Thursday, August 21, 2008

The Recap

Recapping a three-month trip in one post is quite a daunting task. Luckily, there aren't any space limitations (I wrote this in Wod, and it came to about eight pages single spaces. So take your time with this one). As a way to live my dream of actually holding a press conference, I will answer reader-submitted questions/Ian-submitted questions to provide some final mass e-mail thoughts on my summer.

Just as I did with my Israel recap post, I have written this dispatch from a Canadian highway (the last one was written between Jasper and Edmonton. This one is coming to you from between Petrolia and Etobicoke). Coincidence? Probably.

Well, before I open it up to your questions, I'd like to offer a brief opening statement about my summer.

Ian: It wasn't until I loaded all of my pictures onto my computer that I realized exactly how much I did this summer. I had the opportunity to see so many incredible things, from Galapagos to Macchu Picchu to Iguazu Falls to the beaches in Brazil and everything in between. But when you travel, you realize that the most memorable experiences or new perspectives don't come from being at major tourist sites. They come from the journey between. It's the locals you meet, overnight buses, the cab drivers, the interesting travelers you meet, the cultural differences, and immersing yourself in new culture that make this type of trip so memorable.

Peter Piper (of picking a peck of pickled pepper's phame): Give me a three-word alliteration to summarize your trip.

Ian: So, I'll break this one up into two parts. I have an alliteration that brings together the entire trip, and then I will have one for each country. There are repeats, because, well, I can't think of any other words right now that start with the same sound. At times, I went to the Phil Brickma School of Alliteration and Smart Travel.

For the entire trip: Cascao, Kwame, Cashapampa, kosher (the same thing as "vegetarian"), -quile (as in tranquilo")

Now, I'll break that one up by country.

Brazil: Cascao, Queijo con banana, Ceni, Cataratasq, Couchsurfing

Uruguay: Pony Pisador, Pleasant (I only spend 22 hours here, but I still have an alliteration, even though it's only between two items)

Peru: Huascaran, One-dollar lunches, Wonder

Ecuador: Tortuga, Tang, Tranuilo, ,

Argentina: Parilla, Papa, Palermo, Plaza de Mayo (just the madres), Paraguay? No,

Chile: ATM?, Atacama, Omellete, "On-time"

Me: What fears did you overcome?

Ian: Fire and bunk beds.

It's good that I've overcome my fear of bunk beds now. You know, so that I can sleep on the top bunk when I start going to overnight camp.

And, if I ever think about opening a hot dog cart, I would be comfortable lighting the flame. I have had no issues transferring fire, but the problem has been igniting it. But now, I don't have no issue with it

Rosie: Which country has the cutest old women?

Ian: This one is a tie. In Peru buses, you see these old native wmen, dressed in their traditional garb, missing teeth, and carrying about five hundred pounds worth of potatoes. If I were to choose one old woman as the cutest, it would be the woman in the bus station in Puno, Peru who tried to sell me her gloves. The only problem is that they were the gloves she was wearing and, fully extended, fit in my palm.

I also really like old, Brazilian couples dancing samba.

TMZ: Brushes with famous people?

Ian: While I was visiting the former presidential palace in Rio, I met some locals who helped translate the Portuguese from the exhibits. I really enjoyed talking with them and asked them what they were doing that night. They said that they always go to this bar with their friends, and that I was invited to come along.

I went back to my hostel and told the staff the name of the bar. They said that was mostly a gay bar, which worried me (not that there's anything wrong with that). Either there was something I didn't know about these two girls I met at the museum or they were playing a horrible trick on me. With a back-up plan in place if I felt horribly uncomfortable at this first bar, I set out to meet up with my new friends.

It turns out that my new friends are actors in Brazilian television, movies, and theater. I shmoozed it up with them and some of their other acting friends and had a great time.

I also met the son of an English parliament minister.

Everybody: How often did you shower?

Ian: At the beginning of my trip, I was showering at about the same rate I was sending out mass emails. As the trip wore on, I was showering much more frequently than I was sending out emails. It probably became about at 2:1 shower to email ratio.

Safire: What are your favorite new words?

Ian: Mochilerim. It is a Hebrew word for people who backpack in South America. In Spanish, "mochilla" means backpack. And "im" is the Hebrew suffix to pluralize something.

Successo – Protuguese for "success!"

