Travel

Pelourinho (again twice) and Go Karts

andre_jen — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:00:00 GMT

On Saturday André and I got a lift into Salvador to see Pelourinho again. We shopped around looking for Capoiera pants and instruments, visited some churches and had filé mignon for dinner! We also saw our little friend, a street kid we met last time we were there, he was really gorgeous with a mop of curly hair and freckles. He was great at juggling coconuts, it was good to see some were trying to make money by giving something to people rather than just asking for money. If a kid was asking for money André always insisted they do something for it, like Capoeira or break dancing tricks, sometimes it worked and made them smile.

One of the churches we visited (whilst trying to find the Senhor do Bomfim church, never succeeding as there are so many Churchs in the area and such little time) was amazing. We entered a large courtyard area that had many murals on the surrounding walls. They each depicted a different moral saying with an illustration to match, made out of blue and white painted and glazed tiles (a technique they borrowed from the Dutch). It was extremely old and restoration had started as some of the murals needed maintenance, we met a guy there who was making sketches of all the murals for their restoration of areas that were missing part of the picture. We moved onto to the main part of the church which was really impressive, gold on everything and heavily decorated!

That day we also made it down to the Mercado Modelo where there are a huge number of markets on two levels inside the old building that was used previously as the slave market. It was huge but we didn’t see much of the history behind the building, it was only until after we left that we realized we hadn’t gone underneath the markets where there are a series of dungeons. Next time! We met with Valéria and Edi at the Salvador Shopping centre but we were really tired so we didn’t really feel like more shopping!

On Sunday the clouds had gathered and it was a bit of a rainy wet day so we stayed inside for most of it. We had a huge lunch with prawns and all sorts of other yummy things Valéria had spent all day cooking. One of Edi’s work colleagues came over with his family for lunch which went late into the afternoon. They were supposed to come go karting with us later but as soon as we stepped outside it started raining heavily. We decided to go anyway but they headed of home. Edi has two go karts, one for his son and one for himself, and he said one is in the making for Valéria.

When we got there, the guys headed of to set up while I went with Valéria to find a phone. It was mother’s day so we walked around looking for a phone and we checked about 6 phones and all were out of order! We had walked all along the beach looking for one but never found one! We went back to meet the guys and André was racing around the track already! He had on the full outfit as well, coveralls, gloves, helmet, very sexy! Because it was still raining a bit the motor of the go kart wasn’t working the best so the mechanic ran behind the kart for it to start. André convinced me to have a go, I wasn’t fussed whether I had a go or not but I am glad I did! It was really fun, it had a lot of power and went really fast. You could even take the corners fast because is so wide and low to the ground. It was kinda scary and uncomfortable (my butt didn’t fit in the seat properly and I couldn’t see out of the helmet because it was raining and had to drive with the visor up!) but the adrenaline was racing!

That night André and me decided to share the single bed in the house that Rachel and Mark had used before us. Our little out house room was pretty damp and smelly so we shared the single bed upstairs and I woke to find André’s feet near my head, nice! We got up early and got another lift into Salvador for our third Pelourinho visit. This time we saw even more of the amazing city. We got dropped off a little further away so we could visit some of the old forts along the coast. Only it was really windy and Monday all the forts are closed for cleaning! It was an interesting walk though, we saw some very sickly dogs then some models doing a photo shoot in the same area! One poor dog was dragging its bum on the sand all the way to the shore and another dog looked like it was dying, curled up near the bus stop shaking with a huge hole in its head that was full of liquid. It was a really disturbing site to see but we moved on and took the bus into Pelourinho.

We had seen lots of skinny homeless dogs around but none as bad as this. We met one near Edi’s house and felt so sorry for it I ran back to the house to get some food for him. We sat down with him and patted him and he was looking at us the whole time with his big puppy eyes, I felt so bad but eventually we had to leave him. We thought he wouldn’t follow us because he was really weak and there seemed to be something wrong with his hips but he still tried! We ended up running away from him so he wouldn’t find where we lived. I started to get worried about this because the door to our little out house wasn’t closing properly and on top of the damp mattress I didn’t really want a smelly dog curled up next to me! And he was really smelly, but a sweet gentle creature.

Anyway enough of the sad stuff, we got into pelourinho again and found a nice little empty restaurant high up in a building with a nice little view over the city. We had fresh juice, prawns milanesa (crumbed, fried prawns) and desserts, one like a crème caramel and a coconut mousse. It was really delicious and cheap! After that we walked through the cobbled streets looked for where Olodum practice (famous street samba group), we didn’t find it but we stumbled upon a saint. I didn’t realize what was going on but André had stopped to talk to an old man at a window in the street. His name was Preto Velho (black old) and he was known as a saint for the apparent miracles that occurred when he would use his smoke and bless someone. André was really amazed by him because he hadn’t realized he was still alive, he showed us some old photos of himself and André had a brief conversation. Also, nearby we found a capoiera institute that one of the original masters had established. We had a look inside at all the photos and André bought some really nice capoiera clothing.

Afterwards we quickly raced down to the lower city to check out the dungeons in the Mercado Modelo before it closed. We finally found the way to get down by a small spiral staircase. We were the only ones down there and it was really hot and dark. Everything was made out of rough stone, with low ceilings and arches at regular intervals. The whole floor was covered in a good few inches of water and there were some new concrete slabs in place to create a path for visitors. It was a really sad place to be, imagining all the slaves stuffed in there in the heat having come by boat straight from Africa. There were a few little arches that lead to the sidewalk above that were heavily barred. Every now and then we would come across a statue of a saint, but we weren’t sure if they were recent additions or something older.

We surfaced after a bit of exploring and did a bit of last minute bargaining in the markets above. I got a Candomblé ornament of luck and some bracelets. I had been practicing my bargaining so I helped André out (at least I hoped I was helping) I just said ‘Oxi’ a lot (pronounced hoshee which is kinda like saying oh my god but doesn’t really mean anything). The guy explained the ornament to us; it was a largish silver chain with different silver fruit ornaments hanging of it and a black wooden fist with its fingers in an arrangement that meant lunch (although André said in Turkey it means the same as the ‘rude finger’!). He told us the hang it behind the door on sit in on the dining table for good luck. I just bought it because I thought it was pretty, but good luck is always a bonus!

Lencois and the Chapada Diamantina

andre_jen — Fri, 9 May 2008 19:51:00 GMT

On Tuesday André, Leandro, Rachel, Mark, Edi, Valeria and I packed to go to Lencois overnight. We started the day slow like always and started driving at about midday. We took Valeria´s sedan and Edi´s pimped up, lime green, lowered, with no room in the boot because of all the speakers, Audi. We had lots of stops along the way but it took us until 1am the next morning get there! We were all pretty excited about the trip, Edi had shown us photos and talked lots about the blue clear water in the many caves of the area. But when we got there we were really tired and sick of being in the car!

We went to a nice motel which was only R$50 per night (after Edi bargained it down from 80) but Edi told us there was a nicer hotel just across the street. Nobody could be bothered checking it out but me and André ran off down the street to have a look. It was the most amazing and beautiful hotel I have ever been in! The price was substancially different from the motel but we still managed to get it from R$280 to R$200! The room we chose was slightly better than their standard room and it smelt really nice with a beautiful private garden, large shower and bed and fresh flowers! It was real luxury, we had a long shower and collapsed into the comfortable bed, it was definitely worth the money.

The next morning we woke up early for the free breakfast (the best I have ever had but we ended up eating too much I think). We checked out the hotel a bit realizing fully how beautiful the place was. It was situated right beside a large natural ‘water slide’ (lots of large sloping rocks with water running over them). The view was amazing, and they had a large swimming pool with lush gardens, free cachaça (very strong) and coffee all day with yummy biscuits and some beautiful books in the front lobby that we flicked through. The staff were really nice and friendly as well so I would definatley recommend this place, it was called the Canto dos Aguas. It was also an eco-friendly resort, with a water recycling/collection system and a really sensitive design approach. You could hardly see it from the road, it was all sunken down into the landscape and had lots of natural ventilation.

