seekingmygreaterperhaps

Oi gente! Tudo bem?

It is mango season in Brasilia! I am blessed by being surrounded by mango trees on my bloco. Mature mango trees spit mangoes out all the time, and by the bundle! When I walk Kya, I can usually find a good 8 mangoes to hoard and let ripen to perfection. I’ve been eating mangoes for weeks, and I am not mad.

Brasiliense culture (Brazilians who are born in Brasilia) around fruit trees is fascinating. There is an app called “Fruit map” where people update areas around the city that have ripe fruit. It’s mango season now, but there are other fruit trees that are planted around too. The trees are on public lands, so the fruit is really for the people. Brasilia is a unique city because it was completely planned. A lot of it kind of follows communist principles and architecture trying to have things be equal for everyone. In terms of fruit trees, I am here for it.

I see people throwing things up into the trees to knock the mangoes off the branches. I see people carrying large sticks with a 2 liter bottle on the end to collect mangoes that are high up. I think the throwing method is my favorite to watch, because a lot of times people miss and then the original stick or mango comes back down and they have to duck, and it’s entertaining in and of itself. I have also seen dogs toss around the mangoes like little balls, and that is just too cute.

After the rain is the best time to collect the mangoes, because some of the fresher ones have fallen off and not yet been found by the bugs. Look at me, becoming a forager in my own city.

There are a couple down sides to having fresh mangoes everywhere. A lot of them split open when they fall off the trees, and then no one picks them up. Given time, they rot and attract a lot of bugs. Also if you accidentally slip on one you might take a tumble. In old cartoons they should have used mangoes instead of banana peels. Also, once they are a little gross, they just sit there and it just gives off such a delightful rotting fruit smell. I’m also no exaggerating when I say they are everywhere. So I’m doing my community a service by picking up the nice ones I see. Wouldn’t want them to go to waste.

In the past couple of weeks the amount of bugs in the city has doubled, and as I’m writing this, I feel like the mangoes might have played a part in this.

I wouldn’t trade the cons for the pros though! I delight in the taste of mangoes, and have been adding it to everything I can from my morning granola to my healthy chia pudding, and also just eating by the fistful. I shall enjoy every moment of living in this beautiful country, which includes indulging in my share of mangoes.

Ate a mais!