Knick knacks

In Rio, there is definitely no shortage of stores to buy “knick knacks” from. I am talking tea towels, bathroom accessories, clothes hangers, pots and pans, cups, mugs, ironing board covers, bowls, bedding, hooks, sheet protectors, cutlery, frames, nails, door stops, rubbish bins, plant pots, door handles… the list goes on and on…

If you are setting up home in Rio, buying time until your shipping arrives or using apartment-style accommodation instead of a hotel for your Rio holiday, you will no doubt find yourself in one of these stores at some point. You will typically recognise them by the over-flowing baskets of bedding, towels and other marked down items that spill out onto the pavement.

In Zona Sul, my advice is to shop around the independent stores as prices and variety can vary considerably.The stores in Leblon and Ipanema can be really over-priced for basic items so, if you can, head east toward Copacabana and Botafogo.

Within Leblon and Ipanema, your best bet is typically the chain stores such as Americanas and Casa & Video as the prices are more regulated. You won’t get the big bargains but at least you know you are not being over-charged.

More thoughts on being an expat

A few of my friends sent this blog post to me and I thought it made for an interesting read: http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/what-happens-when-you-live-abroad/

And those who sent it to me each gave me their unique interpretation of what the article was actually saying about living abroad. Some read an encouraging piece on the expat lifestyle, picking up on the sections relating to “wiping the slate clean”, the confidence you get from building a new life for yourself and the thrill of embracing a new culture.

Conversely, other friends have interpreted the article as a list of reasons why they are happy that their expat days are behind them. No longer did they have what the writer describes as “the fear”;  that anxiousness of trying to fit in, wondering what you are missing out on by not being connected into the culture and finding yourself outside of your comfort zone.

I wish that I could say I read this article and connected strongest with the positive elements of living abroad. But, if I am honest, it was a little of both. Or actually, more accurately, I found that as I related to both the positives and negatives described, I was left with a fairly neutral feeling of “this is just a part of life”.

I can definitely relate to the observations on the way different parts of your personality “float to the top”. Some people akin this to “finding yourself” but I very much disagree – or at least I hope that some of the emotions that become prevalent when I enter a new culture are not who I really am! I do not actually believe that, based purely on the fact that I have traveled, I am any more self-aware than someone who has never left the town they were born.

What counts is whether, as you become more aware of some of your characteristics, you can decide quickly whether they are positive characteristics you would like to grow or negative ones that I need to work on. This analysis is tough and not always something that I am consciously able to make.

In Brazil, I have certainly had to re-learn how to live my life against the context of the daily challenges that not being familiar with the language and culture brings. And, in order to do this, I have identified many new characteristics. As I have said before, I feel that since arriving I am more tolerant of things not going my way and get less hung up on the little things. These are traits that I hope to keep up when I leave Brazil. However, at the same time, I think that when I am fed up with a situation, I am getting worse at being able to problem-solve my way out of it before giving up and calling it hopeless. This is an important characteristic for me to identify and now try to improve upon.

On a different note, an area of this article that I do not relate to is the feeling that I might be missing out back home. I have been away for long enough now to know that whilst saying that “nothing changes” is not true – things certainly change, people get married, buy houses, have children etc. – being away does not exclude you from being a part of the lives of your friends and family and therefore a part of these moments.

To finish I’ll recall one of my first blog entries where I said that I hoped to never lose the feeling I had when the plane landed in Rio. At that moment my heart was absolutely full to the brim of unbridled excitement, an incredible sense of adventure and overwhelming anticipation. And to me, when I am done with the expat life, I know it will be that feeling that I remember and miss as opposed to feeling any relief that the fear, trepidation or anxiousness is over.

 

The Pope is coming

Next month, newly appointed Pope Francis is arriving in Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day. My previous experience with World Youth Day was when some friends of mine were working on the project in Sydney in 2008. 250,000 pilgrams came to Sydney for the event and 400,o00 people attended the Holy Mass.

For World Youth Day in 2013, an incredible two million people are estimated to make the pilgrimage to Rio to hear Pope Francis speak and I will be so interested to see how the city copes!

It runs from 23-28 July with activity centered around Copacabana and Guaratiba. Copacabana will host the welcome ceremony on the Thursday and Friday and these days will be a public holiday across Rio. Unfortunately, I have some external stakeholders arriving in Rio that week as well and they are not as interested in celebrating World Youth Day as I would have liked! Therefore, so long as I can negotiate the traffic, I will be in the office.

There is also a partial holiday on the Tuesday, 23 July from 4pm and Monday, 29 July until 12noon. During all these holidays, however, many things will remain open to service the tourists and locals during this period like restaurants and shopping malls.

