Alzinho in Brazil
January 15th, 2007 by rui
In late 2006, Alzinho – a Big Chill forum regular and star of last year’s Big Chill Film from cclab – decided to return to Brazil, a country he had previously lived in and loved so much he’d tattooed it’s flag on his leg – for a long holiday. While he is away, he’s keeping the Forum up-to-date with his adventure. The result is a fantastic snapshot of a troubled city, and a lesson in how a holiday can make a difference. Read on…
Alzinho 27 Nov 2006, 22:13
I tried to change my ticket at Heathrow so that I could get off the plane in Sao Paulo, but BA were having none of it and made me go to Buenos Aires. Whilst the plane was sat at the gate in S.P. I could smell the Brasilian air and sat looking whistfully out of the open door, watching 80% of the passengers disembarking. Almost 3 hours later I landed in Buenos Aires and decided to just get the first available flight to Brasil (as I have to return via B.A. I’ll spend a few days there on the way back).
So, US$500 and another 3 hours flying later, I arrived yesterday in Rio de Janeiro and I’m currently in my usual cheap and seedy hotel in Copacabana. The 26 hours of travelling left me a little tired, but I still managed to go out to a Churrascaria and ate an entire cow, half a chicken, a rack of ribs, a few slices of lamb, 2 slices of beetroot and some palm hearts.
*burp*
Today I walked the entire length of Copacabana (about 70% of the beach is currently boarded up and closed to the public – haven’t found out why yet?) and then into the heart of Ipanema, checking out the cost of renting an apartment – I’m meeting up with an ex-girlfriend who is travelling up from Sao Paulo on Wednesday and don’t think she’d appreciate the place I’m staying in at the moment (it can give the impression that it’s a bit of a knocking-shop – there’s a bit of toing-and-froing, if you know what I mean?).
Planning to go out and catch some live music tonight. Going to see if the little jazz club I used to frequent is still in business. By the looks of things, not much has changed since I was last here 4 years ago – I recognized all the staff in the hotel and they also remembered me (I had stayed there 15 times in the previous 12 years though *cough*).
It’s 26 degrees, but overcast and muggy, so not likely to be starting on the suntan just yet. How is the weather in England by the way?
Right…off to get ready to go out – reckon I might give the churrascaria a miss tonight and head for a rather nice seafood restaurant where you can point at the lobster you want as it swims around in a big tank.
Até logo!
Abraços e muitos beijos.
Al xx
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Alzinho 29 Nov 2006, 22:15
Look, I’m having lots of fun, ok. It’s just that the interesting things that happen on a trip like this (or maybe these are just the things that I like writing about?) make me sound like a GOM (Grumpy Old Man).
It hasn’t stopped raining for the last 2 days…..no, I mean raining – imagine the most torrential downpour you possibly can…..now add the entire contents of the Atlantic Ocean….now you’re getting there! So been sitting around in various bars, drinking beer (what’s that all about then?) and have read half of Margrave of the Marshes.
Let me tell you about the music they play in bars in Copacabana – in the last 2 days I’ve heard "The Moon and New York City" (Christopher Cross?) FIVE times and "Africa" (Toto) FOUR times! For a country with such an amazing musical heritage it really is quite sad. The jazz club I’d hoped to visit earlier is sadly no more and I ended up in a nightclub somewhere near the Ipanema end of Copacabana – very ordinary Europop for most of the night, the best part being when the DJ took a break and put on the Pet Shop Boys greatest hits (I’m guessing that’s what happened – we certainly had 6 or 7 PSB songs consecutively between about 1.30 and 2am).
Amusing things seen being transported by bicycle on the pot-holed streets of Copacabana:
1. An enormous TV – perched very precariously on the handlebars and seemingly held in place by a single bungee and the cyclists chin.
2. Eight cool-boxes (eskis), piled on top of each other – seemingly held in place by magic.
3. A father and THREE sons of varying ages.
4. (My favourite!) Two enormous king-size mattresses – somehow attached to a rack on the front of the bike.
Less amusing was seeing a blind beggar robbed of his collection tin by a young kid (probably about 7 or 8 years old) and subsequently chased down by a guy who I’d have crossed the road to avoid walking past and given a ‘strong talking to’ which ended in a pretty rough clout about the head and a spontaneous round of public applause for the clouter.
Blimey – I can’t believe how expensive it is here at the moment! And I mean shockingly, almost London prices, expensive. The exchange rate is awful (from my point of view: less than 4 Reais to the GBP – it was 6 the last time I was here) and even taking this into account, prices seem to have doubled and even trebled in some cases. Ccombining the exchange rate difference with the price increases, Í see to be paying 4 or 5 TIMES more than I was paying 4 years ago. GBP1.20 for a half-pint of beer, GBP50 per night in the hotel I’d become accustomed (for 12 years) to paying US$35 for, GBP10 to get into a club. Of course, I’m paying ‘foreigner’prices, in tourist bars, in the tourist district of the tourist capital, but my comparison is with the same places only 4 years ago.
