - Argentine sweets made from dulce de leche.

Buenos Aires is never more alive than it is at night. It is what you'd expect from a city that invented tango. Avenues come alive with people on their way to restaurants and theaters, especially Puerto Madero or Recoleta. People like to dress up and stay out until dawn, and anyone who visits the city should go and see a tango show. There are several major venues, most of them in San Telmo. After dinner or a night of dancing, Porteños like to grab a coffee at one of the city's myriad cafes, chat, and perhaps watch the sunrise

 

---

Gosh.

Well.

I can hide in the toilete and say that i am not feeling well for 2 nights,lol

Anyway.

Of course that i will have to go to the bars and etc.

But i will make a point :  I will try and imagine my Chris is with me.

And I will be observing all very attentively, to be able to tell him when I get back!

Oh! also i need to buy a memory stick for my camera! :)

WEll.

I must get to sleep now.

Tomorrow, work until 13hs.

what a big shit.

Bye.

and cheers!! :)

 

ARGENTINA - PART I

Ok.  I still dont know if i am going to spend 3 days in them Argees land or not.

And it makes feel stressed as i hate not knowing what will come up to MY OWN life in such precious days as friday, sat and sunday.   The thing is: if i am going then, it is going to be in the next friday.

Boss told me that there is a British Airways plane that comes from london to são paulo and from sao paulo to Buenos aires.  The problem: the plane lands at 7:00am and takes off at 7:15 !!!! And, u know that to get to the international airport it takes me 1 hour and a half - if the transit is ok, cos it is in the outskirts of são paulo.  So, i will have to be up at 5am. 

To be up at 5am, i have to pack on thursday. that means: I will have to find a small case (wont be taking my mountain climbing one, of course,lol) during the week. That means: my whole week will be around this trip shit.

Gosh

Another thing. and most important of all!  The argee immigration dont ask for passports from brazilian pats, but, it is mandatory that we show them our ID cards.  But... there is a remark: The id must not be over 6 years old.  Mine was issued in 1990.

So? what happens? I will have to go and take a second ID !!!!!  This will take my time and money.  Grrrrrrr

The only thing that is making feel a bit better about this trip is the opportunity of going to an Argee Restaurant, a Barbecue Grill House and eat some of them grilled meat !! mmmmmmmmmmm

Gosh, they are delicious!!!  And cheap!!!  you can eat a really wonderful meal, with appetizers, main dish, side dish, dessert, wine for only R$30 which is about ¨£6 !!!! hahahahahaha  Very cheap!!!

My co-workers are all making fun at me,lol  They say that waht we speak comes around to us,lol
They mention the "Love" i feel for them argees, and so, I am CHOsen to spend 3 days int heir land, hahahaha

But of course that it is just a joke,lol 

If i could be born again, i would ask God to be born argee, hahahahahaha  And have a very turn up nose and think I am in Europe, hahahahahaha and also, not forgetting that i would be the most superior race in the planet, hahahahahah  And would call my neighbours, the poor brazilians, the "inferior" race. hahahahahah

This will be revenge!!!  I want to be born argee!!!

Can u imagine having as a national hero a sports man like Maradona???  Oh!! that would be marvellous!!! He is such a good example of a sports person!!! The pride of our Country!!

And moreover!!!!  Then also i would have as the most exponent singer, a Tango singer and author the dear carlos Gardel!!! Who is........from............ URUGUAY!!!! hahahahahahahahahahahaha

Ah!! of course that I would be very angry at those poor, inferior race , my brazilian neighbours, which makes my argee industry breaks!!! Yeah!! them brazilians are a bunch of monkeys (as we call them in here - macaquitos, They make better and cheaper house hold produtcs and so, our people, our proud argees, dont buy anything else from our OWN argee industry, and we are all breaking!! God!!! They should ban Brazilians from Earth!!! They disturb our peace!!!!

