Daily Life #1

I really had no idea what life in Brazil would be like until I started living here. But to help you understand our lives better, I will try to give you little glimpses of daily life on a semi-regular basis. Here goes:

Today Russ and I had lunch at a kilo or quilo restaurant (while Portuguese has "official" rules, people don't necessarily follow them). Kilos are buffets- grab your plate and fill up- but when you get to the end, you put your plate on a scale and are charged accordingly. (It definitely keeps you from taking things you aren't sure about!) The food, however, is usually incredible. Today I ate scalloped potatoes, grilled chicken breast, tempura vegetables, pasta, tomato and mango. You can usually find steak as well. While your plate is weighed, your drink order is taken and you have the chance to snag any number of great desserts. We like eating at kilos for several reasons:
1. The food is great. (I will admit, they're not all created equal. But we stick to our favorites and they are consistantly good.)
2. They're fast. Eating in a regular restaurant could take a couple of hours, but at a kilo restaurant you can be in and out in twenty minutes.
3. They're cheap. My plate today was R$ 9, less than $4. It was a lot of food. I can't imagine what it would have cost in the US.

Sure, some days I'm not in the mood for buffet. But most of the time, kilo restaurants are a great meal on the go!