Eat Rio Blog - Page 42 of 106

Protests in Brazil – Sem Violência

21/06/2013/21 Comments/in Musings

On Thursday night we saw groups of (mostly) men roaming the streets of Rio without leadership or discipline, indiscriminately committing acts of violence.

If you’ve been following recent events in Rio (and countless other cities in Brazil), you’re probably wondering whether I’m describing the police forces or the minority of protesters who appear to be using these events as an excuse to smash stuff and set fire to things. At times the two groups, supposedly diametrically opposed, have appeared to share many traits.

This morning I arrived at work to see news footage from last night of guys in masks smashing up pretty much anything they could get their hands on. They were pulling down lampposts, setting fire to rubbish, kicking in windows and smashing up banks and shops. Then something that really shocked me – there were a couple of guys smashing in the windows of a bus and then the camera moved to show petrified passengers still trapped inside. Man, that made my blood boil! Some poor old guy was cowering under his chair while this idiot was shattering the windows with a metal bar.

Destroying a bank achieves what exactly? (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)

But let’s not forget that there were hundreds of thousands of people protesting last night. The vast majority of them had nothing to do with the wanton destruction and spent a lot of time chanting the mantra: Sem violência! Again, it’s telling that this call was directed at both the police and the violent protesters.

Protests in Brazil: What Pelé has to say

20/06/2013/5 Comments/in Art and culture

Ah FIFA – if anyone in Brazil (or any other nation for that matter) is undecided on how they feel toward the international governing body of football, I’d like to ask where you’ve been hiding for the past 5 years. From levels of corruption that would make even the Sarney family blush, to the aggressive imposition of exclusive sponsorship deals that are completely at odds with both the local culture and also the spirit of the game they purport to represent, this is one organisation that it is tough not to despise.

From a thoroughly dislikeable institution to a well-loved legend of Brazilian football – Pelé.

Edson Arantes do Nascimento – Pelé. One of the greatest footballers of all time and still Brazil’s the top scorer.

Since his retirement, Pelé he has been involved in all kinds of projects, from adverts for erectile dysfunction treatments to UNESCO Goodwill ambassador. However, most of us know Pelé because he was an unbelievable footballer, and as such he brings with him an enormous amount of goodwill.

Being such a popular figure he was an obvious choice to represent the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) and FIFA in promoting the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. And it seems that his ties with FIFA and CBF run deep. Whilst even players in the current Brazil team (such as Hulk and Dani Alves) have admirably spoken up in support of the protesters and their causes, Pelé came out with this:

Protests in Brazil

17/06/2013/39 Comments/in Musings

I wonder how many people reading this have NOT heard of the protests going on in Brazil right now. Given that you are all highly intelligent people who like to keep abreast of current events, I expect most of you know at least as much as me on this subject. With that in mind, I’d be delighted to hear your reaction to/interpretation of recent events.

To summarise briefly, the standard ticket price for buses was recently raised by 20 centavos. In Rio, that took a single journey from R$2.75 to R$2.95 (about US$1.50, £1.00) – in São Paulo it’s a little more. On the face of things it seems like a trivial matter doesn’t it?

Crowd control…

In the 3 years that I’ve been in Rio, the bus fare has risen from R$2.35 to R$2.50, then on up to R$2.75 and now R$2.95. There weren’t any meaningful protests with any of those previous increases, so why now? The government line is that the price rise is less than inflation (currently standing at 6.5%). Also, if I compare this standard single fare with the equivalent in London (R$4.20 – R$7.20, depending on payment method), the Rio price doesn’t seem unreasonable. Why are people out on the streets over this? Surely there are more important issues?

I don’t think my opinion has more value than anyone else’s, but seeing as I have this blog, I’ll tell you why I support these protests.

Lagoa

14/06/2013/3 Comments/in Musings

If I remember rightly, I arrived in Rio for the very first time on a Thursday. Mrs Eat Rio picked me up at Santos Dumont airport and drove me around town to show me the sights. To be honest, I think she was actually just trying to drive me back to her place, but she kept taking wrong turns, so by the time we got back, I had seen most of Rio…

Now I’m not sure if anyone else has experienced this, but on that first day (and in fact for several weeks after that) I couldn’t really piece Rio together. As I moved around the city I was confronted by one dazzling and dramatic sight after another. First we’d be following a stretch of beach, then we’d turn a corner and there was a huge mountain, then more beaches, more mountains covered in forest, a huge stretch of water called the Lagoa, and then an even larger body of water call Guanabara Bay (in Portuguese Baía da Guanabara). I had no idea how all these places linked up.

Rio de Janeiro – a bamboozling mix of beaches, mountains, bays and forest.

As you can see on the map above, as well as all those bays and inlets, there is also what looks like a lake a few blocks behind Ipanema. In fact it is a lagoon, most commonly known simply as Lagoa, though its full name is Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. It is connected to the sea by a canal which runs through a narrow park called Jardim de Alá.

As if Rio didn’t have enough amazing sights, Lagoa adds yet another stunning dish to this table, already heaving with delights:

Gal Costa

13/06/2013/4 Comments/in Art and culture

I think of the subject of today’s post as a quintessentially Brazilian woman: bold, sexy, and bursting with an effortless, natural confidence. This is Gal Costa:

Born as Maria da Graça Costa Penna Burgos but better known as simply Gal Costa. Photo by Antonio Guerreiro

Well, to be more accurate, that was Gal Costa. Gal was born in 1945 in Salvador, Bahia. Apparently when Gal’s mother was pregnant, she spent hours listening to classical music in the hope that it would make her child musical. Seems like it worked!

Her career has been interwoven with other legends of Brazilian music such as Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Tom Zé and others of the Tropicália scene. Here you can hear her singing Gilberto Gil’s ridiculously catchy track, Barato Total. Catchy isn’t it? Listen to this one and you’ll be singing that chorus all day long!