An Evening at the Escola de Samba Vai-Vai

In early December, I finally got around to going to the Carnaval rehearsal that goes on every Sunday at the samba school, Escola de Samba Vai-Vai, located behind my house. Though I usually hear the festivities from my apartment, with very loud drumming that goes on until 11:30, it was great to finally go have a look. Despite the fact that Carnaval takes places in February or March, these rehearsals go on all year.



I went with my friend Gaetan and a French friend of his. The atmostphere was super charged, with every type of person there enjoying the party. From children to the elderly, samba is for everyone. It was expecially nice to see the older women dancing with big smiles on thier faces, enjoying each other's company and the crowd.

Thanksgiving in Brazil

A Colombian-American friend from GV named Mafe had the great idea of organizing an American Thanksgiving get-together for all of the international students. Everyone brough something, and it was a great time, and the last time many of the exchange students saw each other. Here are some pics.



Some of the holiday spread



Mafe, Thibault, Katarina & I



Adrian eating turkey



Caroline, Fanza & David



Filipe and I



Lucia, Laura & Justinho

A great proxy for the usual celeb with the fam, I must say.

Reunion with an old friend; we go to Belo Horizonte, Tiradentes and Brasilia

During my freshman year at University of Maryland College Park, I was good friends with a Brazilian girl named Ana Cristina, or Cris, but she and I had last touch since then. After living in the US many years, Cris recently returned to Brazil and lives in Belo Horizonte (BH) in the state of Minas Gerais. During my time in Brazil, though, we got to see each other again. In November, cris stayed with me when she was in SP, and afterwards, I decided to go back to BH with her and travel over some Brazilian holidays. We only spent about a day in BH, but over about a week, we went to Tiradentes and then to the capital, Brasilia.

We left BH for São João del Rei, from where we took a train to Tiradentes, the home of the Brazilian Independance movement, or the Inconfidencia Mineira. The train is old, and has been restored to its original grandeur. Interestingly, the little museum they have at the station has relics from Pennsylvania's train works, which I imagine helped provide some of the equipment at that time.






Danger: Stop, Look, listen


On the way to Tiradentes

We arrived in Tiradentes, which was named for Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier, also known as Tiradentes (Tooth Puller), who was the leader of the first organized movement against Portuguese rule in Brazil in 1789. He was born in 1748 near São João del Rei, and besides being a revolutionary worked as a physician, merchant and dentist, hence his name.



The town is pretty, with colonial architecture everywhere, and really good restaurants and shops.


A well-known Tiradentes fountain with potable water






In the main square of Tiradentes




In front of the main church of Tiradentes, where a rainbow had formed

We had lunch and walked around that day, looking at the sites. The next day went on a hike through the Serra do São José, a thin mountain range that stretches out behind the town. I must have eaten or touched something the previous day, but had the worst diarrhea during the hike, with fever and frequent stopping, which sucked. Still, it was beautiful and, in retrospect, I'm glad I went. Only the two of us went on the excursion that day, so it was just us, the guide and a flea-ridden street dog that seemed to be in the habit of accompanying hiking tours.


The Serra do São José








Large ant's carrying flower petals and other useful things


Some cows grazing near the summit

Towards the end of the hike, there was a freezing cold pool of water you could swim in. It had a lot of tadpoles, too. Feverish, I opted to sit in the sun and watch Cris enjoy.





That night we went by bus back to BH, and the next day flew to Brasilia, where we stayed with Chris' father. It was so nice to arrive at his house, which was very spacious and comfortable, especially after being sick.


Agua de coco is good for rehydrating

That weekend was her father's birthday, and he had a lunch party with great feijoada for a bunch of his friends. He is a political scientist, and his friends seemed a cultured bunch, so it was a real treat to sit and talk with them.


Cris and her father, Antonio








The next day we went out and saw the town, which is very modern and pretty, with lots of green lawns everywhere. It reminded me of suburban America. Brasilia is a planned city, and was created only about 40 years ago. Most every important building was designd by Brazil's best-known architect, Oscar Niemeyer, and everything in the town has a somewhat dated look, with 1960s and 70s styles in most buildings.








The Cathedral of Brasilia


The Foreign Affairs Ministry


The Esplanade of Ministries


The National Congress building, with the Lower House on the left and the Upper House on the right


Another plaza whose names escapes me, but which has a lot of monuments

That night I went out with Cris and two of her friends to several bars, and got a taste of the Brasiliense nightlife. We had a good time, and it was a great way to end the trip.



Thank you, Cris and Antonio, for your hospitality.

A Friend Visits Brazil, We Go To Argentina

Thursday, October 19

My friend Said came to visit me during a break from school (we study together at Georgetown). He arrived in the morning and I picked him up at the airport. He brought me a new camera since mine had broken on my last trip. While he was here we did a lot of things I wouldn't normally do, so I got to enjoy some of the nicer things São Paulo has to offer.





On Avenida Paulista

We had a coffee on Avenida Paulista, then while I had class Said checked out the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, which is right by my house. Later, we had lunch at Mestiço, which is a fusion of Asian and Brazilian dishes. They had aracajé like the ones I had eaten in Bahia, but more fancier.



At Mestiço

We relaxed after lunch, and later had dinner at an Italian restaurant called L'Open in Jardins with an Italian friend, Allessandro. Later, we went to a discobar called Sogo.