After breakfast we went to meet everyone else and go into the town centre. Lencois is a really small town but has some nice little restaurants and old buildings. We found a guide that Edi and Valeria had used before, he was a really nice guy named Roy Penis. Well that was what I thought his name was the whole time until the end when André told me his real name was Edison! Apparently they had said he looked like an actor with the same name so they were calling him that the whole time as well, I felt really bad calling him ‘hoi penis’ (how they pronounced it)!

He was a really nice guy and first jumped in our car to show us to the ‘Morro´s’ of Champada Diamantina. These are large rock formations in the flat landscape. The largest one was called ‘Morro do Pai Inácio’ where Roy Penis told us a story about a slave who ran away to the morro to get away from his master who was out to get him after realizing he was in love with his daughter. There are many different stories surrounding this morro but the one we heard here was that his girlfriend (the master’s daughter) gave him an umbrella to shield him from the sun before he left. While on top of the morro he lit a fire as it was really cold, the master saw him and got lots of people to run up the morro to corner him. He saw them coming and jumped off the cliff with the umbrella. Everyone thought he was dead but the umbrella saved him somehow.

Another story I heard was that a slave named Inácio ran away and lived at the base of the morro. Every time children would pass he would give them fruit and play games with them and became known as Pai Inácio (father). He lived there until he died. We noticed a simple cross at the top of the morro which we thought may have been there for him. In the same area we saw the ‘Morro do trés Irmãs’ (three brothers) which was a series of three morro’s of an identical shape in a uniform line. There was a also a large sculpture which marked the exact centre of Bahia just to the side of the road.

Next we went to visit a large cave. I was thinking great it will be nice and cold in there (it was a very hot and sunny day) but it was the complete opposite! Unlike the caves in Australia, the caves here were of a higher temperature and humidity. Outside the cave was a really interesting landscape, the earth was a rich red, there were low trees and cacti, small iguanas and millions butterflies everywhere. We were given some hard hats and we headed of to venture down into the cave. We were told not to lean on the flimsy rope balustrade as we made our way down the slippery, natural rock, steep stairs. There were also lots of bats everywhere, knowledge that there once lived a panther and one part of the cave we had to move through while squatting (there were lots of stalactites threatening us there!). So it was a bit of an adventure!

For our last site seeing of the day we went to visit a river. Half way there we realized part of the road was not fit for Edi’s car. We decided we could all fit in Valeria’s car, so Leandro and Roy Penis jumped in the boot and the rest of us squashed in the car. It was about 15mins before we reached the river. Once out of the car Leandro asked me to rub sun cream on his back, I was like sure but didn’t realized his whole body was covered in red dust! The poor guys had tried to cover their faces with t-shirts and sunglasses but it didn’t stop them getting really dirty. Luckily the river was nice and clean for swimming. We bought tickets for a long and high flying fox that dumped you in the cold water. It was such a beautiful place! We did a bit of snorkeling and checked out a nearby cave. Unfortunately clouds had covered and we couldn’t see how blue the water inside the cave was but it was amazing nonetheless. Everything was a bit of a drive to get to and consequently didn’t get time to see everything so we all decided to stay an extra night.

It started getting late so we headed back for Lencois. Mark found us a nice restaurant from his lonely planet book in the town centre that served organic food. It was really nice and he ended up paying for all of us! Thanks Mark! Before we ate we had some drinks but no one like the beer they offered at the restaurant so Roy Penis (who was still waiting after us hand and foot) ran off down the street to buy us a different type. After dinner Edi showed off his car and we had a little street party, using his smoke machine, green laser light show and loud funk music.

André and I got back to the hotel late and decided to order a fancy dessert. As we sat down it started raining outside with a little thunder and lighting. Just after we ordered our chocolate petit gateau and cachaça tart all the power went out! A few minutes later it was back on and we got our delicious dessert. It was really nice, we had the restaurant to ourselves and we were stuffing ourselves with sweets! And we found out in the end we never had to pay! It wasn’t on the bill at the end of our stay and we figured it must have been the blackout messing with the computers.

The next day we went on a little trek through some beautiful rocky landcapes. We were told this used to be all under the sea, there were some shells found in the area and lots of the holes on the underside of rocks which were full of different coloured fine sands that were easily removed by scraping. Roy Penis showed us these sands and wrote Edison on the ground with a really white sand. I thought why is he writing Edison… We moved on into an area with lots of coloured sands and Roy penis showed us the range colour by making little piles on the ground. He also showed us a metallic purple sand after explaining there was lots of metal found in the area. André and I had fun putting it on our faces pretending to have black eyes and bruises! Next we walked through a large crevice in the rocks to a gorgeous waterfall. It was freezing cold so I stood under it just long enough for a photo!

Our next site was quite far away so we decided we would go home from there and we collected all our luggage from the hotel. Half way there (again) the road got really bad so we stuffed ourselves in Valeria’s car. This time though there was not that much room left in the boot – lucky Roy Penis was small. André and Leandro hung out of the windows on the drive down and Roy Penis closed himself inside the boot. He was really dedicated to us! After another 20mins of driving and stopping numerous times (for half the people to empty the car so we could cross some little bridges safely) we arrived!

But we weren’t there yet. There was still a river to cross and the guy that operates the barge was not there! The day was getting late and we could not wait so Leandro got to work and found a nearby dingy. It was chained down but that didn’t stop us, somehow he found a file (???) and after bit of work broke through it, I guess it was kinda like stealing but we returned it afterwards! André and Edi were impatient and starting wading across the waist deep river in their undies. The rest of us piled in the boat but we could only find a pole to use to try and get it to move across the river. There was a bit of a current which made it impossible to get ahead so our faithful Roy Penis jumped out and pushed us across the river!

Once there me and André starting running around frantically (literally running) to find me a toilet. We saw a little donkey who was really friendly but I had to drag André away (I really needed to pee) and eventually we found one! But there was no toilet paper! So I had to run out again and ask the people that ran the tours and I eventually got some relief! So we were finally at ‘Poço Azul’ (blue puddle) a large and extremely deep natural spring inside a cave. Again we missed out on the sunshine that highlights the striking blue but it was still pretty impressive. The water was so clear and without much light reflecting on the water you could see right down the full 70-80 metre depth. Before dipping into the freezing water for some snorkeling we heard stories about prehistoric bones of 9 metre slothes, saber toothed tigers and humans that were found there. Once accustomed to the water and snorkel I floated around staring at all the rock formations. It was very quite and kind of eerie. We all had to wear floaties as recently they had some people refusing to wear them (saying they were great swimmers). What happened to those people wasn’t exactly clear, they were saved by the owner’s but something had made them sink… and the bats flying around only added to the atmosphere!

Emerging from the cave we noticed the sun had started to set so we decided to sit down for a home cooked meal at the owner’s house. For only R$6 we had a choice of about 8 pots of different stews, sauces and meats. It was really nice apart from the occaisional bat that flew into the room! The people there showed us photos and videos of the area and the bones they found before we left in the dark to find our dingy. They were nice people though and walked us down to the river edge with a flashlight and motorbike headlight. Roy Penis jumped back in the water to push our boat across and we headed off on the long (very long) drive back to Jauá arriving on Friday morning with time to spare for Rachel and Mark to get to the airport for their flight to Rio, perfect timing!

André and I had postponed our flight as we really wanted to see Salvador city again but Leandro had to leave later that day to get back to work. We relaxed the rest of the day very tired from our road trip. Lencois is definitely a place we want to visit again some day! There is so much to see there!

Pelourinho and Churrasco Festa!

andre_jen — Sun, 4 May 2008 23:13:00 GMT

After a slow start to the day we left for Pelourinho with everyone. Pelourinho is an area in the centre of Salvador on the coast, it is surrounded by old forts and consists of very rough cobblestone roads (laid by the slaves thousands of years ago), old churches/buildings and the first university of Brasil. The steep land separates Pelourinho into an upper and lower level linked by an elevator that costs 5 centavos to ride. This area was supposed to be the most dangerous area in Brasil but it seemed fine to me, the drug dealers weren’t that subtle and there were lots of people trying to sell things or ask for money but that’s all part of being in a big city I guess. Being with André probably helped, I’m sure I wouldn’t feel the same if I was by myself!

