Volunteer in Brazil: The Blog

Fun in the Project

Last Thursday afternoon we all had a visited by a group from Curaçao. They came by with there band for a bit of a jamming session. All the Kids really enjoyed it all. If they were not dancing they were also playing music. Some of the boys I must admit were madly in love with a few off the girls with the group. It was so funny to watch!!! I don’t really think the ladies minded all too much that the boys were getting a little too excited with dancing with them. 

The following day we had a group from France visiting. They were a capoeira group that was staying in the convent, and they wished to do a display for the children. Many of the Children already kneew what Capoeira was, and really loved being able to have a go at it with some pros. The Boys really enjoyed their selves again, being able to show off some of their gymnastic skills, and several off the girls did join in. Just in case no one knows what Capoeira is:  Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian art form that involves movements from martial arts, games, and dance. It was created in Brazil by the slaves brought from Africa.

It was fascinating to watch and the children all seemed to know what they were doing!!! Well some did!!! 

I really enjoyed the visits from both groups and I am sure the children did as well. Here are some of my pictures from those two days. I hope you like them!!

Sing along

Dance dance!!

A little close don´t you think!!!!!

Drums Drums Drums!!

Everyone together

Upside down

Not bad Boys

Traditional music for Capoeira

Vito trying his luck at Capoeira

Go Girl´s !!!

Beth haveing a go at one of the instruments

Blog 2:

This week has flown by. 

On Wednesday we went out for an early breakfast in Copacabana with Kevin. Who I think loved the change to get out for the day. After Breakfast we met up with Beth and went on to the Native Indian Museum.It was only a very small museum but it still held some beautiful native artworks and tools. I must admit we did cause a little bit of trouble as Kevin kept grabbing all the pieces of art. Before returning back for our evening class we went to a huge shopping Mall for lunch with Beth’s daughter Bea. We ended our afternoon with a great shop around the Mall (Which Beth says is very easy too). Although a lot of that time was spent in the music store. We did however have a slight panic when we managed too lose Kevin. 

 Hang Gliding: 

 We finally went Hang gliding the other Friday. I wasn’t thinking of doing the jump until I got there. (Good job I had just gotten some money out before we went!!!!) I must admit I am not very good with heights, but Joe and Beth managed to talk me into flying. I thank you both very much because it was fantastic! We started our flights with a rather fun buggy ride up a very steep hill called `Pedra Bonita` and the view from there was amazing. After a little wait Joe set off, and I followed shortly behind. Both landing not long after one another on `Sao Conrado` beach. The flight was amazing and so peaceful, even running of the edge off the cliff wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. Although Beth and I thought the cute flight instructors helped a bit!!!

Joe has already gone and left for the North!!!! But it will not be long before he is back. Good Luck Joe,( if you manage to see the blog). You must keep writing, and do please take lots and lots of pictures. I hope the Bus journey isn’t too bad! And you are very good with your Portuguese so I bet you will do absolutely fine.

A few Pictures for one and all:

How´s it hanging

The edge… Is that were we´re jumping from…HELP!!!

Run Laura Run!!

Give us a wave

And We´ve Landed

Mid-flight…

And we´re back (Both of us!)

Hey guys! 

I need some sleep (eh, Beth?); so just a short and sweet update here. 

It’s shortly after midnight in Rio, and in a matter of seven or eight hours, I’ll be leaving the city to travel up to the North East of Brazil. Around a town called Christino Castro, in a state named Piaui, I’ll be visiting and teaching for a few weeks…before heading back to Rio for a couple of days on my way home to England. 

Since my last post, it’s been a great couple of weeks. We’ve just had Easter, of course, during which I enjoyed going to the masses here at the convent, cracking open a couple of large chocolate eggs, having Beth’s delicious Sunday fettuccine meal, and even watching a local football derby (Flamengo vs. Fluminense) in the spectacular Maracanã stadium.  

Working backwards, I’ve also had my last days of teaching the kids – it was a little sad to say ‘Good Afternoon Class’ at the end and hear everyone yell ‘Good Afternoon Teacher’ for the last time, but the chants of ‘Fica, Fica!’ (meaning “Stay, stay!”) from the smallest class at the end of my final lesson were enough for me to hope that I’d done something vaguely right. I’ll look forward to seeing the staff and kids of the project again for a day or two in May, pre my flight home. 

Perhaps it’s also time to reveal the ‘mysterious’ jumping event. When I said we jumped of a 500m cliff and landed on a beach 6 minutes later, I did of course mean that Laura and I went…hang gliding! Hooray! It was quite an experience; I loved the sensation of flying, which was surprisingly peaceful, and the adrenaline of simply running and jumping off was definitely my favourite part. The views were as incredible as you’d imagine, and though I had a few grumbles about the incessant ‘salesmanship’ of the instructor I was flying with, it’s something I’ll certainly never forget. I know Laura loved the experience too…so I will trust her with the task of elaborating a bit on the whole hang gliding event.  

