The Voice of Brasil

It´s seven o´clock, and Gaby is annoyed again. While driving, she loves listening to the radio. But in Brasilia, every evening from 7-8pm all stations are tuned in to a national news program. The nightly sessions usually consist of a review of the top stories and some clips of Lula and other politicians speaking. The majority of the time, I´m told, the message is pro-government and nationalistic. Coming from the States I was floored by this realization that the entire country is subjected to national hand-fed news when they just want to continue on with their Rhiannon, Ben Harper, and Britney Spears. There´s something unsettling about the lack of competition or competing opinion, as if Fox news were to dominate all tv stations for an hour every evening. Just an observation...

Initial Conversations and the Plano Piloto
This is my third trip to Brasil, so Brasilia is not so new to me. But arriving at night was a first. The city is shaped like an airplane, with wide wings spreading north and south towards corresponding artificial lakes, and the center body and cockpit make up the museums, hotels and government offices and ministries.

I sat next to a poor man on the plane being deported from Philadelphia. He didn´t speak a word of english, but showed me his court papers. I helped him fill out his landing card because he could not read or write, and told him it was ok to take the free food and drinks, and to use the airplane bathrooms. All the while I wondered how the hell he got to the USA if he was so unfamiliar with flying. All I understood was he had been there 2 years. All around us were rich Brazilians returning from their visits to the States. I´m guessiung about 30% of them were playing with their new iPhones.

Brasilia was contructed from nothing in the 1950´s, part of a plan to move the capital from Rio de Janeiro inland, drawing the seat of government and related businesses and services to a new area to create another urban center. It is about 2 hours by plane from Rio or Sao Paulo.

The famous, communist-influenced architect was Oscar Niemeyer, and most of the actual urban planning was done by Lucio Costa, a student of le Corbusier - one of the fathers of architectural modernism in the late twenties and thirties (French). I sat in on a 2 hour architecture history class with Gaby at UnB about modernismo and le Corbusier so I´m up on the styles lately. The basic idea for Brasilia appears to have incorporated the new push for modernism and urbanism and the automobile. Modernism style strips the roofs off buildings, demands horizontal windows and a body structure raised on pillars, like stilts. It minimizes ornamentation and gives buildings that boxy look, except for curved pieces on the top floors. Nearly everything here was designed that way, and then of course there are the futuristic churches and bridges, the dramatic, long rows of ministries leading up to the National Congress, and the artificial bodies of water that flank the city. The streets are planned out perfectly, every neighborhood set aside and zoned for residential and commercial sections, with ample parks and chain grocery stores. People know where they are going based on numbers and letters. There are few if any traffic lights, because it is all circles and minor highways that connect everything,and traffic is usually light.

The problem, then, is that there are no social centers except the malls. People do not congregate much except for planned outings to restaurants and classes and festivals. And each residential section is largely self-sefficient - at first glance each section looks identical, so why venture beyond your neighborhood? The city is not walkable, although there is a limited subway service. People complain about poor bus service.

After a few nights in town and a few more on Gaby´s farm outside the city, we met some friends for drinks and pizza. They are both designers like Gaby, and we talked a lot about Brasilia and bureacracy, etc. It can be difficult to make friends here because of the urban planning issues, and also because it is a center for government jobs so most people are recent or temporary transplants from the coast. Like the States, government jobs are sought after for their cushy benefits and guaranteed job security. Everyone seems to be preparing for this or that government test to land a better job. It is a quiet, secure, and very safe life here.

Descansar

My first week has been fantastic. I´ve been off the internet, reading and writing and studying Portuguese, attending classes with Gaby and meeting friends. It has been so great to see how talented Gaby is as an architect and designer. She is taking a variety of courses in landscaping, lighting, art and architecture history, thermal environment or something, etc. We drink exotic juices, eat glorious lunches of fine steak and beans and rice and salads and deserts. We watch the latest pirated movies and circle the city until sunset. Winter here is about 80 degrees during the day and 50 at night. No rain so far.

I´ve been finshing up Freakonomics (thank you Doyle), and I have particularly enjoyed the economics of crack drug dealing in the Chicago projects and the debunking of proper parenting myths regarding education and child-rearing. On my iPod I listen to Pimsleur Portuguese lessons and some new music - Band of Horses came highly recommended by my brother. It is sort of like listening to the Shins with a country twang.

Gaby´s mother is my Portuguese instructor here. Sometimes she feels like a mentor in life as well. She is a psychologist, is currently studying law, and is very spiritual as well. We talk a lot about political theory and compare systems of government and law (Locke, Hobbes, Machiavelli, Lula, Bush), but also about life and religion and family. I can´t believe it but I am doing quite well with Portuguese. Like my spanish skills, at this point I am understanding the majority of conversations and chiming in in the present tense when I feel confident. Yesterday I talked to a guy for nearly 3 hours, all in Portuguese, about Brazilian food, energy, lifestyle, music, etc. Gaby was working on a calculus-heavy interior design lighting project with a Japanese-Brazilian firend, so I hung out with her husband and toured their property. They have created a very sustainable and environmentally sound lifestyle. They basically only throw away some metal, plastics, and paper; they have a huge compost pile and vegetable garden, some hens that lay their eggs, and live a quiet healthy life in a condominium outside the city.

Out on the Farm

The fazenda is pure bliss, really. If I was terminally ill and closed my eyes, then awoke to see this place I would think I had died and gone to heaven. Gaby´s mother has a small apartment in the city where we are staying, but she splits her time studying law here and then relaxing on her husband´s farm about 40 min away. Fernando is an amazing man. A former engineer for the government, he has transitioned into a full-scale farmer. His main crop is corn, but he houses more than fifty thousand chickens and grows beans, soy, and some fruits like my favorite in the world, maracuja. He took me on a long walk around the farm, explaining the need for good technology to ensure production, the current favorable state of the markets and pricing tied to Chicago trading, and details like the nutrients lost and replaced in the soil when harvesting corn and beans. He wears a wide-brimmed hat, a ratty old t-shirt, classic farmer´s boots, and a frequent smile to match his easy nature and fantastic sense of humor. Last night he sat down with me to design a plan of attack to combat the freezing temperatures in my Baltimore apartment during the winter - something about optimal air circulation and hanging a fan facing upwards...

The actual farm house is a beautiful place, multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, antique farm furniture and a an outdoor pool. It is like the ideal bed and breakfast. There are hammocks everywhere around the porches. Gaby and her mother actually redesigned, painted and decorated a new exterior that looks very professionally done. When it is time to make lemonade, you go pick some lemons. There are trees of starfruit, avocados, tomatoes, there is fresh corn of course and always fresh-squeezed juices. You can just relax, take a swim, maybe meditate or take a long walk. The sunset is unique - I haven´t been here during the ideal months, but the colors are striking and impressive.

Gaby´s mother is also a bit of a cat fanatic. Sort of a side hobby, she raises pure-bred Persian cats, selling some and keeping others. They are beautiful animals, gentle, friendly, and very cute. It´s hard to keep track of how many there are wandering around the farm- maybe 15 at this point - with names likje Chocolate, Marie-Antoinette, and Shika. They let me name one female a while ago, and I chose Buba. The cats receive top treatment, and I feel a bond with them as they are constantly manicured and well fed like me!

This weekend is festival Junina, a traditional farmer´s festival in June with country foods and dancing. Apparently people shed their suits and dress up like farmers in the city, like a halloween tradition. Should be classic.