Not sure if it’s related, but I’ve never seen so many Brits here. Unfortunately them seem to be the Brits that terrorized Benidorm in the 80s, and Prague in the 90s – groups of 50 year old skinheads with bulldog tattoos and appearing to want to fight with everyone. I’ve seen more threatened violence (it’s rarely ended in a fight because as soon as someone mentions the police and makes a hand gesture suggesting that guns will be involved, the belligerent Brits have so far decided to retreat) in 3 days than in 16 previous trips to Brasil, (my own kidnap by armed policemen in 2002 excepted…but that’s another story!).
The ex-girlfriend has been delayed by a day and won’t be arriving until tomorrow. Meanwhile I’ve been to see a couple of apartments. Not very interesting in itself, but, ending on a brighter note, imagine my amusement when returning to the hotel and taking a closer look at the business cards I’d been given by the 2 agents who’d shown me the apartments – I’d just noted their names as Eric and Ulysses, but their full monikers are as follows:
Eric Ronald Ponce and Ullyses Cornetto.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Abraços e beijos.
Al xx
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Alzinho 2 Dec 2006, 21:54
Not much to report today. The ex-girlfriend arrived from Sao Paulo and things are pretty cool. Made a second visit to the churrascaria and ate another selection of farmyard animals. Went to see some Bossa in a huge record shop and had my first caiparinha (I’ve become an alcoholic in less than a week!). We’ve got tickets to see Maria Bethania tomorrow and although I’m not that familiar with her music I’m quite excited as she’s one of the few ‘major’ artists who grew out of the early Bossa Nova movement that I’ve never seen. We asked about tickets for B.B. King next week also, but the cheapest available were……wait for it…..GBP140! The sun came out today and we went to the beach (Copacabana) – hooray! Only stayed for an hour though – there was a beach-volleyball competition going on and my weak heart couldn’t take it.
Abraços e beijos.
Al xx
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Alzinho 9 Dec 2006, 21:59
Right, lets start with the weather… Two days of sunshine since arriving interspersed with some of the worst rainfall ever witnessed, apparently. There have been some awful accidents due to roads being washed away on the outskirts of big urban areas. This, along with air-traffic control problems leading to people being stuck at airports for 48 hours at a time, is making travel a bit less attractive as the days go by.
Moved to an apartment when Helvia arrived from Sao Paulo. A bit cheaper than the hotel, but very spacious, with a large living room and small kitchen. (Still GBP210/week though.) And here’s a good tip if you’re staying somewhere for any length of time – buy some really nice, Egyptian cotton sheets to replace the dodgy looking, bri-nylon ones supplied – what a treat to sleep on lovely new cotton sheets!
The fairy-tale didn’t last long though….after 3 good days, followed by 2 days without hot water, the water coming from the hot tap seemed to have been
replaced with Benzene. Just turning the tap on and letting it run for a few seconds left us both feeling faint with the fumes. On asking the building admin what was going on they told us that someone had accidently dropped some ‘product’ in the tank, but that it was perfectly safe to take a shower in it! We didn’t. Two days later it hadn’t improved and when I asked the admin to demonstrate how safe it was by washing her hands in our sink, she declined. We moved out yesterday and are now in my favourite hotel – the previously described ‘knocking shop’.
The Maria Bethania concert was ‘good’ – she did a brilliant version of Agua de Beber, but apart from that it was all her new album and nothing that I was familiar with. It was a bit strident for my liking really – very much like traditional Portuguese ‘fado’ in style. The gig was in the Museum of Modern Art – great venue! They were also selling tickets for Armin van Buuren – decided to give him a miss.
Eating: must.stop.going.to.churrascaria. You’re supposed to eat 5 ‘portions’ of meat per day, right? Actually, just for a change, we went to Mariu’s (veh, veh posh) and had a rodizio of seafood instead of meat – so you’re sat there for the entire evening being brought lobster, crab, enormous prawns, oysters, salmon and all manner of exotic fish and you just eat until the last lobster tail gets stuck in your throat because there’s no room for it to slide down into your stomach.
Anyhow, I am now fat. No, I don’t mean I’ve got a bit of middle-age spread and put on a couple of inches round the waist….I mean I’m having to give my clothes away and buy new ones.
First day on the beach this week was a treat. It was absolutely packed. First sign of a break in the clouds and everybody heads for the beach! Even managed to take a couple of pics (though how I’m going to get them on-line I haven’t quite figured out yet – they’re on a Sony memory-stick, which I only found out was ‘old’ technology when I tried to buy a new one at the airport) – a few of another beach-volleyball tournament and a group of 4 Father Christmases, in full red costumes with white fur……really. Also had a couple taken of me in the mall – there was a proper grotto set up, with Father Christmas sat there by his snow-covered tree – parents paying to let their kids sit on his knee and have their picture taken. As it happens, the big man had a couple of helpers, let’s say they were quite attractive young ladies, and let’s say they were dressed in traditional Christmas outfits also. Now, all I asked was if I could have my picture taken with them – I paid my 4 quid, handed my camera to Helvia and asked her to oblige. I really don’t understand why, but she seems to have made a pretty poor job of it – eg. cutting their legs off completely, which took some doing, considering how short those skirts were!