I’d hope to post a couple more short blog updates from the NE, and then perhaps a full write-up when I get back to England. For now, here’s a few tantalising images from our gliding morning. We’d been building up to this for quite some time, so to quote Lenine (never a bad idea) it was “O Salto Do Desejo”; ‘The Jump of Desire’.  

-Preparation never looked so good.

 -The edge…

 -Gone!

-Mid-flight…

-And safely down.

-(That includes both of us!)

Até logo,  

Joe

x      

Hello again!

Well, my my, haven’t we been busy. Lots more exciting stuff happened in week 7! By the way, I’ve only just posted week 6 as well, so if you want a full catch-up then see below, and be sure to read Laura’s post/comments if you haven’t already. Because this week is mainly sightseeing, I particularly think the parts about the situation in the slums from last week may be helpful to read - giving a more rounded impression of my trip and the reason for it. Moving swiftly on to the week’s top stories…

-Our weekend ‘in the mountains’. A couple of weekends ago now, Beth was kind enough to take Laura and I out for a weekend ‘in the mountains’, just outside of the city (between a 1 and a half - two hour drive). I know that a lot of past volunteers (including Rosemarie most recently - she also ‘blogged’ about it) have been there with Beth, and I can see why it’s a success - because a couple of days out there in green surroundings was a welcome break from the city centre. The biggest town of Teresópolis, as well as the surrounding roads and villages, hold all sorts of unique, local, mand-made and organic attractions, and we made the most of our time there, despite patchy weather.

We waited awhile on the Saturday morning before setting off, trying to decide wether the weather would hold or not, but after a couple of hours we didn’t know much more, and so we just decided to risk it, particularly as I didn’t/don’t have a lot of weekends left in Rio. When we arrived, we had a much needed lunch (consisting of a four-cheeses rice dish and an intense chocolate/biscuit cake) in a log-cabin style restaurant that harks back to traditional Swiss/Germanic structures in the alps. We then moved on to take in some extremely vibrant and creative boutique stores along the main street of a small village named São Pedro (St. Peter), which included locally made…jewellery, artwork, music, clothes, chocolate, etc etc. It had an ‘authentic’ sort of character; the residents spoke a heavy but friendly slang that was difficult to recognise as Portuguese, and a man ‘riding into town’ on a horse (and almost in a cowboy outfit) caused as little fuss as if he had been in a car.

We then drove into the town of Nova Friburgo, stopping at a magnificent bakery called ‘Superpão’, just to ‘have a look in’. However, with Beth showing us the eat-in parlour, we really couldn’t resist, so had our evening meal as a Superpão all-you-can-eat breakfast; a selection of savoury pastries and breads followed by sweet breads and cakes that I can’t begin to list. All with the thickest hot chocolate I’ve ever had, and a splash of ’Agua de Coco’ (Coconut Water) and fruit salad to clear the pallet afterwards. They couldn’t have designed it better. We spent the evening ‘apparently’ doing our bit for the ‘Hora da planeta’ (WWF’s ‘Earth Hour’, the hour where various cities agreed to switch off lights as an environmental gesture) by watching some questionable contemporary art/dance. This consisted of the ‘artist’ (wearing nothing more than fireproof boxers), in darkness, surrounded by candles on small stage and manipulating further candles that were strapped to his body so that they touched each other and lit. And then he would blow one out. And then re-light, in a slightly different position. And repeat. At a slow pace, with no real explanation (implicit or explicit) of what he was attempting to symbolise or convey. Hence, though it might sound alarming, the main feelings from most of the audience, including ourselves, were boredom and confusion, following the initial bemusement. So, we left mid-way through (still after around an hour), as did most of the audience. The day was rounded off with a slice or two of Pizza, and a Brazilian beer from a German bar that still didn’t help me appreciate ‘Mr. Candles’ any more. 

We spent a pleasant Sunday in the mountains too, and on the road to our destination, Teresopolis, from our Chalet accommodation, we visited three ‘factories’. These improved in interest levels for myself as we went through. The first was a leather bag factory/store, the second made honey, and the final one (in one establishment) specialised in both Chocolate and Cheese. Needless to say, we purchased some ’samplers’, and in the first two (fairly quiet) places, Beth got into some interesting conversations with the owners, letting them know about our work at the project and hearing their own stories about various social issues. And I was quietly saying “yesss” to myself all day having been told by the leather bag lady that she was surprised I was English, as I looked Brazilian. We then made it to Teresópolis, where, dodging the rain, we skipped between canvases in a large open market. They had an excellent range of very cheap clothes (the locally made socks I go there have been ‘holding up’ nicely so far), more food of course, and so we enjoyed browsing there, before bailing - to give Beth a chance of driving home before complete darkness. You may notice that I haven’t mentioned too much about the scenery, and that’s because the rain did obscure a lot of it, but we enjoyed the general flora/fauna, and in the rain it was atmospheric and beautiful in a slightly different way. A couple of other natural highlights, as can be seen on the photos, were stopping off to see a substantial and fast-flowing waterfall, as well as looking around a collection of Orchids and other rare plants.

