Snickerdoodles, bombas and the Godfather

You might be wondering...what on earth is she talking about with a title like that?! Well these are the main activities happening around me today, so I thought I would share my Sunday with all of you readers.

First of all, cookies are not really common here. You can buy some cookies in the supermarkets, but they are American imports and not very good (think bad Chips Ahoy without the chips). On occasion I get a craving and will make cookies. The only problem is that many common ingredients in the US are unavailable here. So that limits the type of cookies that one can make. Thus, I have resorted to making snickerdoodles whenever I want a cookie. They are easy to make and delicious! I think that I have turned Vilma into a snickerdoodle fan :)

The word "bomba" in Portuguese has several meanings. One meaning is obviously, "bomb". But the meaning that I am talking about today is "firecracker". I don´t know why exactly, but firecrackers are a big part of the São João tradition. And like the 4th of July in the US, the week or so leading up to this holiday is filled with mostly young male children lighting off these bombas as soon as darkness sets in (which here is about 6PM). It is now 7:15PM and I have been listening to almost constant bombas for the past hour and a half. It is driving me crazy!!!!! But of course there is nothing to do about it and complaining doesn´t solve the problem. I just have to accept that this is what they do and try to get on with my night as best I can.

Which leads me to the Godfather. I have never seen this movie in my entire life, and neither has Vilma. We went to the movie store today and in the interest of watching a cheaper movie (new releases R$6, old movies R$3 on the weekend), we found the Godfather. So I am about to embark on an almost 3 hour tale of gangsters, with the sound of bombas chiming into the background of the gunfire in the movie. Wish me luck!