Have spent the last couple of days filling out forms in order to spend some time doing some volunteer work here for one of the projects supported by the ABC Trust, which a lot of you will be familiar with if you came to the ABC Minichill Festival the last couple of years. Hoping to make a start next week, though that kind of depends on how much more beaurocracy is involved.
Took Helvia up to see the Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado today – took a chance on the cloud clearing, but unfortunately it didn’t. In fact it was so bad you couldn’t even see the top of the statue, let alone the amazing views you normally have of Rio, all around the mountain. Shame, cos she’d never been up to see it and has to go back to Sao Paulo on Sunday or Monday – might even go up again tomorrow if it’s any clearer. That funicular railway’s a pretty scarey, white-knuckle ride though – might have to get a cab the next time!
Abraços e beijos.
Al xx
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Alzinho 10 Dec 2006, 22:36
So, there’s these 3 Welshmen in Rio de Janeiro…
…No punchline – I’ve met and spoken to 3 other foreigners since I’ve been here, all 3 of them were Welsh men and they didn’t know each other.
Welshman no.1 -
I had my breakfast in the hotel and was sat in the reception finishing off Margrave of the Marshes (great read by the way). A tall, very attractive mulata comes storming in and sits on the sofa opposite me, huffing and puffing, clearly wanting to spill the beans about what she was going through. So I ask her if she is ok. Turns out, her boyfriend is in the dining room having breakfast with a couple of ‘piranha’ who he just spent the night with. She’s just waiting for them to finish so she can confront him. When they come out, he looks a bit surprised, but takes it in his stride, showing the 2 girls to the door, kissing them goodbye and returning to tell his girlfriend what a nice surprise it is to see her! At this point I make my exit, returning after half an hour to get on the internet (it’s raining outside). The girlfriend then returns with her packed bags and sits down with another exagerated round of huffing and puffing – she’s just waiting for him to come down with her taxi money, but proceeds to regale me with the entire story of their somewhat turbulent love-life. After about 20 minutes I ask her how much her taxi fare is and give her the money to leave. About 8 hours later I come through reception on my way out for the evening and there’s the happy couple, sat in the bar with a couple more Brasileiras, having a drink. Despite my best efforts to sneak out unnoticed, I get collared to join them ‘just for one beer’. It turns out he’s from north Wales and works on the oil rigs here – though decifering this through the heavily accented Portuguese and (very) drunken slur wasn’t easy! She’s already forgotten the previous night’s ‘incident’, loves him very much and asks me to return the piece of paper with her phone number on it that she’d slipped me this morning.
Welshman no.2 -
Although I only spent half an hour talking to him, this guy would get a whole chapter in the travelogue, entitled ‘An Innocent Abroad!’ Me and Helvia decided to go and catch some of the night-life at the seedier end of Copacabana – at the bars outside ‘Help!’ (pronounced ‘helpee’) disco. I hear this guy struggling to make himself understood by both the waiter and the girl sat at his table and clearly quite stressed. So I go over and ask him if he needs any help. He’s just worried about the impending bill – thinking that because he doesn’t speak any Portuguese that the waiter and the girl are conspiring to rip him off (they weren’t). It turns out that he’s on his first ever trip abroad (I guess he’s about 19/20), in fact, it’s the first time he’s ever been on an aeroplane – 2 weeks in Rio de Janeiro – that’s the way to break your duck! His mate is back at the hotel – too scared to come out because he’s heard that the area where his mate was drinking was full of ‘working girls’ – tardinho! So I re-assure him that he’s not being ripped off and that there are plenty of girls who speak a bit of English. What was a bit more worrying was that he was asking me about ‘contraception’…..because he didn’t want to get some girl pregnant! After getting over being just a bit gobsmacked, I told him that that was the least of his worries if he didn’t arm himself with some ‘camisinhas’ (not to be confused with ‘camisetas’ – pull a t-shirt over your knob and it just ain’t gonna work!).
Welshman no.3 -
The very next day, we head for the beach at the very end of the afternoon (it’s cloudy, but at least it’s not raining!). And whadyaknow…..we end up sat beside another Welshman, with (one of) his Brasilian girlfriend(s). This guy is a trance/hard-house DJ who has been organizing ‘illegal’ raves in Minas Gerais for the last 2 months. He got a bit fed up with the whole scene – not because he wasn’t attracting the crowds or making money, but because the crowds didn’t seem to want to dance! It didn’t take us long to work out what the problem was between us……although there’s plenty of cheap rugs around, the indiginous ones just aren’t conducive to ‘avin’-it-large at a big party in a field – the ‘necessary’ ones are prohibitively expensive at about 10 quid a pop. He was off to sample a bit of Armin van Buuren that night.
Seen a few more Brits, but not ones I’ve had any wish to communicate with – the bunch of Scots on a stag trip were particularly lairy. Saw some fisticuffs in another bar – but didn’t hang around long enough to find out who the protagonists were – I think they might have been Germans, certainly European.