-The ascent of…Pão de Açucar! Hopefully you’ll remember what this is in English, but in case not…it is, of course, Sugar Loaf Mountain, as is visible from our sitting-room window! Laura and I completed our Rio Landmarks tour by getting the two cable cars up to the summit in this week, and it proved worth the trip. We had some time, and it’s much more spacious at the top than at Christo, so we spent a whole afternoon there…taking in the Panoramas from all around the mountain, having hot chocolates, scanning the charming but over-priced tourist shop, watching a film about the history of the cable car construction (a surprisingly enthralling watch, I found) seeing the fog roll in and then out again, and walking through the areas of Forest that you can access from the top. Again, I’ve uploaded a few photos that you can see below, but the overall impression was quite spectacular; vantage points don’t come much better. It was never something we could have missed out on doing, being that we see it from the kitchen and sitting room first thing every morning. When we came down again, Beth was waiting for us and together we enjoyed another Ice Cream from the now famous Sorvete Brasil (Tiramisu flavour for me this time).

-Project / General Update Our work at the project continues to go well. The situation in the Favelas quietened down considerably after the spell of more intense trouble, though we still heard that it was tense between the police/the drugs trade. In Rio in general there were further problems, with a big arrest operation actually shutting down roads near Copacobana on one day, and making the newspaper - with an unsurprisingly heroic representation of the police. Our teaching went relatively smoothly, with the two of us sometimes now splitting up to take the various kids’/adults’ classes, another full afternoon of Frisbee held on the Wednesday, ourselves putting in our best efforts with Portuguese, and a regular donation of basic foods secured from a Rio company. So, it’s not all bad news. Far from it!     

Plenty of lovely images from this week too (click or right click and ’save…as’):

-The local boutique shopping street.

-Outside of the Cheese/Chocolate factory.

-Shot from the top of the waterfall.

-The running waterfall from in front.

-No need to look at this if you don’t like spiders.

-The building/balcony where our rooms were.

-And the surroundings, in one direction.

-Unfortunately, the weather did get a bit…like this.

-Laura in the Orchid house.

-Laura and I there again.

-One of the strangely beautiful Orchids.

-Another one of Laura’s great compositions.

-The first room in the Orchid House.

-Sugar Loaf, second level, up close.

-Up and around on the first level.

-A helicopter tour coming into the Landing pad.

-No line on the horizon, it seems.

-‘Jaws-eye’ view down the cables.

-Temporary fog rolls in across the water.

-And we got the beginnings of a sunset, too.

As for the comments that got in impressively fast…I add my congratulations to John for his fantastic victory, Jake you’re quite right, although I would never say my grammar was infallible, Beth I am definitely saving that recipe, and Mum, I’ll see what spectacular Holy Week photos I can get in for week 9. 

All you need to know as a taster for Week 8 (my penultimate in Rio)….. is that on Friday we jumped off the edge of a 500m high cliff and landed on a beach 6 minutes later.

Tchau!

Joe

x 

Bom dia / boa tarde / boa noite, wherever you are!

Due to general business, and various conference groups using the computers here at the centre, blogging time has once again been short! Wanting to stick to my weekly routine, I owe you two blogs at the moment, and week seven will follow this one as soon as is bloggably possible. For now, here’s a retrospective look at Week 6…

-Slum Problems. Week 6 was when the problems with violence in the favelas here in Santa Teresa really came to the fore. Laura alluded to this in her post, and Joe Howson and Beth furthered her account well - so for more information see that last post and the comments. As a quick summary of a complicated situation (about which I’m no expert), the basic position is that in virtually all of Rio’s favelas, there is a constant tension between the police, and those (many) residents who work in the (lucrative and illegal) drugs trafficking trade. This is a sort of constant underground civil war, which climaxes in serious violence when the police attempt to ‘invade’ a favela in order to combat particular dealers, or to confiscate actual stores or drugs or weapons etc. The most serious problem is that the unit of police that generally invade the slums are the unit that is legally allowed to kill suspects without arrest/detention. Combine this with the facts that the police are not totally trustworthy and that the drugs trade have their own weapons to fight back with, and you have a toxic situation. In this week, such an invasion took place in the favela opposite the centre here, and all the children from the project stayed home on one day, and many stayed home the next. As Beth and Joe have said, the personal danger to myself and Laura is minimal - the convent here is very high, secure, and is respected neutral territory. We are not in direct danger from the police, and whilst gunshots, when they do come, are clearly audible, the favelas, in reality, are very contained environments. But it does vividly highlight the very need for the project to exist. With the money and ’glamour’ involved, it is easy to see how young people from the favelas are attracted to work with the drugs trade. The reason they shouldn’t, even apart from the morality and effects of drug use, is that they are likely to be killed in their young twenties, or at least be arrested long-term.  With regard to this, the most practical aim of the project is to equip the kids with the skills to find an alternative lifestyle to being employed with drugs trafficking, as well as giving them the critical ability to want to.

