Blogger play date - UPDATE

Hey - today is 10/10/10 (October tenth, 2010). Our lucky day. Keep meditating on sunshine – SUNSHINE for Tuesday at Itaipú beach in Niterói.

It’s looking good.  The sky is clearing and things should be great on Tuesday.  OK – so it may not be so hot as to get all of us swimming, but the kids will still love the sand and sea.  The rest of us will enjoy each other, the views, not working (!), and the frozen açai (or whatever)   =;-)

Let me run through some transportation details:

You can Goolge your way to get instructions to drive yourself to the beach.  It is not complicated.  Tip: Once you pass through the tunnel between Icaraí and São Francisco and turn left, following the traffic, you are home free.  Basically follow the traffic for another 40 minutes along the main drag.  It will plop you onto Itaipú beach.

If you take a bus – you can either get to the Castello bus terminal in Rio (not the rodoviaria) and then take the Pendotiba 770 Itaipu bus all the way to the beach (probably 70 minutes or so on the bus – traffic will be light), or you can take any bus from your area to the terminal in Niterói (not the rodoviaria) and then transfer to the Pendotiba 38 Itaipu bus which will also terminate at the beach. (Do not take the 38A bus).  In Niterói, you enter buses through the rear entrance.

Buses leave frequently.  If you have a van in your area that goes to Niterói send me an email and I can connect you with how to catch the Pendotiba 38 Itaipú bus all the way to the beach.

Hook up with each other and travel together to make it more fun.

Let me just say that the bus is safe – for you and for your young children.  When climbing up over the hill between São Francisco and Piratininga (through the favelinha) you will be on the major commercial route – no problems.

Be sure to enjoy the scenery.  As you come down the hill into the “Região Oceânica” keep an eye out on your left.  The green hills are some of the remaining Mata Atlantica.  My MIL has a house in the area and hosts little monkeys from the Mata on occasion.  It’s the real deal.

These friends of mine will be at Itacuatiara Beach.  LOL!

Anyway – come prepared for fun.  Bring your friends/children/significant others.  And your camera.  Email me with any questions.

Professional courtesy

Every once in a while I am reminded, again, that personal relationships, kindness and integrity really rule the day here in Brazil. For all the talk out there of Brazilians working a hustle to get ahead, I have not experienced that in our dealings with workers/contractors/tradespeople.

Last night was another example. Yesterday the wiring for our electric showerhead (heat-on-demand) finally blew out. I’ve been waiting. The wires have been smoking for a couple weeks. [This whole electric wires in the shower thing has always made me nervous…]

Anyway, we called our electrician guy and asked if he could come by and fix it. He said he would come after work. So at about 6:00 p.m. Jorge Luiz arrived with replacement wires and tools. He made pretty quick work of repairing the wiring and commented that it had been wired incorrectly the first time, thus the melted casings and ultimate short.

When we asked how much we owed him for his work he said, “Oh, nothing. It really wasn’t that much work. I’m not going to charge you for such a small job. Just give me a call when you are ready to install your ceiling fans and I’ll fix you up.”

OK, so maybe the job was only 20 minutes of his time, but he had to come here (by bus) and he did what we asked him to do. We needed his help.

For him it was all part of our relationship and he was investing in his being our go-to guy for all things electrical. Nice.

Brazilian economics

We all know things have been tumultuous in Brazilian economics over the past thirty years.

Those of us who are recent immigrants to Brazil have NO IDEA about (or better, no practical experience with) the roller coaster of the past local economic reality.

Listen to this recent US National Public Radio – Planet Money podcast that lays out a stunning picture of the bullet we have dodged.

Inflation in the past in Brazil was unbelievable.

Monetary policy was unfathomable.

Listen to this podcast. It is eye-opening. Seriously. Listen to it. It's not boring and it is very understandable.

Stabilizing the economy/currency in Brazil has not been an easy process. Ask any of the Brazilian friends you have over 60 years old. They have lived through it. This story explains why people have been stashing away chunks of cash in secret hideaways outside of the banks for so many years. It helps to explain why people run to the bank to cash a check the day they receive it.

Give it a listen.  It's good stuff.

[all those links go to the same place - I just got excited...]

Why cook when ordering in is so great?

Before you get the wrong impression, Luiz and I LOVE to cook. He likes to recreate the flavors of his childhood and I like to prepare food in a way that will not make me drop dead of a cholesterol-induced heart attack (and it actually includes a vegetable).

But after a few days of Luiz’s famous Brazilian-style stroganoff, perfectly pan-braised beef roast or incredibly thin panquecas (crêpes) with meat sauce – and my occasional ratatouille, Chinese chicken stir fry or baked salmon with organic snap peas and baby carrots, it’s time to order in.

The choices for ordering in seem endless.

There is the woman at the fair in the park every weekend who sells perfectly soft yet dense gnocchi in creamy tomato sauce with requeijão.

The family owned lunch counter nearby, which has occupied the same corner for two generations, sells their perfected take-out lasagna and cannelloni. They’re to die for.

