thegoodfellas/blogset-br huggingface dataset:
An important custom from my country is eating rice andbeans. You cannot come to Brazil without eating rice and beans. To eat rice andbeans in a daily basis is important because in this combination there is acorrect amino acid balance, it is relatively cheap and easy to do.First, rice and beans together have a perfect aminoacid balance. These ingredients together are rich in two essential amino acidsfor the human body. These two amino acids are scarce in other vegetables alone,but rice and beans together have enough of these amino acids.Second, this combination is relatively cheap. Rice andbeans are cultivated in all Brazil so there are always in grocery stores at a lowprice. Therefore, everybody can buy and eat.Third, rice and beans are easy to do. To do rice, justput rice, oil, salt and water in a pan and cook until dry. If its necessaryadd more water. To do beans, soak the beans in water during two hours, changethe water, put it in a pressure cooker, add salt, oil, season with onions,garlic, bacon, pepper... close and cook.In conclusion, an important custom for Brazilianpeople is eating rice and beans every day because there is a correct amino acidbalance, its cheap and easy to do. If you like, you can add other increments, suchas a sunny side up egg on top.Bruna by Candace CoatesHenrich Harder - Mesohippus Cheryl sat with her back against thetree. It was a good place to be, here in the dark dappled shade. Especially this warm summer day. Cheryl hadbrought her harp with her into the forest; this was her favorite place to comefor inspiration. Her sturdy small harp was made of highly polished hard woodthat seemed to cast a faint golden glow even here in the shadows of ancienttrees. This harp was her most treasured of her instruments as learning to playit years ago had changed her life... There she wasplaying beautiful music that sent clear crystal notes dancing into the air. Hermusic blended quite well with the calls of birds, and there was a breezethat was blowing that day through the tops of the tallest trees. Setting treesto softly whisper amongst themselves like gossiping old women.A few of the small animals scurried,racing between scattered outcroppings of lichen covered rocks. Some of thestones were near the base of one gnarled and twisted tree. One of thelower hanging branches had covered parts of the exposed tree roots that hadcrept slowly into the cracked moss covered stone over time. Suddenly, therewere sounds of many light footsteps on the trail below the steep cliffs. Alarmedby the noise some smaller animals bolted for cover. A scolding brightly coloredbird flew into a nearby bush. Sometimes small animals would gather nearbyto listen to the music. So it wouldn't really be the first time someone hadcome hunting for the source of those beautiful notes.In fact it was how she had met theother local folks. Even the small children from the village would seek her outand, they would sit so quietly on some fallen moss covered log or stone tolisten. More often than not they would lull to
sleep between the effects of awarm day and her haunting peaceful melodies. This time it wasdifferent though, it wasn't young children with their mothers thatclimbing the hill to find the music of the wind.Cheryl had just shifted the harpbetween her knees so that she could practice a bit using one hand to play thesinging strings. Every so often Cheryl plucked a few chords, sharing the harp'ssweet tones with a breeze that had set the strings quivering with bright belllike tones. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small group ofvery strange creatures that were cautiously walking over the crestof the hill. Cheryl continued to play her harp softly, as the animalscame nearer. They were larger than the dogs from the village across thelake. She didn't believe that she had ever seen their like before. Theirpresence could explain those strange tracks she had seen that morning down atthe lake. They had a pair of small delicate ears thatwere set high on a rather square shaped head. Their lower jaws were muscular,and well defined. Their noses had very large nostrils. Their necks were abit longer than deer's, but not by much. All of them had a fine of course shorthair that bristled brush from the whole length of their necks. They allhad these odd looking tails that were bare except for a small tuft of inkblack hair on the end. Their sleek fur was chestnut in color, withrows of small fawn like white dots along their flanks. Their delicate lookingslender legs had white markings just above their tiny hoofed toes.The largest of these creatures,turned their head then walked right up to where Cheryl was sitting! Itwas so close that she