-Volleyball’s in fashion. Even throughout violent times, the resilient attitude of the kids comes through, and they seem to enjoy sport as much as ever. During this week, we played a lot of volleyball next to the project classrooms, which was good fun, and I received some much needed intensive training. I was more tentative about joining in with their, shall we say, ‘hi-paced’ version of dodgeball, but I eventually got the hang of this too, at least, the dodging part…

-Chocolate Pizza. Ok, on a thoroughly lighter note, in Week 6 Laura and I (notice that grammar, Mum?) experienced our first chocolate pizzas…hurrah! We ate at a place called Parmê, and our selection of delicious ’sweet’ Pizza slices (white/milk/dark chocolate, ice cream, banana etc) followed an equally ravishing main course of more standard savoury varieties. At a funky little outlet called Boomerang Mix (pronounced, Brazilian style, as Boomerangee Meeess), I also had a tasty Banana/Cheese/Cinnamon toastie…extremely normal here - would UK readers think this strange?

Trip to the beach + seafood treats.Beth was, at the weekend, kind enough to take us to a beach just outside of the city, and we enjoyed Bia coming along too. The weather wasn’t perfect, but we made the most of it whilst there, swimming/being buried by waves in the sea, as well as sun bathing (just, not with that much sun) and, obviously, I played a little bit of frisbee on the edge of the water. Afterwards, we went and had some good n’ fresh seafood in a semi-open-air restaurant, soaked in the ambiance and rounded it off with some small locally made ’sweets’ (various small, very sweet, typically Brazilian cakes). Perhaps Beth could help me out on a better description, as well as the name of the beach?  

Mass in the Church of St. Benedict.Well, technically, this city church is actually the ‘chapel’ of the ‘monastery’ of St. Benedict (Mosteiro de São Bento), but that goes without saying. Typical of the larger churches built in Brazil’s colonial times, it’s plain in grey and white stone on the outside, yet stunningly grand on the inside, with gold baroque detail running uninterrupted around the walls and the altar. But that’s pretty obvious too, really. Anyway, each Sunday, one of the Masses there is said with all the traditional, Latin, Gregorian chants incorporated, and so this was a very interesting experience - and a mass said half in Latin and half in Portuguese certainly kept us on our toes.

Ok, a few choice photos:

-Laura enjoys the prospect of a mixed chocolate pizza.

-With our sweet (’Doces’) Pizzas.

-Relaxed atmosphere at the Beach.

-Beach again.

-Altar at the Church.

-Looking above.

-More Baroque detail.

-One of Laura’s shots from further out.

-Sadly, all I know is that this is…a door!

-Another Church we looked into in the ‘Central’ district.

-And from the side…

In reply to the comments from Week 5; I’m not sure what Lenine would think, Mum, about you trying to replicate either his outfits or his musical genius, John will try and sneak you some Guarana back, Jen I will get in touch about that skyping possibility, and Parleck fell…”what the ….”? Everyone - thanks for reading! Appreciate it as always!

Tchau,

Joe

x

Hello All,

I´am so sorry I haven´t been writing, just Joe has been doing such a good job! I´am a little lost for things to tell you as I have been doing everything with Joe. Although I shall give you a recap of everything so far. I must ask you all to excuse me but this is the first time I have ever done a blog, and Joe has just kindly shown me how to do one.

 I views from the convent are amazing. Christ is staring down at you from the top of his mountain and we look on across the vast amount of flat (and favelas) that make up most of Rio. Even at night you can see Christ looking out across Rio watching everything down below.

I must thank Beth she has been fantastic. Truly a second Mother! Which was great for me as I was feeling very Home sick in the first couple of weeks (well first three weeks!!!). You see I haven´t really been away from home by myself for so long. It was a little scary at first.

 The first time we heard there was trouble in the favelas I was a little shocked that everyone was so calm and used to it when all the shooting was happening so nearby. We were into our second week when we heard the first gun shots. We were all still in bed as it was 6 o´clock in the morning when they started. A country girl like myself thought the local gamekeeper was out with his gun, until I opened my eyes and spotted I was no longer at home.

Three or Four weeks have now passed and the fighting is still going on. It has even spread into other favelas all over Rio and even into the city itself.

I will promise to keep writing the blog, emailing, and updating all pictures and news on

Hello again!

Well, it’s about time we had an another installment here. Week 6 is going great so far…but here’s what went on in wk 5: including our visit to one of the most iconic symbols of Rio/Brazil/South America - the statue of Christo Redentor.

