Brazil is Boiling
...HOT!
I really think that this word says everything.
The people, the weather, the music, the dance, the dress, the sights, everything!
Just as if I were talking about India or China, I could not get away with saying they are xyz, because all these countries are too big and varied to make any statement
that could be true for the whole country or all the people. But the word HOT is valid.
I'll explain why.
Firstly, the people give Brazil its flavour. They are so smiley, warm and friendly. Never have I been to a place were it is so easy to make friends – and I do not mean for a day, but for life. People seem ready to embrace you into their life really fast. To introduce you to family and friends, include you in their daily or weekly schedule, and into their future plans, just as you would with a friends that you have known for years.
I have found that people talk to you openly and honestly, and best of all – they really make you feel good! It feels as though Brazilians are some of the happiest people on earth. People smile when you pass them in the street, or when you happen to sit next to them, and they are delighted if conversation begins. This may have something to do with the fact that they seem to put fun and people first – hence the unparalleled emphasis on carnival.
The nation seems to dance the whole time, and everything is done through a party -
business, leisure, celebration, and pleasure, everything! Not surprisingly therefore music appears to be used as definition of an occasion, mood, or place. There is music playing everywhere. In fact, you begin to feel odd if there is ever a time when there is not music playing, since this is so rare.
There are so many types of music and dance in Brazil, and that is when you realise how the country can put on several carnivals a year, and all so well. In addition to that people have rhythm!
When I saw Samba for the first time I realised that why it was that I would get excited at the idea of going to Brazil. People here are alive in every respect and every angle! Their bottoms can move faster than my eye - I could not keep up when all I was doing was watching;-)
And then there is the way they dress! Oh My God! I have never seen such sexiness or beauty. It is not that the women here are more beautiful than else where, but that there confidence, walk and style is a massive pull factor. You cannot keep your eyes off women here, least in Rio. There is nothing that you cannot wear. If you want to wear a bikini down the road – then you can, and no one bats an eyelid, for there are many people dressed the same. It is not a competition to show the most flesh, but bikinis are a big thing here, as people are simply seemingly comfortable in their own skin. So no matter what your size or shape, for you to feel fine and strut your stuff through your walk is what is most important. I feel as though I am learning how to walk here, because even ones walk is an expression, which one should enjoy. Dress, walk, smile, attitude, persona, it does not seem to be about what you are, rather here it is about what you want to be, and so you become.
I had said that the weather was hot – and it is. I am here in winter and it is warmer than any summer I have experienced in the northern hemisphere thus far. I cannot even begin to imagine how hot the summers are, but I understand that since most people do not wear much clothing now, then the summer must be a real treat for both sexes. The sights are a treat too! Before I arrived in Rio de Janeiro I had read that Carioca's (the people of Brazil), were under the belief that God made the world in 6 days and the seventh he devoted to Rio. I could not believe that anyone would feel comfortable writing such a statement about anywhere, let alone a city. But after spending a little time here, I have to admit, the writer has a good point!
Rio de Janeiro is surrounded by beautiful beach after beach, dotted with the odd mountain. This means that there is height to appreciate the way that the sun reflects off the ocean, the sand, and people. There is a lot of space, so you can breath, think and reflect (something that is not often easy to say about cities) and yet you have the advantage of living in one of the biggest cities in the country with everything at your finger tips. The best thing is that you do not feel the need to get away and go on holiday – because you are always on holiday. After a long day at work Carioca's do not go home, but to the beach. They meet friends, or swim, or run, or play volley ball, or just sit and relax. With the friendliest people in the world perhaps, the ocean to soak up before them, and the company of Jesus who literally overlooks over them the whole time, things could not be better for your average Brazilian.
The competing city which is almost just as famous as Rio is Sao Paulo. Though it does not have the beaches of Rio, there are parts of Sao that are also very rich, but in a different way. More opulent materially, one can feel Sao's charm from the streets, the houses, the shops, the day life and the night life.