The place was full of street markets, souvenir shops and great (and cheap) restaurants. We didn’t have enough time to check out the old markets in the lower city so me and André swore we would come back again before leaving and we did – twice! And it was definitely worth it, there is so much to see and do there! So on our first day we wandered through the shops, took lots of photos and saw the ‘pelourinho’. This part of the city is named after an area where three roads join up to form a large open area in the shape of a triangle. André explained that the slaves were publicly bashed and humiliated there. So sad! But I found out later it was not the slaves (who were dealt with on the property of their ‘masters’) but the tradesmen who had been under-handed with their customers who were the victims. It was put in place to keep the market fair, still sad but made a little more sense.

André bought a huge Berimbau (Brazilian instrument used in Capoiera) for R$20 and afterwards realized what he had done and asked me, ‘Jennifer, how are we going to bring this into Australia?’. I didn’t have an answer so I guess we will see what happens! After this we visited some little street markets in front of the ‘Mercado’ (old slave market building near the ports which is now full of markets) and rushed off to the supermarket to buy some food for dinner.

We bought heaps of food and drink and all went back to the house to make a churrasco (Brazilian BBQ). We had Remy with mango to drink, lots of sausage and meat, farofa, bread, beans and salad. Valeria also made batida Espanola (type of cocktail), which is made with red wine, condensed milk and pineapple. Sounds strange but it was really nice! Earlier that day André had bought a music dvd with Creú music on it and lots of dirty dancing so we all learnt how to dance really well! No really, Valeria and Gi taught us some samba and we practiced forro. But we did make fun of the video and Edi dressed up in Valeria’s clothes to give us a demonstration!

Praia do Forte

andre_jen — Sat, 3 May 2008 23:47:00 GMT

On Saturday André and I took Rachel and Mark down to the local beach. It was a lot busier than we had seen it before and people walking up and down the beach selling food. We had a bit of a swim and relax with drinks, I think Rachel and Mark really enjoyed as a change from some freezing cold conditions they said they experienced in Argentina. The weather was a lots nicer than the day before aswell.

That afternoon Edi and Valeria took us to Praia do Forte. A much larger and more tourist popular spot. It had heaps of restaurants, fancy shops, markets, a church and some street entertainment (but I would have to say that came from André more than anyone else!). We didn't have much time there (later on we needed to go meet some of André's family that he had never met before) but we tried some Acarajé (fried ball things with lots of different sauces including one very gooey one, chilli and little prawns) and Tapioca sombremesa's (tapioca cooked in a pancake shape and then folded with a coconut/condensed milk filling) both very deliciosa..mmm...gostosa... We also had a little time to check out the markets where André managed to bargain down a R$2 frige magnet for Mark! It took some time but he managed to get the price down to R$1.50, André thought Mark wanted to buy heaps, no, just one! André also did some capoiera for the capoieristos that were there playing music. Me and André loved it there and swore we would go back before leaving Bahia.

Next, we drove into the Salvador city to meet some cousins of André that he had never met before. We had some beer and snacks at a little bar with many people we didn't know but they were all very nice. Later on we got some expensive (but I am not sure why) pizza and went back to their house. The mum of the cousin (I get confused as to how they are all related and their names) also made some carne do sol (salty, slightly dried cooked meat, beef I think, really nice) and salads. Then out came the caçhaca...There was a drunk girl there (that André made a point of saying he wasn't related to) who keep dancing creú (brasilian funk dirty dancing) with her boobs almost popping out and trying to get Mark drunk. It was kinda funny, she said she was just baptising Mark and he managed to drink quite a lot without any side effects other than some major bloodshot eyes. But it got a little irritating after a while... Oh and I almost forgot they had a huge gorgeous blue Macaw as a pet and it had learnt how to bark like the little dog they have. I think those birds are really smart, everytime we got close it would 'bark' and it would scare the **** out of us! Was very loud and real sounding.

We got home late that night and crashed!

Jauá, Camaçari, BAHIA!

andre_jen — Fri, 2 May 2008 22:37:00 GMT

Wednesday 30th April at 4am was our flight to Bahia! André's parents Arleide and Cirilo had paid for our tickets as a wedding present and we were extremely grateful to them as we ended up not finding any cheap tickets and we couldn't really afford it! Bahia is amazing and we had the best time!

Arleide´s brother Eduardo (dudu) was there to pick André, Leandro and myself up from the Salvador airport at about 7am. I had a massive earache after the landing so I was a little out of it but the drive was beautiful (and relatively short), exiting the airport you drive down a road that is sheltered by many clusters of massive bamboo. When we got to Edivaldo's massive house in Jauá, Camaçari, I went straight to our bed and slept untill lunchtime! Before I crashed I met Valeriá, Edivaldo's beautiful and very friendly wife, who gave me some eardrops for pain and cleasing which helped lots! Edivaldo wasn't there yet has he had recently been in São Paulo visiting us and finishing some business (he used to live there before he got shot, which made him want to move, of course!). He had missed his flight back to Bahia so decided to drive his buggy all the way! So he was in Rio at the time we arrived in Bahia and Valeriá was very happy to have some company!

When I woke up, André, Leandro, Eduardo and I went walking to the beach. It only takes about 10 minutes, Edivaldo and Valeriá live in a secure complex one street away from the beach. Inside the complex the houses are huge, on big blocks of land, totally different to the housing I had seen in São Paulo. And the prices are incredibly cheap as well! We could buy about 6 houses in Jauá for the price of one crappy unit in Perth! And this is paradise! The beach was really beautiful, it had some waves but we made our way down a bit towards the barracá's (little beach bars) and boats where there is a wall of rocks and reefs about 100m out from the shore that breaks the waves to made a nice smooth spot for swimming!

We had some beer and coconut and relaxed in the warm but not-too-warm water before strolling to the river within the housing complex. In part of the river, the owners of the complex had tiled it to make a kind of natural swimming pool. It is hard to describe but they use a big net and wall to catch all the big fish and other things flowing into this 'pool' and emptied and cleaned it once a week. That didn't stop it from looking comletely black though... I was really confused, and I couldn't tell how deep it was. But I got in anyway (it was only half a metre deep) to wash all the salt and sand off, perfect! I am still not sure why the water was black but it didn't seem dirty...there were lots of little fish swimming round that liked to bite exposed nipples, so the guys didn't like that much and didn't stay too long!

That night we spent some time with Eduardo and Edinilma (his wife) and waited for a call from Edi (he was supposed to have arrived the night before). Valeriá was getting really worried as she hadn't heard from him since the night before and I was feeling really sorry for her! We waited as long as we could before crashing in bed.

The next morning I went with Valeriá to the bakery to buy some fresh bread for breakfast (still no Edi...). It is so nice in Brasil that there is always a bakery in walking distance no matter where you are! They always have fresh soft bread for breakfast! And Valeriá goes all out with her breakfast spread, every day it got bigger I think. Fresh breads of multiple types, fresh fruit, juice, cafézinho, biscuits, ham, cheese, couscous with butter the list goes on... She also made a cooked lunch and dinner every day! And wouldn't let me help clean up at all until I forced my way to the sink!

Afterwards we went to a nearby sandboarding hill with Du and Di. André and Leandro were naturals, but I was a little hopeless - I got in a few good pictures that made it seem like I made an effort tho! Afterwards, hot, sweaty and sandy (especially Leandro who had tried to make a little ramp with a piece of wood in the sand, and somewhat failing - we have video evidence hehe) we went to the beach and little river pool thing again. Here we found out Leandro has a death grip with his toes and kept surprising people by grabbing their finger or toes with his big toe and second toe (remember how the river was black? we couldn't see him coming!). His toes are massive aswell! So after a little bit of nipple biting from the fish and being grabbed by toes the guys decided to get out!

Edivaldo arrived sometime while we were sandboarding thank goodness! Everyone was worried because it was hard for him to drive long distances as he didn't have full movement back in his arms. He had been shot almost a year ago, one in each arm and leg and one in his hip, five in total. He is very lucky to be alive! But he arrived safely much to everyone's relief. The buggy was still in one piece so Andre drove me down the street in it but we started to get worried when we couln't put in in reverse and had do a bit of a circle.