Tudo ben. In Portuguese, it means :everything is all right." But In Brazil, It is a popular greeting, along the lines of "what's going on?" or "what's up?"

Tranquilo – Yes, this word means what you think it means. But it's much more frequently than it's English cognate. In Brazil, it's a common response to the "what's going on?" question. Actually, one of the friends I made in Brazil said that, when she first traveled in America, she responded to "how's it going?" with "tranquility." Now, she laughs about it.

But more than that. Throughout South America, tranquileo is how I would describe the mindset. Very laid back, take it easy, don't rush kind of attitudel.

Black and white cookie baker: Did you throw up?

Ian: My streak is still intact. As of today, I have been vomit-free for 760 days and over 3,000 days before that unfortunate morning in Jerusalem. Ruby…

Baklava guy: Who was your favorite vendor?

Ian: They guy from whom I bought my jeans in the street market in Chiclayo, Peru. Not only is it the largest street market in South America, but the guy was also very friendly. He allowed me to try on my pants in the makeshift fitting room (more of a fitting curtain along the main walkway of the market), cut a hole in the pants for the button, put my stin-ridding, hole-covered, not-so-pleasant smelling, old jeans in the garbage, and took a picture with me. (If this were a blog, I would put that picture right here). He had a charm that only the best street-market salesmen have.

There was another vendor who I really liked, but I didn't buy anything from her, so I don't know if she qualifies for this question. Since no one asked me about the favorite vendor I didn't buy anything from, I will include a profile here.

When you go on hikes in Peru, it is common to find old women selling beverages and snacks along the trail, snacks that they had carried in tradition Incan blankets/capes depending on how they are folded. This woman's spot is on the ascent from the deepest canyon in the world. She wakes up at 3:00 a.m. every morning to catch the first wave of hikers doing the hike in the middle of the night. Because it's cold in the morning and hot in the afternoon, she brings warm and cool drinks.

After the midnight hikers pass, she finds a shaded spot behind a rock and spends the morning reading her bible and listening to folkloric music until the afternoon hikers arrive. She has mastered her job because, even at 3:00 p.m., the pop is still cold, and bananas are still yellow. She leaves her spot at about 6 p.m. to cook for her family, goes to bed at 10 p.m., and wakes up at 3 to start the next day.

Shuuummmmmmmmmuuuuuuuun: What's it like to turn 22 in Rio?

Ian: Pretty great but I didn't treat it much differently than my other day in Rio. I went out both nights, spent the afternoon at the beach, and went to capoeira in the evening.

BNL: If you had 100 more dollars, you would….

Ian: This is a tough question because I feel that I did almost everything I wanted to and if something cost a little bit more money but greatly enhance my experience, I didn't have a problem paying a little more. The only thing I can think of is doing the Nazca Lines.

These are mysterious rock carvings on the Peruvian coast that you can only see from an airplane., I didn't go on the airplane because I had heard that it is dangerous/nausea-inducing but if I might have used this extra money to pay for a more reputable company.

Khamotkha: If you had more time, you would…

Ian: If I had more time, I would have visited Bolivia. As I talked about in my previous email, I was seriously going to Bolovia because everybody says it's their favorite country. I worried that the week and a half I would spend in Bolivia wouldn't have been enough time to fully do Bolivia. But if I had another week or week and a half, I would have spent it in Bolivia.

Kippy, your neighborhood porcupine: What are two places you spent too much time?

Ian: I can't really think of any place that I spent too much time. For three days, I tried hard to get out of Buenos Aires and make my way to Uruguay, but, in the end, staying more time in Buenos Aires was probably a good thing. I got to enjoy more meat and spend more time with the friends I met.

Any time you spend in Lima, Peru is too much time.

Jane Goodall: What animal would you have liked to bring home?

Ian: This is probably the easiest question I'll field in the press conference. Giant sea turtle.

Sallah Shabati: Which countries or parts of countries did you miss and would like to go back to?

Ian: If I learned one thing in my South America trip (aside from everything else I learned on this trip), it's that I need to return to South America and not only to see the friends I made while traveling. This trip revealed that I need to come back to this continent to visit Bolivia, Patagonia, and northeast Brazil.

Guy walking aimlessly in the corner: What kind of people did you meet on the road?

Ian: I met very few Americans in my travels. The majority of people I met on the road were from Great Britain, Canada, Israel, or Australia. There are a few reasons for this. First, there is a mentality in these other countries to travel and see the world. Plus, there is so much to see in America, and it's expensive to travel internationally. In these other countries, there isn't the same diversity of landscape. In order to see different things, you need to travel to other places. And the American dollar sucks right now.

