BRAZIL, JAN - MARCH 2008
I am here for 8 more weeks of Brazilian madness. Arrived here January 12th, after departing Paris Orly airport, where my French friend Samir dropped me after a nice meal in Paris Montparnasse.
A quick flight to Madrid, to change planes. Get my bags and check them in for the next flight (better to do this than to check them all the way through - too many chances for them to end up in Bora Bora (nice !) or Timbuktu or Bangalore or Baghdad (not cool !!). In Madrid, I ditched the airport for a couple of hours as I had a 4 hour stop over before the flight to Rio. So, having noticed a church spire some 5 or 6 km distant or so, decided to go check it out, as there is usually a village next to churches in Spain.
Had some fun navigating the motorway system around Barajas Airport (on foot !!).....Oh well. Eventually end up in the village of the same name as the airport. Found a bar and a bar stool to accommodate oneself, took a coffee, pastry etc., usual chat with barman (what is the weather like, what is the village like, too much car traffic etc., same the World over).
Then back to the airport for the 10 hour flight to Rio, which left late. Ended up talking half of the way to a Brazilian chappie, quite friendly, good for improving one´s Portuguese !
Then Rio de Janeiro, Galeão Airport. Still the same, nothing new there. Even after the 2007 Pan American games.......No change. Still the same grey, grimy concrete. I just wish in Brazil that they could at least throw buckets of colourful paint over all the ugly, bare plain grey concrete that pervades the whole country, then at least the place would look less sinister. Still, it is the people that count, the rest is just material......And the people, as ever, just as colourful and friendly, much more so than any tin of paint !!
Took a taxi to the local bus station. No buses all night from there (arrived there c.1.30 am), took 4 hours out on the floor of the station to organise my bags, then a 5.30 am bus to a city in the mountains called Petropolis, where I thought I would go for a change. The family of my ex girlfriend live in Teresopolis, a city in the neighbouring valley (both are at over 800m altitude), however, I thought I would stay in Petropolis for a night for a change. Nice cool mountain air !!
Next day, I took a bus to Teresopolis, where I phoned the brother of my ex upon arrival at the station. He said I could stay at his flat, he would even give me the keys too. Very trusting.
Then a taxi to the area where he lives, and a short hike up a hill to a typically Brazilian flat (small, bare faced brick on the outside, painted walls on the inside, shower, toilet (yes, running water and electricity !!).
Most Brazilian houses, flats etc. look like those in "Favelas", however, the term "Favela" really should only be used to describe an area of housing where there are huge social problems, inc. high unemployment, drug trafficking, lack of basics such as running water and electricity, crime, murder. In fact, the largest "Favela" in Latin America actually has a Mc Donalds inside it I believe (typical Americans !!), so perhaps Favela" is misleading........One could say that the whole of Brazil is one huge "Favela" (due to the fact that ´´normal´´ houses look the same as those in "Favelas", both are unpainted, bare brick/bare concrete), but, in reality, myself being English, I would say that "Favelas" are those areas where one does not feel safe, plain and simple. Kinda like the flatlands near Cape Town, simply areas you do not go, as poverty is so bad that people would kill you just for a cigarette, or for one dollar.......These areas exist, from Sao Paulo to Rio, Cape Town to J´Burg, Delhi to Bombay, Manila to Caracas. It is just that here, in Latin America, the people living in these "Favelas" have more of a penchant to dispense with your life than do the super poor in say India. In India, the religion kinda keeps them away from mass slaughter, whereas here in Brazil and in particularly Caracas (World´s most dangerous city, probably), the Catholic Religion is so free and so liberal that there really is no incentive to stop hoodlems saying "vaya con dios" to you when they want to take your money/camera/cigarette etc......Best policy, AVOID SLUMS !!
However, I heard a story whereby a car full of middle class youngsters ("clase medio" in Brazil, these people have some money....) robbed a pregnant mother waiting at a bus stop, in a non favela area of Rio. Frankly, this is sick. These youngsters already have money. They had no need to rob. I guess they did it for a prank, or for a thrill.
