Favourites in Pittsburgh, or shedding the winter lard

While browsing my recommendations in Netflix, I am always amused to see what people around me in Pittsburgh are watching now, and in the last couple of weeks, the favorites (aside from Groundhog day three weeks ago) always include a bunch of workout videos. So I guess that the prediction of Punxsutawney Phil about the length of winter is not as reliable as the urge from local women to shed the extra fat layer accumulated for winter.

Valentine's Beans

This sunday the Brazilians I met at CMU and I have organized a Brazilian day in a friend's house, which consisted of a Brazilian meal, with dessert included, and a movie afterwards. My reservations over the movie choice aside, I believe the whole thing was a success, since people did seem to have liked the food. The main meal consisted of my own rendition of a Feijoada, including something I definitely did not expect to find in the United States: couve, or as I discovered through the wikipedia, collard greens. The irony in here is that Feijoada, albeit the national dish, is not truly typical of the south where I come from, and we did have people from Rio and São Paulo in the house. I also baked the entrée, Pão de Queijo, which seemed to have gone remarkably fast, washed with Caipirinha. The only thing I was not the main cook was the Negrinho, or Brigadeiro for the northeners in the party. The only downside of the occasion is that I spent Valentine's day alone and uncertain about my own shit.

Snow Days

From 30cm of snow

This week has had one of the worst weather in eastern United States for a very long time (apparently), and after Friday, many areas of Pittsburgh have become impassable, my street included and shown in the pic above. CMU has notified staff that it is not advisable to come to campus, and without public transportation for a good portion of Saturday, I have been effectively stranded at home for the past couple of days. Staying at home for the likes of me does not mean fun and games though, since I have been at work most of the time, besides trying to cope with the stress of other personal crap.

Also of note was the fact that I went out with my work colleagues on Friday night, only to find that after we were leaving the place, the bus system had stopped and the streets were covered in snow. Thankfully, the Russians came to the rescue, and we managed to pile up eight people in an SUV to take everybody home.

Right now, I remain in the blues as a combination of crappy developments and of being stranded at home.