Brazil - Who knew?

5. Portuguese is a curious language! I knew it was similar to various other romance languages, but I didn't realize what a mixture of vocabulary  from Spanish, French and Italian that it had! Generally it is closest to Spanish, so a lot of words are very similar but may be pronounced differently. Then there are words that are completely different! 

English : dog.  Spanish: perro. Portuguese: cachorro.  (What the?!)

English : window.  Spanish: ventana. Portuguese: janela.

English : to forget.  Spanish: olvidar. Portuguese: esquecer.

And on and on.

Here are some French similarities:

English: waiter.  Portuguese: garçom.

English: vegetables.  Portuguese/French:légumes

And many more.

Italian Similarities?

English: I can.  Portuguese/Italian: Posso.

English: 'Bye.  Portuguese: Tchau. Italian: Ciao.

there are more I can't think of them right now!

See links below for 

1) a Comprehensive History of the Portuguese Language

2) Some differences between Spanish & Portuguese

Favelas, Baile Funks & Fotografia.

I may have mentioned to some that we had attended a festa in Rocinha, one of Rio's largest favelas. We thought it was going to be a baile funk - meaning a big neighbourhood party in some sort of gym or empty lot of sorts where  funk carioca music would be played, attended by many, and put on by local drug gangs.

Well anyway, it was a smaller party in a kindergarten to raise money for the kids I presume who attended the kindergarten. We went with a bunch of people from my Portuguese Class. First we went to Favela Babilonia near Copacabana to have a drink at our Danish classmate's place - I understand the hit flick 'Tropa de Elite' was filmed there! Anyways, after a subway ride and some walking and climbing the hill to Favela 1, we took a 'combi' which is a small privately owned white van that transports people along various routes. This took us as far as the foot of Rocinha, and from there we needed to take 'Mototaxis' - which is just as it sounds - taxis in the form of motorcycles which usually transports someone up hills and narrow alleys etc. It was a thrilling and exciting way to see Rocinha by night; as we whizzed past (there were 6 of us!) we saw bars open to the street, pool halls, stores, children playing, other motorcycles going by, general friday night life in this favela of about 200,000 people! Sounds and smells (not always good!) and lights saturating your mind as you are holding on for dear life (btw - you're only supposed to hold on to the back of the seat behind you, it is not common to hold onto the driver). Basically lots to take in!

The party was fun, lots of foreigners there actually, and many in costume for Halloween. Highlights of the party were the kids dancing on a nearby roof (really well actually!), and the kids down on the street as well, dancing quite promiscuously I must say, to the heavy pounding beats of the baile funk!

Getting back was similar, although more difficult to find mototaxis, and we were advised not to walk far from the party as foreigners in a favela at five in the morn. is not exactly the best idea. Anyhoo, we got back safe and sound, and we had only seen 1 guy (not police) with a machine gun on a motorcycle going by.

Below I have linked a website to some pix by a Brazilian Photographer called Pedro Lobo, who has done much work on Favelas. Check them out, they are quite beautiful.


Pedro Lobos Favela Photography

Lastly, tomorrow I go with an American friend (another classmate!) to her photography class that she is teaching in Rocinha. Should be pretty fun to hang out with some Brazilian kiddie-winks and try and teach something about photography in Portuguese! Will report back about how it went!

xx S xx O xx U xx L xx

After six weeks, it finally seems new humans are conquering the moat surrounding our Castle of Solitude (Thanks to Jasmine's portuguese class!). There are phone numbers now stored in the memory of the cell phone that lead to social situations when called. Playing sports at the beach no longer consists of kicking a ball into the ocean and watching it drift away, alone, to nowhere. Basically...it has led to conversations and the sentiment of wishing to craft tunes rather than stitch together the handiwork of others.

So this mix will be one of two offerings for the next while. The hour has come to refocus the energy canons at activities which do not reside on the web (except for Skyping family and ensuring fresh blog posts hither n' thither). The first mix was to be a big dose of reggae & dancehall, but upon the discovery that Jamiroquai had a new album, hearing 'Fool For You' off the new Cee Lo album and being impressed by John Legend/The Roots take on some soul classics...this melange of tunes was born. As this is a Brazil-centered blog, of course some tracks have been included to satisfy that component in the form of Dom Salvador & Tom Ze!

Xxsxxoxxuxxlxx by Mogpaws on Mixcloud

New Pix! October in Rio!

Afternoon in Centro do Rio

Yesterday James and I had arranged to meet each other outside a Metro Station in the Centro of the city. With 1 cell phone, and unfamiliar metro exits, I always anticipate missing the other person. Although James waited inside for me and I waited outside, we were finally able to find each other, and the afternoon adventure began. The objective was to get James' CV printed, and to find some sort of Halloween costume for the Baile funk we will be attending Saturday in Rocinha. We were able to find some fantastic hats (pix to be posted post-party), and a print shop. That left some time to do some aimless wandering - my favourite!

