In the Clouds

As she sat in her bedroom working on a paper for her midterm, she noticed as she looked out the window that the sky was changing and a performance was starting.

Photo by Meire Marion

The day had begun hot and sunny. Despite having to work on her paper, she was able to enjoy some of the nice weather at her parents’ house out in the country. However, she returned to the city earlier than usual.

She wrote some, read some and looked out the window. There seemed to be a fight going on between the heavy dark gray clouds and the lightweight fluffy white clouds. They seemed to be doing some kind of dance in order to take the others´ place. It was nice to watch although she knew what the outcome would be; who would win.

Photo by Meire Marion

Photo by Meire Marion

 In the end the dark gray clouds won and the fluffy white clouds disappeared. Suddenly, the dark gray clouds started crying. They enjoyed playing with the white clouds even though they knew they were stronger and always ended up taking over.

Photo by Meire Marion



Photo by Meire Marion







Photo by Meire Marion

Their Father watched from above. He enjoyed watching His children play and be merry. However, to see them cry of sadness also made Him said. Therefore, He sent them a beautiful rainbow. It was His way of reminding His children that they did not have to cry. He was looking after them and everything was going to be fine.

Photo by Meire Marion

Photo by Meire Marion

As soon as the gray clouds saw the rainbow, their mood changed. They continued crying, though, however, this time the tears were of joy. They were reminded that the Earth needed their tears and soon enough they´d be playing again with the white clouds. Deep down inside they knew that their Father would make everything alright.

Photo by Meire Marion

She took a deep breath at the sight of the rainbow and went back to her writing. She was very grateful to have witnessed she a glorious moment.

(Written November 11, 2012 – Pictures were all taken by me (using my cell phone camera) from my bedroom window in Sao Paulo, Brazil on this same day from 4pm to around 6 pm )

copyright ©2012 - Todos os direitos reservados a Meire Marion.

Amigo or Amiga?

          Living in the so-called Chinatown neighborhood of the city is quite interesting. As you walk around you hear people speaking Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese. Let alone the Portuguese that we speak. There might even be other Asian languages that are spoken which I do not recognize. I have always thought that it was quite rude of people to speak a language other than the common one for the people living in the country, in this case Portuguese.

Portuguese is a real hard language to learn and speak accurately, in my opinion. I speak from experience. I learned Portuguese when I was sixteen and as I usually say: I am still in the language acquisition stage. English is my first language and I do not follow all the tips that I preach, I mean teach when it comes to learning a language.

Today I went into a neighborhood grocery store. Perhaps it can be called a little supermarket; you can find a lot of things there, not just food. It is owned by a Chinese family who can hardly speak Portuguese. They know a few words like obrigado (thank you) and oi (hi). They point to the cash register when they charge you and to order cold cuts which are sliced at the spot, you have to give them a show of fingers whether you want 200 grams or 300. Somehow everyone seems to communicate well enough to buy and sell.

Like I said, I went there today for some juice and mozzarella, 200 grams. The girl who attended me said Oi amiga. (Hi friend). I thought it was nice. She had added a new word to her line because before she would only say Oi. When she handed me my cheese she smiled and said Obrigada amiga. (Thank you friend)

When I was at the cash register she came to help with the sacking. There was an older woman ahead of me and the girl said Oi amiga to the older lady too. When she handed the shopping bag to the older lady she said Obrigada amiga. Tchau amiga. (Goodbye friend).

It made me wonder whether or not she could use the masculine for amiga, you see amiga is the feminine form of the word friend in Portuguese and the masculine is amigo. As there were no men around, I do not have the answer to this question.

I guess I will have to pay closer attention to see whether or not she knows how to use the feminine and masculine form of the word the next time I stop in to buy something.

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(Written November 5, 2012)

copyright ©2012 - Todos os direitos reservados a Meire Marion.