Oh, and I’m fighting a one-man-war against the over-use of plastic bags – there were some statistics published recently saying that 80 billion were used per year, or something ridiculous like that – willing to bet that the number used per head of population is higher in Brasil than any other country?
Gotta run, off out for dinner.
Abraços e beijos.
Al xx
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Alzinho 22 Dec 2006, 15:27
Has it really been 12 days since the last report? Blimey, seems more like 2!
Well, the weather took a turn for the better – it’s been absolutely glorious, blue skies and 30 degrees every day since I started working at Casa Jimmy, doing 9am ’til 7/8pm (ie. daylight hours) – doh! So I’m still ‘transparente’ as the locals like to call me.
The ex-ex-girlfriend has now become the ex-ex-ex-girlfriend. We had a really nice couple of weeks, but it had been 4 years since we’d seen each other and people change…..blah, blah blah. It was all very civilized and I’ve already organized to meet up with her when I pass through Sao Paulo in January.
Casa Jimmy.
Where do I start? Well, who’s got kids? It’s chaos isn’t it? Well, imagine having 15 of them between the ages of 1 and 6 years old in one house! And all of them from ‘troubled’ backgrounds – mainly just abandoned. I can’t talk about specific case histories, but some of them are almost impossible to believe. Could you ever imagine what it might be like to be a 3 year old living on the street? Well what about if you were that 3 year old and were also looking after your baby sister?
Not surprisingly, there are some behaviour problems, but in general they’re a joy to be with. Yep, it’s bloody hard work and I’ve never seen so much snot and poo, but the rewards are HUGE. Watching two 15mth olds walking hand-in-hand having just been told to kiss-and-make-up after a ‘fight’; being greeted in the morning by a gaggle of toddlers running towards you shouting ‘tio!’ (uncle) and grabbing you round the legs or reaching up to be hugged; sitting at the table with 2 kids on either side, all waiting with open mouths for me to feed them in rotation; the look of joy on a 3 year old’s face when she’s jumped into the pool and you’ve caught her; and my favourite moment so far – helping to put them down for their afternoon nap and having to put my head down on the bed between 2 of the tiny-tots and pretend that I’m sleepy myself and watching their eyelids slowly closing until they’re asleep.
One particularly hectic day was ‘the day of the Christmas parties.’ I arrived at the house in the morning to see all the kids and various others being stuffed into the VW Kombi* and was asked if I could join them as there were no other volunteers available. Half an hour later we arrived at this big municipal playground where there were numerous other groups of kids and handicapped adults being entertained by a samba bateria and a choir singing hymns. It wasn’t the best organized event I’ve ever been to (it was scorching hot and there was no water available), but it was great to see the kids running around and interacting with other kids and people. I was pretty dehydrated and could barely walk by the time we got back to the house, but then it was time for Casa Jimmy’s official Christmas Party. Luckily Father Christmas was about 2 hours late, so I got the chance to cool off a bit. I got permission to take photos, but unfortunately it’s not permitted to post them on the internet – I’ll make sure I’m carrying them round with me after I get back so’s you can all have a look.
There’s also 5 teenage girls in the house – 3 with babies and 2 who are pregnant. I had another mental day when one of the other volunteers and myself took 2 of them out shopping! I’d offered to buy them Christmas presents to a value of R$80 each (20 quid) and they were only interested in one thing – clothes. So, armed with a list of each girl’s sizes we headed for a massive market in Centro. It just happened to be the hottest day of the year (pushing 40 degrees) and the market was absolutely packed with pre-Christmas shoppers. Oh what fun I had – 20 quid goes an awful long way in that market – each girl got 5 or 6 items of clothing and a pair of shoes! Only took 4 hours….
Also spent a day at the organic farm, 2 hours north of Rio, administered by TASK Brasil (who also administer Casa Jimmy), where there are 6 boys between the ages of 10 and 16. The volunteers at Casa Jimmy are also expected to spend time at the farm, where the work is much easier but the isolation is pretty complete. It’s situated out in the middle of nowhere, 9km off-road, 10km form the nearest ‘town’, which is basically just a cross-roads with a bar and a few shops. Only stayed long enough to get the guided tour, but it was quite a trip getting there and back (see below*).
As mentioned elsewhere on this site, I’ve been playing Father Christmas myself. As I’m only here for such a short time I’ve been trying to make a difference in a more immediate way by making sure that all the individuals involved here get a bit of a morale boost by getting them all a Christmas present. All in all there are 15 people who work in the actual house, including cleaners, cooks, educators, maintenance etc. – I’d have liked to have given them cash as they all earn something close to the minimum wage (about 100 quid/mth), but that’s strictly forbidden – the admin came up with the idea of gift vouchers from a popular chain store (a bit like Woolworths) so I wrapped up 15 identical presents of assorted toiletries (that was an entire evening’s work!) and threw in some vouchers – it amounted to bugger-all cash for me really, but they were genuinely chuffed.
