AS PUBLISHED IN YOGA NATION
A Brief Lexicon of Rivers and Jungles
a tempestade = storm
a trovão = thunder
o raio = lightning
demora = wait, delay, lateness
a rede = hammock
a corda = rope (to hang the hammock if necessary)
o bicho = insect (also animal, which is super confusing)
a picada = bug bite or sting
a coceira = itch
queimar = to burn
o repelente = bug spray
o urubu = vulture (many, many vultures)
o rei dos urubus = king of the vultures (you just wish these were eagles, would be so much cooler)
a furmiga = ant (terrors of the Amazon, and you’re always stepping in them)
a borboleta = butterfly
a mariposa = moth
a bruxa = obscenely enormous moth (also, witch)
o jacaré = alligator or cayman
o peixe-boi = manatee (endangered)
a preguiça = sloth (the animal)
a lagoa = lagoon
o igarapé = “canoe path” (usually through shallow water over a submerged jungle)
o orla fluvial = riverfront promenade (where you catch your boat or eat your crazy soup or fish by moonlight or make out with your girlfriend/boyfriend, or park your car and turn your stereo up to 1,000 decibels)
carimbó = Amazon music and dance
o barco = small boat
a navio = bigger boat, ship
a recreo = very, very slow boat (the passenger bus of the Amazon)
os chinelos = flip flops (national shoe, see earlier post and this today)
o chapéu = hat (necessary for gringos, straw ones keep off the sun and the jungle rain)
a biquini = bikini
o sunga = men’s swim trunks (actually pretty attractive, not Speedos and not Bermuda shorts)
fazer xixi = to pee
chateada = annoyed
o tacacá = crazy soup that numbs your mouth (but one of the only Amazon dishes that contains greens)
jumbu = the greens that numb your mouth (known as the “toothache plant”)
tucunaré = delicious fresh-water fish, served whole, grilled or in sauce (tomato, coconut, or butter)
surubim = delicious fish
tambaqui = delicious fish
dourada = delicious fish, usually fried
filhote = delicious fish (served in fillets, naturally)
pirarucu = delicious and enormous fish (fatty like salmon, though a white fish– super tasty!)
mandioc = cassava
aipim = cassava
tapioca = cassava
tucupi = gelatinous cassava
farinha = flour of cassava
farofa = toasted flour of cassava
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