Moses (another of Arleide's brothers) had arrived and a second cousin of André's, Gislene. We chatted and took lots of family photos, rested in hammocks, picked some cajú fruit from the front yard(yes the fruit that comes with cashew nuts) and that night André called some bats for me because I didn't beleive they had bats in Brasil, I was wrong, they have lots. He took a huge 2.5m wooden stick and waved it fast in the air to made that sonic vibration type sound and the bats started flying into it...strange hey. But we stopped before hitting any of them. Then I thought we should take a torch and search for some in the tree's (that would be a lot kinder, right?) but we didn't find any and Leandro had crept up behind us with the stick and banged on the tree above us! I pooed my pants (not literally, I just didn't want to swear) and apparently I accidently hit André in the face!

The next morning dark clouds had covered the hot and sunny Baiana sky. André and I decided to walk to beach again that morning, but a monsoon opened up on us and we had to run back to the house! The rain brings out heaps of massive bull frogs... I didn't really need to have a shower that morning... The downpour didn't last too long and we went with Edivaldo and Eduardo searching for a house nearby that my friends could rent out. My friends Rachel and Mark were meeting up with us whilst travelling around South America on a 7 month holiday (jealous? we are!). We finally found one after running around in the rain a bit and headed off to the internet cafe to check their flight times.

Soon after we picked Rachel and Mark up at the airport. It was still rainy and cloudy - not a very good first day for them to see Bahia! But it got a bit better during the day and we walked along the beach with them and the rest of André's family to a nearby restaurant to taste a famous local dish, Moqueca de peixe (fish stew). The restaurant was so small, we tried a few different arrangements with the chairs and tables and eventually we managed to fit everybody inside! We ate fish cakes and fish soup and the stew with farofa, feijão, rice and a thick sauce. It was really nice but I think my stomach did not agree the next day!

Afterwards we slowly (very slowly) walked back to the house, going past the house we found for Rachel and Mark. It was ok but Edivaldo and Valeriá suggested they stay with them so it worked out well! They have a massive house, but it was a bit of a struggle finding enough mosquito nets but we made do! I got so many bites when I was there I lost count! (the only bad part about living there I think). Rachel and Mark cosied up on a single bunk and Leandro slept in the living room (he needed more length than the single bunk could offer). Me and André were in a little room separate to the house that had its own bathroom. The shower was cold, but that was what we wanted in that heat! It also rained again that night and our mattress was beginning to feel damp...

Saltos Mortais

andre_jen — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 22:14:00 GMT

The next day we started slowly but by the afternoon we got in the car to visit some more of André's friends and make a documentary. We met two of his friends, William Capeta and Cidinho (nickname meaning devil), who are in a group called Saltos Mortais. I think (from my understanding of André's portuguese translation) that this means something like death-defying. They are like an acrobatic group that concentrates on flips and tricks evolved from a mix of Capoiera and Break dancing.

These guys are amazing! We first met them at a gasolina station and they led us to a patch of dirt near a basketball court where they train. There we some other guys there that trained with them and eventually a little group of kids and parents started watching from the road above as they made their way home from school. I was filming as André asked them questions like what do you think of the floor where you train? They all aswered this question with 'it's fine', 'I like it'. But they needed to use a little bit of wood sometimes for support, so this obviously was not the best floor...It was amazing to see what they were capable of, being self trained in a patch of dirt!

André had started teaching his students from skadada/syrc some of these tricks and he posted a video on youtube, if you want to check it out search for 'saltos mortais perth'. Then you can see what floor they should be training on!

We went back to William's house with Cidinho for some more interview questions and met his beautiful wife and his gorgeous baby boy asleep on their bed. His wife was really nice and talked to me heaps, taking time to speak slowly to make sure I understand! We got about halfway through the questions when the tape finished, so we tried the camera because we thought hey they memory card is empty this will work! but only got one question recorded... So we will have to go back another day to finish.

When we are back in perth André will edit it and post on youtube. His other video recieved heaps of positive comments and interest in his 'classes' so we also want to start some proper classes and register the name 'saltos mortais'. I think André already has about 6 people eager to be his students!

X Games and Pão de Queijo

andre_jen — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:00:00 GMT

André, Leandro and I went to the X Games Brasil on Saturday and it was one of those days where everything was going wrong! We got lost a few times trying to find our way to the Sambadrome (where the carnivale is held every year) and when we got to the parking we had no cash to pay so the guys had to find an atm somewhere! Next Andre pulled him bag out of the car boot and the video camera fell out onto the road and broke! (but I think it is fixable).

As we went through the gates our huge water bottle was seized, I was okay with this because at most events they take your water bottle but there is usally a free water tap inside the event, but not in Brasil! They day was extremely hot and not a cloud in the sky! I didn't realise there would be no shade either so we bought a X games cap :) Then we went walking forever trying to find some free water because the line to buy tickets which would in turn allow you to line up to buy water was extremely long! In the meantime we lined up in a shorter line to claim some free icecream, it was really yum but didn't quench our thirst at all. We felt like we were in the middle of the desert with no water!

Eventually we found some people had managed to sneak in some boxes of water and icecreams and had started selling them within the grandstands. But we didn't have much money left! Thankfully Leandro's friend met up with us later and lent us $20 so we could get some crappy burgers sold in plastic bags :) The other thing that is different about Brasil is that their events are not smoke free like in australia, I think the only place they stop you from smoking is shopping centres! And lots of people smoke in Brasil, so we came away with very red,sore eyes!

Oh yeah, and the X games, lots of bmx, skateboarding and motorbikes doing tricks n stuff, very exciting, at least the guys thought so! Hehehe, anyway it was an experience after all.

As we were leaving we noticed a free expo going on in a huge hall nearby. It was a North Brasil tourism expo and we thought it would be good to check out as we had some flights booked to visit Bahia. There were lots of people in fancy costumes, some food and cooking classes, caipirinhas and arts n´ crafts. We tasted some sweets made from pumpkin (kinda strange) and coconut and had some R$3 caipirinhas. We thought our day had finally started to get better when we got to the car and realised the battery was flat!!! After some searching we found a guy who helped us out - but then asked for $20! We gave him $10 and our thanks eheheh :)

Went we got home we crashed, feeling a little sunburnt and aching!

The next day Andre, his parents and I went out for a nice nice lunch on the river out of the city. After a little searching Andre found a restaurant that he said he had been to before and was really good. It was a cute boat on the river that had two floors. We decided to sit on the lower floor as it was cooler but had to wait a little while for a seat. We ordered some batida espanhola to start with which was amazing :) I couldn't really figure out what was in it except for red wine and some thing creamy. Batidas are the word they use for cocktails (Ba-chee-da) and they are really good! But unfortunately they were the best thing on offer at this restaurant! Everyone was really disappointed with the food, I thought it was ok, just a little plain but Andres dad ate almost nothing! The worst part was the bill I think! Andre complained and they gave us a discount of R$4!!!

All in all it was nice to go out with Andrés parents and the view was really nice across the river :) And this day ended well unlike the day before, we went to Andres Aunt Renilde's house to learn how to make Pão de Queijo, my favourite :)

Lots of people were there, cousins, Aunts, uncles and Arleide came along too. I got her to write down the recipe for me! Before the Pão was ready someone had gone to the bakery and bought some Bolinhos de Queijo and Bolinhos de Bacon; little round fried balls of potatoe with a melted cheese or bacon filling! Really yummy I ate heaps! Then we had the Pão do Queijo which was slightly different to the one I had been eating from the bakery but just as tasty :) They puffed up really large in the oven but were hollow and cheesy on the inside. So our dinner was very cheesy that night, and me and Andre collapsed into bed with a huge stomach!

YUM CHEESE...

Beijaflor

andre_jen — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:33:00 GMT

On Friday afternoon Andre took me to visit a community centre called Beijaflor (kiss flower; what they call Hummingbirds). It is a centre for poor children that teaches art, music, dance, sport, capoiera, hairdressing and more. I will let you know when I add some more photos to facebook because this place was really beautiful! Everywall inside and out was painted with bright colours and murals, and had lush tropical gardens inbetween the buildings.

When we arrived we drove down a steep entrance road and at the end was a dried up river. Later the people there explained that the river used to be flowing some time ago and was really picturesque with boats and people fishing. There was an art classroom that had a view of the river so the children could paint the boats. The area also used to have a lot of rich people and expensive houses because of the view but they left when the water did. Now part of the channel is a bit swampy and has left are large patch of dry red soil which some kids where playing soccer on(or futebol as they call it) when we arrived.

