3 DAYS IN SAO PAULO PT. 1

The famous Avenida Paulista. Melting point of the financial district.
I loved driving down this avenue.. So stoked everytime. I kind of found it both ugly and beautiful in some weird aesthetic way. 

SÃO PAULO

Tror det eller lad vær, men en hver hverdag kan man blive træt af – uanset om den udspiller sig i skandinaviske København eller eksotiske Rio de Janeiro.
For et par uger siden synes jeg tiden var inde til at se noget andet, og jeg hoppede derfor på en bus mod millionbyen São Paulo.

Det ville være dumt at skrive langt og bredt om hvad byen er for en størrelse (det har vi jo Google til), men for at det er muligt at forestille sig for jer derhjemme: så er São Paulo nærmest ude af proportioner med op imod 12 millioner indbyggere, og så er byen kendt som Brasiliens centrum for industri- og erhvervsliv.

Hvis jeg skal være ærlig så havde jeg personligt nogle forudindtagede holdninger og tanker om byen, baseret på naboomtalen her i Rio og et par timers visit tilbage i 2005.

Nogle af dem var blandt andet at byen farveløs, larmende, fyldt med vulgært høje betonbygninger og en forurenet tung himmel. Desuden så ejer folk ikke den der brasilianske rytme og glæde, som jeg kender fra Rio. 

Nabostridigheder

Generelt er Cariocas ikke glade for Paulistas (folk fra São Paulo), og omvendt. Selvfølgelig er der beef.. hvad kunne man ellers forvente.

Cariocas går for at være: luddovne og altid fede den på stranden. De er malandros (”hustleeers”), og så udtaler de ”ssss’er” med ekstra meget tryk på og med kaskader af spyt i retningen ud af munden!
Paulistas skulle være: snoppede, selv- optagede og henførende (gøre voldsomt brug af udtrykket meu = min, uden grund) og så er de stressende og arbejder for meget. Deres accent kommer fra næsen, indebegrebet af nasal, men de mener ikke selv at de har en accent, men det har aaalle de andre til gengæld.
Ikke så lidt pæne ord de kan sige om hinanden…

 District Liberdade (=Freedom) where most Japanese make a living! 
Brasil, especially São Paulo is home for the biggest colony of Japanese, outside Japan.  

Go get some springrolls! 

Er jeg I stand til at abstrahere?

.. Nu bliver jeg jo aldrig ærke carioca, da jeg ikke er født i byen, men jeg har alligevel et stærkt tilhørsforhold til Rio, da jeg udelukkende har boet her og levet livet omsider med cariocas. Det er måske også med en vis stolthed i skrivelsen her, at jeg kan sige at jeg er nået dertil hvor jeg ofte bliver forvekslet med en carioca pga. min udtale (aaaah så pisse FEDT man!!).

Fyldt op af disse opfattelser der har oprindelse i Rio, var jeg virkelig spændt på at finde ud af hvordan, jeg ville opleve São Paulo.

Hvis jeg nu gjorde mig umage og fandt et forholdsvist objektivt tankesæt frem, samt ikke lod mig påvirke for meget af, hvad jeg er socialiseret til at synes. Ville jeg så kunne nikke genkendende til alle de kendetegn skrevet for oven, eller er de alle det pure opspind som følge af stereotype magtkampe blandt byerne?

Galeria do Rock, shopping center where you can get all your skateboarding supply, or skateboards dudes and chicks if that's what you're looking for... 

and chicken from the north..

 Avenida 23 de maio, one of the busiest avenues in SP

I ly hos en ven

Jeg ankom til SP ved midnatstid (i øvrigt aldrig en god idé at ankomme alene til øde busstationer i Brasilien midt om natten) efter en lækker bustur på 6 timer med tid til egne tanker. Jeg blev overraskende nok ramt af en følelse af at befinde mig i rolige omgivelser.. Hvilket stod meget i kontrast til busstationen, Rodoviaria, jeg forlod i Rio - et ekstremt nederen sted! Således blev min første fordom afkræftet. Det larmer jo ikke i SP?

 Jeg fik ly for natten hos Guilherme, som jeg kender tilbage fra 2008 hvor han var på udveksling på Næver Gym.. Yes, af alle steder i verden!