-Teaching news. This week, we continue to teach more and more students, particularly as our adult class is ever increasing. So far, we have seven students (from an original 3) in our first night adult English class. 3 project staff members, 2 of the advanced kids, and 2 parents. And now, we’ve also started a new class, as a few more women from the general community of the favelas have asked to join in. Due to the need to start again with the very basics of the language, we’re running that new beginners course simultaneously and separately, with the teaching team of myself and Laura splitting up in order to teach both classes on Mon/Wed/Fri nights. Personally, I’m very pleased with the fact that parents/community members want to sign up, especially as learning English elsewhere is something that would be so out of their range in terms of cost. I can tell from the billboards as we drive around the city that learning English is something that’s in the public consciousness here - both ‘chique’ in that in seems currently in fashion, and also sought after for the connotations it has with getting employment with large international corporations, or in tourism. We also benefit from our teaching too though, as well as being something that is enjoyable in itself, the more we teach, the more (Portuguese) we learn…with having to find the translations for new topics, and having our students help us out with the pronunciation of these!

-Flood-like conditions! Week 6 hasn’t improved monumentally, but the conditions in week 5 really were extreme. We had lots of dramatic cloudscapes, and then, in the hours that followed these, plenty of pounding ‘Chuva’ (rain), along with some of the loudest thunder and most frequent lightning that I’ve ever heard/seen. Thankfully, we remembered to actually close the windows this time - during similar conditions in week 1, I wasn’t quite so resourceful as to think of this, and ended up with a minor flood in the sitting room to show for it. And so, the storms were actually quite enjoyable to behold, even though short walks around the centre necessitated mad dashes instead. Laura took some excellent shots out the sitting room window; see the last two photos.

-Christo! We’re gradually making our way through Rio’s icons…we’ve done Carnival, have Sugar Loaf on the list…but, just recently, have visited the spectacular statue of Christ. It’s recognisable from such great distances, and tends to dominate (with the aforementioned Pão de Açúcar) postcards of the city. It’s visible from the centre here, but, of course, is a miniature detail on the skyline. Hence, even though you know it’s going to be big, the actual size of the statue is the first thing that really takes you by surprise, as the reverse side of it gradually appears through the trees on the ascent up to Corcorvado’s peak. We reached the spot by the obiligatory ‘trem’ (train), that makes it’s way slowly, steadily and steeply up the mountain, and then walked the final steps past the tacky gift shops and up to the platform where the statue is located. Although we went on a weekday, and were told by Beth that it gets much more packed on weekends/holiday times, there was still lots of international tourists -English, American, Italian, Indian, Chinese…and no Brazilians, save for the guides that took various coach groups around, explaining the details of the views. The panoramas were indeed spectacular though, there wasn’t much of Rio that you couldn’t see, particulary as it was a lovely hot, clear day (luckily not one of the stormy times)! The statue itself, was, as you’d expect - stunning…artistic, compelling and intimidating, so recognisable (how long have you had that tiny version in the car, Dad?) and yet so unique. For anyone looking for spiritual value…it’s almost better to look from a distance, without the multi-lingual jostling of position for photographs, but to really appreciate the structure, it has to be seen up close.   

Also, I did a video blog from a cafe there: see it HERE.

-Lenine! ‘Christo’ is obvious, but you may be wondering at this stage who/what the other namesake of this blog is. During week 5, on the Saturday night, I was lucky enough to go with Beth to see one of Brazil’s most talented/well-respected/popular contemporary musicians. He’s a solo artist who’s had a long career and sings, does some good verbal percussion (not quite my ba-ba-booo, but close), plays guitar, and writes a lot of songs for other ‘Música Popular Brasileira’ (MPB)/’Brazilian Popular Music’ singers. Since my first week here, Beth has been playing me some of his ‘toons’ in the car, and I’ve grown to like the sound of his voice a lot now, even though I understand few of the lyrics. So, from a musical point of view I was very interested to see this guy, and dutifully did my research on him, and went along to the show, which turned out to be great. We were in the ‘Circo Voador’ (Flying Circus) in the Lapa neighbourhood, a fantastic, domed, semi-indoor music venue, and one of the things that has apparently helped regenerate and rejuvinate Lapa itself; which is now a fashionable, thriving spot for night-life and culture (hence the two blocos I went to there during carnival). I’ve no prior experience to judge it against, but Lenine seemed very ‘on form’ as well. Although he let us wait (concert start time: 10pm, Lenine appears: 12 midnight), he and his backing band were excellent, providing a surprisingly rocky, upbeat set, and working the youthful crowd perfectly, giving us over an hour and a half’s play. Beth: I think I need to pick up a copy of his new album somewhere. Everyone: Check out his excellent WEBSITE.

