News from Brazil, where the nuts are from

Gorgeous palm trees of Guarujá

Well, I guess I am long overdue on a blog entry. But the month of August somehow flew by without too much to tell. I did some more sight-seeing in Sao Paulo, visiting the Museu de Ipiranga, which was the location of the signing of the Brazilian independence (Sept. 7, 1822). The Museum and its grounds are gorgeous, it looks like Renaissance European architecture. I also went to Guarujá, the beach town closest to São Paulo, which was surprisingly lovely, even with the high rises being built there. The day was perfect, sunny and in the low 80s, but too cold for the beach for most Brazilians, so we had the area mostly to ourselves:)

At the end of August, I also gave a two-day intensive seminar in Palmas, Tocantins for English coordinators of the state of Tocantins. The workshops were two full days of methodology and practical lesson ideas for the public school classrooms. We were able to do almost the whole session in English, which was good practice for the teachers and I think overall it went really well.

The state of Tocantins is near Brasilia, more or less in the middle of the country, and has only been a state since 1989. Palmas is a planned city, much like Brasilia except a lot smaller. There are only about 200,000 people in the city and it’s basically in the desert. It is hot and dusty with roads that seem to go on forever, only separated by roundabouts instead of stoplights:) I felt like I was on location for a Hollywood movie set in Arizona or something – perhaps Thelma and Louise or Raising Arizona:)

Palmas also happens to have the second largest Square (Plaza) in the world after Red Square in Moscow. Again, why Niemeyer and the other architects thought that large slabs of concrete with no trees were a good idea for cities with temperatures in the 90s and above, I will never know! Palmas is on a lake, though, so at least there were some lake beaches, which was nice. Also, the state of Tocantins has a mix of vegetation so that there are some beautiful parks with waterfalls and trails, but they are several hours from the city I was in so, unfortunately, I didn’t make it that far. Maybe next time!

Here are few photos from my adventures in August:)

Museu de Ipiranga, Sao Paulo

Beaches of Guarujá

Palmas, Tocantins

With the teacher coordinators

Monument to the fight for a separate state of Tocantins

Praça Girossóis, second largest plaza after Red Square

At the lake beach

Natividade (head of the English coordinators) and her son, Gustavo

Best part of my stay - the hotel swimming pool!

Leaving Palmas - love the outdoor airport!:)

Flying into Congonhas airport, Sao Paulo - amazing!!

Até a proxima!

"I sought the curved and sensual line. The curve that I see in the Brazilian hills, in the body of a loved one, in the clouds in the sky and in the ocean waves."
Oscar Niemeyer, Brasilia architect

Bruno Giorgi's statue: Os Candangos

What can I say about Brasilia, city of contrasts? Fascinating architecture, but also a city of concrete, shadeless streets with few sidewalks and hot weather: doesn't exactly lend itself to lots of wandering around on foot.

The capital of Brazil as of 1960, it was formed out of nothing in order to move the capital from Rio, inland, closer to the rest of the country. President Juscelino Kubitschek (usually called JK)took charge of this project in the late 1950s, along with urban planner Lúcio Costa and architect, Oscar Niemeyer. Millions of peasants from the Northeast worked round the clock and the city was built in three years! The idea of having an inland capital had been discussed for years, but Kubitschek finally made it a reality. Of course it was a political decision and a legacy for JK, but I’m still amazed that he would spend the money to do this when there was extreme poverty in the country. I guess building a new capital in a way distracted everyone from the social and economic problems of the time and JK gained huge popularity. I visited his memorial in Brasilia and really there are a lot of similarities between he and his wife Sarah and JFK and Jackie. They had a similar style and elegance to them.

I’m sure Kubitschek’s popularity is divided today, but certainly most people of Brasilia love him. Every taxi driver I had, I would ask about their opinion of the city and the politics needed to design something like this, and each of them agreed they were very happy with the project and with the legacy of JK as President. I asked them why they thought Brazilians would go along with all the money being spent on this city at the time when there were so many other problems in the country(and still are). They all said much of the money was borrowed from international banks, and also that it wasn’t in the Brazilian nature to complain to the government or hold politicians accountable. They tend to step back and as long as they have their churrasco (barbeque), beer and football, most people are happy;) From what I’ve seen so far, I would agree with this – Brazilians are not a fighting people.