Here in Brazil, the newspapers are full of crime. Rio is the city in the World with either the highest or 2nd highest homocide rate in the World. However, most of the homicides are in "Favelas", as there is an ongoing "war" between the "traficantes" (the men that control the drug trafficking trade). This war means frequent deaths to people living in the other "Favela". Also, the Police/Military Police are also involved, with a mandate to stop this war. However, in typically corrupt Brazilian fashion, these authorities are actually part of the problem, as they sell weapons to the traffickers and are no doubt also involved in the drugs business. This is of course a serious impediment to any progreess in the drug war. I have heard it said that the best solution to the issue of the "Favela" would be to bulldoze the lot of them or nuke them or carpet bomb them. These ideas of course are politically incorrect. Then there is the fact that 90% of the cocaine users in the World are in the USA. Also Europe/U.K................some years ago, there was a test done of banknotes in circulation in London ; they had 90 or 95 percent evidence of cocaine usage. Last year, the same test was done again. This time, 100 percent of the banknotes in circulation in London had evidence of cocaine usage. There is a connection between this cocaine being used in London and cocaine from South America/Brazil/Rio etc.....To stop Brazil´s drug problems, you must stop the demand, stop the people using it from LA to London, Bogota to Paris, Madrid to New York, Vancouver to Macao. It is the World over. It is a very difficult thing to stop, in the same scale as "could you imagine trying to stop people watching television or stop using the internet". You cannot control people´s habits, legal or illegal, unless you have a totalitarian regime the World over, like Stalin or Hitler or Franco or such other dictator. No doubt George Orwell´s 1984 type of vision might be able to control the World, but people nowadays want too much, want too much freedom, too many liberties.
"Favelas" were formed when immigrants from the countryside chose to travel to cities in search of a better life. However, quite often, the life they encountered was worse than the one they left behind. However, upon realising this, they had no money to return to their village in the countryside, as it had all been spent on travel to the "big city".
In Brazil, most cities are on the east coast. The east coast is very hilly. Immigrants from the villages put up low cost housing, originally in the form of shacks (of wood/cardboard/corrugated iron). However, now, most immigrants put up basic tenements with bare bricks......and either leave the roof open to the elements (in the absolute poorest of cases) or put a basic roof on of corrugated iron. Incredulously, virtually the whole country of Brazil looks like a favela, in terms of the houses. All bare brick. All infrastructures (more or less) are bare grey concrete, actually, both, visually, quite depressing to the human eye). My eyes now are trained to avoid this ugliness. I now search for green trees, grass, mountains etc. Much better for the spirit !!
I am in some joint (village !!) called "Alto Jequita" in the Caparao Highlands, northwest of Rio de Janeiro. Here it is cool !! (well, it is still 25c and sunny, but this is cool compared to the 40c of Rio !!)
Last night, I was taking this bus from a place called Carangola (which was looking good for a carnival party, as the town was well decorated and loudspeakers and open air bars were everywhere), when, about 10 km out, it broke down. Oh well I thought, it is obviously not my destiny to get to my destination !! So, I got off the bus and got my main rucksack out of the hold and walked off down the road, to get back to this town. I was thinking that the bus had kinda broken down..... as a sign that I might be allowed to get back to Carangola and enjoy the awesome looking carnival party (and buy another World class rice pudding from the stall at the bnus station) !!
I think the locals thought me mad, for someone wishing to walk many KMs with baggage. The bus driver proferred "Vai com Deus" as I walked passed him and the passengers who were waiting outside the bus. I walked on, listening to some pounding techno on my iPod (Misstress Barbara), providing the motivation to fast track it back to the previous town. I guess, Brazil, like any other 3rd.....2nd....1st World country, the "locals" (ho dads ??!!!) are mostly always lazy, at least in terms of them not wanting to walk for hours on end. This is how many of them end up obese with high blood pressure and drop dead in their forties or fifties, while those individuals who favour walking and bicycles for shorter distances over cars, trains, buses etc generally live longer, enjoy a healthier, better life and look younger. This modern, mobile phone touting, car and bus using, fast food eating population would rather wait 24 hours to be rescued while waiting in the broken down bus than walk a couple of hours down thew road and enjoy a cool carnival party. Well, to be honest, 10 km is not that far. In terms of a military style route march, I would proffer that, ok, 100 km (60 miles) is quite a long way, and, obviously, 1000 km (600 miles) is indeed a long way. Whjen locals start telling you that "so and so shop" is a long way, it means it is a long way for these lazy slobs who would rather take a car or bus. One time, this dude told me it was a long way, when in reality, it took me only 20 minutes !! And last night, the passengers on the bus told me it was a long way, when it only took me 2 1/2 hours. Nothing. It was a light, easy walk, even with 2 rucsacs !! Then again, most locals are not accustomed to any more exercise than lifting beer glasses off the counters of local bars (or here, beer cans). This is a true fact, based on observation of thousands of locals across more than 10 countries !! The percentage of the population willing to walk 10 km or do sits ups, pull ups and press ups off metal bars, is very small indeed. Mostly, people are slobs, ignorant, who will be the reason that the planet destroys itself !! I will always continue being a rebellious warrior !!
