Looking Back

My time here in Brazil has been many things: enriching and frustrating, inspiring and maddening. While there are things I will find in the future to look back fondly on, when my plane leaves the tarmac I will, in general, have little love lost.  That being said, as I reflect on the last three years of life and travel, I will focus on the positive experiences that may seduce travelers to choose Brazil as a place worthy of visiting.

1. Colonial Towns - Brazil has a fascinating history of European settlers from a variety of nations attempting to lay claim to a part of the new world. Thanks mostly to the Dutch and Portuguese, there are a number of colonial towns still in a good condition along Brazil's coastlines as well as inland due to early mining and agriculture. I've had the pleasure of visiting Paraty in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Olinda in the state of Pernambuco, and Ouro Preto in the state of Minas Gerais. Each takes you back in time as you navigate hazardous cobble-stoned streets and slow down to wonder what is was like as one of the first inhabitants of this continent.

The picturesque town of Paraty.

While neighboring Olinda gets a lot more tourists, the old town of Recife,
which dates to the same time period, is worth a visit as well.

2. Rio - This city was easily one of my favorites in all of Brazil. I can't explain it other that to say I love the carioca spirit!  If I had lived closer I would have been camped out at Posto 9 on Ipanema ever chance I got. Nevertheless, I did manage to visit four times in three years, a couple of those for a week!  My advice for travelers: come once to do the touristy stuff - Pão de Açúcar, Christ the Redeemer (or skip this...ugh!), the Centro/Lapa district and Selaron Steps, and the Botanical Gardens - then come back again and beach until you can no longer beach.

Rio at Carnaval is just as spectacular as you would hope.
The energy of dancing until sunrise in the Sambadrome is contagious!

One of my favorite places in Rio, other than the beaches,
and a must-see for any tourist - the Botanical Gardens.

Ipanema beach at sunset...sigh

Paçoquita is a popular brand of paçoca.
(Photo source)

3. Paçoca - You know the inside of a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup?  It's that but without the chocolate and more peanutty-tasting. The bakery near my apartment, Riviera, sells homemade versions which are delicious and not as sweet.
I love these plain or as a topping on açai. Speaking of...

4. Açaí - This "super food" is pretty pricey outside of Brazil, but in the country it is easy to find and worth the cost. Made from a berry, and served frozen with guaraná mixed in, it is delicious on the beach with bananas, granola, and paçoca...or basically whatever you want: strawberries, condensed milk, chocolate syrup, honey, etc. They may eat it at health-food shops in L.A., but it Brazil it is treated like ice cream. I have no problem with that.

This delicious monstrosity from a trip to Guarujá is topped
with papaya, granola, condensed milk, and banana.

5. Inhotim - This massive outdoor sculpture garden slash installation museum located in the middle of nowhere in Minas Gerais about an hour from Belo Horizante is a must see. If you "don't get" contemporary or modern art, Inhotim just might change your mind, but be prepared for sore feet and a sensory overload by the end of the day because you are part of the art here. Not to mention all of this takes place in what amounts to a gorgeous botanical garden.  I don't know why this place isn't a bigger deal!

"Invenção da cor"
by Brazilian artist Hélio Oiticica.

"Narcissus Garden"
by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama.

6. Oscar Niemeyer - The architect of the UN Building in New York, Niemeyer's designs are all over Brazil, especially dominating Brasília, which he helped plan from the ground up. A proud communist who did not believe in private ownership of the earth, one common thread of his work is that all ground floors are open to the public, many literally so. Niemeyer also does things with concrete that seem to defy gravity.

Brasilia's Museu Nacional H. Guimarães with the National Cathedral
in the background, all designed by Niemeyer.

Niemeyer has several works in São Paulo's Memorial da América Latina,
including the Salão de Atos building.

7. A praia - Brazil knows how to do beaches. Whether in Rio, Recife, Ubatuba, or Guarujá, you find a spot, rent a few chairs, an umbrella, spread out your canga, and wait for the cerveja and açai vendors to stroll by. It's that simple. Don't forget your sunga!

Praia Trindade between Ubatuba and Paraty.

In preparing for my next adventure in Malaysia I received a preemptive email from the shipping company several months ago cautioning about the complications Brazilian customs often inflict. To quote: "As you are aware, Brazil is a very different and peculiar country when it comes to customs and other related formalities."

"Different and peculiar."

I think I'll just let this blog end with that...

The Other "Carnaval"

Or circus.  Or belated Halloween...at the beach.  Or...just Rio being Rio?

When one imagines Rio's "Carnaval" it is inevitable that the minds-eye is filled with flashes of feathers, headdresses, glitter, bedazzled thongs, and more feathers.  But not everyone is marching down the street in a sanctioned parade.  Many Cariocas (residents of Rio) choose to make their own parade, wherever they may stroll.

A lot like going diving into the Walmart bargain-bin on November 1st and putting on whatever you pull out. Why not just put on a blindfold and turn off the lights while your at it!  Now go about your regular business - pick up groceries, hail a cab, walk to the bank to use the ATM - sporting your new half-assed costume attempt.  Or throw on your beach wear and head to the beach!  What angel wings?  Bunny ears...who, me?!  This clown nose...hardly noticed it!

I attempted to document this phenomena by taking a sample of the streets, so to speak.  The following shots were taken from my phone whilst enjoying a late afternoon cerveja at corner sidewalk café in Copacabana over the course of about 15 minutes...

LMFAO, is that you?  I think Psy is following you...

Aye aye, Captain!

Seems to be a popular costume choice.

"Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl..."

There was also a baby, an angel, a mouse, an Indian, and a fairy in this group.

