As I prepare for the Weekly Photo Challenge, I reflect back to our first day here in the casa da minha filha e filho-de-lei, Babilonia,  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  It is Sunday, we arrived the previous evening when we had a happy and tearful reunion after a tumultuous journey over the last year.

And now Sunday morning we slip easily into a pleasant routine; with a tinge of Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, high days and holiday. Days that I had previously endured with a empty heart.  

Now my heart is full to busting our at our first so called ‘breakfast.’ This is not an unfamiliar situation as mealtimes in our family home and abroad are considered a ceremony; the quality and quantity of the content is not so important; it is the ritual of sitting down that is fairly common.

Also it not important that sitting down is done at a regular time. So while it is a ‘meal’ it may not be at the traditional time and therefore the usual titles like breakfast , lunch, tea and dinner need not apply.

So back at the table our first meal together for more than a year. Except of course our ‘other’ meal alternative enjoyed with gusto on Skype at 4 hours apart; eating meals in a surreal mirror like image.  

Now accumulating all the other missed ‘meals’ was some sparkling as you see and  with punctuated with gifts from previous celebrations.  

Followed by a tea making ceremony diligently practiced with new blends from our favourite supplier in UK.  However, the Brazilian influences make the procedure problematic for instance  the water temperature is more difficult to judge.  So this delicate operation and deviation from subject as regards lunch can be discussed more fully with another prompt!

However the hunger pangs gave rise to yet another ritual or meal; call it as you will. This time it included a walk which is often a perfect prerequisite for a meal.

While the the previous meal had joined all meals around 10 am and included Brazilian Bubbles, smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, tofu,  it resembled if in need of a name ‘brunch’

So the next meal came long after lunch and a little before English tea.  

So I suggest that this meal without a name consisting of putanesca (cod balls),pastei/pasteis (fried pastry), pastei de camarão (fried shrimp pastries) caldinho de feijão (bean stew) Bohomia beer and jiló frito (fried jiló) is more representative of a snack!

So I have a dilemma there is no lunch !!