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Posts from the ‘Brazil’ Category

May 20

about the Nordeste… Maceio!

We recently did an amazing trip of the Northeast and I don’t want to miss writing about it or at least posting some pictures, because it was incredible. It’s the place that everyone talks about…There is Rio, Sao Paulo, the Amazon and the Northeast. I just thought, well some beaches and  agua de cocos, but it is so much more than this! It is the most beautiful part of Brazil. Not only full of amazing beaches and agua de cocos, but full of  hospitable people, incredible food, countless small villages all full of their own character and identity, adventure, surprises and sun! We started in Maceio, where we couchsurfed with our wonderful hosts for a few days. Alagoas is quite a small state so it can be done and seen by car in a couple days. We did the coast in two days and we could have spent 2 weeks! Just sitting and absorbing the true northeast culture… relax!

Top 5 things to do in Alagoas:
1. Maceio – a beautiful city with gorgeous city beaches and wonderful people
2. Eat fish! Its hard to have a bad plate or fish or pirão! (especially at Peixarão)
3. Eat a tapioca!
4. Rent a car and go see all the towns on the coast…spend time talking with the locals and eating where they recommend and doing what they do.
5. Skip the Maragogi reefs and opt for the reefs in Maceio, they are just as beautiful and so much cheaper! Less touristy too!

See you in Rio Grande do Norte!
– L

Jan 30

2 Comments

about this crazy city…

It’s a love hate relationship with this city people call Sampa. A mix of good and bad, rich and poor, ugly and beautiful. You may think, well that is any city, but the difference is the extremity that Sampa provides. The kilometers of traffic, the thousands of slums, the thousands of rich, the hundreds of top restaurants, hotels. It has everything you want and everything you don’t in one tiny area of 1,522.986 square km.

I came across this video the other day and thought it was an incredible view of the vastness and enormity of this city.

Motivated,
-L

 

Jan 27

about the beaches that are the hardest to find…

Because they are always the best! We were in Buzios for New Years and let me tell you…the beaches are beautiful. More writing and information to come, but for now just absorb these!

Mar 14

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about Carnaval in Recife…

So! I fulfilled one more thing on my bucket list… I went to Carnaval in Brazil. And it was brilliant. Really.

Initially, I wanted to go to Salvador where I hear the true Carnaval was to be found. However, after several times mentioning it I always received the same helpless stare from G. It was the look of “please don’t make me take you there” but “I will because I love you”. Bless the poor man’s heart. We decided on Recife instead. After deciding on Recife and booking our tickets I can’t tell you the amount of people that told us what a good decision we had made. Salvador is not for the weak at heart… its for the single at heart. I am not single. Nor do I wish to be. So off to Recife we went.

Recife’s Carnaval is also very famous throughout Brazil and as a Carnaval that has kept to its roots. It is very typical of the region and is still quite traditional. Oh and it didn’t disappoint! The party was non-stop…the parades… the food… the drinks… the concerts… the activities… the music… It was grand. And I didn’t sleep for 5 days. Not so grand. Oh well.

We visited Olinda as well, which is a town near to Recife, that has its own Carnaval and also very traditional. We also escaped the madness for a day and headed to Porto de Galinhas…which let me tell you is not a chicken port, but in fact it may just be heaven on earth.

In reality it is called Porto de Galinhas or chicken port because of the slave trade which secretly continued there even after it was abolished. When people heard that the chickens from Angola had arrived, the masters in Recife knew to expect another round of slaves. Despite its past, it really is incredible. Surrounded by reefs, blue warm water, good food, great company (friends from SP) and cheap…it must be one of my highlights (and seeing Vanessa da Mata!).

The pictures say it better than I ever could, unfortunately we didn’t want to risk the nice cameras getting stolen so G and I just took our mini Canons, which do the job quite well.

Dreaming of going back…
-L

Feb 18

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about some of the things that I missed…

So I got a lot of crap from my students when I got back to Brazil. They all said that I wrote a one way blog entry and that even though I missed things from home there has got to be things I missed about Brazil. Well… in the end… they were right. So here we go, without further ado… The top ten things I took/take for granted in Brazil:

1. Vegetables and Fruits tasting…well…like…vegetables and fruits.
*For some reason they just taste much better down here. Don’t ask me why guys… I just eat it.

2. Juices.
*No. It is not the same as #1 because juices in Brazil deserve their own category. Watermelon, Mango, Papaya, Caju, Grape… you name it, they’ve got it. The succulent, refreshing, all natural juices in this country have become my daily liquid intake. And I love every second of it.