If I met Canadians on the road, they were typically college-aged kids traveling over the summer. If I met British people, there were typically post-university/pre-real world people. The Australians I met were mostly in major life transitions and one more extensive travels or over a year. Israelis were, well, Israelis.

John Williams and the Boston Pops: What did you do for Olympic opening ceremonies?

First off, I watched them live. In your face people America. I was sitting in the TV room of Che Legarto Hostel in Copacabana. I really enjoyed watched the parade of nations in this opening ceremonies because you didn't know which country would walk next. With the Chinese alphabet, I had no idea what kind of order the countries would walk out in, so you had to try and guess based on the flag in the background.

Eli Roth (director of the movie Hostel): What was your favorite hostel?

Ian: I spent the final week and a half of my trip in the Che Lagarto Hostel in Rio (site of my opening ceremonies viewing). Maybe the breakfast at this place wasn't up to the standards of other Carioca hostels but the staff was as helpful and caring at this place as they were at any place I stayed at.

Eli Roth: And your least favorite hostel…

Ian: I don't really want to think too much about the hostel we stayed at in Guayaquil, Ecaudor. Our guidebook described the place as a clean, safe, popular backpacker hostel, with a friendly staff and not the kind of place that bosses and their secretaries pay by the hour. Well, the book was wrong in all three aspects.

Our room had a bit of a cockroach issue (ooohh, las cucarachas). The guy at the front desk was angry with us when we tried to buy bottled water. And, standing in front of us in line when we checked in were an older man and a much younger woman (I'll save you the rest of the details).

Mitch Murphy (or whoever the neighbor kid from Home Alone was): What was your favorite souvenir?

Ian: Whenever I buy gifts and t-shirts from my travels, I always avoid the traditional touristy gifts. I like to buy shirts that reflect an aspect of my experience there or some part of the local culture. This is why my favorite souvenirs from the summer I spent in Israel were my sej (upside down wok used to cook pita) and t-shirt from the community garden I worked at.

I spent two and half weeks in Rio, so walking away with a t-shit of Sugar Bread Mountain and Corcavado would have been unacceptable. On my final day there, I came across the public school uniform t-shirt. On all buses, I saw kids wearing this t-shirt with the orange municipality logo. After I bought the shirt, I showed it to my friends. They got a great laugh out of it and told me that if I wore it on a city bus, I wouldn't have to pay the fare. That is advice I shall pass on to other backpackers.

Yes, you can borrow my t-shirt if you are planning a trip to Rio.

Fred "The Crime Dog" McGrifff: Were you ever mugged

Ian: Yes. It happened on a sunny morning at about 11:00 a.m. on one of the major streets in Copacabana on my walk to the beach (six prepositions. Beat that.). As I walked past a church, a 13-year old came out of my blind spot (if you didn't know, I don't have right peripheral vision) and said something in Portuguese. I told him that I don't speak Portuguese and tried to continue walking, but he put his hand out and wouldn't let me walk past him. I tried to go around him but his friend (Well, I'm not sure if their friends, They might just be business partners) came out of my blind spot and shouted in bad, Brazilian English "give him your money." The first one reached behind his back to grab something but I reached into my pocket and gave him my money (a wad of bills, the equivalent of $20) quickly enough that I didn't see what he was reaching for. They asked if that was everything. I told them it was and ran off to enjoy a day at the beach.

It might have sucked to lose 20 bucks, but it did make for great conversation with people at the beach. I learned how to say "today, I was robbed" in Portuguese (hoje, eu estaba robado).

Luckily, it wasn't a horrible experience. I think I was more unlucky than stupid because I was wearing the same thing and carrying the same amount of stuff as other people going to the beach. But you can live and travel safely in South America (or anywhere in the world) if you just use common sense and aren't stupid.

Euphegenia Doubtfire: How many times did you do laundry?

Ian: Three times. Once in Galapagos. Once in Cuzco. And once in Buenos Aires. Judging by my capoeira nickname, I probably should have done it once in Brazil.

Wow, three times in three months. I nevert thought about it like that. That seems disgusting and probably is. But I did clean my underwear in the shower to make sure things were fresh down there.

I knew things were getting really bad when the cleaning lady at the hostel told me that I looked like a homeless person.