could see the pair of dark wide set eyes peering ather. Those delicate ears swiveled back and forth, alert for possibledanger. The other animals stood some distance away, watching intently.Slowly Cheryl lowered her hand, so not to frighten this strange fragilelooking beast. Cheryl could smell a sweet scent of grasses on its warmbreath. The creature slowly reached out its head, lowering its nose to sniffCheryl's out stretched hand. Satisfied that she wasn't a threat thecurious creature raised its head, and made a very soft laugh like sound. Thenit returned to its companions.The creatures began to browse on thebrush nearby while their females calmly suckled their offspring. Slowly Cheryl openedher harp case, and drew out her communicator. She was glad that she hadremembered to recharge her camera unit! She was able to get a few snapshots ofthe animals just before they disappeared into the meadow grass at the forest'sedge.She gently replaced her harp in itscase, then hiked back down the steep hill trail that wound along the baseof the rocky cliff. Later that night at the village's communal eveningfire an elder shared a legend of a shy creature they called a Mist deer intheir dialect. It would be many weeks later before Cheryl would lookat any of those photos again. Only then would she solve the mystery, andrealize the truth of the "Mist Deer". She would then remembera trip to see an
Eohippus exhibit at a museum back home on old Earth. That next morning, Cheryl went tothe home of the village elder who had shared her wonderful story about the"Mist Deer" at last night's fire circle. Cheryl was very interestedin Peig's tale of the Mist Deer, and asked her if she might have any otherstories about these strange beasts. Peig then related this story toCheryl about a time when a Mist Deer changed its shape. "Onestormy afternoon long ago, the daughter of a local fisherman had disappearedinto the deep forest. Of course the child's poor mother was frantic with worry,as there had been recent rumors of an attack on a neighboring village. Moragstood outside her door shouting her daughter's name into the raging storm butgot no reply. After the storm had stopped, agreat bank of fog rose up off the lake, blanketing their entire village inthick mantle of silver. Morag could just faintly see a group of Mist Deerwalking towards her in the dense fog. "That's very strange she thought, whywould they only come to my door"? Puzzled, she stood there as the animalsbegan to walk by her one by one. Just as she thought that she had seenthe last one go by. She saw a slightly built young woman cloaked in darkbrown following the deer. This woman suddenly paused in front of Morag'sdoor nodded her head, and then whistled some low soft notes. At that verymoment, the fog lifted to reveal Morag's lost daughter standing there.Of the woman in brown, there was no sign. Both she and the deer hadvanished. Ever since that day, Peig said her people believed that the DeerWoman would return to guide lost children home. Cheryl had an interest in myths andlegends that had really begun when she was at the university. When shewasn't attending classes, she could be found at the campus library where shewould be searching their data storage collections for old folk tales from diverse cultural sources. Mr. Parrish, who was one of her professors,summoned her to his office for a meeting. Her grades were high and she hada full course load in addition to working part time at the city'sanimal shelter, assisting the vets. "Ms. Burnside I am sure that youare aware that during the next term you are required to choose aninternship to complete your course requirements. It has come to my attentionthat there is a post opening that may be of interest to you." Onceshe read the paperwork that Mr. Parrish gave her she was eager to sign theenclosed legal documents. A chance to study abroad for a year? She had neverexpected this! Which is just how Cheryl foundherself aboard a space shuttle bound for Thurso IV. As part of hercontract agreement, she would need to publish several papers. The firstwould be due within six months of her arrival to the distant Earth sized planet. Cheryl had sent in her firs paper intwo months, well before the deadline. She had written about the MistDeer, and as required she had included diagrams and a few color photos with thetext. Dear Ms. Burnside,Thank you
