In the immortal words of Jimmy Buffett

As I sit here this morning eating breakfast, I cannot help but think of Jimmy Buffett. He has a song titled "The Last Mango in Paris." No I am not eating the last mango in my house. I am eating the last Cheerio in Sao Paulo.

My in-laws, bless them, brought four big boxes of Cheerios when they came to visit in March. Let me tell you. It is not easy carrying Cheerios in a suitcase. The boxes take up a lot of room and get dented during transport. Nothing happens to the Cheerios, though I would eat the ground powder anyway if that was all I had. And every ex-pat I know either has someone bring a box or two this way, or they bring it themselves. Why is this necessary? Well, Brazil is not a cereal market. If they eat breakfast, it is breads and things. Or if "someone" makes them breakfast, it is a fully cooked meal. Which is why many people here have muffin top or spare tire issues.

You should see the cereal aisle here. There are maybe 10 total kinds, 3 are corn flakes, 2 are frosted flakes, 2 are bran type flakes or twigs, and the rest vary for kids cereals - Froot Loops, a Cocoa Puff type, and a honey O that is NOT, and I repeat NOT a Cheerio. It is not a whole lot to choose from. So when I got the boxes, oh and they brought Lucky Charms for the boys, which were gone in a week let me tell you. I think they even licked the plastics bag inside to get all of the crumbs. Okay, so when I got my boxes I horded them. Can't have cereal everyday if I wanted them to last. Well except for the first day or two. I had cereal for breakfast and lunch. And each time a box emptied, I cringed. My bowls got smaller, I ate slower to savor the taste, I put less milk in it so I wouldn't eat them faster because they now would not get soggy as fast. You name it, I stretched it out. Then the other day, I forgot to get bread for my family. Yes, they are Latin. They love bread! I buy French rolls everyday; they butter them, then put them in a sandwich press to have pao de chapa (ironed toast). Yes it is good, but not for me. My toast has to have jam, which is not for them so I can buy whatever flavor I like. Back to the story. I forgot to buy bread. This was part of a deal with my husband. I cannot skimp or not buy bread and he cannot comment on how many shoes I buy. It is a good deal. Especially in a land of very nice leather goods. But one day, I forgot. Bad mommy - no shoes for you! So the boys found something else, and I offered Ricardo my Cheerios. Yes. I did. Now he has eaten some before, but out of all of the boxes, maybe 1/2 of one total box. It hurt me badly to have to offer them to him. There was not much left. And now. None.

It is a sad day in Sao Paulo. I think is should be a day of mourning. Maybe I will crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head and listen to Jimmy Buffett. I can replace his lyrics with "the last Cheerio in Sao Paulo." I don't think he will mind, especially if he likes cereal.