Brazil

I landed in Natal in the early afternoon and was greeted by my parents, my sister Haley, my soon to be brother-in-law Rafa, and Kate, my sister’s best friend from college. I hadn’t seen my sister in a year and it was great to be with the family again. Seeing Kate was nice too I guess.

I spent a month in Brazil, mainly in the North on the eastern most tip of South America. After 7 months in Asia, Brazil was obviously a totally different world. Brazil is known for its vibrancy, beauty, and festiveness, and it was easy to see why immediately. I was taken by the warmth found in nearly any social setting, whether among friends, family, or strangers. It’s always reassuring when strangers smile at one another. I don’t mean to imply that people in the Asian countries I visited were cold, but there was certainly a different dynamic as a result of a more conservative culture where obedience and strict family values are prioritized.

An obvious example of this is in the expression of sexuality among women. In Asia, with the exception of affluent sections of major cities, women are covered up and wear loose fitting garb despite living in extremely humid climates. Not so much in Brazil. Swimsuits reveal the entire tush. I’m talking about the whole thing, and this isn’t limited to young slender women – middle-aged and elderly women, many of them obese, wear the tiniest swimsuits. In general, sexuality in Asia seemed stifled, only reserved for the most private of environments, whereas the exact opposite was true in Brazil. Sexuality is celebrated. I should clarify that these are observations, not opinions. Both have their pros and cons which I shant delve into further and risk offending someone.

The cuisine is very different as well. While Asian food tended to be oriented around heavily spiced soup or stir-fried noodles or rice, Brazilian food is a bit blander and heavy on meat, beans, and carbs. Also, lunch is by far the biggest and most important meal of the day. From what I saw, nearly everyone returns home from work or school or secret agent duties in the middle of the day to eat a huge meal with family. Dinner is a much smaller meal, which took some getting used to.

Rafa’s family in Natal is quite interesting. Rafa is an English Professor at the University in town. Rafa’s mother, Leuça, is getting a PhD in sexuality studies, so believe me when I say that the artwork in their living room ain’t so run-of-the-mill. Leuça’s partner, Barbosa (Ba for short), plays stand-up base for the symphony orchestra. Haley is a singer, and Ba and his son, Nino, who can play the hell out of the guitar, are her accompaniment when she performs. My sister had a couple of shows while I was around and it was great to see her perform. I’m biased but she’s a phenomenal singer and I recommend checking out some of her stuff. Make haste!

There was a big network of friends and family who we saw everyday – Leuça’s childhood friend Ana and her family, and Rafa’s father Junior and his family. Despite being divorced, Rafa’s mother and father have a surprisingly good relationship, in fact Leuça introduced Junior to his next wife, Marcia. Anyways, the whole gang got together nearly everyday for a meal. And make no mistake, the drinks were flowing. This group knows how to have a good time.

Natal is a nice town but it doesn’t have much going on. It’s mainly families, there’s not much of a downtown scene or mainstream nightlife to speak of, although the beaches are gorgeous. One of the 2014 World Cup stadiums is in Natal as well.

It was tough for me not understanding Portugese. None of Rafa’s family speaks English, and though I know some Spanish the languages are quite different despite similar roots. My sister is fluent and Rafa is an English Professor so I had good translators at the ready, but still, the language barrier limited my mobility, especially since Natal is not a major tourist attraction and thus has few English speakers or infrastructure.

One of Rafa’s cousins was out of town and gave my parents and I his apartment to stay in as a wedding gift for the 10 days my folks were around. Here’s a shot of Natal from one of the balconies. When my parents went home I stayed at Leuça and Ba’s place.

Haley’s wedding was wonderful but I won’t go into much detail here. It deserves it’s own post at some point.

While I was in the North I took 2 trips, one to Olinda and Recife, and one to Pipa. Olinda, which literally translates to “Oh, Beautiful” is as the name suggests, an incredibly beautiful place, and a UNESCO World Heritage site as well. Recife is a large city next to Olinda. Ana Claudia, a close friend of Haley and Rafa’s who served as translator during the wedding service, lives in Recife and showed me around. I was lucky that a big music festival in Olinda coincided with my visit. The Mimo festival was top notch, totally free, and included a few big name acts like Herbie Hancock.

Concerts were held all over town, many of them in old, beautiful churches. The churches, with their high vaulted ceilings and creative light rigs, were phenomenal venues for jazz music. The symphony orchestra performed in the center of town. Good times.

An impromptu percussion parade passed by our restaurant at one point. Apparently it’s quite common.

Later that night Ana coerced me into trying horsemeat. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be, but it wasn’t great either. Try at your own risk.

Ana had work on Monday so her friends Renata and Dani showed me around Recife. They were awesome guides. Recife is a beautiful city on the water. There have been so many shark attacks off the coast of Recife that no one can swim there. What a shame, it must be quite a tease for such a picturesque shore to be inaccessible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A week later my sis and I took a trip to the small beach town of Pipa. The town was quite touristy but the beaches were stunning. Though I didn’t see any, Pipa’s shores are famous for gatherings of large pods of dolphins.

Then, after 4 weeks in the North it was time to move on. Very tough to leave. I had grown quite comfortable living there with my sister, Rafa, and Leuça and Ba. They had a maid who did all of the cooking and cleaning. Ba and Nino and Haley were rehearsing all the time so I was constantly around live music played by true pros. Good livin. But alas, I had to keep moving. I contemplated a big trip through the Amazon but ultimately decided to postpone it.

Before leaving Brazil I spent 4 days in Rio de Janeiro. What a ridiculously gorgeous city. I stayed with Kamyla, the daughter of Rafa’s mother’s best friend. She was a terrific host as were her roommates.

I also hung out with a group of Canadians for a couple of days – quite an all-star crew. Their names were Camille, Edwin, Émilie, Jean, and Sunny, and all of them were multi-lingual, cultured, well traveled, and well dressed. Plus, a pleasure to hang out with.

Here are some photos of Rio:

Next stop: Buenos Aires!