Spider: What items did you bring but didn't need or need by didn't bring?

Ian: Every item in my bag served a purpose, and I wouldn't remove anything if I were to do this again. Yes, I did meet some people who only had one or two changes of clothing for yearlong trips. I could've done that if I needed to, but I was very happy how I packed. Because I had to prepare for all types of climates and activities, I could not bring too much of anything.

The only thing I am still debating about whether or not I should have brought is my iPod. As I sat on a six-hour bus from Puno to Arequipa, Peru listening to the same six folklorico songs played on repeat struggling to find a comfortable position to sleep in but couldn't because the bus was cold and the music was loud, I thought that iPod would have been a great idea. Then I thought about the kid sitting across the aisle from me yoinking the iPod at the end of the ride and thought that keeping at home was a smart decision. By the way, I hate Sonia Morales's music (She might be related to Evo.)

Plus, I am traveling in South America to experience and different culture and bringing an iPod with me would be defeating that purpose. In the end, I think I am happy with my decision.

Shuk guy: What was your favorite new fruit?

Ian: In Ecuador, I was in much more of a fruit-sampling mood than I was in Brazil (I was more into fruit-juice sampling). I would say my two favorite fruits I had were the babaco (melony fruit) and maracuya, and not just because of their names but mostly..

Ira and Barry Shalowitz: We've never seen you at Stuccchis or Ben and Jerrry's...

Ian: When I am in the United States, I'm not a big ice cream consumer. But when I am in a country known for its dairy products, like Argentina, I eat ice cream almost everyday.

Ira and Barry Shalowitz: A follow up. Do you have any ideas for new ice cream flavors?

Ian: The Japanese population of Sao Paolo has this mastered but I've never seen it done elsewhere in the world. The honeydew is a great fruit to nosh on, but I've never seen anything honeydew-flavored. That was until I got to the Liberdade neighborhood in Sao Paolo, where I came across their sea green-colored glory

Zohan Dvir: Who was your favorite Israeli you met?

Ian: I really like the independent Israeli. The Israeli who is doing the post-army trip like all other Israelis, but unlike other Israelies, this Israeli doesn't stay at the Israeli-only hostels, doesn't eat at Israeli restaurants, doesn't only travel with Israelis, and actually interacts with other people.

Also, watching the "Don't Mess with Zohan" with Brazilians who don't speak English, don't understand the Spanish subtitles from my bootleg copy, and don't know too much about Israeli humor is a lot of fun.

Ms. Frizzle: What was the longest bus ride of your journey?

Ian: Twenty hours from Lima to Cuzco with one stop. We watched Three to Tango, Keeping the Faith, Pearl Harbor, 27 Dresses, and Something's Gotta Give.

Ms. Frizzle: A follow up. How would you rate bus quality between countries?

Luckily I went from the country with the worst buses to the ones with the best. In Ecuador, buses are essentially mayhem. You don't really know if you will get a seat, if the door will close, if the road is paved, if the breaks will work. When you ride the buses, you're essentially playing a game of chance.

In Peru, the buses were of a little higher quality. If you were willing to pay a little more, you would get a more secure ride with fewer on-bus vendors yelling that they are selling "gelatinas" than in Ecuador.

In Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, the buses were really good,. The food was good and the seats reclined to great angles.

In Brazil, buses were top of the line. On my ride from Lima to Cuzco, we only stopped once. On my four hour ride from Sao Paolo to Parati, the bus sopped twice, just for a break. Yes, this might be a little slower but it feels great to walk around a little bit and to know that the driver will be fresh.

But I am very proud of the fact that I made it all the way from Quito to Rio on buses, except for the boat from Buenos Aires to Uruguay and a mistake by the Chilean bus company that resulted in a bus company-sponsored van ride from San Pedro de Atacama to the Argentine border.

That is all for this dispatch. I hope you have enjoyed my emails as much I have enjoyed writing them. Much of this has been a one-sided conversation of me sending emails to you. I look forward to talking to you and hearing about your summer.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

There is no river here

So, the city is called Rio de Janeiro. Most people would then assume that there is a river nearby that the place was named after (In Portuguese and Spanish, "rio" means "river."). They would be wrong -- no rivers in Rio.

I have heard two explanations why Rio has its name. This first is that the explorer who discovered (and named) Rio thought that the large bay there was actually the mouth of a big river. The other is that "rio" used to refer to any body of water. Either way it's very misleading for anybody who comes to Rio expected a river.

