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Brazil! This place has been on my list for quite some time. I’ve printed out the visa application at least 3 times and just never managed to get here. It took having a wonderful friend move here to finally get me organized with a plane ticket…
So here I am, in Anne’s apartment in Sao Paulo, having just gone for a morning jog in the park, freshly showered and enjoying the sweet sounds of a huge city under perpetual construction blown in with the tropical summer breeze.
If you’ve traveled in semi-developing countries, you can imagine what it’s like. Anne lives in a really upscale neighborhood, but there is still trash all over the street and homeless people sleeping in the park. It’s the same around the world, a handful of people willing to pay a lot of money to live in a place that people from Western Europe or the US would consider very sub-par.
I had an interesting conversation yesterday with some Brazilians about globalization. “We’re hot shit right now,” they informed me. “Everyone comes to Brazil and thinks they will become a millionaire, thinks they can come here and take over the world.” Well, Brazil is hot right now, just like Russia and China. A fast-growing middle class, lots of natural resources, and a relatively stable government make this a pretty easy target for international business development. What my afternoon caipirinha companions were concerned about, however, is losing their “Brazillian-ness” to the hands of international corporate manipulation. I think this is a completely fair concern! What fun would it be if you could come to Brazil (or any other country, for that matter) and all of the services, products, etc., were the same as they are in the country you just left? Perhaps to someone with a really vested monetary interest in successful business, this would indeed be ideal. But what happens when an entire nation disappears into cultural oblivion? It could happen.
So anyway, I’m here in Sao Paulo with Anne, really just taking it easy. There are lots of fun streets to explore with the requisite adorably charming cafes (fresh fruit juices, strong coffee, and newly-baked pastries seeming to be the primary staples), interesting shops, and pleasantly surprising parks along the way. I can see why she simultaneously loves and is infuriated by living here. It is chaotic, hardly anything is reliable, but it is, at the same time, creative, relaxed, and indulgent. Take the good with the bad? Absolutely.
One thing I always got frustrated with living in foreign countries is that there is often a lack of obvious options. When you’re looking for something specific (let’s take an easy one, bacon, for example), you have to take what you can get. Literally. The US is a land built on the notion of having lots of options. Sometimes so many options present themselves that it’s overwhelming and we long for simpler times. But do we mean that?
One way I’m having options here is that my New York Friend and I agreed to see other people. I think that’s perfect timing, given my current location for the forthcoming holidays! Not that this means we won’t still see each other (we will), but it means that it seems unrealistic to start an intense monogamous relationship long distance between 2 people in such independently transitional states of life. Best of both worlds, check!
We fly to Bahia on Friday for a week at the beach in what I’ve been told are two of the most relaxing seaside towns, Trancoso and Caraiva. Sun, water, yoga, horses, fresh foods, and drool-worthy hot Brazlian men on vacation. What is not to love?
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Nueva ME 
Have a great time, but do try to tell each other when it’s time to wipe the drool off your mouth. Merry Christmas, you two!!
Comment by Anonymous December 20, 2011 @ 2:47 pm