Old and inaccurate

This post has less to do with going ons here, and more to do with good sense and reference. I have always used google maps to look up roads and pictures here - they are more up to date and it's an easy service to use. Today, I tried to do the same with MSN maps. And let me tell you, if you want to find somewhere in Salvador, at least, don't bother using them. The pictures are at least 5 years old (there are whole sections of buildings and roads missing that have been here at least for the last 4 years I have been living here) and their entire "street map" overlay is completely off by about 15 miles, so obviously so that some of them run through the open ocean. According to this map, I live north of Rio Vermelho (20 south west of reality) and Avenida Sete runs through the ocean through Barra. I hope no one out there is actually trying to use these accurately with it being THIS far off...

A prize to be cherished

This is one of our powdered chocolate mixes one puts in the milk or with water and powdered milk for a nice chocolaty treat. This is a common remedy here to encourage kids to drink their milk and many drink it everyday. As with many products here, there is an extra incentive - buying this brand over another type could win you a special prize.




Only in Brasil? I actually can think of a few different countries where this kind of thing might work. My first inclination for Brasil now, having lived here for more than four years, is that this kind of thing shows how far Brasil needs to go to join the "1st world." Although it is stated that one can win either they cow OR the equivalent in R$ of the value of it, what people who spend R$5 on chocolate mix powder are really buying it hoping to win a cow? Okay, so this might appeal to those in the interior who might have a good fazenda to keep the cow in. It might even appeal to the general minimum salary worker here in the city, since there is no law against farm animals within city limits, although the cost of upkeep of a cow might be a tad discouraging. Sure, sure, it's just a symbol to go with that fact that this is chocolate MILK, okay, whatever. It's still just a tad on the ridiculous side.