Sao Paulo is also a city like none other. The sky line never stops. To the naked eye it appears to be New York multiplied by 1000, and you can feel it in the energy that underlies the streets. It is easily the largest city in Latin America, and you know it because more than it being a 24 hour city, the people seem to be 24 too. On several occasions, when meeting up with friends, the meeting time was mid-night and then we could be out until 3 or 4am. This is very common on a school night even. Not sure how it was sustained, but it wasn't just my friends. Bar after bar, restaurants and clubs were all packed, and every place seemed to be funkier than the last. There are over a million people employed just to sustain the night time activities, and the other sixteen million keep everything else running. If you want a computer part, or whatever, then there will be a good 50 different shops on the same street, with that very part and 100 variations. Everything and anything is game.
Saying all this, it was not the cities that I found the most impressive, but the outback – it is also 'hot'; in terms of temperature, variety, wildlife, environments, activities, it has it all! Brazil has almost every type of landscape with and a zillion hidden treasures everywhere. One of my favourite places is Bonito. It is stunning, as the name would suggest. Waters are so clear that you do not even have to snorkel. Forests are so pristine that every animal and bird, including monkeys, just hop around in front of you because they never seem to have found humans threatening. Then an example of a treasure would be the Anhumas Abyss - a 73 meter cave. Now my legs had become jelly just looking down into this cave. It was all dark, but if you move slightly, so that sunlight can escape into the tiny hole that you stand over, then the bottom is too far away to be visible and there seemed to be leaves floating around in the air. What the hell, that has to be investigated, and so the abseil challenge was accepted. When I finally did I could not see the bottom, but there did appear to be leaves suspended half way. This was seriously one of the most terrifying things that I have ever done. Much more scary than bungee jumping, sky diving or swimming with sharks, believe me. The nerve test and rehearsal the day before, checking the equipment, meeting the team – nothing eased my fears. At the end of the day the reality was that I would be dangling on a thin, very thin rope with a 70 meter drop below me, and my life flashed before my eyes at the mere thought. Before I knew what was happening, I had agreed to be strapped up anyway and was being lowered. I concentrated on the smallest of movements, trying not to think about the bigger picture, and as buddy spoke about football, I was fascinated. Anything, but than to think about what could happen. Only as I got closer did I realise that the leaves that I thought were suspended in thin air were in fact floating water that reached at least a third way up this cave. I couldn't believe it…the inside was so surreal. The stalactites were of every colour in the rainbow, falling down from the roof and sides of the cave…like marble, oil, granite…each one was different. Then once you are near the surface of the water, there is a wooden raft to land on, a wetsuit to change into and then you scuba dive into the freezing water. This was seriously incredible…like swimming over a thousand big, big white arms that are trying to grab you. The stalagmites were of all sizes, pure white and in every form. Imagine being a tiny lice swimming in a big bristled hair brush, where the bristles are of all different sizes. It was just like that. You felt so small, and yet you are in your own secure treasure trove – the cave was all yours. At one point I thought that it might be mine forever, because I could not find the courage to abseil up, but like I couldn't find it to come down. It is fine to say don't look down, but fairly impossible in a climb that could be over half an hour long, and 73 meters back up on the forever turning tiny rope! But since we had ran out of food, there was no choice, and the climb up had to happen. It really is hard to describe the magic of this place, because on the way up the cave looked so different. Sunlight would manoeuvre over the tiny hole over head, lighting different sides of this cave and revealing a billion types of textures, colours, patterns and beauties. A big up to my little bro and sis who did this all with me, despite all logic and sense:-)
But aside from the Beaches of Bahia, the Amazon in the North, the waterfalls in the South - all of which are dreams comes true, there are many man made heavens in this young and ambitious country. You remember the film 'City of Gods', right? With all the gang warfare, drug cartels and street shootings right? Well, I went to the largest Favela in South America – it is in Rio and straight out of the 'City of Gods', I swear.
So I shall explain why I call this a type of heaven.
Every since Geography classes at school I have wanted to visit a favela to see how people lived in these shanty towns, but when I get to Brasil, I learned that it is not so easy. Infact, in Rio – where the favelas are physically reachable because they within the city, as opposed to surrounding the city, I was told, that to enter was to pay with your life. This was not said by one person but EVERYONE! Now Brazilians are not likely to say that something is not possible, unless it really and truly is impossible. The fact is that everyone knows everyone in these favelas and that they have their 'police' so as to speak, and if one intruder is found, who is not meant to be there, then they could be shot. Life is cheap and no one would think anything of it, including the police of the country, because favelas are a world unto their own, and no one, but the gang leaders can interfere.