So that was exactly what I did, walk 10 km, check into the 1st hotel (really cheap), get a shower, cook up some food and head out to this cool little carnival.
Yeah, I just had to head back to the bus station (250 m from my hotel !!) to buy another one of those delicious homemade rice puddings that they sold there, just one reial (about 30 euro cents, really quite cheap). Then later I bought an ice cold beer, awesome !!
Today, at one of the bus stops en route, some dude ripped me off for 2 pastries and a can of fruit juice ! Typical travel stuff !! Last night was a really cheap hotel (R$ 10), inc. a cup of coffee (too sweet) and plain white bread roll for breakfast. The hotel dude offered this to me as I was leaving to get a bus......even though it was past breakfast time. And last night, as I was walking back to Carangola, these 2 dudes offered to give me a lift in their truck, however I refused as I was enjoying a nice walk !!
If only they did not always put salt and sugar in everything here, the country would be a better place (and people would not have such high levels of obesity and blood pressure !!).
Still, Brazil, as ever, has simply the most awesome tropical fruits : these run by the names of "cupuaçu, mangaba, caju, acerola, açai" etc (plus hundreds more). There are more tropical fruits in this country than I have ever seen in Thailand or Malaysia. They can be made up into a "Suco" (plain fruit juice) or a "Vitamina" (this is more of a milk shake type of drink, with milk or condensed milk and porridge oats added, sometimes ginseng and guarana too, for a really powerful shake (eg post gym workout !!)
And then there is the ultimate Brazilian cocktail, the "Caipirinha". This is now popular in Europe and the U.K., so really needs no introduction. Also ´´Caipiruva´´, ´´Caipivodka´´, ´´Caipilaranja´´ (derivatives, using fresh red grapes, vodka, fresh orange juice etc.
Brazil, future events :
Brazil, 2014 : Football World Cup (obvious !!)
Brazil, 2014 : Rock in Rio, Rio de Janeio.
World´s Largest Musical Event. In 2002, they had 250,000 people packed into a stadium much much bigger then "Maracana", in a structure they named "Cidade de Musica" (Music City). The scale of the place, the massiveness of the infrastructure (built on wasteland in the middle of nowwhere), beggars belief. Imagine something 10 times bigger than Wembley stadium...........then mostly concrete the edges, put piping underground to run ice cold beer from beer juggernauts straight to the beer taps......add cooling showers over bar areas, showers inside of dance tents (these showers being literally small showers pumping out cooled mist to keep the punters cool.....), leave some area of grass in the middle of the stadium.......Yep, a true music/rock city, unbelievale here in Brazil. Lord only knows what they will do for 2014 !!
