A few surprising discoveries

Today I happened upon a few shocking things:

1) An ice skating rink. Yes in Brazil (today was like 90 degrees). I had seen the signs proclaiming the arrival of "Bahia on Ice: The biggest ice skating rink Bahia has ever seen" I was kinda confused then as to how an ice rink would survive in this climate and wondering how many ice skating rinks Bahia had seen previously. Well, today I got my answer. I stumbled upon the rink today, which is actually IN the shopping mall (photos to come soon - really theres some ice, and then the carpet, it's wierd) and really isn't that big at all. There were a few kids flailing around, all outfitted with helmets, and more support and staff than kids. Surprisingly, all of the workers skated fluidly (where did they learn?? it's Brazil. . . did anyone see the movie Cool Runnings??) and they went around picking up fallen kids.

2) Down coats, leather coats, fur collars, sweat pants and sweat shirt in the winter wear section of a department store (since the seasons are changing). This is Salvador people! We are 12 degrees below the equator and the temperature does not drop below 70 degrees (and humidity always makes it feel hotter). I cannot fathom why anyone would wear this type of winter apparel in the Bahian 70 degree "winter". I mean, who goes to Florida with skis? However, I was planning to exile my sweater and jacket back to the states, but maybe now I should hold onto them. And bring a Northface and some mittens *chuckle*.

3) The fruit with an identity crisis. Several weeks ago, I purchased a few green, round citrus fruits, which I assumed to be limes. I cut them open, found that they were yellow and smelled sweeter than limes, and deemed them lemons. I used these green lemons for weeks in seasoning food, making homemade gatorade and the like, without ever directly tasting them. The rind of one such lemon, after being cut open, and then remaining in my fridge turned yellow. No problem there, it's a lemon it's supposed to be yellow. Today I cut open a new green lemon, squeezed it on my fish and in my hungry state, decided that it looked so juicy and smelled so tasty that I wanted to make lemonade from a wedge of it. So I squeezed it in a glass and prepared to add water and sugar. Then, I thought "this lemon looks so good I want to bite it". And so I nibbled just a little bit, expecting an acid, sour taste. I then discovered, that it was an orange.

I was flabbergasted. Who's ever heard of a green orange with yellow flesh, especially one sold under a sign reading "lima". Oranges, by definition are ORANGE.

BTW the juice (sans water and sugar, orange juice is better without) was delicious, as was the fish (bony as anything, but thats another story. . . .)