As with everything in life, contacts and connections were needed, and thankfully friends lead to friends, who lead to friends and sure enough, one friend had a contact and a pre arranged visit was finally set up. I was really excited, not being sure what to expect, apart from a lot of rough and good looking boys…and that was enough to be honest;-)
I had to follow instructions closely – to take a taxi to x bridge, where a boy with a red hoodie would be waiting for me. I was to tell him my name, and thereafter I should remain in his company. So this is what I did, and sure enough, as the taxi stopped half way down a very busy road, there was a boy awaiting. 'Follow me.'
He led me down into a side street – running parallel to the road I was on, but only accessible via this one make shift road. Thereafter, this makeshift road lead to another until they were covering the entire valley and the two bracketing hills like a net. Everything was makeshift, yet it was home to two or three generations already. By makeshift I mean that none of the normal infrastructure that runs through the streets of Rio could be seen here. The people of the favela had created everything themselves. From the roads, to the houses, to the sanitation, and it all felt as raw as the creators.
After meeting people I began to learn the rules of the game, and they were really surprising and not at all what I expected. The fact is that a favela is one of the safest places to visit just as long as your arrival is announced, known about and authorised in advance. If one of the leading factions so as to speak permits your visit, then no harm can ever come to you. You can guarantee that no one would steal your camera for example. How? Because if anything happened, and you went to the civil police, who then would come and investigate, you can be sure that the thieves' life would not be worth living. This is not because the Brazilian police are so efficient and fearful, but because the leaders, who have men watching every move, would kill in a heartbeat (sorry for the pun). The worst thing to happen in a favela is for civilian police to arrive. As long as they do not, and everyone minds there own business and pays fair dues to the leaders, everyone is protected. For the poor this is in fact one of the 'best' living arrangements they could hope for. Here they are not at risk of their house just being bull dozed over, which is not uncommon if you are an eyesore to the Brazilian government, you will not be randomly beaten, mugged or worse, and there is a system in force to protect your rights.
Everything was explained to me by a mixed group of favelians, my guide and through what I saw. Speeding through the favela on big motorbikes I got to learn about its size and see the whole gamut of housing – which was generally on top of one another in a hap hazard way climbing the hills on either side. Whilst walking through the favela I felt as though I had seen the world. There were traditional game rooms, electronic game studios and gambling stations. The favela ven has its very own lottery! There were shops selling everything that you can dream of, even local artist galleries and religious merchandise stores. There were specialist stores or repair people, such as the speaker depot, with the most obscene rap that I have ever heard barring out. There were pedicure, manicures and masseurs. The butcher was unique, with live chickens in stock that were killed before your eyes – guaranteed freshness that I could not stomach. It has its own TV and Radio stations, and own provision of transport. Most surprising of all to me was the social, counselling and therapy workshops held at the health centre. This self sustained community truly blew me away and seemed to be like miles from the gang warfare that everyone speaks of.
I was waiting with my guy, Jose, outside a telephone booth when suddenly fire crackers were thrown just ahead of me. They were not small either, and it seemed like everyone was doing a little more than me – who jumped – they were running! Jose rushed out of the telephone booth, grabbed my arm and we leapt into the nearest shop – it sold just eggs. I was silent, because all the bustle of the place became nothing more than a sudden hush and Jose was looking really nervous. The fire crackers became louder and louder, and more frequent. I was beginning to wonder whether they were a particular type of bomb in fact. "The police is coming" - hissed Jose. Ah shit! I knew what this meant already. All hell could break loose. It is like civil war, with the leaders, who are well known drug lords and more, escaping fast, and the gangs fighting one another so that the opposing one gets any trouble. There is always rivalry for power, and shooting people out of position is no problem. One can either get caught in the cross fire or by being on the 'wrong' side. It is just like a multi party political system, but rather than playing with corrupt ballot boxes people play directly with a gun.
This account is not meant to put you off Brazil but rather to get you excited. It is so complex that really I cannot do it any justice and I hope that I have not pretended to. I just wanted to say – put it on your 'to experience list' – it is HOT!
