Last day

I spent my last day in Brazil walking around Sao Paulo with Peter and Ligia. We rode both the bus and the metro as well. It's a huge city, but really spread out, making it much more like Los Angeles rather than New York. Lots of great old architecture mixed in with new buildings. I think the old buildings look like pirate buildings. The Sao Paulo cathedral is very beautiful.

I'll just post a bunch of the photos - they definitely aren't my best. It was a super sunny day and hard to control lighting on the trusty iPhone.

Giant door knocker at the cathedral.

Ligia and Peter with very judgey saints behind them.

I love the palm trees with the cathedral.



Some sort of Justice Lady. (Can you tell I've lost a bit of interest in naming everything?)

Cool old doors on an old bank. You can't tell from here, but they are giant.  Those gold rings are about six feet off the ground.

Sao Paulo is very colorful.

Looking down Avenida Paulista. Lots of really important banks and cultural institutions are here. It feels very modern. (I'm saying "modern" in my head the way a Brazilian would say it right now ... ma-dairne :-)

There's an amazing garden that takes up a couple of city blocks right off the Avenida Paulista. They have signs on a lot of the trees to tell you what they are. It's about 10 degrees cooler inside the park.

Several times in our travels, I saw what at first looked like really cool playground equipment. It's actually part of a national campaign to put weight-resistance machines in open-air gyms in parks all over the country. 

A cool fountain in the cool park that shall remain nameless.

Artists have decorated the phone booths (orelhao - "big ear")  along the Avenida Paulista.  

Cut to the chase

So you think you might want to go to Brazil. Here's what you really want to know:

The bathrooms are clean. In fact, Brazil is a 100 percent for clean bathrooms in the three weeks I've been here and that includes gas stations and public toilets at the bus station and airport. In general, it's a really clean place. The government employs a lot of people to go around cleaning all of the time. You don't see much trash on the streets and there are a lot of trash cans and the occasional recycling bin.

Get used to cold water. Tho it's not really COLD, more like tepid. Most people and all public places do not have warm water for the sinks. Everyone uses electric hot water heaters for their showers. Rumor has it that a lot of people have bare wires to their shower heaters, but I never encountered them.

Electric hot water heaters are part of the shower head. 

Don't expect air conditioning. Most Brazilians don't even like it, so if they have AC in the car, they don't use it. That's why God created windows and driving fast. Most hotels don't have AC. Don't expect heat either, but it was the farthest thing from my mind, that's for sure.

Speaking of places to stay... You are looking to stay at a pousada or a hotel. Definitely not a "motel" with an M. The word "motel" in Brazil designates a place that rents rooms by the hour for couples looking for privacy. Lots of people live with their families for many years. It's hard to get it on when mom and dad are in the room next door and your little brother is in the same bedroom. Or maybe you're just carrying on a torrid affair. It's fascinating, read more at http://www.ruavista.com/love.htm.

Lots of signs, not much in English. In general I didn't encounter many tourists from the U.S. Europe is well represented. If you sign up for a historical tour or something like that, it will likely be in Portuguese.

Bargaining not required. If you're in certain shops, you can bargain for a lower price, but you better be buying in quantity. Pretty much the same rules about bargaining as in the U.S.

They drive fast and stop signs really are just a suggestion. They drive on the same side of the road as we do, so it's pretty normal, but in kilometers. There are lots of roundabouts and stop signs mean to slow down and look. If you were to stop completely, you probably will get rear-ended because the guy behind you won't be expecting you to stop.

Lock your doors. There's crime. Just like anywhere, the bigger the city, the increased likelihood of crime, but we always locked the doors at Peter's house when we left, even though it's in a small town. There's a huge market for things like electronics and computers, so definitely keep an eye on your laptop and camera.

How will I post every detail of my life on Facebook? Most modern folks I met all have wi-fi in their houses. Pousadas most likely will have wi-fi, but you better ask and it's probably going to be slow and sometimes it's just out entirely.

Visions of van Gogh

I brought my paints with me to Brazil. I had visions of endless free time and sitting on the deck painting flowers and animals and views and ... but three weeks went by very quickly. Sunday I pulled out the art supplies and Peter and I spent the day painting. We both worked on a cool horse skull and then I worked on a painting of Zezee. 

I think I've made a painter out of Peter. He really enjoyed it. I left a few extra paint brushes with him, so now he MUST paint!

Painting and endless coffee.  A very relaxing day.

Zezee! I was working primarily from a photo, but the eyes were too dark so I occasionally had to grab her nose and make her pose. She thought I was the annoying painter.

 

The big city

Peter and I caught the bus from Natividade Sunday afternoon and transferred to another bus in Taubaté to go to Sao Paulo. There we caught the metro to the Santa Cruz stop and then Iuri picked us up. I fly out tonight.

Public transportation in Brazil is pretty slick. The big bus we caught in Taubaté was really nice. Flying is very expensive within the country, so a lot more people travel by bus. I should have taken a photo of our bright shiny bus, but forgot. The metro is really nice with clean trains and clearly marked signage, but most of it is just in Portuguese (after three weeks, I maybe could have navigated decently, but it's still nice having my personal interpreter available).

We had a great meal made by Ligia and some tasty Chilean wine. This morning Peter and I went with Sandra to take Leonardo to school and then went for a walk around Severo Gomes Park. It's a popular spot for people to get their morning exercise. It's sort of like going running around Green Lake. We also walked around the nice houses in the area - some are really gorgeous. They all have big fences.

Hard to see the house in the back, but the street is really pretty. These flamboyant trees (that's the name of the tree) are starting to bloom. Most of the best houses are hard to see because of their walls.