Oh, one more thing : they will build a new high speed railway line to run between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (bullet train). Taking a bus anywhere in Brazil is truly an awful experience (but not as uncomfortable as India !!)......because the roads have mostly potholes everywhere. These potholes simply never ever get repaired, because the money that is destined for road repairs in Brazil....well, like most things in relation to money here in Brazil, gets, to put it politely, "misappropriated". Put crudely, the money is getting stolen, mostly by greedy and absolutely corrupt politicans, with huge (beer) bellies to feed, demanding wives, houses in Switzerland/Florida/Hawaii.....helicopters to run, Dom Perignon champagne to buy, Caviar etc....Yep, the white Portuguese who run this country still continue to keep the majority repressed. Even the new President Lula is corrupt. The other day, he even rebuffed proof from the Governments own Environmental Department, who had explicit proof of massive environmental damage and deforestation......he simply stated to the assembled press "the problem has been exaggerated and is not as serious as made out". Well, quite frankly, may this moron choke on his own car exhaust fumes. There is a MASSIVE problem here in Brazil. The AMAZON, or the lungs of the World and responsible for the control of most of the World´s weather (the green vegetation/trees)..............if this is all chopped down, the will be massive temperature rises. Imagine London in the summer with 50c. What about Miami with 75c......Quite frankly, the World must act now ! How ? When buying any product made from wood, ask where it came from. If the answer is Brazil or Borneo or any other 3rd World country DO NOT BUY IT !! Only buy from countries where they replant the trees after chopping down. In Brazil, the deforestation is done by ignorant, money grabbing and (illegal) lawless morons, who employ a private army of thugs to kill people who try to interfere or stop this deforestation. The only way to stop the supply is to stop the demand. Education is always the way forwards. Then there are always those people in the 1st World who give not a damn about the planet or the environment. They are so blinkered that they have no idea that the item of wooden furniture that they are buying who be from illegally obtained woods.
I truly wood like to think that there is a future for Planet Earth and Mankind, however, with so many blinkered people, people who are obessesed by such stupidity and the latest version of Windows/BMW/iPod/DVD/Microwave/TFT Television/Furniture...........the material consumerism, the internet, mp3, it all has to stop now. Everything in moderation with an education. The balance has tipped the wrong way.......it will be difficult to get the balance back. You must act NOW, if you wish to save the planet, or if you wish to have any kind of decent planet earth for your offspring or for the offspring of your offspring to live in. I am certain that your offspring´s offspring do not wish to walk around the planet in Space Suits equipped to deal with 75c weather (or pehaps these morons wouldn´t mind, they could be equipped with MP3 and air conditioning inside their space suits, they could take ´´virtual internet holidays´´´ by plugging their neo cortex into the net, sensors onto their fingers and aromas up their noses). I guess I am just an old fashioned dinosaur who likes things done the old fashioned way. If you want chips, dig up a potato, wash it, peel it, slice it up and fry it in (preferably) olive oil, NOT the type who gets in a car and goes to ´´McAuto´´ to get a drive by take out while letting ones pot belly rest firmly on the seat belt of the latest model of BMW.
I guess I am like the old fashioned dinosaur represented by Sylvester Stallone in that film with Sandra Bollock. In this film, Sandra Bollock represents the cop of the future, who takes these internet virtual relaity holidays, who makes ´´virtual love´´. Stallone is the old fashioned dude who likes things deal the old fashioned real way. the film is based in the year 21XX, however, Stallone is a cop from a previous generation. Hey, just imagine a future whereby machines issue you fine tickets for public swearing !! This is probably not too far off in the U.K., which has the highest levels of public camera footage in the World and probably the highest levels of (almost Orwellian) public ´´control´´. What is fair to say is that we need more people of this dinosaur type who are not afraid to challenge the status quo.
I heard it said recently that "there is no way back"......Frankly, this person just does not understand. We are in a loop. Currently, the destination is "latest/better/newest etc", however, there will come a time when the apex or summit of this is reached (judgement day), whence thereafter it all goes straight back to pre or post industrial revoluition era. The lifestyle at the moment for the planet is unsustainable. The no.1 problem is that there are too many human beings, now 7 billions. 100 years ago, there were only 1 billion. We must revert to lesser billions, otherwise all the food and water will disappear.....it is already disappearing, water levels are dropping. Northern China´s water table is now so low that they are attempting to divert part of the Yangtse river to provide h20 to the masses ! Madness. The solution is STOP REPRODUCING NOW. 1 child per family for every country, for every couple. Use condoms. STOP CREATING 2+ OFFSPRING FAMILIES NOW !!!!!!!!!! Otherwise there will not be food to feed your children´s children !!
That´s it for now from sunny Brazil.
Road Trip Stories from
da Buffalo......da dude who prefers da bicycle !!
"The bicycle is the future NOT the car" (comments please, theses please, no less than 1,000 words !!!!!)