The most hectic period will be at the weekend in Guaratiba, which is just west of Barra da Tijuca. Activity will be focused around Campus Fidei, which was built just to host World Youth Day. The roads around Campus Fidei will be closed for kilometers in all directions to allow the attendees to make their final pilgrimage to the event.

I am not sure if I will stay in Rio for the weekend or take the opportunity to get out of town and see a new part of Brazil. Either way, I will report back on what it is like!

A little bit about Brazilians

A Portuguese colleague of mine shared the following article about understanding Brazilians better

http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2013/05/brazilians

It really made me giggle and I wanted to share a couple of its observations:

The topic of Yes and No

Brazilians say: Sim
Foreigners hear: Yes
They mean: Anything from yes to perhaps to no

Brazilians say: Talvez
Foreigners hear: Perhaps
They mean: No

Brazilians say: Nao (on the very rare occasion that they say it!)
Foreigners hear: No
They mean: Absolutely never, not in a million years, this is the craziest thing I’ve ever been asked

The topic of learning Portuguese

Brazilians say: Você fala português super-bem!
Foreigners hear: Your Portuguese is coming along really well
They mean: How great! A foreigner is trying to learn Portuguese! Admittedly, the grammar and accent are so awful I can barely understand a word… but anyway! A foreigner is trying to learn Portuguese!

 

Rio Restaurant Week

It was Rio Restaurant Week recently so I took the opportunity to sample  a fancy restaurant or two.

Restaurant Week is something that I had heard of  before in other countries and here the concept is the same. In its 8th year, Rio Restaurant Week allows people to dine at top shelf restaurants across the city for a fixed price. For the price, you typically receive a choice between two starters, mains and desserts.

And whilst I love the idea and was impressed variety of participating restaurants in Rio, my experience wasn’t the best.

I went to Real Astoria in Botafogo which is a beautiful place on the Botafogo harbour. It has an absolutely incredible view and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a unique setting to a restaurant in Rio.

Unfortunately, the food offered as part of the “deal” wasn’t the best. The starter was a ham sandwich cut into pieces, my main was a basic steak and vegetables and dessert was some soggy churros. And whilst it was all perfectly edible, it didn’t quite match the reputation and setting of he restaurant.

I am not completely deterred though and look forward to getting involved in Rio Restaurant Week again next year. Hopefully I will be able to give the next restaurant a better review.

Maracana

I have been fortunate enough to attend three football matches at the famous Maracana since arriving – England v Brazil for an international friendly and then Italy v Mexico and Spain v Tahiti for the Confederations Cup.

My experience at all three has been faultless. They were, in my opinion, incredibly organised and I felt really safe at all times. The fact that the stadium itself is incredible goes without saying.

Below are some pictures I took of the crowds and the pitch itself:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The crowd at the Spain v Tahiti games was particularly wild. There was a lot of support for Tahiti but also an incredible amount of Brazilian patriotism being shown within the context of the anti-corruption protests happening outside and in the city. Apologies that the photo is not very clear but on this gentleman’s shirt were the words (in English so clearly directed at the international supporters and media): Our cry is not against the national football team, it is against the national corruption that ravages our people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a protest of another ilk was being made by the gentleman below (who looked remarkably like the famous Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho!) His banner was against FIFA banning the pandeiro (brazilian tambourine) from the World Cup after the controversial vuvuzelas of South Africa. This is a real shame to me – I hope he succeeds in getting that decision reversed!

The Brazilian protests

Over the last week or so, Brazilians have taken to the streets in their thousands to voice their dissatisfaction with the government, It started as a small number of people standing up to the government over a 20 cent fare increase for buses, but very quickly grew into something much bigger and incredibly important.

In Rio alone, over 100,000 people marched through the centre of Rio to show that they were fed up with the corruption and, what they believe to be, misspending of government money. These protests have been largely peaceful and been undertaken by what appear to be the young, informed and inspired Brazilians.

Unfortunately, a very small minority of people at some of the gatherings have chosen a more violent approach, hence the scenes you see on the news of burning cars and looted shop-fronts. And, the response of the police has been questioned during some of the earlier protest marches, where their reaction has been to use rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper spray indiscriminately across the crowds of largely non-threatening people.

Last night, the Brazilian president, Dilma, addressed the nation in what I think was a pre-recorded but heartfelt televised speech. From what I can gather, she made an incredible amount of promises and, on face value as an outsider, it would appear that these protesters have really made a difference in the future of their country.

The cynic in me, however, wonders how a president is able to make such grand promises in such a short time frame and therefore, what her accountability will be to follow these things through. But that is just my personal skepticism and I hope that this is an incorrect suspicion!

I spoke to an extremely passionate Brazilian friend of mine this morning and was very interested to get her perspective which I would like to share.

