clouds-rio

A delicious drop…

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clouds-rio

This mysterious white object appeared in the sky last weekend.

 

How has the weather been for you over the last few months? It seems like I’ve been hearing stories of freak weather from all over the world – floods in Britain, snow in the US and ice storms in Canada. Here in Rio we had the hottest summer in 50 years. From the start of December 2013, right through to the end of February, we had temperatures that rarely seemed to dip below 35°C (95°F) and spent long periods well up above 40°C (104°F).

They say that the British are always talking about the weather, but I tell you what – when things get hot, the Brazilians talk about it a fair bit too! Day after day I would hear people complaining that the temperatures were insuportável (unbearable). I have to confess that I took a certain amount of pleasure in telling anyone who would listen that I positively loved the high temperatures. And after all, I spent the first 30 years of my life complaining about how cold it was, I wasn’t about to start moaning about the heat!

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Tom-Le-Mesurier

A Skype Ambassador with a ‘passion for food’!

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Tom-Le-Mesurier

Check it out – it’s me!

 

Hi everyone! I’ll warn you from the outset, today’s post is mostly about me – I don’t normally go in for  the whole ‘Dear Diary’ posts, but some big changes are afoot and I thought I should give you guys a quick update.

News Item number one: yesterday morning the nice people at Skype announced that they have made me their newest Skype Ambassador – tweeting the news to over 3 million followers!

 

How cool is that? Currently there are 8 of us Ambassadors and each of us has a particular speciality. No prizes for guessing my specialisation – food! In fact the Skype Moment Makers page where they made the announcement describes me as having a ‘passion for food’ and while that is 100% true, I also rather like the way it sounds like a very diplomatic way of saying ‘greedy’!

Anyway, leaving my gluttony aside for a moment, what will my collaboration with everyone’s favourite on-line communication tool actually mean?

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ocupa_carnaval

Rio Carnival 2014 – Smiles, Social Comment and drones!

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ocupa_carnaval

 

It’s been a strange time in Rio since the protests of July 2013. After so much unrest, a lot of the outrage seemed to evaporate (at least from the front pages). However, none of the issues that provoked the protests have been resolved, and so I think many of us have been feeling that the anger that drove the protests is simmering under the surface, waiting for a time to strike again.

Would Rio carnival 2014 be the time for people to voice their dissatisfaction? Would the street parties turn into street protests? Would carnival be marred by stun grenades and tear gas? Or would everyone forget about their grievances, distracted by all this bread and circus?

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Rio-carnaval-2014

Carnaval do Lixo

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Rio-carnaval-2014

 

Carnival 2014 is over! Phew! So how did it go? Well, I had a great time – it didn’t rain and we went to some really nice blocos on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I’m afraid that 3 days solid partying is about all I can manage nowadays. When Tuesday came around I found myself longing for a quiet day on the sofa!

As usual, I was snapping away with my camera, always on the lookout for some inventive fantasia or other fun sight. Here are some highlights:

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mujique-se

Photo Post: Mujique-se!

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mujique-se

Mujique-se – ‘Mujica yourself’.

 

 

Is there a more popular national leader serving today than José Mujica of Uruguay? I’m sure we’ve all heard of his headline grabbing legalisation of marijuana (for which he was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize), but did you also know that during the 1960s and 70s he was a guerilla leader who served 14 years in prison, including 2 years at the bottom of a well?

But probably more than his progressive policies, his popularity seems to be due in large part to his lack of apparent interest in personal wealth and its trappings. In a continent where those in power are notorious for their associations with corruption and organised crime, how refreshing to see a national leader pass up the opportunity to live in an opulent presidential palace in favour of living on his wife’s modest farm; a leader who routinely looks reassuringly dishevelled, drives a beaten up old VW Beetle and reluctantly accepts a skeleton staff of just 2 body guards.

Wouldn’t it feel like progress if a few more world leaders took the advice in the graffiti above and made themselves more like Mujica?