for sending us your transmissionfrom the outpost on Thurso IV. Your data has been sent to our reviewboard, and you will have a reply in one solar week. I am pleased to informyou that your request for funding has been approved. Sincerely yours, George Cameron "Publish or perish"....Cheryl thought. As always it's about the paperwork and red tape! Now she could focus on getting realwork done. She headed over to her storage area and retrieved her gear. Shedecided that she would be going on a four day overnight camping trip, becauseshe had been working nonstop since her arrival. She was due sometime off! The weather this week would be better. She had delayed her departure lastweek because of the rain. She would of course bring her harp along. Itmight help bring the creatures back into camera range, as it had worked wellbefore. She would be returning to the area where she had made "FirstContact". She got her tent up quickly; thesenewer models were an improvement from what she had used before coming here toThurso IV. She got her new sanitation unit kit set up as well, along witha lighter weight food storage unit. They took up less space, eliminating aneed for a second tent. Cheryl decided that she would leavethe harp in the tent for now. She really wanted to go for a walk along thecliff trail, which overlooked a crystal clear lake. Cheryl had left arope on her tool belt along with a sheath knife she always wore while camping. Never know when you might need them,especially out here. She was in sight of the ancient treeon the cliff's edge when Cheryl thought she heard a loud shrill scream!It sounded like it was coming from the lake below, but with the echoes off thecliff wall it was difficult to be sure. Cheryl sprinted to the tree, from there she could clearly see the lake shore. All she could really tell was thatthere was something violently thrashing around in the water. When she gotthere, she could now see that it was a young Mist Deer in serious trouble, strugglingto keep from drowning. It appeared to have its legs caught on something in thewater. Cheryl charged into the icy water after the unfortunate trappedcreature. The water wasn't that deep for her, as it was only two feet atmost. For a young animal held captive, the water was too close to theterrified animal's head. She splashed out to the youngster, and quicklyput an arm under its chest area. She reached back with her free hand gently touching the animal's heaving flanks until she couldlocate the back legs, which were trapped amongst sections of an old fallentree. The lake bottom here was slick with clay and rotten leaves thatflooded over the tops of her boots making it difficult for her tomaintain her balance. Cheryl needed to get the poor creature's back legsfreed from that snag! She was able to get her rope out quickly and wrap itaround the animal's rump to lift the back end free. Then she just picked up the bawling calf. In
about the same manner as shewould have handled those large dogs back home. Carefully she waded withher burden to the shallows. By this time the calf was too tired to fight andwithout resistance allowed Cheryl to guide it to solid ground. She hadbarely enough time to examine the Mist Deer for possible injuries before itwent down on its front knees and collapsed! The exhausted calf lay quietly onits side for a few moments then gingerly got to its feet. Cheryl spotted thecalf's mother standing quietly watching a few yards away. The baby took afew steps forward gingerly before suddenly shaking the water off in a muddy spray.The mother walked up to him, then together they vanished into the wilderness.Leaving Cheryl musing if she may have been the one she had made "FirstContact" with. After watching the Mist Deer motherand her calf disappear into the forest. Cheryl took her now wet rope, and slungit over her shoulder. She trudged quickly back up the hill to the trail.After having gone for an unexpected dip in that cold lake, a hot showerseemed like a really good plan. Now with that new sanitation unit she would be able to get her bootsdry in a matter of mere seconds. It was wonderful that she had been ableto rescue that Mist Deer calf in time to prevent what might havebecome a tragic end. Once she had changed into some dry things she sat with her harpand composed a ballad about the day's adventure. True she had wanted to seethe Mist Deer again; she just hadn't thought it would have been so soon. Cheryl had been studying the language as she didn't want tohave to always rely on her communicator unit. She had become friends withPeig's daughter Meg who had been kindly taking the time to tutor her inthe local dialect. Cheryl was having a bit of difficulty with how toproperly pronounce some of the longer word, but Meg told Cheryl that she wasmaking some progress. By the time Cheryl had completed her evening studies a pale full moon hadrisen and the first evening stars were twinkling brightly as gemstones. She hadher dinner and then laid on a thick soft pad on the ground outside hertent just gazing up in the night sky. She could hear a night bird calling outto a mate. In the mauve darkness she could hear frog's voices rising in a chorusof song from the moonlit lake. She had heard that there was to be a meteoriteshower later that night, and oh what a light show that was! The flashes ofcolor were just spectacular and here she was with the best seat. Cheryl couldn'tremember ever seeing so many shooting stars at once. She wasn't the onlyone up late watching the sky. There was a soft puff of air thatdelicately ruffled her hair as a small owl swooped past her in pursuit of prey. Not so much as a sound betrayed the little night hunter's passage. It was a dramatic end to her first day away from thevillage. Cheryl awoke in her tent the next morningfeeling