I’m planning to take the admin people who work in the adjoining offices out for dinner one night over the Christmas holidays.
Which reminds me….my Christmas plans having been thrown into confusion by the departure of the ex-ex-ex (I was supposed to be spending it with her family), I decided to cancel my travel plans for this week and stay to help at Casa Jimmy over Christmas. Later on today I’m moving out of Copacabana and into a hostel in Santa Teresa, only about 10 minutes walk from the house.
Santa Teresa – had never been there before on any of my previous 15 trips to Rio. I’ve been missing out! It’s one of the oldest parts of the city – perched on top of a very steep hill, all cobbled streets, Portuguese colonial buildings and a 100 year old tram system….which looks older! The only down-side is that it’s surrounded by favelas, so you don’t really want to be walking round there late at night and take a wrong turning. Apparently, the wise thing to do if you unexpectedly find yourself in a favela and confronted by potentially unfriendly types, is to say you’re looking to buy drugs – I think somebody on here mentioned this to me, but it’s also the advice given by the local police. The thoery is that even though this would indicate you’re carrying cash, they wouldn’t want to bite the hand that feeds them.
* The VW Kombi.
What an amazing vehicle this is! The one being used by Casa Jimmy has performed some amazing feats of transport in the last week, but you also see them all over the city. Some of them must be 30/40 years old, and they’ve been converted into all sorts of contraptions. I saw one that looked like the entire rear had been taken off with a tin-opener and then someone had converted it into a flat-bed truck with old wooden pallets that hung out 3′ wider than the cab all the way round.
When I went on the trip to the farm, the last 9km was off-road. And I mean off-road – rutted mud tracks with boulders bigger than the wheels of the Kombi, huge swathes of track missing due to land-slides, slopes so steep that I wouldn’t have attempted them in a Land Rover and the occasional 200′ drop into oblivion to look down into. The Kombi made it in half an hour. When we got there I was thinking of making the return journey on foot – the thought of coming down the same way was bloody terrifying – but eventually ‘braved’ it by clenching my teeth and trying to keep someone engaged in conversation for the entire journey.
And then there was the trip to the Christmas party – no off-roading, but TWENTY FIVE of us in a 9-seat Kombi! Admittedly 15 were kids under 6 years old (4 of whom were on top of me), but TWENTY FIVE!
Not much to report in the way of socialising….nothing at all in fact – not had enough energy left at the end of each day for that.
Had a bit of a scarey moment walking along in Copacabana yesterday. There was a huge bang about 10 yards behind me and I turned round to see everybody looking up. It appeared as though a brick or a piece of concrete had fallen off a building, probably dropping 10 or 12 storeys and just exploded into a big cloud of dust on impact. The pavement was crowded with Christmas shoppers and it was a miracle that nobody was hurt…..me included.
Até a proxima.
Abraços e beijos.
Al xx
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Alzinho 31 Dec 2006, 21:39
Wow, I thought the previous 12 day gap had flown past, but the 9 days since I last reported have just been a blur… a crazy, mainly sleepless, party filled, whirlwind!
And I’m feeling like a bit of a fraud now, writing on a thread entitled ‘Alzinho in Brasil’- cos I’m in Argentina 
So, a bit of ‘GOM’ input first – just before Christmas I packed my bags and headed up to a so-called hotel/hostel in Santa Teresa. The idea was that it would be a lot cheaper, it would also save on taxi fares and be a lot more convenient, as it’s walking distance to Casa Jimmy. OK, so I made a mistake! It was a bizarre place. To start with, it was only R$30 (GBP7.50) cheaper than the 3 star hotel in Copacabana, but didn’t include breakfast (and breakfast at the Copa hotel is spectacular). It wasn’t air-conditioned, was full of bugs and mosquitos and I’d been there 4 days and they still hadn’t made my bed, let alone changed the sheets or towels. And the idea of saving on taxi fares was a nonsense, because instead of living within walking distance to the bars and restaurants and getting a taxi to work I was now walking distance to work and getting taxis to go out and eat – doh! OK, so I’m talking about unnecessary luxuries whilst working amongst people who have virtually nothing, but it’s about relative value-for-money – I moved back to Copacabana on Boxing Day.
I don’t suppose it made the news back in blighty, but there was an outbreak of organized gang violence in Rio this week which was pretty shocking. Buses were hijacked and burnt – one of them on the beach-front in Botafogo, which is where I’d previously decided I’d probably want to live if I ever settled in Rio… might have to re-think that one! Several people were killed and lots injured. Not nice.