If we are not careful the smell of spit roasted chicken (TV chicken, as Luiz calls it) will trump all other choices and we will go home carrying a cut-up chicken with potatoes and farafa.

Several little, flat magnets cling to our refrigerator reminding us of “comida caseira” (home cooked food) options available with free delivery. In many cases these are start-up operations where mom cooks at home and the son delivers on his bike.

Speaking of which, we recently discovered an older woman (neighbor) who prepares big, stuffed, roasted, boneless, whole chicken. OMG! It is scandalous. It costs R$35 and could easily feed a family of six – plus she includes roasted potatoes. The chicken is stuffed with ham, cheese, raisins and prunes. Her son delivers it in a gigantic Tupperware container and says he “hopes” we like it!!! We return the container when convenient. (Just writing this makes me want to call her right now.)

And if all else fails, we have a very good quality ‘comida de kilo’ restaurant directly across the street from our apartment building. The choices are extravagant, the quality top shelf (including a staffed BBQ for meats cooked to order) and we can cook the beans and rice part at home. We just pick up the entrée each of us prefers and I get a vegetable and some salad and we go home.

So many choices – so little time. (And all so reasonable in price.)

Reading about Brazil and some good fiction

I typically read books in pairs. There is usually a nonfiction book on the table by my bed and during the time it takes me to read that one I zip through a couple of fiction books, some serious, some frivolous.

By coincidence I just finished both current titles this week. They are both worth mentioning.

The nonfiction work was “The Accidental President of Brazil: A Memoir,” by Fernando Henrique Cardoso. The preface is written by his good friend President Bill Clinton.

This biography, published in 2006, was a candid and very enjoyable telling of not just President Cardoso’s political career but (more interesting to me) the historical transformations within Brazil over the past 30 years.

Quoting a flyleaf blurb: “In this most engaging and very personal history of twentieth-century Brazil, a genuine philosopher-king recounts how he combined principle and pragmatism to transform a harsh military dictatorship into a hopeful modern democracy. Readers with only a passing curiosity about Brazil will enjoy this rare ‘lessons learned’ memoir by one of the foremost statesmen of our times.”

I really liked it and would recommend it to others seeking to understand Brazil's history, political culture and social transformation.

The fiction title was “Snow Falling on Cedars,” by David Guterson. This 1994 novel, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and the American Booksellers Association Book of the Year Award, is written in a soft, ambient style while also laying out a detailed murder mystery in the context of a rural community steeped in cultural divides and prejudice.

The story takes place on the isolated island of San Piedro in north Puget Sound in the 1950s. A local white fisherman is found dead on his boat. A resident Japanese-American man is accused of the crime.

Storylines of childhood friendships, a close yet strained bi-racial community and harbored prejudice are illuminated by the impact of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent internment of San Piedro’s residents of Japanese decent.

Some wounds don’t heal well. The novel explores if it is possible for the people of a place like San Piedro to overcome their history together, and if so, how.

It was a very dreamy, yet engaging read. 

If you would like to borrow either book, let me know.

Blogger meet up

Thank goodness there are so many public holidays in Brazil. Qualidade de Vida – that’s what I say!

Next Tuesday is the Nossa Senhora da Conceição Aparecida national holiday. Read more about that here.

What that means is that even disparate English teachers and their spouses/partners have the day off. No work. It’s a chance for some fun.

Here’s the proposal: Blogger Play Date at the beach in Niterói. Readers and newcomers are welcome as well. If you can make it – you’re in. But be forewarned – we will be speaking English.

It’s past time we get together again. There are even more people interwoven into the group nowadays (shout out to Jean and others).

The details: Spending the day at Itaipú beach in Niterói

Let’s arrive around 11:00 a.m. – before the sun gets too hot.

I will claim some tables at a barzinho off to the left of the beach and fly some flag or balloons or something so you can find us. Look for the big gringo. Bring sunscreen.

The surf is always calm, so it is kid-friendly. We will sit at tables on the beach with service from the restaurant back behind us. Totally relaxed. Food – drink – it’s all there.

The beach has a tiny fishing village and an archeological site you can visit for R$2. Nice.
Views of Rio are spectacular and the sunset is amazing.

Come join us.

You can even buy some fresh fish caught by divers who work the beach and have the restaurant behind us cook them up.

I promise – it’ll be a good time.

The easiest way to get there is by bus. Go to the CASTELO local bus terminal in downtown Rio. Catch the Pendotiba 770 Itaipú bus. It will terminate at the beach. No worries – just stay on the bus until it ceases to go any further. That will be Itaipú beach.

When you get off the bus walk left through the make-shift parking lot and past the archeological site. Walk through the tiny fishing village and break out onto the beach. Keep walking down the beach to your left. We will be there somewhere.
Sound like fun? Let me know. Are you in? See you there!

Oatmeal Applesauce Craisin Muffins

All the rain of late has had me baking.  Check out my effort to please Luiz and excuse to use more of our never-ending supply of craisins.

The recipe is over on Danielle's Cooking in Brazil blog.

Yum!  I'm having one with my coffee right now.