But anyway, architecture aside, to me the city looks like any other American city with looping highways and few sidewalks. Everyone travels by car or taxi here. The 1960s futuristic aspect of it reminded me of Orwell’s 1984; I really felt like Big Brother was watching the whole time! Brasilia is designed like an airplane with all the government buildings down the center – the cabin of the plane - and then everything else off on the wings, to the right and to the left (North and South). You will have an address like SQS 102, Bloco B, Quardra 4. This refers to the Super Quadrant South (South wing of the plane) then the number and the building or block it’s on. It was like a game of monopoly with everything separated into blocks or themed streets, ex. “Restaurant street”;) All the restaurants are on one street, pharmacies on another, shoe stores on another, etc. Obviously in the residential neighborhoods things are a bit more intertwined, but in the downtown area it was like this.

The individual buildings themselves have a very interesting, futuristic design, mostly by architect Oscar Niemeyer. But the city leaves a lot to be desired, in my opinion. It’s mainly shopping centers and concrete open spaces in between the buildings. Everywhere you go, you can see the attempt at being futuristic. I was in Brasilia for a conference and two of the other American Fellows were there, Summer and Amanda. We all stayed at the Comfort Suites hotel and the staff couldn’t have been nicer, but the hotel desk outfits (for the women) looked like black body suits out of Star Trek/Avengers with an open part, like a circle, cut out where the shoulder is. Otherwise they were longsleeve with Turquoise trim –very funny;)

One other thing that I found amusing was the guided tour I took of the National Congress. There were about 30 of us in one group, lots of small children as well, and the guide seemed to talk only to those directly around her. The rest of the group was busy talking amongst themselves (LOUDLY given that this is Brazil) and it was impossible to hear her unless you stood close. I have never seen a guide that didn’t even attempt to speak loudly to the entire group, she just spoke to those who wished to listen to her, like a private session with a bunch of loud people all around. If you didn’t stand right next to her, you couldn’t hear a thing. And imagine walking through the tunnels of this complex and up and down many stairs - very easy to get lost.

What was funny is that at one point we were in room where the Senate meets and we were only supposed to be in one area of the room. However, we didn’t know that because our guide didn’t say anything, or if she did, it was so quiet that 95% of us didn’t hear anything! So, another guard came in and started yelling at her and saying that she needed to tell all of us in advance not to play with all the desks and buttons (tons of children on this tour!), that it was a privilege for us to be there at all, etc. In the U.S. I think the majority of the tourists would have agreed with him and tried to be more respectful, but here everyone in the group was defending our guide (who certainly hadn’t said anything to the whole group), and making sly comments to the guard or saying to him: “Calma, calma” (=take it easy), while consoling our guide for having been scolded. It just cracked me up because for the Brazilians this guide was uptight and being ridiculous, whereas I think most Americans would agree with him and try to follow orders. There is a huge cultural difference between what constitutes uptight, orderly and impolite between our two countries.

And then at the end of the tour she just kind of walked away. We had to ask her if the tour was over! She never made any comments saying that the tour was over, or how to get out of the building, for example!;) Needless to say it took me a while to find my way out, back through all the tunnels and stairways! But it was worth it to be able to see the government seats in Brazil, very interesting.

Below are a few examples of Brazilian architecture along with my friends and I in the city. Beijos para todos!

Palácio da Justiça

Congresso Nacional - The senate is the closed oval on the left, supposed to symbolize the reflection and decision making that goes on within these walls. And on the right is the equivalent of the House of Representatives, which is open, thinking in terms of how their decisions affect us all.

You can even walk on top of the Congresso

With the Congresso behind me, looking out towards the Esplanada dos Ministérios

Views from inside one of the taller Congresso buildings

Futuristic decor inside the Congresso

Inside the Senate on our tour of the Congresso Nacional

Congresso Nacional at dusk

Praça dos Três Poderes (Square surrounded by three government buildings – Palácio do Planalto (President’s headquarters); Congresso Nacional; Supremo Tribunal Federal. In this picture we also see the famous Pomal statue (for Pigeons) by Niemeyer.

Supremo Tribunal Federal with Alfredo Ceschiatti's famous statue: A Justiça

Palácio Itamaraty (Foreign ministry) with the landscape by Burle Marx

Lunch with Summer and Amanda on "restaurant street":)

Palácio da Alvorada - President Lula's house. A bit different from the White House, don't you think?:) Apparently Lula's wife, who comes from a working class tradition, is claimed to have said, "How will I ever wash this many windows!?";)

The grounds near Palácio da Alvorada, Lula's residence

Me at President Lula's house

Ponte Juscelino Kubitschek

Me at Ermito Dom Bosco overlooking the ponte JK My taxi driver had mistakenly driven me all the way to this viewpoint confusing Ermito Dom Bosco with Sancuario Dom Bosco, which is really in the center of town! But no matter, the views were beautiful

Catedral Metropolitana To enter you have to walk down a ramp so that when you walk inside the cathedral you are looking upwards, as if to heaven