Not only house hold products, but also they mess with our cars industry!! I cant understand how monkeys can make better cars and have more industries of international brands and exports to europe and USA 30% of their production!!! (yes, americans drive AUDI cars made in Brazil, and Europeans drive Peageot and VW cars made in That dirty land of Brazil!!- reason: they are better made)

Gosh. Me, as an argee would run a protest on the streets!!! We are superior!!! Lets take over the Isla Malvinas!!! The falklands!!!  That really RELEVANT piece of land is OURS!!!!

Me, as argee would ask our SOLID govern to take over PETROBRAS , that company of them monkeys Brazilians that makes from our OIL companies and ESSO, and TEXACO looks like tiny ones!!! If we had a PETROBRAS we would call it as PETROARGEE, and would sponsor WILLIAMS F1 and also wouldnt give a shit for the oil prices outside our country, cos we would never have a crisis in petrol. We would be 90% self sufficient.

YES!!!

I WANT TO BE BORN ARGEE NEXT LIFE!!!

IT IS TOO BORING TO BE BRAZILIAN.

 

 

 

Hey!

Good Evening Americas!

Cold in here!! What a change in temperature, eh?

I think it must be around 10C!   What a hell!  I was so happy with the sunny and warm days!!

Well.

Today i went to work and had some laughs with my co-worker José Carlos.  Gosh, he is so funny.
We receive weekly a "newsletter" from the main office, the matrix, and in the newsletter, there are always news related to all branches in the Country. Mostly about openings, special events, birthdays, tips and also suggestions. 

To us, this "newsletter" has become a very good source of big laughs at our branch.  It is known now as the "comic magazine",weekly issued. lol

Everything started when 4 weeks ago, Josè Carlos got the week edition and started to bust in laughter on his own, in his desk.   I heard him laughing and went there already laughing aswell (i can see a person laughing that it is like a conditioned behaviour, i start laughing too) and asked him what was going on.

He hold the "network" (this is the name of the newsletter) in his hand and could not even speak due to the laughter attack he was having. hahahaha

I said: "Hell, Zé !!! What are u laughing at??"  - "Show me!!"

He showed me a very long chart a table with thousands of acronyms in there.  I went puzzled and asked: "What are these acronyms for??"

He answered between laughs: "This is how the head office ppl spend their time: they have created a new standard code for the names of the courses, and they want us all to change ALL the acronyms we use in our data base software for these ones".  And gosh, that man was laughing no stop!!!

I was laughing too, but was a bit curious: " but Zé, (I call José carlos as Zé), how do they want us to change the codes for the books?"

He said: "read there, hahahahaha, they now want the WHOLE COUNTRY to change the acronyms for the course, for example "INTERPLUS 1", for "IPlus". hahahahahaahahah"

I said: "IPlus"?

And it is nationally known that the code for "INTERPLUS" series is "INTER" !!!

This change for "IPlus" makes NO sense at all!!!

And then he completed: "Now, Cris, imagine how many hours and meetings they have been to in order to decide on this SUCH  RELEVANT issue of our daily  routines here at school."

And he laughed, laughed.

Well, this tuesday, another weekly edition of our "Comic magazine" has arrived.  And it is funny that my boss looks at us in a very straight face and hands out the NETWORK and he says: "Here is this week edition". and he completes: "After u read it , please, pass it to José carlos".

and i couldnt hold my laughter , cos that is the most expected moment of the week: To read me, the secretaries and José carlos, the newsletter together, so that we can all laugh together.

hahahahaha

This week in the main page, there were two pictures of two different branches, one in the North of Brazil and another from São Paulo.  And the names of the branches were: "SKILL SORRISO" (sorriso stands for "smile"), and the other was "SKILL REMÈDIOS" (remédios stands for "remedies").  Zé carlos couldnt resist and said: "What a great sense of marketing these head office ppl got!!! One branch is called "smiles", and the other one is called "remedies"!!!! "

and we all laughed.

Indeed, very ridiculous names for branches!!!!

---

Well, enough of work chat.

Let me show u something really funny i found in the web.