3. Beaches
*If you don’t know that I like beaches, you don’t know me. And if you don’t know that Arizona doesn’t have beaches, well then you wouldn’t understand why I missed them so much.

4. Feiras
*God’s gift to Brazilians. A market full of everything you should eat in life. Every. Single. Day.

5. Not always doing things the right way.
*Ok, so its not like I’m a big fan of let’s disobey laws. But in Brazil its just so easy to just twist the law a little… don’t get me wrong guys, I’m a law-abiding citizen… well.. as much as any other Brazilian, right? It says don’t park… but… oh… maybe just for a little bit is ok… right?

6. Brazilian Food… Rodizios…Pastel…Sushi…Pão de Queijo…
*Its just so good. Period.

7. Football Fervor
*The excitement and passion that Brazilians have for their teams is a true devotion. Some times too much…but still.

8. Portuguese.
*I missed speaking Portuguese! Well… trying to speak Portuguese!

9. Challenges.
*Don’t get me wrong again… anywhere you go, you have challenges. But living in a country that is not your own is a completely different second-by-second challenge that teaches you all about yourself and makes you feel totally uncomfortable, but in a good way. It makes you do things you never thought you would do. It’s probably the best thing about living abroad.

10. G and P. And my Brazilian family.
*People always make a place what it is.

Jan 6

3 Comments

about the things I took for granted at home…

1. Ordering a coffee can be as complicated as you want and the barista will not get mad at you.
* It makes me want to order something  more complicated than my normal Americano. Just because I can.

2. A smile towards another person or at you does not mean I want to hit on you or that I want something from you… it simply is a sign of recognition.
*Which often results in me smiling at everyone and looking like an idiot. Besides the point.

3. Free water at restaurants or bars or any place with a food or beverage item is totally normal.
*Even if you’re a starving teacher, at least you will only starve and not die of thirst.

4. Walking around in my pajamas all day and night without feeling an ounce of guilt.
*Maybe an ounce.

5. Playing music loud and not having to care about the neighbors upstairs, downstairs or on either sides.
*Not like my neighbors in SP ever care anyways.

6. Not having to play chicken while crossing the street.
*Even though I often do out of habit. Then I get strange looks. Like, “Lady…I stopped for you, you don’t have to run like an idiot”.

7. Ridiculous amounts of things for ridiculous prices (I’m glad I only come home once a year).
*Oh Target. How I love thee.

8.Traffic only during rush hour.
*ONLY being the key word.

9. Leisurely walking through stores without being hassled about what I want to buy. Heaven forbid I just want to browse.
*Although I have gotten the act of ignoring a salesperson down to an art in SP.

10. Citizens obeying the law.
*Don’t get me wrong people…Sao Paulo has a few law abiding citizens, but just a few.

I’m sure there are more… but these are the top for now.

Nov 29

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about summer festivals…

Well, summer has arrived and all good things that come with it… including sweat, humidity, cold beer, thunderstorms, and much more. One thing that G and I have been most looking forward to are the summer music festivals that start to pop up around now. We recently went to two big ones and I feel the need to write about them not to just brag (because they were sah-weet), but to acknowledge what a positive experience both of them were and what great organization both these festivals had.

The first festival was Natura Music Festival and although I don’t have great pictures from the event it was super well organized. Unfortunately, we had a downpour of rain 5 minutes before we arrived which put a little damper on it, but it soon cleared up and the life went on. The food stalls were filled with all organic products and just as many hamburgers as vegetarian options. Now before you think I was chowing down on tofu while watching Jamiroquai, think again. I had pizza and popcorn. However, the point is there were options!! The bathrooms were decent and always had soap, toilet paper, and paper towel. The festival stalls promoted a lot of save the nature/animals kind of thing and I was surprised to see a fair amount of people interested in the products and souvenirs they were selling. The sound, lighting and overall stage set-up was great too.

Then last weekend we went to Planeta Terra Festival to see Mika, Smashing Pumpkins, Phoenix, Hot Chip and others. It was in an amusement park and the whole park was closed only for people attending the festival. The best part was all the rides were open until 4am! So if you didn’t like the band currently playing or you wanted to give your ears a rest and your adrenaline a rush then you just headed over to the rides! Food was good and plenty of options available (although not organic). There were some 20,000 people at the festival so I guess organization was more a necessity than a luxury, but it still impressed me.