The weirdest part, other than the juxtaposition of urban city streets and swimsuits, was that everyone exuded an air of obliviousness to their own appearance, making the sporting of cast-off Halloween wear that much more alluring.  It was a bizarro world; a parade without a route, where the spectators are whoever happens by, and concerning oneself with a theme is irrelevant.  It's a city-wide costume party and everyone is invited!

Sensory Overload

I wouldn't be surprised to learn there was no word in Brazilian Portuguese for "subtlety."  Seems size is not the only thing big about Brazil.  It's not enough it has the largest city in the Americas (São Paulo) and six in the top 15 for the two continents together, it also has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. The Amazon may not be longest river in the world - it's the second - but it is number one for the highest volume and watershed. And aside from throwing the world's largest New Years Eve party, it also has Carnival.

In my travels I have had many "I'm going to appreciate this more later" moments.  The times when you are in a situation, seeing something incredible, or attending an event, all the while appreciating it, but knowing that the experience will only become richer with time. Attending Carnaval in Rio, specifically the iconic parade at the Samba-drome, was one of those rare and treasured moments.

My friend Ebony and I getting into the Carnaval spirit!

To many people outside of the country, the words Carnival and Brazil seem to be synonymous.  The days-long celebration of excess leading up to Ash Wednesday is a sight to behold.  The main attraction - the parade event - is held in a permanent stadium-like structure called the Sambadrome.  It is about three long city blocks in length with stadium seating on both sides.  For $US100 and up, you can get spot in the bleachers and forgo a night in a hotel, as the parade begins around 9pm and runs until nearly sunrise, with numerous Samba schools marching down the "street" between the facing stands.

Rio's Sambadrómo or the Avenida Marquês de Sapucaí.
Our "sector" was only about halfway down the entire route.

The lights, the sounds, the songs, the costumes, floats, and feathers all make for a visually stimulating night, however, in the end, this is a competition.  Groups are awarded points for various aspects of their "performance" - costuming, overall theme and concept, percussion section, etc. - and penalized for others, namely time.  The route is long and the planning has taken over a year, but it is still necessary to get your entire crew down the parade route in under 90 minutes.  They have an hour and half?!? you might ask.  Yep, and some still end up taking longer!  The floats are not race cars and you can only move so fast in stilettos and fifty pounds of feathers and headdresses.

I could describe the parade to you all night long (pun intended) but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

The first group chose "Telenovelas" as their theme.
This is a close-up of a float dedicated to the evening soap "Que rei sou eu?"

This is the top of float representing a plantation house from a soap set during
the slave era.  I don't know much about it, though it's usually on while I'm at
the gym and it seems the slaves and slave owners had a lot of sexual tension
between them if the sound off, subtitles on are any indication.
Also, yes, that is a whipping post.  At this point the master was taking a break
from the mimed infliction of corporal punishment.

I know nothing about this one except it's awesome.

Every group had a lady spinning around in a large dress with a flag
accompanied by a matching male escort.  The second group's theme represented
the city of Cuiabá, the capital of Mato Grosso state, one of the country's largest
and most "jungly" areas.

There was a lot of pink and green going on here.  This represented a typical,
though neonified, version of a tropical urban dwelling replete with jazzy
faux corrugated tin roofs. 

A close-up of the same float shows how many resembled mini-stage-like sets.

We thought these were supposed to be birds, but what do we know?!?

There was clearly a lot of folklore worked into this theme. 

Welcome to the jungle!  There is a lot going on here!

An intense float with a snake emerging from the water.

A close-up of the same float.  The designers and engineers do the best they
can to disguise the handles the performers hold on to for stability.

Mythical jungle monsters?  Cavemen?  Yetis?  Who knows!?!
Amazing?  Definitely.

The costumes seemed to get more and more elaborate.
these appear to represent ghost ships of sorts.

Jungle flora and fauna

Parrots and Crocodiles

Of course the snakes are carrying soccer balls. 

Sometimes it was difficult to differentiate between the costume and the wearer.
What people; I just see frogs and leaves here!

Enlarge this (click on it) and count the people.  I dare you.
(Also, that's real running water coming out of the soccer ball waterfall.)

Each group had a percussion section, easily the best part of the parades.
The third group's theme had something to do with horses, however, "hot mess"
may have been a more accurate title.
Evidently, I was less impressed with them as I have the fewest pictures.

These were cool costumes, though.

When watching on television the commentators can tell you who the people
are, if they're important.  This guy was probably important. 

On the more impressive floats in the third group, it had Tiffany-style laps
and swinging lanterns.  It's about 1:30am at this point.

The fourth group was my favorite as far as overall artistic concept goes;
though not necessarily its actuality.
Recently, oil has been discovered off the coast of Rio and there has been
dispute within the country who should/will benefit from it, economically.
This group's theme seemed to be a celebration of ouro negro or "black gold."
Here they are doing their own "Grease Lightning" choreography.

What's a theme about oil with rigs and swinging oil workers?!?

This was a spectacle: oil industrialization at its finest.
Those are giant gas pumps coming off the front of the float.

And lots of dancing gas pumps bringing up the rear.

Apparently oil money will enhance the arts...? 

And let's not forget construction and urban infrastructure.

At this point my camera battery died.  (If you think this was a lot of pictures, you should see the hundreds I pared down from for this post!)  Hopefully I can post more from other's cameras.  This last one is from my phone and was the ending float for the oil-themed group.

The piece de resistance: beginning with a neon iguana, floating jelly fish, and a magically
marine-like ferris wheel, the float suddenly turns apocalyptic on its back section, resembling
an oil spill.  There were even performers dressed in one long connective black sheet that was
eerily accurate in its portrayal of an oil slick on the water; you can see them in the top left corner.

I did end up making it to the end around 5:30am and it was worth every overdone second.  Thank goodness the subways were running all night!  Go big or go home, right?  More like: Go big and then go home.