In the beginning she was inspired by the opportunity to voice her dissatisfaction and be a part of what she hoped would revolutionize her country. When the government reversed the decision to increase the bus fare, she labeled it an insignificant and empty gesture that meant nothing in terms of the real issues facing Brazil.

Now that Dilma has promised reforms, she says she has heard it all before as part of the election promises. But what this has taught her is that perhaps the idea of revolution was optimistic and doubts that the last few days of protests, or any amount of protests, will lead to real change in this country.

She put this feeling down to the typical Brazilian culture where they get excited in the beginning and then quickly lose interest. But I have to say that I think if this kind of thing was happening in Australia, sadly I would probably react in the same way – so perhaps its not just a Brazilian thing!

Sailing Guanabara Bay

A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to go for a work “away day” on my bosses sail boat. La-di-da, I know!

We met at the very exclusive Yacht Club in Botafogo – Iate Clube Rio de Janeiro – and took lunch in the dining room. It was very opulent with a beautiful buffet, but perhaps most impressive to me was the table of exceptionally well-off older women eating next to us. I think they were some kind of woman’s group and they were dressed in head-to-toe gold, diamonds and pearls, wore almost costume-like makeup and were helping themselves to champagne by the gallon. Very interesting group of people to observe… I only wish I’d been able to understand what they were saying!

After lunch, some of us (not me!) changed into their yachting attire and we boarded the boat. It was a beautiful boat, almost brand new and fitted the eight of us on nicely. My boss then sailed us along the inner western coast line of Guanabara Bay, out along Urca, past Sugarloaf mountain (where we got the unique view of Sugarloaf mountain with Christ the Redeemer behind it) and then around to Leme beach.

On the way back we saw eastern coast line of Guanabara Bay, not quite going as far as the bridge to Niteroi but right up along Morro do Pico, which I was excited to tell my partner looks exactly like England!

The weather was stunning to begin with but got a little chilly once the sun went down. I am not complaining though, it was an incredible once in a lifetime experience and I had to pinch myself on several occasions.

Here are some photos

 

 

 

 

 

Outdoor seating area of restaurant

 

 

 

 

 

Views from the harbour before take off

 

 

 

 

 

The unique views of Christ the Redeemer (you can just make it out here I hope) and Sugarloaf mountain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tiny patch of England – this photo delighted my partner!

A bit of Australian shopping

Its not technically Australian shopping but its the type of shopping that I grew up with in Australia so I am calling it that!

Rua Francisco Otaviano in Arpoador is a good place to go if you are in the market for surf clothes and flip flops (or since this is a post comparing something to Australia – thongs). I was sent in that direction by a friend (the oracle) to buy some Havianas.

As an aside, you would not think buying Havianas was a difficult thing to do in Brazil, and you would be correct as they are sold on just about every street corner. But I was looking for a plain back pair – not platformed, embellished, floral or with fancy straps, just plain black, this is more difficult to find!

Anyway, I had success on this street and was impressed by the range the three or four surf stores all side by side stocked. You are unlikely to get a bargain but its no more expensive than other clothes stores I have been into in Rio so far.

 

Brazilian BBQ

A few weeks ago now I was lucky enough to be invited to an authentic Brazilian BBQ. My hosts speak English (one is American and her husband is Brazilian) but the other guests weren’t confident to have conversations in anything other than Portuguese.

It was very interesting being so far out of my comfort zone and having to really concentrate at all times to understand what was going on. I have this experience at work, however this was different as there was no English summary of the key points at the end !

At the time (and probably still!) my Portuguese was certainly lacking. So, beyond greeting the other guests and commenting on the amazing food, there wasn’t much more I could add to the conversation.

Luckily there was a lot of good things to say about the food! One type of meat that surprisingly I am loving in Brazil are the sausages. Until now, I really didn’t like sausages and that is saying something after living in England on and off for the last four years! But, here there is something different about the linguica… I can’t get enough! And there were plenty on offer, along with chicken and, my favourite, the filet mignon.

I was forced to try a chicken’s heart, which I have seen behind the grill at a lot of restaurants here but hadn’t been brave enough to order. It wasn’t really for me. With so many amazing other cuts of meat on offer I don’t think its something I’ll be having again.

So, overall I really enjoyed myself and felt so incredibly fortunate to be sharing this everyday experience. I could also not complain about the small pool at my hosts’ apartment which meant that all the (attractive) male guests spent the entire afternoon in their sungas! 😉

The mix of delicious meat against a soundtrack of fervent Portuguese was definitely a winning combination and something that I am looking forward to experiencing again soon. Although I do hope to improve my Portuguese before then… at one point I seriously considered going inside and spending some time with the kids who, aged between about 2 and 6, were probably at about my conversation level!