We parked the car and headed inside to find somebody Andre knew. Andre used to teach break dancing at this place and soon found some familiar faces. We walked around checking out some of the rooms, some had computers for studying and there were some halls for capoiera, dance and drums. Inside one hall some kids were dancing and playing samba music on drums in preparation for an upcoming parade. It sounded amazing and we took some video of them practising so we can show you all when we get home! Next we went to one of the art classes where we met a lady named Ordalia (i think) who showed us around further. She is an artist as well as a hairdresser who teaches art there and did many or the murals throughout the buildings.

She showed us first the eating hall and kitchen where they prepare meals for the kids. Lots of her paintings lined the walls, she had an interest in painting the favelas of the area. The paintings are quite dark but express feeling of the favelas quite realistically. She next took us to a classroom where they were teaching hairdressing. One girl there who was learning was also a singer and she sang part of an original song (that Ordalia wrote) beautifully. And we got it all on video :)

Next we had a look at a soundproof booth for recording music and the capoiera hall which had tiered seating and murals of the jungle on all the walls. Next we went into some art classrooms where there were paintings everywhere! More of her paintings of favelas were there as well as paintings of parrots and people done by the children and some interesting stencil art. An artist from France was there teaching the children his technique where he would get an enlarged photocopy of a photo portrait and carefully cut out the shadows or outlines with a stanley knife. Next he would spray paint the stencil onto a canvas and add pop-art-like graphics to the back and foreground. On some of the exterior walls were stencils of childrens faces that he had spraypainted onto the walls. I think I managed to photograph all of them, they were uniquely positioned throughout the centre.

One of the children shown was a boy that used to visit the centre and had been murdured recently. We met the man who owned the centre, he spoke english well (had one side of his parents greek australians) and explained to us that the child had tried to break into a bakery and the owner found out and ordered him to be killed. So a 'hit man' and sought after him and strangled him. I was really shocked and saddened to hear this! He next explained the obvious purpose of the centre, to try and stop the poor children turning to dangerous street crime. Andre and me both thought it was a great idea and could possible be used in Australia.

We spoke with Ordalia again before we left and she was so happy that I liked her paintings that she wanted to give me one! She found a small one she had done, signed it and gave it to me as a present, I was really touched! The whole time she was speaking to me in very fast mumbling portuguese and by the end she showed me the books she was using to learn english. One of the other guys from the centre walked through at that time and said in really good english, 'Is she speaking english with you? She speaks really good english!'. I was like errrrrrr no! She said she taught english but I think she was really shy to try and speak english with me as english was my first language, I have found this the case with many brasilians who can speak a bit of english! I think that she thought I spoke portuguese well but I had to pretend I knew what she was saying a lot of the time!

We left soon after our goodbyes to follow some guys who were going into the favelas to do some comedy shows. But we got lost along the way and decided to visit some of Andres Aunts (from his dad's side this time) who lived near the area. The area they lived in was a mixture of favela and 'C' class housing. Andre explained there was something like A, B, C and favela status amongst the housing. His parents house would be A within Diadema but B out of the whole of Sao Paulo (as there are a lot of fancy houses in the city district). His Aunts we so gorgeous and sweet and were shocked that Andre had brought me to visit. They said they didn't think he would show me poor housing! But I think their houses were very neat and well maintained, just a little on the small side by Perth standards! There we two Aunts there living just one house apart.

We first went to Aunt Ilma's house. She got out lots of cakes, biscuits, cheese and soft drink for us but we were still kinda full from lunch so we just had a bit! We talked for a while before Dario turned up (one of Ilma's sons) We spoke for a while longer before we decided to say our goodbyes. We went up to Aunt Renilde's house but she wasn't there! So we decided to head off, but as we drove down the street we saw her walking along the street waving at us. She had had a shower and put on nice clothes and makeup and gone down to the bakery to get some fresh bread for us! So we turned around to have some coffee and bread with her!

She laid out the table with all sorts of snacks and put on the coffee. So we sat down and she insisted we eat. She had bought Lingua Sogra bread (mother-in-law's tongue - wierd I know) which was a thick plait of sweet bread with warm custard throughout and heaped with sweeted shaved coconut on top. Andre has said that a common insult to people in Brasil was to say they had hair on the tongue (really gross thought hey!) So I think this is why it is called Lingua Sogra! The coconut makes it look a bit hairy I guess! Aunt Renilde insisted I try it so I went to cut off a bit of the end, but she say no, no no, I have to take some from the middle - where the best bit of hte bread was! The ends were only slightly browned, I thought it was so sweet of her to make me try the best part! It was really delicious :)

Both of Andre's Aunts we so sweet, giving me lots of hugs and kisses and said they wanted Andre to leave me with them so I could live with them forever! They really wanted us to come back so we said we would come back on sunday night. I have grown to really love Pao do Quiejo and Andre said his Aunt's could make it really well, so I asked them if they could teach me that night! Of course they agreed so we said some very lengthy goodbyes and went home to sleep :)

Seeing the Inside of a Brazilian Hospital

andre_jen — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 08:44:00 GMT

We got home late tuesday night to a delicious meal of beef stroganoff, rice and chips (yes, they sprinkle chips on some food, the type that look like miniture fries). We crashed early and slept in before going to visit one of Andre's ex-bosses. Andre used to work at a huge sport club in Sao Paulo called Sirio (named after the country Syria). His boss still worked there as well as helping his wife run a hairdressers called Salon Mediterranee. We met his boss at the hairdressers (or cabellereiro - bit of a tongue twister!), he was really friendly and tried hard to speak English to me. We had some coffee at the next door cafe and went back to his salon so Andre could get his hair cut (finally!). I kept saying to cut it shorter on top but he kept saying 'No! You will see by bald spot', so he ended up with a short back and sides and nice and high on top, bit 90s Will Smith style. Now he is saying he should have listened to me!

So we went home after that, I was feeling a little dizzy and weak so I slept the rest of the afternoon! We woke up for dinner, did a little bit of shopping, then went back to bed! We even slept in the next morning! We woke up about 10 and Andre said come on lets see some more of Sao Paulo city centre, we can't waste another day sleeping, I agreed even tho I was still feeling weak and any food I ate was going right through me!

We had lots of fun checking out the sites right in the city centre. We saw a curved facade skyscraper by Oscar Neimeyer and visited a really old theatre and church at the Sao Bento University. Next we went to the exact point where the city was founded. A small column represented this centre and directed you towards the different nearby cities, such as Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. Nearby was a giant and very impressive church, which made me forget all about the church at Sao Bento! We went inside and noticed a huge change in atmosphere; outside on the street sirens were blaring all around (because a polition was visiting) and people were everywhere making lots of noise, and inside the church beautiful music was playing while they were holding a prayer session.

Afterwards we raced back to the car park which was closing soon (7pm), to collect to car and head home. We met Nego (one of Arleide's brothers) outside Andres house with two of his gorgeous kids and his dune buggy car. He had come to visit from Salvador Bahia. So as much as I needed to use the toilet, we stayed and chatted and I was amazed at how much conversation I was able to make with him! He is really friendly and funny! I managed to excuse myself after a while so I could use the toilet, I crashed onto the bed afterwards and fell asleep. A little while later Andre came in and said he was going to visit some friends so I could get some rest before we went to Forro that night. But when he came back I was still asleep and he said I looked really pale so he said he wanted to take me to the hospital instead of Forro (that was a really rough deal, Forro would have been way better!).

So we missed out on Forro again! I said I didn't need a hospital, but Andre said they had GP docters there aswell. It only took two minutes to get to the woman's hospital where Mariana was born and I saw a GP who spoke english without having to wait too long. I explained my symptoms and he said I had a virus that my immune system couldn't resist (because I hadn't been to brasil before) and prescribed me some medicine to treat the symptoms. I was starting to feel really weak and dizzy again, but managed to get up and walk out of the room. Andre mentioned to me that I was going to have a needle and somehow that made me feel even more dizzy and weak! Andre was talking to the nurse at the front desk and trying to hold me up, but by that stage I coulbn't see anything except flashing lights and I started to collapse.