Der er ingen tvivl om, og det vil mange nok være enige i, at de bedste rejse- minder og oplevelser oftest stammer fra de øjeblikke, hvor man er blevet inviteret ind i livet hos et andet menneske. En ting som meget hurtigt gik op for mig er at São Paulo simpelthen er for stor til at man bare kan vade rundt og støde på alt hvad der er værd at se, og da slet ikke på blot tre dage og udtrådte sko. Jeg er derfor virkelig taknemmelig for Gui’s gæstfrihed, og lyst til at vise sin by frem. På den måde så jeg hans hverdag, de vigtige seværdigheder og de hitten gems, som kun en lokal får opstøvet. Han gjorde det så godt!

 Quick snap of the good man, Guilherme!

... Faktisk så godt at jeg i dag sidder, og er ret så pjattet med São Paulo.

Jeg føler mig lidt forræderisk sådan at flirte så åbenlyst med fjenden. Jeg troede ikke det skulle ske, men alle mine forestillinger blev gjort til skamme!

Gui elsker sin by, hvilket klart smittede af på min oplevelse. Jeg elsker den sku også lidt.  

Destination for kunst og kultur

Jeg var virkelig fascineret af den enormt veletablerede scene for kunst og kultur i SP. Konstant var jeg fyldt af en følelse af at være i en by der er i bevægelse, fokuseret på fremdrift og udvikling. Man mærker at der er ting og sager som bliver til rundt omkring i højhusene, gaderne og i de stærkt forbipasserendes tanker.
Meget mere end hvad jeg umiddelbart mærker i Rio.
SP har mere end 40 kulturelle centre, hvor der hver dag er exhibitions, forestillinger, undervisning, debatter og workshops og alle former for kunst. For ikke at glemme de 110 museums og 260 biografer, 80 biblioteker og diverse årlige koncerter og festivaller. Sidst men ikke mindst, er byen verdens berømt for sine graffitikultur, og helt generelt den urbane kultur - hvilket jeg vender tilbage med i et andet indlæg! 

Det var ren ekstase for mig at befinde mig i sådanne omgivelser. Jeg måtte derfor konstatere at byen på ingen måde er farveløs, som jeg forstilte mig. Nok er husende vulgært høje, men hvis det er det der giver plads og kapacitet til projekterne, så kan jeg lide det. Ærligt talt, så endte sku også med at synes at de spejlblanke højhuse var for fede, for er I vimmer nogle knivskarpe reflektioner, man kan finde rundt omkring i glasfacaderne!         

 Praças das Arte in the center

Der venter mere São Paulo pladder forude...
Indtil da: det er for optur I læser og kigger med!!

Alona 

 

English recap//

 

Instagram @alonavibe

SÃO PAULO

Believe it or not, but any kind of everyday life can get boring – doesn’t matter if it takes place in scandinavian Denmark or exotic Rio de Janeiro.
I few weeks ago I thought it was time to see something else, breath a different air so I jumped on the bus heading to the enormous city São Paulo.

Not going to write much about geographic facts (Google was created to help me with that), but to get an idea: São Paulo has around 12 millions of inhabitants, and the city is known as Brazil’s center of industry and business.  

To be honest, I personally had preconceptions about the city, based on the reputation given by the cariocas, and a short visit I had back in 2005.

The city is colourless, noisy, filled with tall concrete buildings and a polluted sad sky. Of course the people would also not have a clue about that famous Brazilian swing/rhythm that I know from Rio, due to spending most of their time sitting on their asses doing business stuff, all day, all night. 

The battle between RJ and SP

The Cariocas and the Paulistas doesn't really like each other in general. Of course there’s beef between two massive competing cities.. what else could one expect.

Cariocas are: Lazy and live life at the beach. They are malandros (= hustleeers) and they pronounce s like a portuguese x, pushing it hard(!!), which also causes alot of drool leaving the mouth in cascades.
Paulistas are: stuck-up, selfcentered, -conceited, and they are stressful and work too much.
Their dialect is the definition of nasal, but they don’t find them self having one. In their oppinion It’s all the others that speaks “wrong” portugues. 

 What about the prejudices?

Since I’m not born in the city, I will never be a real Carioca da gema, but I do have a strong feeling of attachment to Rio… It’s the place I’ve been returning to the past 9 years, and now I’ve also lived side by side with cariocas. I must say it is with some kind of pride, that I’ve reached the point where I sometimes get mistaken as being a carioca, because of my accent. So unreal I obtained an accent in Portuguese (YEAH!!) and everyday have conversation in this beautiful language. Now it’s just the gramma and vocabulary that needs work!   