refreshed and well rested. She and Meg had chatted a bitafter their last lesson. Meg had mentioned that there were caves up in themountains out near the same meandering trail that lead some miles past thearea where Cheryl planned to camp that long weekend. Meg had also told herthat there was a wide creek that followed the upland trail. The creek thatalthough it had a few rapids, was perfect for a canoe. Meg had said shehad an old canoe that was stored on one of the low boat racks in the launchingarea. Cheryl knew that Meg had the nexttwo days off from work and called her after breakfast. Meg was glad tohear from Cheryl and they decided to get together to take the canoe out. They decidedto go out to the caves. They met at the ancient tree bythe cliff, together the young women returned to the campsite. Meg hadbrought a box lunch to share and Cheryl had made some fresh bread earlythe other day. They took their small packs and headed off for the trail. The old canoe was in great conditiondespite its battered appearance. The paddles had been stored along with theseat cushions. Together, they slid the canoe off its rack. After stowingtheir gear in the boat, it was a short push through dew wet grass to the sandyshore. They slide the canoe into the shallow water and climbed aboard. The first set of rapids were a fewmiles further down, so it would an easy time of paddling untilthat point. The rocks were fairly easy to find in the spot wherethe water ran faster with the current. You could see a white "vee" inthe clear water. The narrow part of the vee was where the rocks were. Allthey had to do was navigate their way away to avoid them. After they clearedthe first of the rapids, they pulled the canoe up on a sand bar in themiddle of the creek to break for lunch. "How much further are thecaves?" Cheryl asked her friend. "On the map I have, the cavesare not even shown." "Well, that goes to show you thateven these newer communicator units still have a few issues yet." Meg laughed. "Oh I know just what you mean; every so often thereare still factory recalls." "That last unit I had got recalledtwice! You would think by now they would be able to build a decent unit."Cheryl joked. "The first cave is about fivemiles from here. Since we are on the water it won't take long sincethe current is flowing in the same direction." Megexplained. "Have many people been there" Cheryl asked. "Mostof us from the village have gone over the years. These caves are an experienceyou will always remember." Meg promised. After the meal, they pushed thecanoe back into the creek. The water was very clear, they could even seethe bits of gravel and a few flat stones down on the bottom of the channelwhere the craft gently floated with the current. Down below the surfaceCheryl could see very large fish swimming along on creek bottom. As Cheryland Meg
came around the bend they could hear the steady roar of the rapids.The wild white water was roiling, roughly tumbling amongst the huge mosscovered rocks. Some of those boulders were nearly as tall as a tree! Cheryl was in the bow callingout the rock positions over the water's roar. Meg was back on the stern steeringclear of the rocks as she used her longer paddle like a rudder to navigate.Being mindful of those foaming white vees, that warned of the locations of partly submerged rocks. BothMeg and Cheryl were experienced with canoes, having both been taught thesafe use of canoes by their fathers years ago. One of the many things that they hadin common in spite of the fact each had been raised on a different world. "We have time to see two of the caves today, but there is one in particular that is really special. You will be amazed. "Megconfided. I brought along some spare battery units for the flashlightsand some spare jackets in case we need them, I put them in one of thepouches on the rucksack. Cheryl replied. "Goodplanning, Cheryl. Oh by the way remember those light helmets that yousaw at our house last week? My father said that we may borrow hisset. The light