The photos (click to view or right click/save…as to download)! Choose your wallpaper carefully…

-The train at the ground-level station.

-Looking up the sunny ascent.

-Some of the dizzying views from the steep train climb.

-Laura standing in front of the amazing views (slightly below Christ).

-Our first glimpse of Christ through the trees and past the tourist shops.

-Laura’s photo looking up at the towering figure.

-Myself trying to get a free slot in front of the statue.

-And Laura attempting to do the same!

-Side view of the statue.

-Tourist scene (giving some idea of the statue’s scale).

-Sugar Loaf from Christo

-My turn to pose (in front of some, er, radio masts).

-Lenine in the Circo Voador

-Lenine, stutting his stuff again…

-Night scene in Lapa

-Stormy days…

-…and nights!

Commentors:

Well done to John, congrats on the UGT news! Jake, quite right to point out my helpful South Ribble Band background…though I’m surprised you didn’t mention the ’Sound of Brazil’ in there. Still available on Skype everyone, by the way, for conversations and audio performances of voice percussion. Coffee ice cream is indeed delicious, though it sounds as recently the UK has possibly had more ice-cream suited weather of late. Coming in wk6…we eat Chocolate pizza, and that’s not the only culinary surprise! Joe H - I’ll get back to you with confirmation on NE plans, and will keep an eye out on the national ‘futebol’ situation.

Love to all,

 Joe

x

A big hello and bem-vindo to all!

Hoping you’re all well, and I’ve even heard rumours that yesterday was sunnier in Penwortham than in Rio, so I hope people enjoyed that temporary climate swap. Well, anyway, it’s that time of the week again, and at the moment I’m thoroughly enjoying the plentiful delights of week 5 here in Rio. First, though, on the blog in all it’s glory…here’s the big moments from week 4.

-Singing! And other more random noises… This week (realtime: last week) at the project we were lucky enough to have a music teacher come in and do a couple of hours of music lessons/’choir’ practice, which is now going to be a regular event every Friday afternoon. It was great fun, kept the kids interested for a long time, and the teacher, Leila, (who is volunteering at the project to get in hours for her teaching degree) was capable and charismatic. As some of you may be unlucky enough to know, singing isn’t my best forte, but it’s something I generally enjoy, and so I muddled my way through some very fast Portuguese lyrics as best as I could, and finished smiling (if a little behind everyone else). Leila also did a couple of creative percussive excercises as a warm-up, and in one of these we had to invent any random verbal percussion sound, and repeat it over and over whilst she indicated various people to stop and start and ‘mixed’ the volume of each of us. Unfortunately, and perhaps hearing I tought drums, she was cruel enough to mix everyone else ‘out’ and leave me repeating my sound solo, before bringing everyone else back in. Hence, as was inevitable, my ridiculous ’sound’ (something like ‘Ba-ba-booo’ in a vague beatbox style), has now become notorious, and keeps being repeated by kids whenever an English lesson fails to interest them.

Frisbee Classes. As promised, the new addition to the curriculum recently got underway, and I have now taken my first Frisbee lesson with each of the kids’ three age groups. As expected, it proved very fun…although it was also difficult, both to play (the wind on the high sports court sometimes picked up to obstructive speeds), and to teach (as you can imagine, I need a whole new set of Vocab for this…some of which still needs to be invented). However, we all had a good time, and from my perspective it was good to be teaching a more active subject, compared to the more static environment of a classroom. Although I have been reflecting on the fact that when I want them to stay still and sit down they’re incredible restless…and when the time comes to running around, spontaneous bouts of laziness seem to creep up…. No, in all seriousness, a lot of the kids seem to really enjoy playing with a disc, some are picking it up with incredible ease (despite never having heard of a frisbee before) and we got into some excellent games of ‘ultimate’ (a team sport) in the latter stages of the classes. I should also mention that our four classes (including the adults) of students have also been developing well in regular English lessons.

That Ice Cream. Ok, so there’s no amzingly entertaining story here, and I may have built the hype to much…but essentially; in week 4 we went out for an ice cream that was extremely nice. And we had it right under Sugar Loaf in the Urca neighbourhood at night, at the cable car station, with the cars almost brushing our heads as they went directly overhead. We were eating at a branch of Soverte Brasil (click to see their charming website), a highly regarded gourmet company, and they didn’t disappoint with taste. I have to admit, my own choice was fairly conversative in the end, but no less delicious for it. Skating over tempation provided by the Chocolate and Tangerine, Banana and Cinamon and (various) Cheese flavours…I opted for a Coffee with Brownie cone. (There’s a great photo below that includes a rare appearence from Essex’s greatest export: Kevin).

