Serendipity

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Serendipity is : the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for;

Nothing could represent that to me more than what happened today.

I'm walking around with Liesje and Ana through the streets of Ipanema (yes, like the famous song) and we stop at a big flashy fruit stand. The guy was an excellent salesman, and started giving us little pieces of delicious fruits to taste and be tempted, before quoting exorbitant prices for them. We were busy trying to figure out what to do, if we should buy something or not, when I hear something in the background that catches my attention. It sounded like "mangostino."

For those of you who don't know what this is, it is a fruit from South-east Asia that I am completely obsessed with, and it is without a doubt the best thing I have ever tasted in my life. By far.

A few months ago, I spent a couple of weeks in Colombia looking for it everywhere I went (as somebody had told me you can find them there) but with no success. After I left, a friend of mine was lucky enough to find them, but I wasn't there anymore, so I didn't get to taste heaven.

And then today happened. I wasn't thinking of mangosteens. I had never heard they existed in Brazil. I would've never even dream of looking for them here. Don't know anyone who knows them and hasn't been to south-east Asia (or been told by someone who has.)

So you can imagine my surprise, and my reaction, when I caught that faint "mangostino" and turned around to realize that I was indeed NOT dreaming, and the old man from the fruit stand behind me (which I hadn't given any attention to and would've missed completely) was opening one up and offering me a taste of heaven. I tasted it. I started laughing and hyperventilating and acting like a crazy nut.

Of course, I bought some, at the price of gold, but who cares?? It was cheaper than a plane ticket to Thailand... :)

All of this to say, if you haven't had the chance and happiness of tasting a mangosteen, you don't know what you're missing... but most importantly, sometimes the best things in life we find when we're not looking for them.