Late Breaking Election News from Amparo

My dear little sogra is, well, a little off.  She is 73 years old and lives in a small town in the state of São Paulo, Brasil. She never went past 3rd grade, and is a quintessential Italian grandmother, with a history of theatrics, and lives to cook lunch for all of us. These days, she is mellower, and when my husband calls her every evening, as a duty-bound Brazilian son must, I always say hello. Not that she remembers, but it’s nice.

This evening M called, and the whole family was there, so of course the phone had to be passed around. Since this Sunday is the presidential election in Brasil, everyone is talking about who is voting for who… if I got it right the score on Rua Alemanha is:

Tata -= Dilma

Barbara = Dilma

Regina = = Serra

Ayerton = Dilma
Milton = Dilma

Milton decided today to vote for Dilma, which is remarkable as he has never voted for a presidential PT candidate before, and I am most pleased because if I could vote, I would vote for her as well.  

Well when the phone was passed to my Sogra, she reminded us that she is over 70 and it is no longer obligatory for her to vote. You see, voting is obligatory in Brasil for everyone between 18 and 70, you can vote if you are 16 but its not obligatory until 18 or is it for those over 70. I wish we had this  law here.  We began to talk on and on as is her way. So M passed the phone to me and I told her that she just has to vote for Dilma, because I can’t, and so if she doesn’t want to vote, then vote for Dilma for me… she started in on me that she is over 70 years old... and then suddenly said, “OK I’ll go vote on the way back from mass (they vote on Sunday in Brasil)”.

Então, Dilma , você me deve uma ! Eu posso ter para você dois votos ! (So Dilma, you owe me one! I may have won you two votes!)