All of a sudden the trip to hospital was all a just a nightmare and I was sleeping comfortably in a familiar bed. But no, that was the actual dream (confusing hey) and I was rudely awoken by being carried through the swing doors of emergency by two people! They put me on a bed and Andre was there reassuring me while I was crying like a baby! The nurses pricked my finger, ouch, and stuck a huge needle in my arm to give me some fluids. The whole time I was freaking out a bit because my nightmare had become real! But after a while I was able to calm down and regain some energy, so we went home for some more rest.

I feel heaps better today so the medicine must be working! We had to buy three different types of pills but it wasn't as expensive as it is in Australia, only R$35 and the trip to hospital was about R$140. Andre looked after me so well! He is so caring and supportive!

So now we can get on with our holiday... :)

Ubatuba aka Ubachuva

andre_jen — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:47:00 GMT

On Saturday afternoon Andre, Leandro and myself headed off to Ubatuba beach to stay for a few days. It takes about 4-6 hours of driving through Sao Paulo busy city centre, then through beautiful country side then over steep hills on extreme curved roads to get to the beach. By the time we headed into these jungle covered hills/mountains it had started to get a bit dark (around 6pm) and very misty as we were driving through clouds. At one stage we could only see about 10 metres in front! There was another car in front of us so that made it a bit easier because we could see their tail lights.

We met one of Andre’s cousins, Wellington, at the service station where we stopped for some food. He showed us to a nice Chalê that we could rent while we were there. It wasn’t too bad apart from being a little musty smelling and having a padded vinyl ‘cushie toushie’ toilet seat! It was only R$35 each per night so I guess we couldn’t complain!

So we headed out that night with Wellington to check out the town a bit. There were heaps of nice shops and places to eat, and the area was full of people looking to have fun. We bought some tickets to a nightclub called 180º (the boys paid R$20 but I was free J) that we would go to at about midnight. Until then, Leandro practiced on his new skateboard at the local skate park with Wellington and Andre and me headed off to check out the markets. On our way we past a car music competition where a lot of people had fixed up their cars to house huge speakers. There were some amazing cars with really strong sound and some dodgy ones with really bad crackly sound! There were lots of kids around dancing and lots of stalls selling snacks or ‘lanches’ (not lunches, which is almoço, confusing I know!). We got to the markets which were selling things like, jewellery, clothing, bags, sarongs (kangas) and souvenirs. I bought a bag for R$24 and some little souvenirs and one earring for R$8. Over here they have elaborate feather earrings that you wear just in one ear, so I thought I would buy one to wear that night. When we walked back to meet Leandro and Wellington, Andre noticed some kids break dancing. He jumped right in and introduced himself and started teaching them some tricks!

So we went back to the Chalê and got ready to go out. We went and had some snacks and drinks at Sucolandia (juice land). We had huge Pao do Queijo and some Acai juice to give us some energy. The area where all the markets were was like a large bay and on the edge, the land came out on a point, this was were the club was located so it had a beautiful view of all the islands and was right above waves crashing on the rocks below. Most of the club was outdoors with some little tents housing different music and bars. It was constantly raining gently which was nice and there were huge tropical trees and plants everywhere. Andre and his brother had been there for new years one year and had stayed until 6am, they saw the sunrise over the water and dolphins! I really wanted to stay until 6am to see thise but we got really really tired at about 2am and decided to go back to the Chalê. It was getting a bit boring as well as there were lots of younger kids there and some bad music!

The next day me and Andre woke up earlier to check out the coast and I took some photos of some vultures! I can’t remember if I mentioned it before but as soon as you get out of the city there are lots of vultures circling high overhead. It makes you feel a little uneasy in a way… I managed to spot some on the ground eating some dead fish and tried to get as close as I could for a photo. I was a bit scared to get too close as these birds are huge (and ugly)!!! There were also huge teradactyl dinosaur looking birds flying high in the sky but they never came down so I am not sure what they were.

We went back to meet with Wellington and Leandro and headed off the Praia Vermelinha (little red beach). The sand is slightly orange-coloured, which gives it its name. The waves were too crazy for swimming so we sat down to watch Wellington surf. After a while I decided to lie down and sunbathe when not two seconds later a huge wave came and washed up all over us! Everything got wet, and my denim shorts didn’t dry for 3 days because it is was so humid! After changing and showering we went to get some lunch at 100 miseria (which means without misery). It was about R$11 each and we had a huge piece of meat of our choice served with beans and rice and an endless supply of chips and salad.

Every morning we were there we would wake up with beautiful clear skies and bright sun but by every afternoon it would turn very gray and rain continuously! Andre said some people call the place Ubachuva because of this (chuva means rain). We stayed until Tuesday and saw a lot of the many beaches and bays. Ubatuba is a surf capital so many of the beaches have rough and large waves but we managed to find some beautiful calm beaches where we could swim. We drank from coconuts and ate small fried prawns with lime on one of the beaches while we watched Wellington surf some more. He is very good! One one of the beaches we went to Andre showed me to a small cave that crys continuosly. I wasn’t sure what he meant by this, but when I saw it there was water dripping all around the mouth of the cave. It was so beautiful, covered in green plants and butterflys. I saw a huge bright blue metallic butterfly, but it disappeared too quickly for me to take a photo. I have noticed lots of different coloured butterflys everywhere we go.

We also went to see the turtles at Projecto Tartafu (project turtle). They are an organisation aimed at protecting the turtles and tortoise at Ubatuba and they have a small park full of turtles and tortoise that you can view for R$6 each. They were so gorgeous, we saw massive ones and little babies! They are extending the park to make an aquarium you can view from the side and a beach they can lay their eggs on.

We did a little more shopping before we left and saw some more beaches. On the Tuesday before we left Wellington got a little carried away with his surfing which made us leave a little late, which meant more driving in the rain and fog on dangerous curves. Only this time it was a little worse, the rain was monsoonal and there was lightning all around us! The lightning was very close but I never heard much thunder which was strange. I swear at one stage I saw the lightning jump across the road in between our car and the car in front! I also swear I saw it strike a tree not too far away from the road! I was really scared but Leandro drove very safely and soon we were on a straight clear road headed home.

We had a great time at Ubatuba but next time I think we will go during summer so there isn’t so much rain! The only other downside was the infestation of mosquitos (pernilongo) in the bathroom of the Chalê! I came home absolutely covered in bites, so we are thinking maybe we won’t go to Rio this time around because of the dengue!

Shopping and Hopi Hari!

andre_jen — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:01:00 GMT

Yesterday we woke up early to try and sort out Andres driving license, it got a bit boring so we decided to go shopping in the afternoon. We went to a shopping centre called Interlagos and found a good clothing store called 'M Officer' that I bought R$300 worth of clothes at! But I got a lot of stuff and it works out at about AU$200!

That night we went out to meet some of Andres friends at a really nice place (kind of restaurant/bar) that specialises in Acai, a fruit from the Amazon that gives you energy. They also make all sort of other fruit sorbets like papaya and avocado that were really really good! Mum you would've loved it! I had a mini (but not so mini) bowl of acai sorbet and choose a side of sliced banana and granola (they have all sorts of sides to choose from like mango, cashew etc) and Andre had an avocado cream sorbet. My teeth, lips and tongue turned bright purple/blue as the Acai is a really dark almost chocolate coloured purple, I couldn't get the colour off either until the next day but it was ok because most other people there looked the same!

Again, we meant to go to dancing 'Forro' but I almost fell asleep in the car on the way home and was feeling a bit sick like I was getting a cold. Eating freezing Acai outside in the cold night probably didn't help! Also, we had decided to go to Hopi Hari (large theme park) the next day so thought we should rest a bit!

We got up early the next day for Hopi Hari (Me, Andre, Leandro, someone missing hint hint Laura) but it took about 3hrs to drive there so we got there about 12pm! It was out of the city so ont he drive there we got to see some of the country side. It was so beautiful and green, with steep hills everywhere, roads weaving in and out of the landscape and patches of dense housing (some favela, some rich areas). We finally got to Hopi Hari but it took us another 15 minutes weaving in and out of roads to get off the freeway into the park, and to find carparking! There weren't many cars there but there were lots of buses!