Luckily, most people come to Rio for the beaches and aren't too disappointed. I wasn't.

I'm writing this e-mail from Franklin, Michigan (From the couch). After this dispatch, I will write a final summer recap to put a fitting end on my adventure. For that email, I am looking for some reader assistance. If you have any questions about my summer travel, send them to me in the next day and I will answer them in the email. (You can ask anything you want. If you want some help on questions, below you will find the link to the recap post from the summer I spent in Israel)

Without further ado, my two weeks in Rio.

My capoeira nickname

When you play capoeira, the other members of the group don't refer to you buy your traditional name. Instead, everybody in capoeira has their capoeira nickname. For example, my teacher's name is Scarecrow (Espantalho). On my last night of capoeira, I received my capoeira nickname - cascao (pronounced caSh•cowng).

They wouldn't explain to me what it meant but they told me that it is the name of a Brazilian cartoon character. They told me to look it up on Google when I got back to a computer. Here is what I found:

It is the name of a character in the cartoon Matilda's Gang. Cascao is known as the charater who has never showered or taken a bath. He is afraid of water and always carries an umbrella in the case that it rains and he gets cleaned. I think that I earned this nickname by wearing the same white shirt (by the end, it was a brown shirt) to capoeira every night. When you are a backpacker and have limited clothing, it is easy to lable your clothes for a specific purpose - such as beach shit or bar shirt. So, my white shirt was my capoeira shirt. In English, Wikipedia translates cascao to mean smudge. You can learn more about him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smudge_(Monica%27s_Gang)

This used to be The Big House

If one thing is abundantly clear in Brazil, it's that everybody loves soccer (futebol, pronounced Foo•Chee•Ball). And everybody has their team. In Rio, there are four big teams, and everybody identifies with one of them. The center of soccer in Rio (and Brazil, for that matter) is the Maracana Stadium.

Built for the 1950 World Cup (which Brazil lost to Uruguay in one of the most disappointing moments in the country's history), the Maracana had a maximum capacity of over 200,000 people although official attendance numbers are impossible to know for sure. The stadium has undergone some renovations to make it safe and ready for modern sports competitions (like the 2007 Pan-Am Games and the 2014 World Cup). Now, the capacity is about 95,000.

During the week, I went on a stadium tour that allows you to visit the locker rooms (they are very basic) and step on the field (an awe-inspiring experience).

Then, using my Michigan Daily sports writer credentials and the connections of a sports writer friend I made in Rio, I had the opportunity to sit in the press box for a game and go down to the press conferences afterward. I only understood one line from the press conference, which was when the Internacionale coach complained about having to play three road games in six days. It was a truly memorable experience.

It's like Welcome Week (except every weekend and without the cops breaking it up at midnight)

In addition to its beaches, Rio is known for its nightlife. The epicenter for much of this nightlife is the Lapa street party, which happens every weekend night. People gather in the street and have a good time. There are carts selling alcohol and other people walking around with bottles of Jose Cuervo and little cups. Every Carioca (person from Rio) that I talked to said they go to Lapa almost every week. So, in addition to being a great party, it really brings the city together.

It is a great people-watching spot. And if you know me, you know how much I like people watching. Actually, if Rio is good for anything, it's good for the people watching. Whether it be the street party, the beaches, the centro, or the Metro, you will always see interesting people. Some of the best people watching questions were: man or woman?, foreigner or Brazilian? Carioca or just Brazilian? and homeless or favela?

Poverty tourism?

Before getting to Rio, I read about favela tours where you go with a guide into the squatter settlements to see how they live. Favelas are famous for being some of the poorest and most dangerous places, where you can't even walk inside the gates without being harmed. Plus, the idea of paying to see poor people didn't really interest me.

Once I got to Rio, I talked to a few tourists about their experiences in the favela tour, and they said it was one of the most rewarding experiences of their trips to Brazil. They said that the guide was great, sensitive to the community's needs. Further, the money from the tour goes to support a day care center in the favela. It would be wrong to spend two weeks in Rio and not see all sides of society (especially, if you have a safe, socially responsible opportunity to do so). So, I went. The favela I visited was Rocinha (Ho•Seen•Yuh). It is the largest favela in Latin America with 200,000 residents.