I typed in google the sentence "brazilian women" - i wanted to find articles on brazilian women to use in my saturday classes.  and look at what i found:

Brazilian women information from NoMarriage.com

Brazilian women make much better wives than American women.

An American woman has several fundamental problems that will never go away and that will get much worse a few years after she is married:

1. Her inherent anti-male bias and pre-occupation with fairness that was drilled into her at high school, college, and through the media. Her constant confrontations and trying to prove herself and to make a point.
2. Her self-centeredness, her ridiculously high expectations, her sense of entitlement, her high-maintenance, superficial, and stuck up attitude, her snootiness and her sense of superiority. This "princess" syndrome means that she will always think that she is better than you, and that she deserves and she is entitled to whatever she wants from you.
3. Her general mental instability and psychological disorders.
4. Her using sex as a weapon and reward to get things.

Brazilian women generally don't have any of these problems. Marrying an American woman simply does not make sense. The ONLY reason men stay with American women is because they did not have enough exposure to Brazilian women. Any man who spent a few months in Brazil will not even look at American women again

And along with the article there was this picture:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

How SILLY advertisement!!!!

How ridiculous!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

---

Well.

that is it for tonight.

Im feeling a bit better today. 

Chris could turn my mood better after all that chat about measurements!

mmmmmmm

8in..

mmmmmm

Gosh. I really want to touch those 8 in.

hehehehe

 

 

Monday.

Day off

I declared a day off to myself this Monday.

For many reasons.

But well.

It was good to stay at home while the whole world was working outside. Listening to the workers at construction sites, bang! Bum! And the cars, and helicopters and planes... The world was in motion and i was here. In my lazyness. In the dark. Had my curtains shut for the whole day and could see just bits of sunlight crossing the curtains layers and gets into the living room.

Water pipe change day. No water for the whole morning and afternoon. Good news! Dont need to wash any dishes, then.

I was feeling blue.

All of a sudden, a good surprise!!!

My Russian friend popped out in the middle of the morning, and we chatted for a long time telling each other the news that we werent able to tell for so many months apart!

Last time i talked to him i even cant remember. Gosh. Time flies. I was about to forget about the idea of meeting him again as we lost contact for such long months. And therefore, I could not practice my poor russian language skills anymore. I always see my books in the shelves and think to myself: where he could be? What shall he be doing now? Is he fine? Healthy? Happy? And then i remember that i must read some russian otherwise i will forget the little i know. Took me months to learn and get used to the cirillic alphabet, and it would be a pity to forget it due to a deep lack of practice.

But anyway, I got so surprised when i saw him popping out that I forgot about my tireness and boredom!!

His story is very interesting, he told me the things he is doing now and I am happy that finally he managed to set his life and now he can have a computer again and internet connection and also his web cam,lol

The thing is: He was living a nice life in his city, a place called Leninogorsk, in the Republic of Tarstan, this is in the west of the Russia federation. Well. He was there, happy and worked as an electric engineer for an Oil company in the city.

Also, he owned a garage, a sort of mechanics to fix ppls cars, in the electric part. He had a partner. He used to tell me that the most profitable time of the year was autumn season, cos ppl used to take their cars there to prepare the electric parts for heating, to escape from the severe weather of minus 20 degrees in the winter.

So, he worked in that Oil co, and in his mechanics.

He said he never liked to work at the garage, as he considered the work very dirty. I laughed.

He took engineering school in Kazan, the capital of the republic, and then, he had to join the army and fought twice, as an aircraft engineer – flight engineer, once in the war of Moldova. Fighting for the Russian troops, against the rebellious ppl from the place. He said that the war is something really sad. And also he said: " You people can not speak EVEN a single word about war until you yourself experience what it is like"

Well, there are more things he told me in our chats in the past, about his experience of a war, and also his points of view, and habits and etc. It is funny to think that we people have this hollywood idea that Russians are cold, strict, serious and they are dangerous. We both for many times have spent hours laughing about all this models that USA gives to the world in their films and soaps. But well. If I were to put down in words all that I have learned and enriched my life from this sweet person, I would have to use many giga bytes from the UOL provider.lol

And pictures!!! Oh my God!! How many pictures has he sent me!! I was very curious about his life and his habits and stuff. And so i asked him to take pictures of his house and his work and the streets, and his family and gosh! We had good laughs when he felt that i was doubting that they – russians – had a life EXACTLY like we, westerns, have in here!! He told me things about the cars industries, and politics, and Putin and cold war and etc.