And the last ‘downer’ before telling you about some of the parties… I’d mentioned previously the problems with travel at the moment. Well, it seems there’s been a series of ‘issues’ leading up to it: firstly there was the collapse of Varig (the national airline), then there was a plane crash, then an investigation which uncovered the fact that air-traffic controllers, who by international conventions are only permitted to work 7hrs/day, were working double shifts and then the second biggest airline (TAM) buggered up their maintenance schedules and didn’t have enough planes to fulfil their timetable. The result has been complete chaos at every airport and, consequently, bus companies being inundated and overbooked. Of course, I booked my internal flights in blind ignorance of most of this – in fact, the day after I got my tickets, the government banned TAM from selling any more tickets because they just couldn’t honour them. Need I even mention that my flights were with TAM? I then started to monitor the news – there were awful scenes at airports all over the country, with people spending 2/3 days sleeping on the floor, all flights being horrendously delayed and many randomly cancelled all together. Thousands of people who were expecting to return to their families spent their Christmas in an airport. I went to the airport on the 29th with some trepidation. The departures board looked a bit like this –
Flight 123 to ABC DELAYED
Flight 234 to BCD DELAYED
Flight 345 to CDE DELAYED
Flight 456 to DEF DELAYED
Flight 567 to EFG DELAYED
But, waddayaknow – my flight to Foz do Iguassu appeared to be the only one on-time! And believe it or not, not only did it take off on-time, but it arrived half an hour early – hooray!
Anyhow… back to those parties.
On the evening of the 22nd we (the volunteers and the senior TASK Brasil staff) were invited to a cocktail party on HMS Endurance. The Royal Navy is also a regular sponsor of Casa Jimmy and whenever a ship is scheduled to call into Rio they hold a party – hey, I wasn’t going to turn it down. Lot’s of pish-taking when they found out I was ex-RAF, but a jolly time was had by all – 2 gin-and-tonics and a couple of pork pies and I was all but falling into the bay. They were delivering a third of a container full of goodies from England which we went back to pick up on the 27th.
Christmas Eve is the biggie here – that’s when the big feast is prepared and the pressies opened. I spent the entire day at Casa Jimmy and the build up of expectation was pretty intense, as you’d expect with 15 kids and about 12 teenagers in the same house! (We were joined by the boys from the farm and from another TASK Brasil project, CASA Roger Turner, which is a drop-in centre for homeless boys also in Santa Teresa.) In the afternoon somebody brought a little radio so we could have some music – the teenagers really took over at this point. They love their hip-hop (pronounced hippy-hoppy!) and proceeded to put on a show of their dancing skills – it really was brilliant fun and the whole house was full of laughter.
It was all a bit chaotic, but the food was plentiful and at 9pm everyone received a sack full of presents – all toys and clothes. Actually, in the chaos a couple of the kids got missed out, but I tried to improvise and did a bit of surreptitious re-distribution.
The volunteers were then invited to an all-night party back at the house of one of the administrators, but I was really exhausted and also knew we were going to be short-handed on Christmas Day, so I staggered back to my ‘hotel’ and collapsed.
Which was just as well, because the next morning there was only one Educator and me who turned up – the plentiful supply of DVDs came in very handy and I got my wish to watch Dumbo on Christmas Day. I finished at 4pm and went with volunteer Dan to spend a bit of Christmas Day on Ipanema beach – utter bliss! I even had a swim in the sea. We then climbed up Arpoador hill to watch the sunset with a bunch of locals before meeting up with volunteer Baanu to go to the Garota de Ipanema (Girl from Ipanema) restaurant, where Tom Jobim wrote the famous song, and had our Christmas dinner…….I had a chicken pizza, which was the closest thing on the menu to roast turkey!
The day after Boxing day I’d invited all the office workers of TASK Brasil, and the volunteers, out to dinner at my favourite churrascaria. Considering the office only has 4 desks and the annex only holds 3 or 4 people I was a little bit taken aback to be told to reserve a table for 22… and even more surprised when 19 people actually turned up! Oh well, I’m now so well known in this churrascaria that they gave me a pretty good discount.
My last day before traveling to Argentina for New Year was the 28th. – in the morning, volunteer Andrea had organized for us to take all the kids out to the local park – only possible because we had 1 educator and 3 volunteers, though that’s still a challenge with 15 kids. It was all going pretty well until the rain started, slowly at first and then eventually a tropical downpour. We tried to shelter under some trees, but eventually gave up and decided to accept the near-drowning and walk the half an hour back to Casa Jimmy. I should have taken some photos – we looked like a pack of drowned rats – but I had nothing to change into, so went straight back to the hotel. When I returned, the planned barbeque was under way, though the break in proceedings for one of the social workers to make a speech and present me with a cake was completely unexpected.
So now I’m in Argentina – it feels like I’m on holiday! My mate Paul has had a pool installed since my last visit, so I’ve even made a start on my tan. I went up to see him at work in the Casino on the first night and won US$400, which has paid for my internal flights and the carbon offsets. I watched the Chelsea v Fulham game on his satellite TV this morning and get to enjoy 3 NYEs later – they celebrate the UK one at 9pm local time, then the Brasilian one at 11pm and then the Argentinian one at midnight – lots and lots of fireworks!
There was an interesting advert on during the football this morning for the Universidade de Moron (Moron University*) – I think I know a few of their graduates…
Feliz ano novo pra tudo o mundo!
Ate 2007.
Al xx
* Moron is a town in northern Argentina!