It was an eye-opening experience. Having worked in Detroit for the last five summers, I have seen plenty of poverty. What interested me the most was how the favela operated. The favelas started in the early 20th century when low-wage laborers moving to Brazil's largest cities moved into government-owned land, cut down the trees, built their homes, and settled there without paying any taxes. The government never evicted these people, and the favelas developed into slum cities. People from the favelas work in the upper class neighborhoods and live in the favelas. Aside from labor, however, there is very limited interaction between people in the favelas and those outside. In the favelas, all of their social needs are fulfilled. There are health centers, schools, post offices, stores, markets, night clubs, and even concert halls (JA Rule played there a couple of months ago). But living conditions are really poor. There is trash everywhere and the scent of sewage is strong in the street (Street is loosely defined. It is more of a narrow, uneven alley with shit everywhere, literally). Very few people wear shoes.

Because the favelas developed as squatter settlements, the residents did not receive any services from the city or utility companies. All the electricity is stolen by people connecting their own wires to the power lines (it looks like a jungle). People don't have addresses in the favela. There is just a central post office there. There is some water availability but for people without access to water, the water company leaves a hose running for three hours a day so residents can collect all the water they will need.

There is some form of elected government in the favelas that communicate with the municipality, but these people are essentially just pawns of the drug gang which control the favelas. Despite the gangs (actually, because of the gangs), favelas can be some of the safest places in Brazil. The gangs want to make sure that the police don't have any further reasons to enter into the favelas. So there is very little crime between people in the favelas.

Throughout the tour, the tour guide said it was cool if we took pictures of the neighborhood. I felt a little (I mean, really) weird taking pictures in the favela, but some things were very interesting and there were some cool views. When I looked over at some people in my group who were smiling in pictures, I was amazed. There were a few times, like when we walked by the guy with the machine gun, when one of the heads of the gang, or when you walk by the lookout guys at the favela entrance that the tour guide told us to put our cameras away.

I have a lot more stuff about the drug gangs in favelas, police raids, and other favela info but this post is gettting really long.

My first motorcycle ride

Nothing against people who ride motorcycles, but they have never struck me as the safest form of transit. But when I went on the favela tour, we got out of the vans at the bottom of the favela and the tour guide told us to get on the back of the motorcycle taxi that will take us to the top of the favela.

It was a pretty interesting feeling. I don't know if it was being in the back of the motorcycle or the fact that I was riding a motorcycle in the middle of the largest favela in South America, it was a very cool experience.

Sugar bread

I arrived in Brazil, I was taken aback by the name of the market and bank Pao do Acucar. Translating it to English, it sounded like Sugar Bread. It sounds very fairytale-ish. If it were in America, it would be called Ginger Bread Bank.

Then I asked someone about it, and they told me that that was the name of Sugar Loaf Mountain - one of the top landmarks in Rio. Now, it makes sense. I'm sure that there are American institutions that are equally ridiculous. But Brazilians are lucky that Pao do Acucar translated to English means Sugar Loaf instead of Sugar Bread. If it meant sugar bread, people could not take that landmark seriously.

By the way, it was a gorgeous view from the top.

Wonder-ful view

One of the most famous vistas in the world is from the top of Corcovado in the shadow of the Cristo Redeemer statue. In fact, the statue was recently named one of the seven modern wonders (not to take away from that honor but I heard that Brazil and Brazilian companies spent millions of dollars on a campaign to get Cristo on the list).

Corcovado was a favorite hiking spot of Brazil's first emperor Don Pedro I. It became of popular vista and, in the late 19th century, there was a movement to get a religious monument to crown the mountain top. In 1921, the statue of Cristo was completed.

Among the people who have visited the statues, aside from me, are Pope John Paul II, Albert Einstein, Princess Di, and 300,000 people per year.

Everybody takes the obligatory picture with Cristo in the background. I found some Israeli tourists to take said photo.

I only trusted authority once in Brazil

When you travel to Brazil, everybody warns you not to trust law enforcement. You hear stories about how the police are dirty, corrupt, and can always be bought off. So, throughout my time in Brazil, I was always wary of people in uniform. This was until I had a run in an army training exercise.

A friend of mine had told me that one of the most rewarding views in Rio comes from the top of Pedra de Gavea (it is the largest seaside boulder in the world at about 900 m). On a clear day when the view would be the best, I decided to embark on this journey. After an hour and a half of hiking, I made it to what I thought was the peak. Then I walked around a bend and saw that there was a mountain I would need to climb, rather than hike. I haven't actually climbed since I went to Planet Rock (Ruby thinks I last went there in 1997). Then I arrived at this ascent.