His aunt, who lives in Moscow, was married to a general of the KGB, and gosh!! He has so many stories to tell !! Of course his uncle now is dead. And his aunt lives with her 2 daughters in an apartment in Moscow.

But I am not going into details otherwise this post will never finish.

The thing is: in December, 2003, he lost his job. Reason: He shouted at his boss.

Reason he shouted to his boss: He wanted to take 3 days off to go by train to Moscow in order to see the documents for his passport, and the boss didnt allow him to go. What he did? He went anyway. And when he came back, guess what happened?

Then, he lost his ground.

He went through a dark period of depression.

He got so depressed that he ended up in a hospital.

Gosh. That time i was so worried about him. I tried many times to reach him in the internet, via e-mail, via msn, sending him messages of support. I even talked to a friend I have in the russian community in here and asked her to find a way to help him. They are supported by the UN and they can spend money in order to help Russians, ex pats, so I told him to live the country and move here, that the ppl in the community would help him.

But, he is very stubborn. And proud. We fought many times cos I wanted him to be a little bit more human and accept help. But he used to say: "If i cant succeed in my OWN country, I dont think I will in a strange country" And then a big discussion started: me: " And what about the immigrants who arrived in here? " and what about the whole americas? But he was tough. And then i said: "Why dont u try then to move to a bigger centre?" Like Moscow or St. Petersbourg?

He at the begining said he would hate to live in a capital. Cos he liked the peace of a small village. I really used to get angry at him, saying that OK, so you stay in there and starve!!!!

The thing is, in 2 months time he was ready to move to Moscow. Hahaha

I could convince him to do so.

But at the same time i was a bit anxious. Cos somehow i had contributed for this change in his life.

And since he had left for Moscow, we only talked twice, very quickly, and the last new i got, before todays chat was that he was going to take some vacations in a place called Crimnea, in the black sea.

That was all.

What happened then?

One day, i was reading the news, world news, and GOSh!! "2 airplanes disappear in the black sea". I almost fell dead. The co incidence: exactly on the day he told me he was going to Crimnea. I immediatelly spend HOURS in the net, searching for news and following the breaking news. All I wanted to know was if those airplanes were military or civil...

 

In the middle of the night, the news: They were civil airplanes.

I had a miserable week.

I entered the site of the russian paper PRAVDA (www.pravda.ru) – amazing they have the site in 3 languages: english, russian and portuguese, lol - I searched for news non stop. Spent hours decyphring the alphabet and words, and trying to understand where to click and stuff (cos neither english nor portuguese version had online news, only past news) . Gosh. What a night i spent.

The next day, a fuzz over the TV set. and sites, reuters, BBc, brazilian ones, russian bureaux, etc. All I wanted to know was : where is the list of dead people???

I thank my friend from the russian course: Igor, who helped me a lot and was simpathetic to my pain. I thought to myself: that is too much way of co incidence!!! The same destination, black sea, on the same day!! A civilian aircraft!!!

I searched my drawers to find the damm agenda where i had written his mobile number, and when i got it, i called twice. Just the answering thing there. The mobile didnt even ring!!! I was terrifyed.

The days went by and nothing was sent to me. Not a single e-mail, not a word, not a piece of news.

I started to think to myself: He is dead. Surely.

Then, another terrorist attack, in the subway, and then in a school. I went watching the TV news puzzled!! I could not believe my eyes!! What a terrible idea to support him in his trip to Moscow! I wanted to die of sorrow and regret.

Well...

Then, days went passing by....and each day more..... the pain was being transformed in missing. A terrible and deep feeling of "missing".