Jardim Botanico. I’ll leave it to some photos to do most of the talking, but this week we immensely enjoyed our sojourn into Rio’s magnificent Botanical gardens. It was beautiful on both large and small scales, with towering Palm Trees and minute, fragile Orchids impressing equally. It seems like an extremely historical place, with many statues of important botanists, clear evidence of the King of Portugal nabbing the best of the world’s flora to found it, and a claim that it was on of Darwin’s first stops in South America whilst the seeds of his major theory were still germinating. The monkies (Southern Brown Howlers…you’ll probably know them as Alouatta guariba clamitans) were cute too. On behalf belalf of Laura though, I’ll issue a health and safety notice…Coke near Bees is never the best idea (don’t worry, being meliponines, obviously, they don’t sting…but are still annoying)! 

Modern Sound. Following our foray into a botanists paradise was a trip to a music-lover’s one. ‘Modern Sound’, a store located in Copacobana, is an excellent refuge from city hustle and bustle, and boasts a fantastic selection of CDs from around the world, as well as a great schedule of free live music right there on the shop floor. Think of a ‘borders’ branch, but only for music, and replace Starbucks, in true Brazilian style, with a bar and a stage - and you’ve more or less got the idea. We saw the ‘Sambajazz Trio’ in action for a while (complete with an impressive drummer who, for part of the set, played the drums with one hand and the trumpet with the other), and then a Brazilian female band (though it sounds sexist…I never asked their name), who played in honour of the next day (last Sunday) being the national women’s day in Brazil, and were also top-notch. Another major bonus was the fact that I was able to pick up a copy of U2’s new album, No Line On The Horizon, there…which I have especially enjoyed listening to. In the years since their last release, I’ve become more sceptical of my traditional ‘favourite band’, and so they had it all to prove to me this time around. My opinion: it’s outstanding…some of their best work, combining some more experimental and reflective tracks with ambitious, unapologetic, classic U2.

This week’s photos:

-The Urca Sorvete/Ice Cream

-Me being a huge asset to Choir practice.

-Leila working with the kids in music.

-More music (with Beth and I clearly engaged in an important discussion).

-A stream in the Jardim Botanico.

-Jardim Botanico 2, including some of those Palm Trees.

-One of those howlers…

-Some older archways from the Jardim.

-Laura’s impressive capture of an Orchid.

-More palm trees.

-Modern sound shop floor.

-Modern sound 2.

-Live music at Modern Sound.

-During Ultimate Frisbee with the kids.

-The bigger kids line up for some throwing practice.

-And now it’s the turn of the excitable smaller class…

-Some sort of warm-up exercise.

-Two kids, Natasha and Rita, with a disc - posing…

-Amor

To the commentors:

Thanks for your continued support!! Hope there was some good wallpaper material in those Carnival photos. I’ve since disocvered I can’t truly describe the taste of an Ovalmaltine shake, as John knows, but put Bob’s burgers first on the list (or second, perhaps after some teaching) if you ever visit Rio. Maxine: I too will visit your flower shop when I get back, should have stolen you some orchids from the botanical gardens. Katie: it is a Brazil shirt, of course! And Polly and Joe… I will e-mail you very soon, and will discuss with Beth what’s needed to bring over! And to any friends who are interested…I am now ‘Skype-ready’, so let’s talk…

Time to go and fall asleep to Bono’s dulcet tones,

Amor and Paz,

Joe

x

Hello all,

Apologies once again for a belated blog - things have been busy! Whilst here, I will definitely write a blog for every week, but when exactly they appear in the following week is going to vary constantly depending on my computer access, time, and the microscopic oscillations occuring in the blog-time continuum (as I’m now calling it).

Anyway, let’s waste no more words. As Brazilian signs say: ”Lugar de lixo é na lixeira.” (the place of waste is in the bin)! 

So here’s a flavour of Week 3’s main events…

-The arrival of Kevin and Laura. This week, the English residents here at the centre have tripled…wahayy! From a single representative, myself, to a charming bunch of 3. First to arrive was Kevin, an elderly gentleman from Essex who’s come just to enjoy some time in Rio. He has openness and wit in equal measure, and despite not speaking Portuguese (and the staff here not speaking English), it’s amazing how well he gets on with everyone. Yes, there have been some comical and confusing moments when earnest attempts at communication have been made on both sides, but the essential message of mutual goodwill always seems to get through. It’s a pleasure chatting with him at mealtimes. A couple of days after, we welcomed Laura - my ‘flatmate’ and a new volunteer! At 21, she’s…some… years younger than Southern boy Kev, but just as nice to talk to. It’s good to have someone to share the house and the lessson planning with, so Laura - welcome.  Hopefully I’ll drag her into writing on the blog soon, or at least posting some of her (expert) photography work.