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Alzinho 3 Jan 2007, 16:46
As you might have gathered from other threads, I’m not very well. I’ve been feeling particularly exhausted and had a sore throat and achey-all-over feelings since Boxing Day, and had put it down to tiredness from the long days with the kids in casa Jimmy and a bit of a cold. But when I woke up one morning and realized that my sore neck was beginning to look like I’d swallowed a couple of golf balls with the swellings on both sides I decided to get a second opinion! Turns out I’ve got Glandular Fever….and it ain’t very nice.
So, I’ve been spending a lot of time sitting around and contemplating my future…..and I reckon I’m coming to live here in Puerto Iguazu in Argentina! It makes a lot more sense economically than going to Brasil at the moment – my money is worth literally twice as much here.
And my best mate lives here.
And it’s a beautiful part of the world, in the middle of the jungle with the most amazing waterfalls.
And it’s a rapidly growing town with huge potential for new businesses.
And it’s a stone’s throw from Brasil.
The only problem is ‘documentos’. So, having extended my trip for 2 more weeks until the end of January, after my return visit to Casa Jimmy next week I’ll be coming straight back here to set the wheels in motion. And once I’ve found a way of getting permanent residency here, thenks to the Mercosul partnership (similar to the EU) I’ll have the right to live/work in Brasil if in the longer term the draw proves too strong to resist.
Muchos bessos.
Al in Argentina xx
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Alzinho 15 January 19:03
Well, this would have been my final report… if I hadn’t extended my trip by 2 weeks! Y’see, the thing is, I reckon I need a bit of a holiday, after being sick and all.
So, a week of rest at my mate’s house in Puerto Iguazu pretty much sorted me out, though I reckon I’ve had the fever for about 3-4 weeks now and although the outward symptoms are gone I’m still pretty weak. I did a lot of reading (finished Vernon God Little (meh) and 70% of The God Delusion (loving it) and a lot of contemplating my future – more to follow.
The convalescing in Puerto Iguazu was interspersed with several visits to the casino where my mate and his wife work, eventually getting to + US$600, which then all went on a single bet on my last night and was lost. Hey, don’t mock, that’s good gambling – I had a lot of fun and didn’t lose any money. I always use the same ‘system’ when I’m here – it’s ended the same way 3 times and the last-night bet has come in just once…to the tune of US$3,500.
Puerto Iguazu.
I’ve been a few times. The first time in the early 90s it was (almost literally) a one-horse town. Four years ago it had improved to the point of having a recognizable town-centre, several back-packer hostels and, on the outskirts of town, a couple of half decent hotels. Obviously, the waterfalls bring a lot of tourists, but Foz do Iguassu on the Brasilian side of the frontier has always been the bigger and more affordable benefactor…until now. The casino, opened about 12 years ago, has really kept Puerto going economically over the years, providing a large proportion of the employment opportunities in the town and bringing in considerable amounts of Brasilian money. But, the previously mentioned strengthening of the Brasilian economy and the weak dollar means that the coin has flipped and everything is much cheaper on the Argentinian side of the frontier. So now, Puerto has numerous restaurants and bars that are struggling to cope with the sheer numbers, their punters spilling out onto the streets every night of the week. Hilton, Hyatt and 3 other huge hotel chains are currently building ‘resorts’ here – it’s a boom-town.
So…as I can barely afford to buy an apartment in Brasil with my money, let alone the long dreamed of house on the beach, I’m definitely commiting to investing in a future in Argentina! I’ve already bought a half-share in a lovely plot of land with my mate, with plans to build a bar and holiday chalets with a swimming pool. I’m also looking round for another plot to build my own house on. And I should still have enough left to go halves on a beach house….sorted!
Of course, nothing’s ever quite that simple – as already mentioned, ‘documentos’ being the stumbling block. At the moment everything’s being done in my mate’s name and it looks like I’m going to have to either marry a local or get one pregnant within the first year in order to be able to stay…..doesn’t sound like too much of a hardship to me! Another problem may well surface every couple of years during major football tournaments: the Brasilian flag tattoo on my leg is liable to get me killed – I may well have to pop over to Foz for the duration of each tournament!
After my week of convalescing, reading and gambling, I headed for Sao Paulo for a couple of days to catch up with a couple of friends and the ex-ex-ex-girlfriend. I never did like SP much, but I had a brilliant time, despite being taken out to an Irish bar! The best part though was going to a very swish (and expensive) restaurant that had been my favourite during the 8 months I was working in SP in 2002. When I walked in it was like I’d been away for 2 weeks, not 4 years – everyone from the guy who opens the door, through the maitre’d, all the waiters and the bar staff greeted me with a ‘hey, it’s been too long, great to see you back’ – these guys really are good at their jobs!
To top it all, I jumped in a cab to go to the airport the morning I left and the taxi driver recognized me – he remembered I was from London and where I’d lived and been working in SP!
I was heading back to Rio from SP, somewhat reluctantly. I don’t know if it made the international news, but the previously mentioned eruption of violence had escalated – more buses burned, car-jackings, 20+ people dead. But as I’d left a suitcase at a hotel and I’d promised to return to Casa Jimmy, I went.