And..... all of a sudden, he appears today, again!!! Alive!!!

I couldnt believe my eyes!!!

He told me then today that he didnt go to Crimnea that day and he had postponed teh trip for the following day cos he still wanted to do some things before his trip.

Then, he told me that in his initial life in Moscow, he got to viisit many interesting places such as teh red square, the kremlin, the museums, and etc. Then , he looked for a place to stay, to live, and couldnt rent na apartment in Moscow, central part. Only in the suburbian areas. 3 hours journey by train. Gosh. Good that he is used to continent –like sizes, just like me in here, so no big deal for a 2 hour journey to work everyday, but 3 hours is too much, dont u think? Anyway, he said that he was living in that suburb area, he told me that the area was not very good, many weird places, and somewhat dangerous. He said he took with him his gun (which i have always told him to give it away – he said he needed the gun cos he used to get in late in the evenings, and carrying a gun is normal, whatever next)

He said he went through a lot of bad times in the begining, had to wake up at 4am, took the train arrive in moscow, look for a job, and come back home everyday, 3 hours round trip. Some days he had some success and could spend the day working here and there, but ohter days he walked, walked, walked, and nothing could find.

That is like a knife in my heart.

He said that many times he took money from his snack, meal, and spent in cyber cafes, in na attempt to see if i was online or not, cos he knew that i was here, urging for some news. Gosh.

Anyway (again) to make a long story short: Now he is doing ok. He is hired by na electronics company, in the business centre of Moscow, as na electric engineer supervisor od security systems – whatever that means, and he told me he is earning a good money – about 44,000 roubles per month, and he will be promoted, hopefully next year as a head supervisor. He could rent a flat for him in Moscow, so he is not anymore taking a 3 hour journey trip to his work. He could buy back all the items he had sold in order to go to Moscow, his computer, lap top, cameras, car, and little by little, he is becoming a happier person and more satisfyed man.

The only thing he says he misses a lot is our chats and laughs, as now we are 7 hours different in time and when he is going to work, im sleeping, when he is back home, im working.

He said that the weather there is being awful – today 8C , and soon winter will be knowcking at his door. He said that winter gives him a very deep feeling of depression. Gosh.

To end up this story, about my sweet and devoted friend, he asked me why had i stopped my russian course as i was doing some improvements at early stages. I was very embarassed to tell him that i stopped cos i didnt have the money anymore to pay for that. He asked me if i was having finantial problems, and I said: as usual, we live in a rollercoaster in here. One month u have money left, another month u are in debt. And God Bless the credit card,lol - He says that i act like a typical western, and that credit cards are made to fool people , to make them believe they have a money that in reality doesnt belong to them. Well, he is right.

Well. Finally i got my friend back.

I am so happy!!! He could put a smile on my face!

I was searching for some of his pictures, about his hometown and work and snow and stuff, but i think i had saved them in a cd i cant find right now.

So, i will upload a pic he sent me today, cos i was doubting that he was ok, and his web cam was not well connected. He is having internet via dial up now, he said that the telephone co is going to switch it to air stuff soon, so he prefered to wait and not to spend in cables till the air thing comes.

Well, that is it.

Just wrote this story in here to make this known and also to try to show others that the internet is a very powerful tool to meet different people and different cultures and helps the world gets a little bit more human and equal.

I found a pic of the time he was in Moldova.

another from Russian Army Times.

and another from a view of his little city:

 V. Salihovich today. :)

I hate it when he takes those pics wearing his glasses . lol  I tell him he looks like CHIPS, lol  - but he doesnt know what CHIPS are.

 

Votation.

On sunday we chose the new mayors and "vereadores" for the cities of Brazil.  Each city has the right to chose 1 mayor who will run the city from january 2005 up to 2009.