Anyway, affected by the opinions originated in Rio, I was really excited to find out how I would experience São Paulo. If I did my best on approaching the city in a relatively objective way and did not let the socialisation of Rio influence my opinions too much, would I then notice the characters as mentioned above? Or would they be rejected from being a simple hoax created by the stereotypical struggle for power between two cities.     
 

The hospitality of a friend

I arrived at SP at midnight (btw an awful idea to arrive at deserted bus terminals in the middle of the night).

I was surprisingly struck by a feeling of quiet surroundings.. Which stands in great contrast to the bus terminal, Rodoviaria, I left Rio – such a shitty place! Thus was my first bias ruled out. Where’s all the noise huh?
I was provided with a hospitality by Guilherme, who I know from back in the days where he did one year of exchange at my high school.. Yes, “Næstved Highschool” of all places in the world!
There is no doubt about, and probably many will agree on, that the best travel memories and experiences often comes from the moments where you got invited into the life of an other human being. That realness. One thing that very quickly dawned on me was that São Paulo is simply too big for you just to stroll around and encounter all that is worth seeing. Especially not in only three days and demolished sneakers.. So I am really grateful to Gui's hospitality and his desire to show me his city.
In this way I saw his everyday life, the important sights and the hitten gems that only a local get tracked down. He did well!
... In fact that well, that I became rather upbeat with São Paulo! I feel a little treacherous to be flirting this hard with the enemy... I never thought it would happen, but all my ideas were proved wrong! 
Gui loves his city, which clearly affected my experience. I love it a bit too.  

Destination for culture  and art

I was really fascinated by the well-established scene of arts and culture in SP. I was constantly filled with a feeling of being in a city that has a strong movement, and focus on progress and development. One can feel that there are things happening in those skyscrapers, in the streets and in the mind of the people passing by.
Much more than I feel in Rio.
SP has more than 40 cultural centers, that everyday hosts exhibitions, performances, lessons, debates and workshops and all kinds of art. Not to forget the 110 museums and 260 movie theaters, 80 libraries and various annual concerts and festivals. Last but not least, the city is world famous for its graffiti culture, and in general the urban culture - which I will write a bit more about in a future post!

It was psychedelic to find myself in such an environment. So I had to note that the city is by no means colorless as I earlier imagined.  
The buildings may be tall, but if that's what gives the space and capacity for devoloping such fine projects, then i'm fond of them! Frankly, I actually ended up thinking that those glassy skyscrapers are rad. Bombed by the crispy reflections that can be found around in the mighty glass facades!

Much more São Paulo is ahead of this blog, until then: I'm thrilled that you stepped by!

 xx Alona

Weekends spend in Recreio with The Fabres, my brazilian bonus family.

One of my favorite views from the rooftop of Nair and Ezio's house. This house is the home of Nair, Ezio, Isis, Jade and Radhe.

Endnu et efternavn, og noget om frygtelige busture

Det der med når føler sig som en del af en familie langt væk hjemme fra, langt fra biologisk beslægtet blod. Når ”ude” endelig kan føles som "hjemme”.  Jeg tror jeg er nået til dét sted, til dén følelse..

Jeg har stille og roligt fået tillagt mig et bonusefternavn, Fabres. Dette navn tilhører en stor familie (jeg har ikke styr på det totale antal af medlemmer, men vi bevæger os op over 20), som bor i samme gade i det yderste af Recreio, 8W.

Fra min lejlighed i Copacabana/Arpoador er der 35 km, og små 2 timer i bus, for at komme frem. Hvilket godt kan være en dræber i 40 graders varme og ingen air-con. Eller det lige så pinefulde scenarie, hvor der er for meget air-con. Brasilianerne går ikke ind for den gyldne mellem ting, det er enten så man frygter for ens svedende korpus smelter væk eller den totale nedfrysning med blå læber og klaprende tænder. 
Anyway, når helveds busturen er overstået (ej men jeg kan ikke vende mig til det, savner min cykel!) er jeg til gengæld henlagt til fred og rolige omgivelser og dét er hele turen værd! I Recreio er der mango-, lime- og avokadotræer, man er iført havaianas dagen lang, og bør altid have en bikini ved hånden.  