When I made it around the bend, I saw a guy in a camouflage uniform carrying his gun. But he wasn't alone. He was with an entire company of soldiers doing a training exercise. When they saw that I wasn't an expect mountaineer, they offered me to use the rope that was already in place. Having already seen a few soldiers ascend the same rope, I trusted that it would hold my weight. As I climbed up the rope, my leg accidentally bumped into the butt of one of the soldier's guns. It was the only time in my entire trip that I came into physical contact with a gun.

Brazilians are proud to be from Brazil

It is very refreshing to see how proud Brazilians are to be Brazilians. In Rio, it is really common to see people wearing clothes with the Brazilian flag. It could be a towel, swimming suit, t-shirt, or anything else, you always see Brazilians wearing Brazilian gear.

In America, you see some people gear wear clothes with the American flag, but you don't see too many people in NYC wearing American flag. In both Sao Paolo and Rio, it was common to see the yellow, blue, and green of Brazil.

They are also proud of their national music. I didn't find a Brazilian who dislikes samba. I can't think of a traditional music style that is so universally loved and unites a population like samba does in Brazil. At a samba club, you see people of all ages enjoying the music. It's just very refreshing.

Hey, Super. Hey, Juicy

One thing that I really like about Brazil is the availability of exotic fruits. (there are quite a few things that I really like about Brazil) Given the countries size and tropical location, there is a large variety of unique and delicious fruits for me to try. On nearly every street corner, there is a juice bar that serves these interesting fruits in juice form.

Having two weeks to spend in Rio, I made it my duty to try as many of these juice flavors as I could. I focused in on one juice bar between my hostel and the Metro station - Bigbi (no relation to the formerly offensively named coffee shop). Because of its location, I passed it numerous times per day. After sampling a few of the juices, I decided that before I left Brazil, I would try all of the juice flavors offered on the menu. And I don't even know what half of the fruits are called in English (neither did the Brazilian I asked to go over the menu with me). But by the end of my trip, I had tried each of the fruits offered on the menu.

Some of my favorite juices on the menu were acerola, abacaxi, and caju. My favorite names for fruits were camu camu, umbu, and maracuja.

English swear words aren't swear words in Brazil

Sitting in the back seat of a Rio cab, I was enjoying (or just listening) to PIMP by 50 Cent. I was following along and, as they got to the chorus, I realized that they didn't get rid of the swear words or use a radio-friendly version. They don't face the same restrictions or English-understanding audience that they do in the United States. So they can play all the swear words they want.

An aside: In my three months in South America, I never heard one Kanye song. But I heard 50 Cent at nearly every bar, club, or cab I was in. If the "PIMP" and "In Da Club" are now popular in Brazil, I say that Kanye will become popular here in two years.

Eu so aprendo portugues no bar e mar

When I crossed the Argentinian border in Brazil, I didn't speak a lick of Portuguese. After three weeks of intensely studying the language (i.e. bringing my Brazilian Portuguese Phrasebook to the beach and the bar), I can now handle a conversation in Portuguese, especially if they speak slowly. (editor's note - i don't know how to write the portuguese accents on this keyboard yet).

To translate the title of this bullet, it says "I only learn Portuguese at the bar and on the beach." And I think that I studied a lot of Portuguese while I was in Rio.

Friday, August 08, 2008

One in a Million Chance. No, make it 20 Million

Sorry for the lack of any updates in the last couple of weeks. My internet
time has been taken by my nightly capoeira classes. Instead of regaling you
with tales of my journey, I have been busy doing handstands, cartwheels, and
break dancing. But I have found a bit of time here, so I will offer you some
tidbits about my time between Iguazu Falls and Rio de Janeiro (I have been
in Rio for about a week and half now).

Who´s laughing now? I am

Among backbackers, there are a few standard conversations. They typically include the ´´where are you going?´´, ´´where have you been?´´, ´´how long are you here?´´ , ´´how long are you traveling?´´ variety of questions. Most people, whether they are interested or not, act excited and intrigued by your travels. That was until I finished my stay in Argentina.