We had such a great time there, we first went on a short rollercoaster that had a loop the loop and afterwards did the ride backwards. Next we paid R$23 each for a type of bunjie jump (most rides were free but the more extravagant ones you had to pay a bit for). This was the most amazing ride I have ever been on. They hoist you side by side up on a bunjie rope and pull you backwards like you are on a swing. Then one person (who happened to be Andre) has control of a trigger that lets you loose and you freefall over a large lake in a swinging motion! Of course being Andre, he didn't tell us when he was going to let us go! (but he got the most scared out of us three! Poor Leandro had a huge bite mark on his arm from him). Next we went on a relatively tame rolelrcoaster in the dark, was pretty fun!

By 3pm we went into a circus tent to watch some acrobatics. Andre managed to film most of it, and he said they were a bit better than Skadada so he can show them some different tricks when we get back. Afterwards we lined up for about an hour for the rollercoaster that goes under part of one of the freeway exits. We had to line up for about an hour for this one, but it was totally worth it! Me and Andre sat right at the front and filmed it all!

The park was closing soon so all of the rides were closing, there were a few we didn't get to do but it was heaps of fun and now we are exhausted! We are planning to go to Ubatuba beach tomorrow to we are going to bed early! We will post more photos soon and hopefully add that video to youtube :) Hope everyone back home is well XOXOX

Breaking Down in Santo Andre and Visiting a Favela

andre_jen — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:50:00 GMT

Hey! It has been a while so I thought I would update you all on whats been happening here over the past few days. We have been organising things like Andre's drivers license renewal and obtaining his degree certificate, so lots of driving around! But it is has been very interesting seeing Andre's university and a massive building where you can get all your documents in one place to save time. Leandros car broke down outside a photo shop! Lucky it was in a good area, Leandro fiddled with some stuff under the hood and eventually it started again (of course after we had arranged a tow truck and someone to pick us up!). We think it may have been dodgy petrol stuffing the motor up a bit.

That night we had Pizza Rodizio (which means as much as you can eat) and it was only $14.90 each! They came around with huge pizzas for us to choose slices from and also had a delicious dessert pizza with heaps of bananas and chocolate! YUMMMMMMM

One night Andre took me shopping to a very expensive shopping centre in Sao Paulo. It was really beautiful but I think I will save buying expensive things until the end of the trip if I have money left! There is a brand of jeans over here called Colcci I thik, gisele bundchen models for them, very sexy. The jeans were about $259 real which is under $200 australian which is ok, but you can also get jeans here for $15! So I might wait a bit. There is also a brand of clothing called Totem, which we have a bit of here in Australia, they are based in Rio and they have such beautiful prints on skirts and dresses etc. Check out their website, I think it is www.totem.com.br.

Arleide has been cooking all sorts of yummy things for us like Lasange, fish, chicken and she is so sweet she has been making sure there are vegies for me as well! She also made a little bread called chuvas (rain) in the morning which is a bit like ollie-bons (not sure of the spelling but that dutch sweet like doughnuts).

We went to visit Andre's friends at a bboy/hip hop class. One of the boys he used to teach is now teaching the class. It was heaps of fun, I got lots of video! The classes were held at someones house and afterwards everyone was invited for some pasta and drinks. We were there talking and eating till after midnight!

So today we went shopping in an area of Sao Paulo that has a lot of factory direct clothing, underwear etc. Leandro was so sweet driving us there and shopping with us, it took a while to get there because the traffic was really bad! There were so many shops and so many things were very cheap, but a lot of it was asian imports so I didn't buy much but it was very interesting to see it all! We tried some sweet fried coconut for $1 and some other sweet coconut slice type thing for $1. It was really delicious, dad you would love it! I think you would too grandpa - i remember you really like coconut ice sweets! It is a pity I can't bring back any of this yummy food, I think I will really miss it when I get back to Oz! But I might be able to bring back things like lollies, and tea/coffee etc.

Tonight we went to visit some of Andre's bboy friends that live in the favela. It was really interesting to see this side of town, They build their own houses and steal electricity and water by cutting into the mains supply. There are heaps of cats and dogs everywhere and when we entered one area Andre had to flash his lights and then turn them off to let the drug dealers know that it was ok that he was there. Their houses were quite rundown, but you can see that some people still had pride in their houses, painting them bright colours. The children I met at the second hosue were so sweet! Andre bought along some books to show his friends and the kids were so excited to look through them! They were so sweet and friendly. I took a few pictures of the area but we will go back during the day so Andre can get some photos with his friends.

We were going to go to a place to dance 'forro' but by the time we got home we were so tired we crashed! Maybe another day!

PHOTOS!

andre_jen — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:07:00 GMT

Check out our photo galleries on Andres Facebook, search for Andre Dias Da Silva, the gallery names correspond with the story names!

Sao Paulo

andre_jen — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 21:33:00 GMT

Today we woke up late and headed into Sao Paulo with Leandro at about 12pm. The traffic was really busy, and it was a saturday! First we saw the first bridge that is suspended by cables and curved at the same time. It is still under construction in parts, I took some photos but it is hard to see the curve as it's so big! We also saw lots of favelas and expensive areas, it is kinda sad to see such a big difference between rich and poor, a lot of the houses in the favela looked like they could fall down at any moment!

We drove through a bit of the favela, Lots of people own little shops as part of their house, like a hairdresser or little bar etc. Yesterday when we visited Andres Grandparents I noticed the house across the street sold icecreams and had a portable bbq to make snacks to sell at lunch time. This kind of system seems to work very well, it seems anything you want is always in walking distance and the people tend to be a lot more social than in perth.

We drove around quite a bit of Sao Paulo checking out the buildings before parking to have a closer look at some. We saw the art museum which is supported only on four corners and has a massive open area underneath. I have seen the design before but can't remember who designed it. We then found a grand but slightly run down old building that looked like it could have at one stage been somebody's mansion. Now it is in repairs and some people use the grounds just outside as an animal shelter (for cats and dogs).

We also when to a cafe called Casa de Pao do quiejo (House of bread of cheese) which Andre's dad had job with renovating their kitchens. I tried some Pao do queijo (of course) some pastry with chicken and cheese and quindim (a very sweet pudding with coconut). They also sell brigadeiros everywhere here ranging in size from very tiny truffle like to huge muffin like. To drink we had pineapple with mint and cashew juice, yes you read correct - cashew! Was a very interesting flavour, with a slight hint of the nut flavour but more fruity.

Next we got back in the car and drove to some markets that sell antiques, crafts and clothes. It was huge and very busy, Andre said sometimes you can see famous Brasilian actors there. There was so much to see, everything ranging from strange masks, antique door and cabinet handles of every shape, records, furniture and art. We bought a sergio mendes record that we are going to listen to tonight :) I also spotted some Bauhaus type prints but they were very expensive - going up from $600. They were really impressive though, made by some brasilian artists in the 60s, they were limited edition pieces, really bright and geometric, with incredibly crisp edges. I also found some Marcel Breuer chairs that were $800 each!

As we drove back through Sao Paulo I saw some police men and decided to get my camera out to take a photo. There were about to pull a motor boy over (motorcyclist). As I was taking photos I noticed he got off his bike with his hands above his heads at one of the police men had his gun drawn! Apparently that is just procedure over here, but was still exciting to see! (don't worry mum, the cops are the good guys)

So we went home for some traditional feijoada that Arleide started cooking yesterday! It was really yummy, I just tried not to see the parts of the pig within the mix! Afterwards we went to see one of Andres friends as it was his birthday party. It was held at a fancy place called Stone's music bar which played lots of rock songs - they were singing really well in english! We met a few of Andres friends there and I spoke lots of portuguese with some of the girlfriends. |A few people, including Leandro (guy whos birthday it was) spoke english quite well so it made it easy when I wasn't understanding portuguese. Without realising we stayed untill about 2am! We were having so much fun, before going home we stopped at 'habibs' a arabic fast food retaurant and had some really cheap food; mini pizzas and kibe, and custard tarts, all about 20c each! I think it is their version of our late night kebabs and americas late night mexican.

So that night I think we crashed about 3 or 4am!