In São paulo we had about 7 million voters. Gosh. thats a lot of bullets,lol

The voting machine is something that helped the counting, as the elections ended at 17hs, at 21hs, we had about 91% of the counting done.  :)

this is how the machine looks.

there u have the green buttom, which says "Confirma" (confirm), the red one which says: "corrigir" (correct), and the white one which stands for "Branco" (blank).

this is the final results here in são paulo:

José Serra is the yellow line and MArta Suplicy is the red one.
The places, on the left are the names of the areas in são paulo.

My are is named "indianópolis". It is the third in the column.

Ah! the numbers for null votes were very expressive!! 290,314 thousand votes!!

and blank ones: 151, 560 thousand votes!!

very well done!!

well, in this link here below, u can watch a video about the election day here in São PAulo, filmed and commnted by BBC reporters.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3711006.stm

---

 

I also took a stress thing test.

gosh

but his one at leasst is interesting.

the questions were at least, meaningful

33-48: Strain:
You're probably feeling overwhelmed or drained, and may be having some difficulties actually doing your work. Many people, once they reach this level of stress, fall into denial, feel helpless and begin to blame themselves. Try to stop believing self-criticisms like, "I'm stuck here and I can't do anything about it" or "If I did a better job, was smarter or more competent, I wouldn't be so stressed." Do small things to take control of your work life. Say "no" to a project you don't have time for, or ask to do something that's more interesting to you. Leave work on time every day for a week, or leave the office for lunch for a whole hour. If you can't do those things, at least take a brisk walk or turn off your phone for a while.

---

try out this one:

Chart of stress symptoms:

Work-related stress has a way of creeping into our lives, sometimes without our even realizing it. Some of the symptoms are minor, while others are more serious and even hazardous to your health. You may be stressed out if you...

• Have a hard time making decisions yes
  
• Have trouble meeting important deadlines yes
  
• Experience feelings of fatigue or sleepiness, even with enough sleep yes
  
• Have low self-esteem a bit
  
• Feel that there just aren't enough hours in the day to get the job done yes, frequently
  
• Tend to criticize and be argumentative yes, frequently
  
• Experience moodiness or depression yes, always
  
• Are forgetful sometimes
  
• Get the constant feeling that something is wrong or missing yes, often
  
• Have a change in appetite so that you eat more or less than usual yes
  
• Find yourself smoking, drinking or using drugs to cope with your job yes, smoking and drinking (on weekends)
  
• Experience rapid or irregular heartbeats or heart pounding no
  
• Experience rapid breathing or hyperventilation no
  
• Get muscle aches, headaches or migraines yes, often
  
• Have high blood pressure dunno
  
• Break out in skin rashes yes

---

and now, some good tips:

Ten easy ways to address stress...

• Take deep breaths.
  
• Take a walk, escape from your environment
  
• Say no to what you don't have time for or what isn't interesting
  
• Leave work early (or at least on time)
  
• Relax your demands on yourself a bit ‚ most of us expect to much
  
• Let yourself ask questions and communicate with co-workers
  
• Do unpleasant tasks in the morning to get them over with.
  
• Simplify things whenever possible. Look at large, overwhelming projects as a series of steps you complete one at a time.
  
• Let yourself laugh, especially when you feel grumpiest.
  
• Live in the present--don't spend time worrying about how much better things were in the past or what might happen in the future. Most people who are able to manage stress have perfected the art of living in the now.

at 2:53, i couldnt sleep - yet.

I took a test on personality stuff.

bullshit.

the results:

YOU ARE A FUSER

YOUR CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES Your childhood experiences show that you are a Fuser. This means that as a child you were given a great sense of freedom and independence. Your parents trusted you to develop your own personality, to make your own mistakes and learn from them. But there is a drawback to this kind of experience. You may not have gotten as much attention as you wanted or felt you deserved.