Got a few extra million? This is a great house. Hey, I'll take care of it for you!

Sandra and Peter in Severo Gomes Park.

Beautiful orchids growing on a tree by the sidewalk.

Walkers and joggers at the park.

Brazilian Tudor. All of these houses have gorgeous yards... if you can see them.

It's cool hanging out with a family living in Sao Paulo. With 19.9 million people, it's the sixth largest metropolitan area in the world. (Smaller than New York, bigger than Los Angeles.) It feels more like LA to me because it's really spread out. And warm. We are going to go cruise around town today before I fly out tonight.

Just some good ol' boys... (horses, part 2)

Once in a while, all of those years of riding horses can pay off. When we were in Taubaté last week, we stopped in at Peter's friend Mauro's English school for a visit. While we were there, we met Pablo, one of his students. Pablo is finishing up his engineering degree at the Universidade de Taubaté and also works at the Ford plant.  Pablo invited us out to ride his horses, so Peter and I jumped in the car this morning and headed out to the horsey area outside of Taubaté to meet Pablo.

He brought his cousin Tafarel and another cousin Regis also met us there. The property is going to be a place where you can have catered parties and events to enjoy a little time in the country, but it is still under construction. It's going to be really nice and they plan to have everything finished by July.

Under construction, but it will be a great place for catered parties in the country. 

Me and the horses. I rode Harry (pronounced Are-ee).  He's Regis' horse. Pablo rode his mare Dama and Tafarel rode a little bay horse (can't remember its name).

Pablo on Dama (means "Lady" in English)

We just went up the road for a bit. Harry is a Mangalarga Paulista and they trot, while their cousins the Mangalarga Marchador do two types of ambling gaits -- one similar to a Peruvian Paso and the other is similar to a Paso Fino. Both are very comfortable.  While we were out, we ran into the neighbor Mauricio out on one of his purebred Mangalarga Marchador mares. We chatted for a bit (OK, not me, but Pablo chatted for a bit) and Mauricio invited us to stop by his farm on our way back. He has a national champion stallion named Albatroz, who is really beautiful. We also saw his other stallions, including a really pretty paint. I couldn't take a photo because of the way the stall was set up. We talked with Mauricio about his horses and then he offered to let me ride the mare he was on earlier. Pablo went with me on Harry for a little bit down the road. She was super smooth and very nice.

One of Mauricio's horses getting new shoes.

Mauricio holding Albatroz

 When we got back from the test drive, Mauricio had saddled up Albatroz, so I got to take him for a spin! He's a REALLY nice horse. Classic horse story: Pablo and I are down the road a quarter of a mile and I want Pablo to take a photo. He gets off to take a better photo. Harry's just eating grass when he realizes he's loose. OF COURSE he ran back to the barn. Tafarel comes flying back up the road thinking Pablo must have somehow fallen off. All was fine, Pablo just got to walk back while I rode the fancy horse.  Apparently horses are horses no matter what continent you're on.

Pablo on Albatroz

Pablo got to take a quick ride on him also and here's some video of Pablo on Albatroz. Watch Pablo's head and you will see how little he moves. This is a super smooth ride.

When we got back to where the horses live, Pablo and Tafarel cooked up some carne seca (salt-cured meat similar to corned beef and linguista (sausage). We drank some beers and hung out for a few hours.

Pablo at the outdoor grill.

I was admiring Tafarel's hat - it has a cool logo for nelore cattle. They look somewhat similar to a brahma with the big hump and the logo has a hump. Tafarel gave me the hat! Notice Pablo's Justin hat. I will find them some cool U.S. cowboy gear to send as presents for a great day with the horses.

Jungle ride (horses in Brazil, part 1)

A few days ago when we were in Paraty, Peter and I did something totally touristy and went horseback riding... and it was completely worth it! Raul (pronounced How-ul) picked us up a few blocks from the hotel and we drove about 15 minutes to where he keeps his horses. He has seven and I rode Chumango (I have no idea how that is spelled, but it basically means "Rebel." This is funny because my first horse ever was named Rebel). He's a Campolina, one of the breeds of Brazilian gaited horses.  

Raul took us on a 12 km (about 7.5 miles) up the hill through the jungle to a waterfall, across to a cachaçeria (where they make pinga) and then back down the hill. The ride was a mix of road and trails including crossing the river twice. It was about a 3.5-hour trip. 

Peter and Raul and Chumango's head.

The waterfall up high in the jungle.

Peter admires the jungle

Tasting at the cachaçeria - they had one sweet variation with cinnamon and cloves - tastes like Christmas. Raul is on the right.

Cachaçeria guy gives us a tour of the distillery.

Chumango, the Campolina I rode. The saddle was a bit like an Australian saddle - sort of a mix between English and Western.

Tree farm

When you drive around this part of Brazil, you can't help notice the odd tree lines. Here's why (and this is completely simplified and generalized!):
Much of the area was cleared of jungle rain forest back in the 1700s and 1800s to make room for cattle and coffee. Eucalyptus (a fast-growing tree native to Australia) was introduced to Brazil in the early 1900s. It grows really fast and supplies wood for timber, fiber and charcoal. There are a lot of eucalyptus farms across this region of Brazil and they are easy to spot because the trees are uniformly planted and are all the same size. It's a bit controversial.

Rainforest jungle has regrown in a lot of the cleared off areas. Peter has aerial photos of Natividade from 1955 that show a lot less jungle than there is now.

This photo was taken from the boat on the way to the sitio (farm) last week. Eucalyptus in the left center and jungle on the right center.