Mødet med familien Fabres, mere specifikt: Isis Fabres 

Mit kendskab til familien Fabres stammer tilbage til 2008, hvor jeg for første gang mødte dele af troppen. I år 2008 tilbragte jeg en måneds tid i Rio med to yndlings veninder, Katharina og Lisa. Vi fyldte dagene med capoeira, sucos og strand, og nætterne med tæt forró (pardans), caipirinhas og søde brasilianske flirts. Kulturudveksling mellem tre lyshårede danske piger og den brasilianske charme. En uforglemmelig tid. Lige så uforglemmeligt var det første gang, Katharina tog Lisa og jeg med til Recreio for at møde hendes veninde Isis Fabres, som er den ældste datter af parret Nair og Ezio Fabres. Jeg husker hende klart; Isis var pisse hamrende sej, med det her store, mørke, krøllede hår, hvide tandsmil og så var hun så ustyrlig smuk uden at behøve at gøre sig umage. Ikke nok med det, så har Isis to yngre søstre, Jade og Radhe, som fortjener akkurat samme blomstrende beskrivelse. I ved, tre piger der lever op til ærkeforestillingen om en brasiliansk skønhed.
Isis gav os surfing undervisning, den første af sin slags for mit vedkommende. Vi blev inviteret indenfor hos Isis' familie, hvor vi udelukkende blev mødt af varme, hjemmelavet mad og gode intentioner. 

This  house will very soon be home to one more Fabres! Radhe and Nair having a moment I'm happy I witnessed. 

Adskillelse, men uforandret gæstfrihed

Isis besøgte mig siden i Danmark, (måske var det året efter?), hun var med en dag på Næstved Gymnasium og lærte min skøre, skønne familie at kende. Vi blev rigtig gode venner. Hvad der piner mig, i denne ellers søde fortælling, er at jeg ikke har set hende siden... Hvilket må tælle små 5 år? Dette er den triste side ved at tage udenlands og give sig hen til relationer. På et tidspunkt må man undvære en fysisk tilstedeværelse længe før der igen sker en genforenelse, og én dag  ses man måske for sidste gang (kunne være et emne jeg skulle vende tilbage og skrive mere om...).
Isis var udenlands da jeg igen vendte snuden mod Brasilien i 2012, og ej heller i dette øjeblik er Isis i Rio, da hun nu har bosat sig i Californien med sin kærlighed. Det er næsten tragikomisk at dette er tilfældet, men det er, hvad det er, og en dag mødes vi igen. Det er jeg sikker på.
I mellemtiden er jeg blevet taget imod med kærlighed og åbne arme af Isis' smukke, levende, gæstfrie, kloge, varme familie i Recreio. Dette gælder hvert eneste familiemedlem. Af og til bliver jeg forvirret og uden ord, eller opfører mig klodset, fordi jeg er så velkommen at jeg nærmest smider omkring mig med sko og tasker (alle former for rod), som jeg ville gøre det hjemme i Myrup. Hver eneste dag grubler jeg over, hvordan jeg mon kan gøre en gestus, der kan demonstrer hvor taknemmelig og hvor stor en rolle familien spiller for mig, i sær i denne tid hvor jeg er langt hjemme fra noget der minder om min egen biologiske familie og venner. 

Dette er blot det første indlæg der viser et udsnit af nogle stunder fra Recreio, mange flere vil følge og ligeså vil beskrivelserne. Jeg må jo forsøge at starte et sted. Det har været svært at vide hvor jeg skulle starte, i en fortælling der i virkeligheden kan gøres meget lang. Disse billeder er forsinket 2 måneder, da de er skudt i starten af september til churrasco(grill) i anledningen af Fars dag (mærkedage er noget man går op i hernede, og så griber man iøvrigt hver eneste mulighed for at lave churrasco).

This is also where I sleep when I stay overnight. It's the bests nights of sleep I have.

The most loving Giovani, Isis' cousin and Isis' daddy-o, Ezio. Whom I actually rarely understand because he is making jokes with me, in every other sentence that comes out of his mouth. It's ridiculous..

Giovani's dad, here being the churrasco master. It's indescribable how good the meat is at churrasco's, and all they do is to cover the meat with loads of coarse salt when grilling. 