Because the first place in Brazil that I would be visiting was Sao Paolo, I naturally answered the ´´where are you going next?´´ question by saying ´´Sao Paolo.´´ In response to this answer, some people laughed and others asked ´´why?´´ Most suggested that I go directly to Rio and bypass Sao Paolo.

Logistically, it didn´t make sense but more importantly, 20,000,000 people live in Sao Paolo (actually, only about 11 million in the city itself but many more in the metro area). It is the largest city in the Southern Hemisphere. If nothing else but to see such a massive metropolis, there must be something interesting in Sao Paolo.

And I found it. In fact, I would probably say that my experience in Sao Paolo was the best of any city I have visited in my travels. I stayed with and hung out with some locals, who showed me around Sao Paolo. I went for a walk around the downtown, went to shul, walked around the central park, visited the central fruit market, attended a soccer match, went to see Batman and experienced the nightlife.

I´m going to be the subject of a documentary

After arriving in Sao Paolo, I went to lunch with the guy whose apartment I was staying at. While eating, one of his coworkers, a 50-something Jewish mother, walked into the cafe. We started talking, and it turns out that she is in the middle of making a documentary about Jewish foods.

I told her about kugel-offs, my mom´s challah, hotdog carts, assorted other Shmooze topics. Two days later, I was braiding challah in her kitchen. I will pass along the link to the video when she puts it on YouTube.

What are the odds?

The common phrase when something unexpected happens is that is was a ´´one in a million´´ chance. But when you walk into someone who you know in Sao Paolo, I would describe it as more of a ´´one in 12 million´´ chance.

With great population comes great congestion: In Detroit, there are problems with traffic and fewer than a million people live there. Imagine how bad it would be in Sao Paolo.

The municipality of Sao Paolo has an interesting solution: make it illegal for people to drive. Depending on the last two numbers of your liscense plate, there is one day a week that you cannot drive.

Zero tolerance

In Brazil, there is a zero tolerance law when it comes to drinking and driving. If you have any trace of alcohol in your breath, you get in trouble. Many people are made about this, saying that you could eat a chocolate with a bit of liquor inside and get ticketed.

This law has really hurt the bars in Brazil because people aren´t going out as much. Some bars even offer to pay for cabs within a 10 km radius so they don´t lose that much business.

True love

The first thing that I was told when I got to Brazil was: ´´In Brazil, you can change your religion, you can change your wife, but you can´t change your football team.´´ They kind of take that sport seriously down here.

When I was in Sao Paolo, I went to a Sao Paolo FC game with a friend. Sao Paolo won the game 2-1. Despite a lackluster effort for the first 30 minutes of the second half, I saw enough to commit myself to Sao Paolo. Now, I´m Sao Paolo fan for life.

Parati on, Wayne

After Sao Paolo, my next stop was the colonial beach town of Parati. The downtown area is gorgeous and so are the beaches. It was my frist real beach vacation experience.

The cool thing about Parati is that it is built right on the water. When the tide comes in, it floods the streets of the city. Because of this, the streets are made of stones, making them unfriendly to pedestrians, bikes, and cars. Actually, I can´t think of a mode of transit that they are friendly to, so I would just describe them as unfriendly.

The beach was gorgeous but I can´t take too much sitting at the beach and doing nothing. I have to be active, whether it be running, talking Portuguese, playing soccer, etc.

While I wanted to tell you about my experience in Parati, I mostly wanted to make the outstanding Wayne´s World reference in the notebook slug.

Brazilian foods I like

Like any country, Brazil has its unique cuisine. In Brazil, I have developed a few favorite items. The top of the list would be the queijo con banana sandwich, which is essentially a grilled cheese and banana sandwich. It´s very good and available at most street corner cafes.

I´ve also fallen in love with Guarana. It´s a fruit juice/energy boostin drink. It´s best served chilled, on ice with an orange slice.

My name is different down here

When a word begins with ´R´in Portuguese, it is pronounced with an ´h.´ So, my last name would not be pronounced Robinson down here, but rather Hobinson.

That means that whenever you say the name of Brazil´s famous soccer players Ronaldo or Ronaldinho or Romario, the words should begin with an ´h´ instead of an ´r.´ Rio de Janeiro is called Hio de Janeiro. as well.

I could be a soccer player

With my name, I have everything it takes to be an outstanding soccer player in Brazil, except for soccer talent. Imagine the story: student journalist/hotdog salesman/usher turned world class soccer player (actually, I would accept mediocre soccer player. I don´t need to be world-class).