I really think that this word says everything.
The people, the weather, the music, the dance, the dress, the sights, everything!
Just as if I were talking about India or China, I could not get away with saying they are xyz, because all these countries are too big and varied to make any statement
that could be true for the whole country or all the people. But the word HOT is valid.
I'll explain why.
Firstly, the people give Brazil its flavour. They are so smiley, warm and friendly. Never have I been to a place were it is so easy to make friends – and I do not mean for a day, but for life. People seem ready to embrace you into their life really fast. To introduce you to family and friends, include you in their daily or weekly schedule, and into their future plans, just as you would with a friends that you have known for years.
I have found that people talk to you openly and honestly, and best of all – they really make you feel good! It feels as though Brazilians are some of the happiest people on earth. People smile when you pass them in the street, or when you happen to sit next to them, and they are delighted if conversation begins. This may have something to do with the fact that they seem to put fun and people first – hence the unparalleled emphasis on carnival.
The nation seems to dance the whole time, and everything is done through a party -
business, leisure, celebration, and pleasure, everything! Not surprisingly therefore music appears to be used as definition of an occasion, mood, or place. There is music playing everywhere. In fact, you begin to feel odd if there is ever a time when there is not music playing, since this is so rare.
There are so many types of music and dance in Brazil, and that is when you realise how the country can put on several carnivals a year, and all so well. In addition to that people have rhythm!
When I saw Samba for the first time I realised that why it was that I would get excited at the idea of going to Brazil. People here are alive in every respect and every angle! Their bottoms can move faster than my eye - I could not keep up when all I was doing was watching;-)
And then there is the way they dress! Oh My God! I have never seen such sexiness or beauty. It is not that the women here are more beautiful than else where, but that there confidence, walk and style is a massive pull factor. You cannot keep your eyes off women here, least in Rio. There is nothing that you cannot wear. If you want to wear a bikini down the road – then you can, and no one bats an eyelid, for there are many people dressed the same. It is not a competition to show the most flesh, but bikinis are a big thing here, as people are simply seemingly comfortable in their own skin. So no matter what your size or shape, for you to feel fine and strut your stuff through your walk is what is most important. I feel as though I am learning how to walk here, because even ones walk is an expression, which one should enjoy. Dress, walk, smile, attitude, persona, it does not seem to be about what you are, rather here it is about what you want to be, and so you become.
I had said that the weather was hot – and it is. I am here in winter and it is warmer than any summer I have experienced in the northern hemisphere thus far. I cannot even begin to imagine how hot the summers are, but I understand that since most people do not wear much clothing now, then the summer must be a real treat for both sexes. The sights are a treat too! Before I arrived in Rio de Janeiro I had read that Carioca's (the people of Brazil), were under the belief that God made the world in 6 days and the seventh he devoted to Rio. I could not believe that anyone would feel comfortable writing such a statement about anywhere, let alone a city. But after spending a little time here, I have to admit, the writer has a good point!
Rio de Janeiro is surrounded by beautiful beach after beach, dotted with the odd mountain. This means that there is height to appreciate the way that the sun reflects off the ocean, the sand, and people. There is a lot of space, so you can breath, think and reflect (something that is not often easy to say about cities) and yet you have the advantage of living in one of the biggest cities in the country with everything at your finger tips. The best thing is that you do not feel the need to get away and go on holiday – because you are always on holiday. After a long day at work Carioca's do not go home, but to the beach. They meet friends, or swim, or run, or play volley ball, or just sit and relax. With the friendliest people in the world perhaps, the ocean to soak up before them, and the company of Jesus who literally overlooks over them the whole time, things could not be better for your average Brazilian.
The competing city which is almost just as famous as Rio is Sao Paulo. Though it does not have the beaches of Rio, there are parts of Sao that are also very rich, but in a different way. More opulent materially, one can feel Sao's charm from the streets, the houses, the shops, the day life and the night life.