It sounds stupid, but the salad here is something else. Something so much better than what you can buy for bags of gold in Zona sul (Copacabana, ipanema, leblon etc.). It's fresh and makes my tummy happy. 

Especially when adding, sun riped juicy mango pieces.

 I made a promise to myself: I will eat mango everyday from now on. It's almost better than kisses.

Nair and Ezio. Incredible humanbeings I wish to get to know even better. 

Please don't mind my sad pale danish skin and my tired, sickness face. I was really happy in between those two's embrace.

Radhe and the always lovely Isla, Isis' cousin. This girl is nothing less but amazing!

An upgraded version of a churrasco plate. 

The typical churrasco is all about meat, feijao (black beans), and then beer and coca cola to help the digestion.. errhem.. 

Giovani's mama, Jocilene, Fabio who's is an awesome english teacher and musician, me and my beloved lil'sis Radhe. 

English recap//

One more lastname and awful busrides

That moment when you become part of a family far away from home, far from consanguineous blood relatives. When "out" finally feels like "home". I think I got there, to that special feeling... Slowly I got a bonus surname, Fabres.  This name belongs to a great family (I'm not sure about the total number, but it's above 20), who lives in the same street in Recreio, 8w. It takes 35 km and around 2 hours with bus to get from my flat to Recreio... Which can be a killer.
Seriosly, the Brazilians are horrible at regulating their aircons. I mean it when I say it's either with fear for yourself and your corpos not melting away or blue lips and your blods getting frozen over because of the degrees they put on in the busses. Brazilians tend to exaggerate in most aspects in life (let's get back on that another time).

Anyway, if you survive the ride, what's ahead of you, is all worth the bus suffering! Because in Recreio there are mango-, lime- and avocado trees (no at ones), you are allowed to wear havaianas all day long, and you should always be prepare for beach hanging.

The first meeting with The Fabres, more specific: Isis Fabres

My first meeting with the family Fabres, happend back in 2008. 
This year I spend a month in Rio, together with two fave girls, Katharina and Lisa. Our days were filled with capoeira, sucos and beach and the nights with forró (couple dance), caipirinhas and cute brazilian flirts. A culture exchange between three blond danish girls and the Brazilian charm. An unforgettable time. Just as unforgettable were the first time, Katharina brought us to Recreio to meet her friend Isis Fabres, who is the oldest daughter of Nair and Ezio Fabres.

I remember her clearly: Isis was freakin cool, with this big, dark, curly hair, white smile and then she was så beautiful, without even having to work for it. It doesn't have to stop here, because this girl of course have two younger sister, who deserves the exact same description. You know, tre girls that are the perfect stereotypic picture of a brazilian beauty. Isis gave us surfing classes, my first. Isis family invited us inside, where we were treated with warmth, homecooked food and only good intentions.   

Isis visited me in Denmark the following year, went with me to high school and got to know my lovely and crazy family. We became close friends.
what hurts my heart, in this story, is that I haven't seen her since back then.... Must be 5 years? This is the sad sideeffect of going abroad and give into heartfel relations. At some point you have to be without the psysical presence for a long time until a reunion, and one day it will be the last time it may be the last time seeing each other... (maybe a subject I will get back to at some point..).

Absence, but they haven't become less welcoming

Isis where again abroad when I in 2012 again was on brazilian ground, which also counts for this very moment Isis, because she now lives i California with her love. It's almost tragic comic, but it is what it is and I believe that we'll meet one day again. Meanwhile I have been received with open arms and such love by Isis's beautiful, alive, hospitable, wise, heartwarm family in Recreio. Each and every family member.

Some times I getting confused, without words or clumpsy,  because I'm treated with such welcoming gestures, I catch myself throwing around with shoes and bags (all kind of mess I could possibly make), like I would do it at home in Myrup. Every day I'm buggling with my mind over the possibilities of showing a gesture, who would ever reflect my gratitute and the big importance this family has to me. Especially in a time where I'm far from my danish home and consanguineous blood relatives. 

This was one out of many intries that shows moments from Recreio. I got to try and start somewhere. It's hard to know where to start in a story which actually could be very extended. So it's gonna be in etapes.
These picture are delayed around 2 months, thus they're shot in the beginning of Recreio at a churrasco (barbecue/grill) because of farthers day (whenever a possibility of making churrasco appears, you take it). 

  ;) 

xx Alona