Blog Archives
Saturdays at Sao Benedito
Hundreds of people crowd the streets alongside the plaza, where a fair has been set up selling various foods and artesan items. We grab a ‘pastel’ (deep fried pastry of salami and cheese) and head into the street where the throng of people seem to have grown in the past few minutes.
It seems as if they’ve closed the side street between the park and a few bars just for the fair on Saturday, but then again, this is Brazil. The street is still open, and cars move at a snails pace through a crowd of drinking, laughing, and energetic Brazilians.
A few enterprising women have dragged giant eskies and are selling beers, soft drinks and spirits to the gathering and thirsty crowd, and its definitely added to the buzz in the area.
It’s Saturday afternoon, and this is just another weekend for the Paulistanas. For me, it’s amazing… and besides you never know who you might end up talking to in the crowd…
Linguists Unite!
The Museum of the Portuguese Language in Sao Paulo is quite the unique experience. It’s a museum, the only one of its kind in the world it claims which is dedicated to just one language and its history.
Through the interactive exhibits and the cinematic show which ends up with you walking ‘through’ the screen into another room of projection displays.
Another gallery has a wall of continuous video displays more than a hundred metres long, showcasing different aspects of the words relating to Brazilian culture – football, carnival, food, music, history…
I was lucky with my timing at this museum as there was also a temporary exhibit dedicated to my favourite poet, Fernando Pessoa. His poems once translated into English are still fantastic, but in Portuguese they are truly incredible.
He was quite the philosopher who wrote under a number of heteronyms, or assumed characters, which allowed him to explore life from a number of different perspectives and different voices.
Try a few of his poems out for yourself and see if you like them… Personally I think he is among the world’s finest poets.
http://www.meaningsoflife.com/Poems/Poems-Pessoa.htm
http://fernandopessoa.multiply.com/reviews/item/6
His collection of short observations about life can be found in English as ‘The Book of Disquiet’. It’s my favourite book.
Rio’s Carnival Up In Flames
Tragedy hit preparations for Carnival in Rio de Janeiro as the City of Samba, where all floats and costumes are housed, went up in flames. More than 120 firefighters raced to the scene, and were able to save 70% of the complex. Three of the ‘schools of samba’ lost their floats and many of their costumes. Portela, União da Ilha and Grande Rio are some of the largest and respected schools of samba. With less than a month to go until the Carnival parade gets underway, this is a significant setback for the three schools. But despite the sadness, all three schools will do what they can to still take part. Many people are donating money to help those affected most. Coming for Carnival? Never fear, the party will still be on, and I’m sure that the three entries from the affected schools will be an emotional thing to witness.
When music transcends…
Thiago Pethit was the main attraction, and he really delivered. His style is unique, but if I had to compare him to anyone, I’d probably say he has Mika-stylings, only Thiago is far more entertaining than Mika. He sings in Portuguese, English and French, and is quite the talented and animated performer.
Fashion Weak
Sao Paulo – City of Secrets
Ten Brazilian Timeouts from the Brazilianaire
You’re at work aren’t you, and you’ve been YouTubing again… I can tell by the glazed sparkle in your eyes. Well don’t despair, this highly researched list of ten of my fave Brazilian themed clips online will pep you up. If you’ve seen another you like better, send it through in the comments!
#1 Favelas/Equality… This is Michael Jackson’s music video for “They don’t really care about us”, shot on location in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and a few other hot spots around Brazil. The songs topic addresses the vast divide between rich and poor, which in Brazil is widely considered to be its main domestic challenge
#2 Samba… even the toddlers are outdoing me on this front. I have to skill up pretty quickly so I don’t get stomped on during Carnival
#3 Carnival… You’ll never look at a street party in the same light again afterwards… 2010
and a bonus clip of our Jen in Rio‘05
#4 Rhythm… You can get it in a tram, you can get it on the streets, matter of fact I got it now…
#5 Brazilian Waxing… You can wax any part you want to in Brazil. It’s just called a wax there… The good news is, no visa is needed to experience a Brazilian wax…
#6 The Boys from Ipanema… Distractions aplenty on the beaches of Ipanema… Need I say more…
#7 Portuguese… such a beautiful romantic language, except perhaps when you get your maid to try and spell out YouTube’s web address in Brazil.
#8 Football… whether it’s the emotional ankle injuries for the refs, or even the emotional shows from the refs, football is about 95% performance
#9 Football Passion… if you think the fans go a little nuts for football, then wait ‘til you see the commentators!
And finally… #10 Churrasco… Bring on the Meat Sweats! If the meat doesn’t get you drooling, at least the dancing tomato clip art kitsch will get you grooving
On Visas and Passports
Travel only really works when you have travel documents that are up to the task.
And as it turns out, my passport was not quite up to the task of letting me into Brazil – yet… They needed to have six months validity on the passport, which there was, when I applied for the visa. However, the validity needs to be from the date you enter the country, not the date you apply for the visa. (Would have been good to have that in the notes section online somewhere!)
Anyway, after a few frantic calls and a trip or two down to the Australian Passport office in Sydney, I’ve been able to get myself a passport that is up to the task of some good old fashioned Aussie backpackery.
So hopefully the Brazilian visa will be not too far behind and the trip can commence as planned!
For those Aussies wanting to travel to Brazil, you will need an entry visa. Tourist visas cost around $50 and are available through the Brazilian consulate.
Here’s the details…
One year on…
One year on… it seems like only yesterday.
I’m currently working in Sydney at a PR agency, living in Elizabeth Bay and every day waking up dreaming of Brazil.
The hardest thing about travelling had to have been coming back home and learning to adapt back to a life I had previously been used to, but taking all of the things I had learnt during my trip and incorporating them somehow.
It’s still difficult one year on… but life is always what you make of it.
So I’m currently working to save up and do another huge travel experience again in the next few years. If you want to come and tag along, let me know! Or make a suggestion of where to go even!
Thanks for reading my experiences and I look forward to sharing more with you all soon.
Lots of love, Adam – the Brazilianaire.
The Floripa Streaker
Just before my streak at Praia das Galhetas
Florianopolis, or ‘Floripa’ as the trendy Brazilians call it, is a city that doesn’t know which side of the fence it is on. Half the city is on the mainland of Brazil and the other half is on the island of Santa Catarina.
The keyword here is beaches. There’s beaches for surfers, beaches for people who are 20-30, beaches for wave-lappers, beaches for tanners and finally – beaches for nudists.
What better way to leave Brazil than with a truly consolidated tan, right?
So one sunny morning I found myself lying face down grabbing some rays feeling all liberated.
(No wise cracks about sand in uncomfortable places ok… after all, a wise crack stays covered!)
There may … uh hmmmm … be a photo around somewhere…
Tales of The Brazilianaire 