Yippee for well organized festivals!
-L

Nov 6

about the continuity Brazil asked for…

Hm. I won’t go all political on my blog, I merely want to state my opinion on the recent elections that brought Dilma Rousseff to power in this ever-changing and growing nation. I can’t vote here and it is frustrating, so in the end I only have the right to comment on facts and opinions I have heard and that I feel. So what I write here is simply this and not a complaint about this country.

Many say that Dilma Rousseff’s election to office was a sign of the democratic progress Brazil has made… really? I don’t know if I completely agree with this. I think that this election was highly influenced by Lula, not the fact that they wanted Lula (which may be true), but that the country was voting for continuity (of more than just a person, but of the policies and procedures). Over the past eight years that Lula has been in power Brazil has seen many changes for the better and this was enough to influence many people to vote for Lula’s party, which as a result put Dilma in power. My point is that it could have been anyone and with the approval and backing of Lula, this person would have won.

I always find this interesting…if you look at a map of Brazil and the past elections there are clear reflections between states and poverty levels (even look at the city of São Paulo, the exterior part of the city is plagued with hills of favelas). The higher the amount of poverty, the higher the chance of voting for the worker’s party (Dilma’s party). The lower the poverty, the lower the chance of voting for the worker’s party. For this reason, Brazil is stuck between class voting. Maybe this voting is present in many countries and I am just now becoming aware of its power over what happens in a country’s elections. The Economist stated this difference in class level voting and although I don’t think it is necessarily a bad thing because in the end it represents the country and what and who the country is. However, I do think that it is something that separates a country rather than unifies it, and this task may be Dilma’s most difficult.

Another point I want to make was the convenient holiday that was declared over this voting weekend, which consequently accounted for a 21.5% abstention. This is an extremely high percentage, considering voting is compulsory in Brazil. Another thing to consider…

The last point I want to make is about Dilma’s identity, whether she will simply be Lula in a woman form or she will represent herself and choose her own path and identity. There are many things Brazil needs to continue to work on (the health system, schools and universities, labor, union, and political reforms). Furthermore, corruption and violent crimes are still high and remain another one of Brazil’s biggest challenges.

I sincerely hope that Dilma will make a difference, will continue to improve this country, and will seek to further the progress of this country and not only the appearance of the country in the International world. Most of all, I hope that Dilma understands what truly needs fixing in my opinion, the importance of equal education for every child, this will in return create a better family structure and equal opportunities and the presence of a community.

Oct 21

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about a sense of community…

I grew up in many places where being a part of a community seemed natural… second nature. Your neighbor drops her wallet, you pick it up. I see a can on the floor, I throw it away. You need a cup of sugar, sure! They are simple things… things that make people want to live altogether in the same place. However, I didn’t realize that this is something very precious. A sense that everyone is working for the good of other people so we can all live in a better place. Am I being naive? Maybe. However, if I thought there was one big thing missing in São Paulo that would make a big difference I would say community. A sense of feeling connected; motivated by each other to improve ourselves and the place we live in.

The dictionary describes community as a group of people in a district or country considered collectively, especially in the context of social values and responsibilities and society. Wake up São Paulo! We all live here… we all need to survive! So let’s try and help each other out. Maybe it goes back to my argument about education being the primary problem in Brazil. In the end, with education comes respect, with respect comes community… right?

I think the closest I have felt to a community here was when I went to Favela Rocinha. Favela is a Brazilian shanty town and Rocinha is the name of one of the biggest Favelas not only in Rio, but in Brazil. G and I visited the neighborhood a couple of years ago and I will never forget it because of the sense of community I felt when I was inside this place. Unfortunately, Favelas are usually funded and maintained by drug trafficking and drug-lords, so putting that detail aside the sense of community is much stronger in a place like this. Everyone is working together to create a community. Why is it like this? I understand that the people within this community probably earn much less than the average person in Brazil, they probably have less education, less things, less worries and maybe outside of this Favela they don’t contribute to society, but inside this Favela you see that people live so close to each other… it is impossible to not know what your neighbor is doing, it is impossible to get away with being rude or inconsiderate, it is impossible to not play your part in society (within the Favela). So what is it that São Paulo needs to change? Or maybe it is bigger than São Paulo and Brazil.. What makes us humans want to feel a sense of community or not?

Searching…
L

Oct 7

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about my new friend Peppers…

Here is my new friend Peppers. Although hairier than most of my friends he is the sweetest of all.

I’m in peppers love.
L

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