As it turned out, the violence seems to have stopped, though Rio had the feeling of a city under martial law – there were military police on every street corner. I still haven’t found out what it was all about – the immediate reaction is to suspect the drug gangs of the favelas, but there’s an increasing feeling that people might be getting restless regarding their economic situation. ‘Doh!’ you might say, but you’d be surprised at the lack of political activity at grass roots level here. Everyone knows that 1% of the populace has 99% of the wealth, that the 1% are mainly politicians, that Lula is the first ever left-wing president, elected on a platform of honesty and reform…..he’s now referred to universally as ‘Lula Ladrao’ (Lula the thief). The problem is that the Brasilian psyche has always made them such a happy lot – those that have nothing always manage to get by and always seem to be happy. The fact that it took them 500 years to elect a left-wing president says a lot in itself, and it’s the closest they’ve ever come to a revolution. The fact that he’s now perceived to be as corrupt as the rest of them seems to be galvanizing a (small) section of society into believing that maybe the only way to progress is through a real revolution. The only flaw in their plan might be the fact that the corruption really does seem to be endemic, from the top, right down to the guy who sweeps the street – in fact, I’m not sure ‘endemic’ is the right word – it’s more ingrained into their culture, but it seems a bit harsh to claim that their corruption is a cultural thing!
They have a minimum wage here – it’s going up to R$380/mth this year, which is about GBP95. Obviously it’s meaningless to think about that in absolute terms, but I saw a report on the TV last week which makes the minimum wage seem a bit ludicrous even in relative terms with regards the national economy. There’s a new housing initiative which gives various advantages to people depending on their income – the closest thing they’ve got to ‘council housing’, though it’s still privately run and involves buying property, more like ‘affordable housing’ I guess. But the break-points are calculated by how many times the minimum salary you’re earning, eg. the scheme is available to anyone earning up to 12 times the minimum salary! And you’re considered to be in the lowest band if you earn less than 5 times the minimum salary…..so what on earth is the point of the actual minimum and how the hell does anyone earning it actually survive?!
The second disappointment on arriving in Rio was to discover that I’d been asked not to return to Casa Jimmy, in light of my recent illness. I did a bit of research (NHS direct), and on top of the fact that I almost certainly contracted the glandular fever at the house, the indications appeared to be that there would be no problem with being amongst children, even if the symptoms were still evident, which they no longer were. But wishing to respect the wishes of the administrators I organized a speedy return to Argentina so as to continue preparations to ‘decamp’ as soon as possible – I’m thinking of spending the summer in England/Europe and making the Big Chill 2007 my farewell party. But then I found out we’d had a bit of a translation problem and everyone thought I had ‘mumps’! So it turned out I could go back to Casa Jimmy after all, but now only had 1 day before traveling. So I went back and delivered a few more presents and said my (somewhat tearful) goodbyes.
<Arnie style voice>
I’ll be back!
</Arnie style voice>
Anyhow, back to ignoring the plight of the indigenous people and recounting stories of my privileged hedonism…
The weather had turned dreadful again – more record rainfall, with related tragedies – but I had 1 day of absolutely perfect sunshine on Copacabana beach. I went to catch the morning sun, intending to stay for an hour and ended up staying the whole day, only leaving at about 5pm when a gang of loud and objectionable Italians arrived and started to cause trouble with the vendors and buskers which, for most, are a constant source of entertainment on the beach. Having said that, someone really should tell them to play something other than ‘Mas Que Nada’, great song though it is and universally known thanks to several recent versions being hits around the world, once you’ve heard it 23 times in succession it really starts to grate! And if even one of the t-shirt vendors had a Brasil shirt with something other than ‘Ronaldinho’ on it, I would have bought it.
Oh, and I finally found out why so much of Copacabana had been boarded up when I first arrived – they’re getting rid of the old wooden ‘kiosques’ that used to sell fresh coconuts and rocket-fuel caipirinhas and replacing them with really flash chrome & steel ones with yacht-style decking, selling over-priced cocktails and sushi. Go figure. Admittedly, the accompanying underground showers, toilets and lockers are a welcome addition, but at the cost of family run businesses, some of whom have been there for 50+ years? Oh, and did I mention that the new ‘kiosques’ appear to be sponsored by Nestle/Nescafe? At least their brand names are be plastered all over the sun-shades and hoardings :-/
So, bringing you bang up to date – I’m now back in Puerto Iguazu in Argentina. The weather is perfect, the swimming pool is in the back garden and I’m ready to start networking in what will soon be my new ‘hood! Went out with my mate and his family to Foz over in Brasil last night for pizza and ten-pin bowling and not expecting to do anything more exciting than that for the next week or so. Then I’m going to take an overland trip to Buenos Aires, stopping at a few cities on the way to get to know a bit more of Argentina.
Hasta la vista baby!
Al xx
Alzinho’s South American adventure continues… Al is still posting on the original thread from South America, so if you have a message or a question for him, get involved!
Ff you’re wondering who Alzinho is… he’s the chap in the white suit in this clip:
