In Brazil #3
March 21st, 2002 by freddie96
5.
Watched the domestic news for the first time as we’d heard that both Rio and Sao Paulo had suffered total power blackouts for much of the day. They still don’t know why. Saw highly distressing pictures of people sobbing as they finally found relatives who had been stuck in lift shafts in tower blocks between floors for hours. The other major event was that a very popular progressive government official had been assassinated last night and the streets of Sao Paulo were mobbed with weeping sympathisers.
6.
Sao Paulo is quite an experience. I’ve heard it described as mad, loud, fast, hot, polluted and dangerous – a sort of Bladerunner in the tropics – and didn’t really see anything there in my two days there that would lead me to take issue with that. ‘Keep your window up or you’ll get shot’ was the sage advice from at least three people. Not that I really got to experience the world’s 4th largest megalopolis a great deal at street level anyway as I was pretty much acting like a full-time employee at the promoter’s office, sending a brace of e-mails (hooray!), making calls to all and sundry and having lunch with eight others around their communal dinner table (they have a maid and a cook on the payroll too). The rest of the day was spent in the boardroom in several meetings talking about how to market events over here and playing them examples of music of the artists I’d like to bring over. Fingers crossed.
Anyway, I’m now on Saint Catarina island next to Florianopolis and it’s green with very fresh air and very very wet. My pousada is in a village about 2km from Mole Beach, where my employment is, and once again no-one here speaks any English at all, even the Skol rep (my driver). Had a couple of hours free so set off to explore the area – Mole Beach is pretty commercial with the Skol Spirit tent its ‘crown jewel’ surrounded my netball courts and other corporate entertainment – reminded me of Cornwall Colisseum without the concrete.
A scramble over the huge rock outcrop at the north end of the beach, however, leads to a secluded nudist beach (which on first impressions seemed rather gay) with a great deal of welcome peace and tranquility, so I parked my towel there for half an hour and enjoyed a rest. Last night the rain was so torrential that there was no chance of walking the half a kilometre to the restaurant in the village to get any food so I decided on an early night instead.
Awoke to yet more rain an hour ago and had much needed breakfast brought to me in this cozy little apartment (I have my own hammock too!) consisting of melon and guava, bread rolls and cheese, yoghurt with banana and grain and some rather strong coffee. Time to enjoy some rare leisure time, then I’m into my first of the weekend’s marathon sets again and on the home straight.
7.
After a very enjoyable last weekend, I’m back on the plane, three weeks and several mosquito bites later with a whole load of memories to take back to the British winter. Back again soon, I hope!
Pete Lawrence, February 2002