Diadema

andre_jen — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 19:00:00 GMT

We spent today meeting people in Diadema, Andre's district. Andre lives right on the border of Diadema and the main city district of Sao Paulo. But first we woke up nice and early (7am) for a traditional Brasilian style breakfast that consisted of sweet and chesse bread (pao de queijo; very delicious), hot chocolate/coffee and a type of cheese that tasted like ricotta only with a texture almost like a thick jelly.

After breakfast I went walking with Arleide to the nearby fruit and vegetable market. The pineapples looked normal at this market, but the avocado was still huge! I took a photo of it next to my head so you can see they are almost the same size (sorry, still trying to work out how to use the photo download tool on this website!). They also have a fruit called Maracujá which I think is passionfruit although it too is 10 times the size. Arleide also bought some 'bife a role' (Beef rolled up with carrot and capsicum inside, held together with toothpicks) for our lunch. Andre has made this before from scratch for me, but at that stage we didn't have a pressure cooker, which is the proper way to cook this dish. When we got home Arleide started cooking lunch already!

I went walking again to go with Andre and Leandro to the local 'padaria' (bakery) and a little pharmacy and stationery store to get some things I forgot to bring with me to Brasil. On the way back we meet with Dodo's parents and cousins who are very sweet, Dodo and his mother give the same big hugs! Next we had our lunch, which of course like everything Arleide has been making was deliciosa! Mum - you would be very jealous to find out Arleide has a maid to help her some days! But I think over here maybe it is more affordable, one house in their street we could buy for 40,000 reals and renovate! Thats about half that in Australian dollars!

Next, me and Andre went with * to drop Mariana and Leonardo off to school. It was just a few streets away and their schools are very different to ours, this one was a private school and looked quite small from the outside, seemed like it was for just kids at a very young age. We met Caren there (Silvia's husbands sister) with her little boy. The schools there run twice a day at different times which is more flexible for people there to coicide with their jobs, so Mariana and Leonardo started at 1pm and finish at about 6pm each day.

Afterwards we went with Moura (one of Arleide's brothers), a guy called China (pronouced shina, a nickname given to him because he looks slightly asian) who is married to one of Arleides sisters and leandro to meet Andre's Grandparents from his mums side. We also went to get some meat and beer for a bbq we were having that night at Moura's house. Andres grandparents are so sweet! They live in a type of building that has a few houses in it that Andres Grandfather rents out to people. We also met little Sophea, Laine's child (Laine is the youngest of Arleides sisters). She is so cute, with the biggest eyes and cute lips I have ever seen! Everyone says she looks like a pokemon! When I say her i touched her hand and she reached out wanting me to hold her! So gorgeous! I also tried some of Andres Grandmothers coffee which was like a very sweet espresso, normally I don't drink coffee because it is bitter, but this was very nice and sweet. We went walking to a nearby liquor store to get some beer and I was really shocked to see that Velho Barrheiro (cachaca, like a rum made from sugar cane) was only 3.50 real! Thats like A$2! And in Australia it sells for at least $50! We also did some street drinking (testing out some different Brasilian beers), which is totally legal over there!

That night Moura and his wife Ilda held a bbq at there house for us. The whole time I was wondering where this bbq was going to be exactly because none of the houses seem to have a backyard like in Australia! Moura's house had about 3 levels and the top level had a roof top view of the skyline, with a bbq and an enclosed area with dj decks, seats etc. We had Pork spare ribs which were really crispy on the outside and we squeezed lime juice over the top - Laura you have to try it! We also had a cut of beef called picanha which is supposed to be the best, and I tried goat meat! For drinks we had ipaquera (?) beer and guarana soft drink. We also all watched the wedding video on their projector, so everyone who was at the wedding, now you know your faces were huge on the wall of a home in Diadema! Me and Andre were so tired the whole time, was really hard keeping our eyes open but we were having so much fun! I meet lots of Aunts and Uncles and spoke portguese lots, everyone was very impressed but I'm not sure why - I don't think my portuguese is very good at all! But I was happy I could make some conversations!

So we got home at about 1am and slept in till about 10am the next day! Read on ... :)

Johannesburg to Sao Paulo

andre_jen — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 22:50:00 GMT

Rising at 5am we got ready early so we could check out the airport shopping. We had some breakfast at one of the restaurants at the airport that looked out over the airplanes, the food was delicious and I had some strawberry juice! Yum! So we left ourselves a perfect amount of time to leisurely have breakfast and browse the shops. African souvineers are amazing, Andre bought some little presents from friends and made some zulu conversation with the locals! He made some freinds also, check out the photos (when we get around to adding them!)
The flight from Johannesburg to Sao Paulo was not much better than our first flight. The man in front of us smelt so bad it made us both feel really sick, it smelt like sweaty balls or something yukkk. Towards the end of the flight it got so bad we asked this nice man if we could sit with him as he had two spare seats. He was also brasilian and Andre spoke with him lots in portuguese; I tried to listen and understand but ended up falling asleep!
Flying over Africa and then Brasil, you notice such a change in the landscape. Africa was deep red and flat; the land formations looked like ripples in the water only solid, it was amazing but I don't have photos of this, just of their crops which were in circles. Then you see Brasil and the land is extremely green with lots steep hills and brown lakes. I started to get really excited and was even happier when I stepped of the plane and noticed the weather was warm and humid! I thought it might have been cold, but the weather is perfect here!
Our flight got in about 6pm and we met Leandro (Andres brother) who was there to pick us up for the long/slow drive to his home. It didnt seem long to me as there was so much to look at! There were people selling items on the highway, like toys for kids, cashews and one lady was carrying a small oven with conical paper cups holding nuts on top. The price was really cheap, just 1 real (about 50c i think).
We arrived at Andres home and met his mother outside, she is so sweet and she gives the most gentle hugs! Everyone was so welcoming, I also met his beautiful sister Silvia and her goegeous children, Leonardo and Mariana. They were very shy but so excited to see Andre they didnt stop running around the whole night! Andres father Cirilo was also very nice, he came home from work not too much later, and Andres friends visited later on in the night.
We took a trip to the supermarket just before dinner. It was huge, like kmart and coles combined, selling everything from TVs to fruit. And their fruit was very strange.... Pineapples are triangle shaped and kiwi fruit was long and skinny, the passionfruit and avocados were MASSIVE. I also tried goiyaba fruit which is delicious! We just bought some food for breakfast and went home for a yummy dinner that Arleide cooked (Andres mum). We had Beef and onions, beans, rice, salad and eggs, similar to what Andre has made me before in Australia.
We gave some presents to his family after dinner and showed them some videos. Dad, Arleide and everyone was very impressed with the jewellery box and puzzle! Cirilo was the first one to work it out :)
Andres house is small compared with the houses in Australia but I think it is much better like that. Their home is beautiful, check out the photos!
Anyway Tchau for now!

Perth to Johannesburg

andre_jen — Wed, 9 Apr 2008 21:51:00 GMT

Hi Everyone,

We are now in South Africa for our overnight stay at the Southern Sun airport hotel. The flight from Perth to J'burg was terrible! Like a bad omen for the flight to come when our plane took off one of the air vents above the overhead compartments came crashing down in the aisle right next to us! I was became sick and faint after our lunch and ended up vomiting it all up! Of course I felt better afterwards, until the round- bellied man sitting in front of us started farting continuously for the next 8 hours.

However, the hotel we are staying at is very nice and the staff are very friendly! We met another Brasilian/Australian couple who were very nice and a lady from Mozambique in the immigration queue at the airport who was on her way to a UN meeting. At the hotel we watched some TV and found a South African Soap Opera show and noticed we could understand a few things they were saying but it sounded like a completely different language! We asked around and we found out that they speak a mix of english and 4-5 other afican languages, so Andre has been learning some zulu and other african words to impress the locals with! So here is what he learnt;

How much? = Malini

How are you? = Unjani

I'm good = Ngiphilile

Thank you = nyabonga

Not sure of the spelling but they understood Andre ok!

For dinner, we went down to the hotel bar for some South African food, we ordered Springbok carpaccio (55 rand from memory), spicy crispy beef with rice and asian greens and a castle beer. The food was wonderful although I didn't try the carpaccio as I had forgotton that meant 'bloody as hell' but Andre said it was delicious!

So we crashed at about 11pm and had 3 alarms set for 5am!