Sao Paulo is also a city like none other. The sky line never stops. To the naked eye it appears to be New York multiplied by 1000, and you can feel it in the energy that underlies the streets. It is easily the largest city in Latin America, and you know it because more than it being a 24 hour city, the people seem to be 24 too. On several occasions, when meeting up with friends, the meeting time was mid-night and then we could be out until 3 or 4am. This is very common on a school night even. Not sure how it was sustained, but it wasn't just my friends. Bar after bar, restaurants and clubs were all packed, and every place seemed to be funkier than the last. There are over a million people employed just to sustain the night time activities, and the other sixteen million keep everything else running. If you want a computer part, or whatever, then there will be a good 50 different shops on the same street, with that very part and 100 variations. Everything and anything is game.
Saying all this, it was not the cities that I found the most impressive, but the outback – it is also 'hot'; in terms of temperature, variety, wildlife, environments, activities, it has it all! Brazil has almost every type of landscape with and a zillion hidden treasures everywhere. One of my favourite places is Bonito. It is stunning, as the name would suggest. Waters are so clear that you do not even have to snorkel. Forests are so pristine that every animal and bird, including monkeys, just hop around in front of you because they never seem to have found humans threatening. Then an example of a treasure would be the Anhumas Abyss - a 73 meter cave. Now my legs had become jelly just looking down into this cave. It was all dark, but if you move slightly, so that sunlight can escape into the tiny hole that you stand over, then the bottom is too far away to be visible and there seemed to be leaves floating around in the air. What the hell, that has to be investigated, and so the abseil challenge was accepted. When I finally did I could not see the bottom, but there did appear to be leaves suspended half way. This was seriously one of the most terrifying things that I have ever done. Much more scary than bungee jumping, sky diving or swimming with sharks, believe me. The nerve test and rehearsal the day before, checking the equipment, meeting the team – nothing eased my fears. At the end of the day the reality was that I would be dangling on a thin, very thin rope with a 70 meter drop below me, and my life flashed before my eyes at the mere thought. Before I knew what was happening, I had agreed to be strapped up anyway and was being lowered. I concentrated on the smallest of movements, trying not to think about the bigger picture, and as buddy spoke about football, I was fascinated. Anything, but than to think about what could happen. Only as I got closer did I realise that the leaves that I thought were suspended in thin air were in fact floating water that reached at least a third way up this cave. I couldn't believe it…the inside was so surreal. The stalactites were of every colour in the rainbow, falling down from the roof and sides of the cave…like marble, oil, granite…each one was different. Then once you are near the surface of the water, there is a wooden raft to land on, a wetsuit to change into and then you scuba dive into the freezing water. This was seriously incredible…like swimming over a thousand big, big white arms that are trying to grab you. The stalagmites were of all sizes, pure white and in every form. Imagine being a tiny lice swimming in a big bristled hair brush, where the bristles are of all different sizes. It was just like that. You felt so small, and yet you are in your own secure treasure trove – the cave was all yours. At one point I thought that it might be mine forever, because I could not find the courage to abseil up, but like I couldn't find it to come down. It is fine to say don't look down, but fairly impossible in a climb that could be over half an hour long, and 73 meters back up on the forever turning tiny rope! But since we had ran out of food, there was no choice, and the climb up had to happen. It really is hard to describe the magic of this place, because on the way up the cave looked so different. Sunlight would manoeuvre over the tiny hole over head, lighting different sides of this cave and revealing a billion types of textures, colours, patterns and beauties. A big up to my little bro and sis who did this all with me, despite all logic and sense:-)
But aside from the Beaches of Bahia, the Amazon in the North, the waterfalls in the South - all of which are dreams comes true, there are many man made heavens in this young and ambitious country. You remember the film 'City of Gods', right? With all the gang warfare, drug cartels and street shootings right? Well, I went to the largest Favela in South America – it is in Rio and straight out of the 'City of Gods', I swear.
So I shall explain why I call this a type of heaven.
Every since Geography classes at school I have wanted to visit a favela to see how people lived in these shanty towns, but when I get to Brasil, I learned that it is not so easy. Infact, in Rio – where the favelas are physically reachable because they within the city, as opposed to surrounding the city, I was told, that to enter was to pay with your life. This was not said by one person but EVERYONE! Now Brazilians are not likely to say that something is not possible, unless it really and truly is impossible. The fact is that everyone knows everyone in these favelas and that they have their 'police' so as to speak, and if one intruder is found, who is not meant to be there, then they could be shot. Life is cheap and no one would think anything of it, including the police of the country, because favelas are a world unto their own, and no one, but the gang leaders can interfere.