-Back in the classroom. After the carnvial break, the work’s really started. Me and Laura are teaching together every week day - Tuesday and Thursday with the 3 kids classes, and Mon/Wed/Fri with the adults. Two of the girls from the oldest class have asked to join the adult sessions, which is a great sign.  Top of the agenda this week have been telling the time, as well as bigger numbers. Hopefully the kids will put this practical knowledge to use in the future, and for my part, I’m a bit better at drawing clocks. I’ve also now added to my schedule the English tuition of the project’s music teacher, as well as adding a new subject to the PE curriculum: Frisbee. Every class will have a one hour lesson in this new discipine on Wednesdays, including some broader excercise and training. Cool, eh?

-Swimming. I have to say, using the centre’s swimming pool this week has been a real pleasure, especially in the sweltering heat, which is showing no signs, as of yet, of relenting. It reminds me very much of my great Aunt and Uncle’s pool in San Fransico (some will remember the many photos taken last summer), except slightly bigger, and with a more diverse wildlife population seeming to live around it! Planes also go directly overhead and so seem huge, which is quite surreal.

-Samba! (See last week for more carnival info). The event of the week that I will remember the longest, was our (myself, Laura, Beth and Bia’s) all night ‘Samba Vigil’, in the Sambadrome, watching Carnival’s winning ‘Schools’ perform an encore of their parades from the festival week. Each school has 82 minutes to get thousands of dancing members in elaborate costumes from one end of the 700m Samba ‘Avenue’ to the other. We watched the six highest placed parades. Start time: a loose 9pm. You can do the maths. It was a long night, but a great experience. The scale of the whole event, as I touched upon last week, looked huge on TV, so to be there in person to see the costumes, floats and sheer volume of people (The Sambadrome’s max capacity is 88,500 and it was virtually full…+ the dancers) was truly spectacular. The word ’spectacular’, I must mention, could also be applied to the way a “Bob’s Burgers” cheeseburger tastes at 1am, especially when accompanied by an ovalmaltine milkshake, of which I will be purchasing more from the many branches of Bob’s scattered around the city. Anyway, there quite a few photos below that should give some sense of what the experience was like. Here’s a map of the Sambadrome itself: MAP. As you can see, it’s less of a ’drome’ (whatever that may be), and more of a large ’runway’. We were positioned right at the end, in the Frisas in front of sectors 4/6, near the iconic archway. Whilst we had to wait a while at the start for the parades to arrive, it was great to see the dancers from ground level, and we got some good views of the detail of the parades when they split up at the end to go either side of us. I learnt about the various schools and the ‘themed’ parades, sang along to their samba lyrics where I could follow, and emerged from the drome (after dawn) bleary eyed but still tapping my feet. Eterna paixao! I’d love a cheeseburger right now though…  

-Other cullinary delights. Whilst I’m on food, I can’t help but mention that scrumptious meat dish soaked in bread and white wine sauce at (local bar) Devassa. And it would be impolite not to discuss the creamy, fresh, house ale from the same place. And then there was that pizza in Copacobana, and the many ice cold glasses of the main brazilian soft drink ‘Guarana’, complete with slices of lemon or lime. And there was this Ice Cream we had under Sugar Loaf in Urca that you really should hear about….but, hang on - techically, it was week four by that point. So I’ll leave you on that cliff hanger…

Lots of photos (including, kindly, some of Laura’s shots)! Click to view or right click and ’save…as’ to download. Hope the connection speed is ok.

-The spectacular views from last week’s beach!

-The long Sambadrome in all it’s glory.

-Part of the winning ‘Salguero’ parade.

-In the dromo with Beth and Bia.

-And with Laura/Bia.

-Iconic city symbols, or shallow voyeurism?

-An amazing ‘human compass’ from the ‘Mangeuria’ school.

-Glittering Carnvial atmosphere.

-A stunning (and rather complementary) interpretation of Louis XIV, King of France.

-A towering, egyptian-themed display.

-Some of the more light-hearted costumes (they’re ’showers’).

-Another colourful float/car, whatever we should call it!

-Proof we really were there all night!

-Me, as dawn breaks across the Sambadromo.

……………………………….

To the commenters:

Thanks again, great feedback on the whole, and it’s great to have so much interest in the blog. Michelle (a close friend of Bia’s) and Katie, welcome! But hey hey hey…I thought I set the challenges around here! Only kidding…did I really think I could control my audience?

However, I would like to remind everyone that, whilst we all love banter, this is a public blog, not set-up, administered or owned by myself, and it needs to be suitable for anyone and everyone to read. If we could continue to post in that spirit, I’d be grateful.

Much Love,

Miss you all back home,

Joe

x

(P.S. Expect Week 4 very shortly!)

A full, photo-laden report from Week 3 will be posted soon, but to keep my most eager fans (you know who you are) happy, here’s a video blog.

I don’t think I can embed them here on the blog page, but I didn’t want to let that small technical detail stop me, so the plan is to record a video blog once in a while, and then upload and host it on youtube. I’ll also upload any random video clips I take with my camera to that youtube channel…so keep an eye out!

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO BLOG #1 !

Obrigado,

Joe x