Copacabana, street kids and popcorn in the rain

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We had a massive storm in Rio on Tuesday night. I was leaving work in Barra and had just got on my bus when the first fat drops of rain started to fall. Within minutes the rain was coming down in torrents and the thunder and lightning started soon after.

The windows on the bus steamed up and the rain was so strong that it was like someone was spraying the outside of the bus with a hose. As the bus hurtled along the precipitous Avenida Niemeyer I thought that perhaps it was a good thing that I couldn’t see out of the windows.

Avenida-Niemeyer

When hurtling along Avenida Niemeyer at breakneck speed in the dark in the middle of a thunder storm, looking out of the window is not recommended.

 

The bus came down the hill into Leblon and then followed the beach into Ipanema. Every time the bus doors opened to let passengers off, I saw some new scene of watery mayhem – people cowering on the beach under a buckling gazebo or wading through flood-water and sheltering under wind-smashed umbrellas.

Then I made my fatal error.

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Santa-Teresa

Coming back on a birthday

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Well, what an eventful couple of weeks it has been! My 13 days in London were many things – fun, exhausting, chilly but above all else a great chance to catch up with friends and family (though I did miss a few friends which was sad).

I feel rather bad that my post comparing London with Rio seemed to show London in rather a bad light. I guess going straight from Rio carnival at 38°C to a Monday morning London commute at -2°C made me feel a little negative. London is undoubtedly an amazing city and the hard winter months make the brief summer all the more magical (I must plan my work trips more carefully in future!).

London-sun

On my way to the airport. Heathrow is in a rather miserable part of outer London, but I was pretty pleased with the send off.

 

Moving between my two favourite cities always makes me reflect. I think about my past life in London and my new life in Rio, the pros and cons of both cities and the things I miss out on by being in one place and not the other (that is a rather ‘glass half empty’ view isn’t it?). But looking at things in a more positive light, I can never feel too sad as I leave either place because there is so much to look forward to in the other.

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Being Brazilian

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Hi everyone. I mentioned recently that I had taken on a new contributor and today is the day of her first contribution! I won’t give her a big introduction, I’ll just say that I met her almost 3 years ago and Reader, I married her.

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I have never seen myself as the typical Brazilian. After Mr. Eat Rio and I got married, I joked several times that his friends would be very disappointed when they met me. I’m not tall, I’m not tanned and my samba skills are questionable. But in the same way that happiness only exists with sadness and beauty with ugliness, thinking of myself as a true Brazilian only made sense when I compared myself with my loved Englishman.

 

union jack

 

So over the last years, I’ve learned I’m very Brazilian indeed. I’m loud; I touch people I don’t know very well; I engage in deep conversation with people I don’t know at all; I snap my fingers to call waiters; I think it’s normal when my family discusses family members’ lives on Sunday lunch. But I think the major aspect that sets me apart from my husband’s nation is this: I interrupt.

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Ceará Livre!

My best Rio Carnival moment of 2013

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I know I know, carnival is over – just accept it and move on… Well I’m not ready to move on! Back in 2012 I told you about my best moment of the carnival that year (just an entire carnival bloco invading the airport – if you haven’t seen it then don’t miss the video). This year’s carnival moment was perhaps not quite so dramatic, but as an example of the spirit of Rio carnival, it’s hard to beat.

Google-maps-markers

The Google Maps Markers! The markers were actually joined by a rope which made for some interesting manoeuvring!

 

One thing I’m struck by each year at carnival is how often I see the same people at multiple blocos. One of us will nudge the other and go “Look, it’s those Google Maps Markers again” or “Check it out! It’s that girl in the monkey suit from yesterday!”. Well one team I saw both during carnival 2012 and also at several blocos this year were noticeable because of a sign they held: Ceará Livre!:

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Leysian Mission

Photo Post: The Leysian Mission

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The Leysian Mission sounds like some kind of spy thriller doesn’t it? Well in fact it is this fine building that I snapped on my way to work on Tuesday. London really is rather magnificent sometimes…

Leysian Mission

Originally this was a Methodist school which also offered a “poor man’s lawyer”, a relief committee, feeding programmes, meetings for men and women, and a range of services and musical activities.