As with everything in life, contacts and connections were needed, and thankfully friends lead to friends, who lead to friends and sure enough, one friend had a contact and a pre arranged visit was finally set up. I was really excited, not being sure what to expect, apart from a lot of rough and good looking boys…and that was enough to be honest;-)
I had to follow instructions closely – to take a taxi to x bridge, where a boy with a red hoodie would be waiting for me. I was to tell him my name, and thereafter I should remain in his company. So this is what I did, and sure enough, as the taxi stopped half way down a very busy road, there was a boy awaiting. 'Follow me.'
He led me down into a side street – running parallel to the road I was on, but only accessible via this one make shift road. Thereafter, this makeshift road lead to another until they were covering the entire valley and the two bracketing hills like a net. Everything was makeshift, yet it was home to two or three generations already. By makeshift I mean that none of the normal infrastructure that runs through the streets of Rio could be seen here. The people of the favela had created everything themselves. From the roads, to the houses, to the sanitation, and it all felt as raw as the creators.
After meeting people I began to learn the rules of the game, and they were really surprising and not at all what I expected. The fact is that a favela is one of the safest places to visit just as long as your arrival is announced, known about and authorised in advance. If one of the leading factions so as to speak permits your visit, then no harm can ever come to you. You can guarantee that no one would steal your camera for example. How? Because if anything happened, and you went to the civil police, who then would come and investigate, you can be sure that the thieves' life would not be worth living. This is not because the Brazilian police are so efficient and fearful, but because the leaders, who have men watching every move, would kill in a heartbeat (sorry for the pun). The worst thing to happen in a favela is for civilian police to arrive. As long as they do not, and everyone minds there own business and pays fair dues to the leaders, everyone is protected. For the poor this is in fact one of the 'best' living arrangements they could hope for. Here they are not at risk of their house just being bull dozed over, which is not uncommon if you are an eyesore to the Brazilian government, you will not be randomly beaten, mugged or worse, and there is a system in force to protect your rights.
Everything was explained to me by a mixed group of favelians, my guide and through what I saw. Speeding through the favela on big motorbikes I got to learn about its size and see the whole gamut of housing – which was generally on top of one another in a hap hazard way climbing the hills on either side. Whilst walking through the favela I felt as though I had seen the world. There were traditional game rooms, electronic game studios and gambling stations. The favela ven has its very own lottery! There were shops selling everything that you can dream of, even local artist galleries and religious merchandise stores. There were specialist stores or repair people, such as the speaker depot, with the most obscene rap that I have ever heard barring out. There were pedicure, manicures and masseurs. The butcher was unique, with live chickens in stock that were killed before your eyes – guaranteed freshness that I could not stomach. It has its own TV and Radio stations, and own provision of transport. Most surprising of all to me was the social, counselling and therapy workshops held at the health centre. This self sustained community truly blew me away and seemed to be like miles from the gang warfare that everyone speaks of.
I was waiting with my guy, Jose, outside a telephone booth when suddenly fire crackers were thrown just ahead of me. They were not small either, and it seemed like everyone was doing a little more than me – who jumped – they were running! Jose rushed out of the telephone booth, grabbed my arm and we leapt into the nearest shop – it sold just eggs. I was silent, because all the bustle of the place became nothing more than a sudden hush and Jose was looking really nervous. The fire crackers became louder and louder, and more frequent. I was beginning to wonder whether they were a particular type of bomb in fact. "The police is coming" - hissed Jose. Ah shit! I knew what this meant already. All hell could break loose. It is like civil war, with the leaders, who are well known drug lords and more, escaping fast, and the gangs fighting one another so that the opposing one gets any trouble. There is always rivalry for power, and shooting people out of position is no problem. One can either get caught in the cross fire or by being on the 'wrong' side. It is just like a multi party political system, but rather than playing with corrupt ballot boxes people play directly with a gun.
This account is not meant to put you off Brazil but rather to get you excited. It is so complex that really I cannot do it any justice and I hope that I have not pretended to. I just wanted to say – put it on your 'to experience list' – it is HOT!
posted by Mandeep Rai at 6:15 AM
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