YOUR PERFECT PARTNER Your perfect partner is actually your opposite type, an Isolator. You may have guessed just the contrary, that your best match would be someone who would shower you with all the love and affection you crave. But "happily ever after" for you means partnering with someone who will respect your privacy and support you when you want to do independent activities, much like your parents did. whatever next.

life could be easier

couldnt it?

many times have i deleted things tonight from this blog

but i think i must express

what comes down there, inside my heart

---

how can it be?

that my heart bleeds so much?

things are happening.

i am very much afraid

afraid

of destiny

of my feelings

of what to say

of my own weaknesses

of my strenghs

of my craziness

---

at any momet

i can decide

i can go for it

and then

all will be left behind

---

wish i could be ten thousand times stronger

and more honest to myself

im living a lie

a lie i believe

---

but

this lie is getting wide

stronger than me

and the truth is being behind

im becoming crazy

---

i lost the sense

i am walking with no direction

i dont know anymore what i want

---

what do i do?

dont know if i should stand still

or if i should kiss goodbye

---

i will take my time.

and live feelings accordinly.

whatever will be, will be.

have to take a break

a think things over

---

im stressed

im tired

im feeling lonely

im feeling sad

im feeling lost

---

all i wanted now is to have a hand on my hair.

caressing it

and holding me

and saying that everything will be ok.

and that is is OK to feel down

---

someone to wipe my tears

and to look in my eyes and say: I love you

and to cry with me

and to care about my sorrows.

and to really care about my feelings.

and to protect me

---

I am not a superwoman.

I need a man to protect me.

i need to feel supported.

i need to listen to "i will fight for you"

---

But well

what am i saying?

who cares?

what do I do now?

where to run to?

where to hide?

---

this is life

this is love

this is my latin soul.

 

cant sleep tonight.

im feeling very bad inside.

Life is a moment in space
When the dream is gone
It's a lonelier place
I kiss the morning good-bye
But down inside you know
We never know why

The road is narrow and long
When eyes meet eyes
And the feeling is strong
I turn away from the wall
I stumble and fall
But I give you it all

I am a woman in love
And I'd do anything
To get you into my world
And hold you within
It's a right I defend
Over and over again
What do I do?

With you eternally mine
In love there is
No measure of time
They planned it all at the start
That you and I
Live in each others heart

We may be oceans away
You feel my love
I hear what you say
No truth is ever a lie
I stumble and fall
But I give you it all

I am a woman in love
And I'm talkin' to you
You know how you feel
What a woman can do
It's a right I defend
Over and over again

---

oh god.

heart

tears

sorrow

 

 

The Chris' Pie is about to be made!!!

Check the ingredients:

the chicken. I am going to use two trays of chicken. About 400g

the puff pastry.  2 packs. they are sold in sheets.

tomatoes, onions and garlic

butter, a piece of parmezon cheese and ground cheese

Manjerona and tomilho

Salsinha and cebolinha (but i will use only the salsinha) and the alho poró (the big veggie thing)

Palmito and Champignon.

A pic of the manjerona

The chicken sauce.

And, of course, the salt, the olive oil, and tomilho.  (the tomilho picture is below)

Now, we are going to start to prepare the ingredients to be used.

Nice to have all them prepared and ready to be added.

Take ur cutting tray, and a good knife. And, oh, many, many bowls to place the prepared ingredients. lol

Get the ALHO PORO

Save the white part and cut a piece of it.

Cut it as if it was an onion. It gives wonderful scent to the recipes! :)

Now, get the chicken sauce:

Have to take this piece and with a knife, crush it. If ur sauce is powder , then, u dont need to do it. (obvious)

Lets cry now! lol

Onions time!

Cut it in small pieces.

This is a whole onion cut. Thart was a big one, so i wont use the other.

Now, the garlic.  Cut it aswell.

This is the "Tomilho".  It has a wonderful scent!

Get some of the tomilho - the leaves are very, very small, so i washed them and group them together and chopped.

Look! very small pieces.

And now, cut the palms and champignon:

Cut the palms in small pieces and the champignon in shades.
(dont eat them palms!)

Lets get the chicken:

Wash it. (i like to wash everything before i use,lol)

After washing it, i added some black pepper. I now it is not in the recipe, but i do like it in chicken.

Now...

Get the "salsinha"

Cut out the long parts. just keep the leaves and little parts. I used only a little portion of it.