sources on these things are intense! "We are close to where thecaves are, we can beach the canoe here in this cove." DirectedMeg. The shallows of the cove had a sandy bottom which made it easyfor them to push the canoe up on shore. After getting their hiking boots back on they were ready to go explore the area. Therewas a large standing stone which hide the opening to the cavern. As theyentered, Cheryl got the sense that it might be a very long one. The trail theywere following into the cavern was already going downhill, near the bottom ofthe grade they put on their light helmets because in another few yards thedaylight dissolved into the darkness. From here they would be dependent onthe light source of the helmets. The cave walls were rough and cold tothe touch. As they continued onward into the cave's depths, theirlights revealed what appeared to be an underground lake. Where the light touched thestill green blue water that faintly sparkled with the reflected light. Theydecided to take the left hand fork in the trail as it looped quite a bit. Itwas getting cooler so they put on their jackets. Just around the nextsharp turn the cave opened up into a huge cavern. It seemed so much brighterbecause there were so many variegated outcroppings of colored crystals allover the cavern! They saw delicate shades of lavender, primrose,azure, buff yellow, red, orange and crimson. It was just spectacular tosee all these crystals reflecting the bright lights of their headlamps. Everywhere they looked they couldsee an iridescent rainbow. Some of these crystals were prisms so that theentire space was bathed in fiery brilliance. Gracefully Cheryl pivoted slowlylike a trained dancer to attempt to take in this view of their underground surroundings. "Thank you for sharing thisspecial place with me Meg,
I feel this is an honor" "Youare quite welcome Cheryl, we keep the location of this cavern a secret.The other caves are interesting, but this one is sacred to my people." "We still have some time to goto another cave, so we should start going back to the trail head" There was still some daylight left as Cheryl and Meg exited the crystalcave. The next cave was just a quarter mile from where they stood blinkingowlishly in the bright daylight. "This whole mountain range was oncea series of volcanoes in prehistoric times. My mother said that there weresome hot springs in the area that were popular to go to when she was ayoung girl. "Meg stated. The second care was clearly morepopular as there were a few basic tables and a few crude benches nearthe trail for this cave. Just before they were to enter, they thought theyheard a soft squeaking noise. Even before they had a chance to investigatethousands of tiny bats shot out of the cave like a whirlwind spilling intothe late afternoon sun. Meg had nearly forgotten about thebat colony, she hadn't been to Black Cave herself in ages. The womenfollowed another trail that led into the cave away from the side the batshad exited. After a few moments they had to use the light helmetsagain. Even though this cave received more human visitors, out of respectfor the bats well-being there were no electric lights permitted in thiscave. Here they saw some exotic formations that had names like "Treeof Stone", tiny signs were posted next to each one. It was moreinteresting to make up other names which set both women into gales oflaughter. Their gleeful voices boomed in echoes around them which theyfound to be even more amusing. All and all they enjoyed walking aroundthis shorter cave. After leaving this last one, they found it took a bitlonger to return to their starting point as they had decided to portagethe canoe part of the way carrying the watercraft part of the way toavoid the rapids. It was dusk by the time they returned the canoe to therack. Cheryl and Meg returned to Cheryl's campsite just in time toset up a second sleeping bag as Cheryl had asked Meg to stay the night. After dinner, Cheryl brought out herharp and shared her ballad of the Mist Deer rescue. Then they spent a fewhours singing old songs that they both knew and loved. Meg had brought a woodenflute along so they played lovely duets which were a mix of traditional tunesand new ones they had written. They set up the video recorder that night on the off chance thatthe creatures might make an appearance. Might as well be prepared. Cherylpracticed her harp at dawn as the sun came up. Just as they were thinkingof having breakfast they had unexpected visitors. Much to their mutual surprisea group of the Mist Deer gathered a short distance from the tent to listento the sweet harmonies as Meg joined in the practice session with herflute. Two of the animals boldly notonly walked into camera range