At L'Open



Said and Allessandro at Sogo



On the way home

Friday, October 20

In the morning, we walked to Ibirapuera Park, and rented a two-person bicycle and rode around for a little while.







At Ibirapuera Park

Later, we took a cab to the Oscar Freire area of Jardins, and had lunch at a terrific Lebanese restaurant called Arábica. We had kibe cru (raw red meat), kibe missoui, beef stuffed with spices, thabouli, hummus and delicious deserts. Said chatted in Arabic with the owner, a Brazilian Lebanese woman.



At Arabica

Then we walked around and went shopping in the great shops of Oscar Freire.



Later that evening, we went out for few drinks in the Praça República. Afterwards, we went to an all night place popular after the bars called Estadão and had the best lomo sandwhich in the city.



On Vieira de Carvalho near Praça República

The next morning Said flew to Rio to spend a few days with a friend. That night, some friends from school had some people over.













Wednesday, October 25

Said got back on Tuesday night, and on Wednesday we had lunch at a wonderful restaurant called Figueira Rubaiyat, which is built around a garden under a giant fig tree. We shared bacalhau and a feijoada buffet, which included cow tails, pig ears and all the fixins.







That night we flew to Buenos Aires.

Thursday, October 26



Our plane was late and we got to our hotel around 3 AM. My friend Pepe from Spain was working in Buenos Aires, and got us an two-bedroom apartment hotel for a good price. In the morning we walked around and had a coffee. In Argentina, you can order a coffee for about a dollar, and as in Italy, the waiters bring you a few little cookies and a class of bubbly water to clean your mouth and avoid coffee breath. The world needs to spread this culture around a little more.



At a cafè in Recoleta



A plaza near our hotel

Then we met up with Pepe and his partner, and they gave us a full-day tour of Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires is gorgeous city, and probably one of the nicest cities I have ever visited. It looks very much like Paris, with wide avenues, elegant cafés, lots of details in the buildings and very stylish, good looking people everywhere. Porteños are very European, made up mostly Italian, Spanish and French people, with significant Armenian, Jewish, Middle Eatern populations as well. It was nice to be able to speak Spanish and to listen to the Argentinian accent, which is very nice. I enjoyed listening to them use the vos form, which is a relic of old Spanish that is still used in Argentina and some other places. The Porteños (people from Buenos Aires) also have a slang called lumfardo which, like their accent, incorporates Italian, French and other languages.





Pepe and I

The showed us some more of BA, and then we had dinner at a very nice restaurant called Sucre.



They dropped us off at a bar called Glam where we met a group of Ecuatorians. Then, we went back to the hotel.



Friday, October 27

Friday was our shopping day. One of the nicest things is that still, after the financial crisis in 2001, Argentina is extremely cheap. Cabs, food, leather goods, cashmere (not the scottish type, but still good, warm sweaters), and lots of fashion goods are all very affordable. I bought a pair of custom-made leather pants. There is a Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent factory in Argentina, so I also got a couple suits for a bargain.



You can take taxis to your heart's delight in BA and never break the bank



Having measurements taken at the leather shop on Calle Murillo



We had Argentinian parillada (grilled meat and sausages)for lunch





Awash in sweaters



Cleaning the wool off Said after trying on sweaters

That night, Pepe got us into a Tango show for free at the Esquina Humero Manzi, which is a landmark Tango restuarant and show. Humero Manzi was a famous poet, playwright, and lyricist who revolutionized Tango, and his Esquina is today an historic landmark. The place was mostly full of Argentinians, and the music and the dancing were mesmerizing. The accordeon, cello, piano and violin and their weeping melodies brought images of smokey cafés from days gone by (Buenos Aires is now smoke-free). And the dark, slicked back hair of the men in tuxedos and the women's red lips, endless legs and scanty dresses were stunning. The way they held each other, and then the woman would walk away in a sad, coquettish way, only to have the man chase behind her and take her back into his arms, at moments took me away.



Later, we went to a discothèque called Alsina. It was a nice place, very large, had good music and topped anything I've seen in São Paulo. There was a sign avertising a performance to be given a few days later by a Spanish group called La Terremoto de Alcorcón, which does a tacky and hystirical rendition of Madonna's Hung Up. Click on the link to see it on Google Video.

Saturday, October 28

We had lunch at a terrific place called Cabaña Las Lilas, which turned out the be owned by the same people as Figeira Rubaiyat in São Paulo.



Supporting the South American resutaurant giants

That night Pepe had gotten tickets to the opera for us as well as one for a friend of his named Gustavo. It was the last night of a sold-out performance, and he got them for us for free. We saw Boris Gudunov, a four-hour Russian Opera, at the Teatro Colón. It was something of an endurance test, as it was subtitled in Spanish, but was a wonderful experience.







The Teatro Colón

Sunday, October 29

The next day we had pizza for lunch, then went for dulce de leche ice cream. We also picked up some alfajores, delicious Spanish sweets that are popular and delicious from Havanna in Argentina, to bring home as gifts.



Alfajores

On our way to the airport we stopped by the Plaza de Mayo for snap a few shots.



Me in front of the Casa Rosada





Said and I in the Plaza de Mayo

We said good-bye at the airport, and I headed back to Brazil and Said to Washington. I highly recommend Buenos Aires and cannot wait to go back.