Put it into a bowl with water and some vinegar. Vinegar is good to kill bacterias and germs.
Leave it there for a while

Take it out. and now cut it in small pieces.

There u go! Salsinha cut!!

The tomatoes

Lets prepare them:

1)

Get the tomato and stick a fork, or a proper tool for the execution of the peeling.  I have a kind of fork, with a long handle. like u see in the pic.  :)

2)

Take the tomato to the stove fire.  And place it really near the fire.  U will listen to the sound of its skin popping, lol Dont be afraid, it wont get burned.

3)

U see? It has these black parts, which were made by the fire. Now, get a knife and peel it. It will be much easier now:)

4)

Here u have the skin of the tomato being easily peeled.

5)

wow! how cute them tomatoes round and peeled!! :)
Now, all u have to do is to get rid of the part on the top! :)

6)

One more shot of the beautiful tomatoes :)

Cut them and wash them, to take the seeds off.

And there u go! Tomatoes in cubes!! peeled and with no seeds :)

Now, lets make it!!

Fry the onios and garlic in the olive oil.

add the chicken cubes

Cook it until it is ok.

Add the herbs and also the chicken ready sauce, in powder.

add the tomatoes.
Let it cook for about 10 - 15 min. Until the tomatoes are liquid.
Add some water (just a little) if u feel the mixture is getting too dry.

Add the palms and champignon to the chicken.
cook now for more 5 minutes.

Ready!! Voilá !!  Now, have to let the mixture cool down. :)

Lets prepare ingredients for the final part of the pie!

The eggs, the cream cheese, the piece of cheese, the chicken mix (cooled), butter and ground cheese

Get one egg, and mix it with 2 spoons of melted butter.

It will turn a thick yellow cream.  Leave it aside.  You will need it to paint the pie when it is closed. 
I have this cookery paint brush.  Only for cookery means. (of course)

Lets get the cheese and the stuff that grounds it. (dunno how it is called)

Ground the cheese. I had about 300g of cheese in there ( I ate a piece left when i finished grounding it,lol)

There u go! lots of cheese!! mmmm

Get the butter and the tray.
This one i have is a special one that doesnt allow things to get stuck at it, so i dont need a butter paper.

Spread the butter.
I know that there is a butter spray especially made for this purpose, but i still prefer to get the butter and do it.

 

Now, the shaping of the pie, in the baking thing:

Get the puff pastry from the fridge .

Place them over the baking thing and dont leave any space empty.
One thing: dont push the pastry hard, cos it is delicate.

After placing the pastry, make a layer of cheese, the one u had grounded.

After the cheese, u place the chicken mixture.

Prepare cream cheese to be used.

Spread the cream cheese over the chicken

After the cream cheese, add more of the cheese, and then, finally, cover it with the remaining pastry sheets.

And here the last part of the "closing of the pie".

after the cream cheese, then, place the cheese.

After putting the puff pastry sheets over the pie, to cover it, you have to "paint" it with that mixture of "egg + melted butter", and sprinkle some of the ground cheese.  (dont forget to pre heat the oven)

I usually do this: i get a fork, and make some pressure with it in the border of the pie. This helps the pie to have a more uniform shape. :)

This is my pie ready. :)

And this is a slice of it.
mmmmmm
It came out delicious.
Pity your not here to have some! :p

That is it! :)
Hope you have enjoyed this step by step recipe.

Now, lets think of another recipe i can prepare and upload the steps in here. :)
Maybe a sweet?
Give me suggestions then.

 

Some pics of how your PIE will look like: mmmmmmmmmm

THE PICS TO HELP YOU FIND THE RIGHT HERBS:

 alho poró.  U use the white part of it, sliced in thin slices.

champignon.  the tiny ones, not the bigs.  slice them.

Palms.  U cut it in tiny bits.

Salsa.  U only use the leaves, ok? chop them.

manjericão .  Use again, the leaves.  cut them, or slice them, or chop.

tomilho.  Also, use the little leaves.

the chicken sauce.

or this one in here.