We stumbled upon an area we had been to before, at night when it was pretty deserted and sketchy. The area is called 'Travessa Commercio' and it is around some lovely old museums (CCBB),and the Praca quinze Novembre. Tucked away on a bunch of small streets were numerous little bars and restaurants where people go to have a bite /evening drink after work. Think Ciutat Vella in Barcelona, if you have ever been there. Anyways, definitely right up my alley (pardon the pun!) There's just something about old, narrow streets and dining/drink in open air that I love. We will definitely return for sure!

Another pleasant suprise on the walk towards our bus stop, to take us back up to the hills of Santa Teresa, was a cute shop /farmacia on Rua Primeiro de Março.  Granado Pharmacia /coupled with Phebo Perfumaria are two Brazilian companies founded in 1870, and 1930 respectively. Granado Pharmacia offers all sorts of wonderful smelling, natural bath & body products with many ingredients native to Brazil. Phebo Perfumaria, from the city of Belem, in the heart of the Amazon, has various perfumes, lotions, candles and diffusers, again with interesting scents and combinations that are uniquely Brazilian. Think light, flowery, delicate scents. According to the website, Phebo is a cherished Brazilian perfume brand that generations of Brazilians use. Did I mention that the design of the packaging, branding and store   for both Granado and Phebo is gorgeous,  colourful, and  reminiscent of a nineteenth century apothecary?! I will certainly be going back to purchase presents to for myself and others!

Granado/Phebo has 3 locations in Rio de Janeiro:

Pharmácia do LavradioRua do Lavradio, 32 Lapa - RJ Tel: (21) 2224-8640

Pharmácia do Centro Rua Primeiro de Março, 16  Centro - RJ Tel: (21) 3231-6746 / (21) 3231-6747

Pharmácia do Leblon  Rua General Artigas 470, Loja A Leblon - RJ Tel: (21) 3231-6759 / (21) 2512-5066

<http://www.granado.com.br/>

<http://www.phebo.com.br/>

Rio in the eyes of the Terminator

For those of you who missed it when we posted this on facebook, here it is again in all it's glory: Arnold's trip to Rio circa 1970-something - classic, corny and creepy! Enjoy!

Brazil - Who knew?

3. I know I had heard this before, but here in Rio and I guess in Brazil in general, one must  queue for everything! Case in point :  you form a line at a 'cashier' to get a ticket printed out, and then you get into another line to get your order - this goes for fast food places, bars/clubs, even in shops!

4. Number four is related to 3 - in Rio, you don't need to have exact change or a pass to get on; besides the driver there is usually a cashier who you pay and they make change for you then - although anything over R20 reis (12 US/CAD dollars) seems to be too high to break.

So, today's post in a nutshell, is about peculiar, different ways of doing things, that takes a bit of time getting used to;  at least the way they do it here twice/three times as many people have jobs!

The PercPan Festival! Oi! Casa Grande, Rio de Janeiro

     The only guy we knew in Brasil before we arrived, just from Facebook, is a DJ, music collector & bang up fellow who told us about the PercPan festival (http://percpan.com/) one evening when we were watching an afrobeat concert at Circo Voador (in Lapa). When he mentioned all the groups that were going to be there, the mind couldn't handle it, grew unstable and exploded. Several hours later, consciousness came back and we were naked in the jungle. It then sunk in that we'd be able to see Orchestra Poly-Rythmo, Novalima, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Kocani Ochestar, Buraka Som Sistema and a bunch of other groups we'd never heard of all at the same festival.

     Perhaps this means nothing to you, that's okay. But as an audio nerd who ear-snorts tunes like the most seasoned addict dishes cocaine to their nostrils, this was a line up that produced insane levels of excitement and anticipation. There's no time to give you the backstory on all of the groups, but we grabbed a little footage of Orchestra Poly Rythmo de Cotonou (Benin) & Kočani Orkestar (Macedonia) with our wee camera. That footage was uploaded to Youtube and can now be viewed below.

     We were most excited about Orchestra Poly-Rythmo, a group that was massive in Benin in the 70s but got rediscovered by European Djs & collectors in the last few years and now enjoys new found popularity among african, funk & jazz enthusiasts all over the globe. It would be an honour to discuss all of the groups in great detail, but to keep it short, we'll just mention Letieres Leite & Orkestra Rumpilezz. This is an orchestral samba group from Brasil that was unfamiliar to us prior to the festival, but ended up being one of the best shows. It had about 20 members led by saxophonist Letieres Leite and the arrangements they played so tightly totally educated me on what this country can sound like. The only sad part is that we haven't found a record, CD or digital file of their music. Hopefully this is rectified soon.

Rio landmark's one claim to fame is being featured in a Snoop Dogg Video!

Who remembers this little diddy?! Beautiful- Snoop Dogg & Pharrell - twas a catchy tune! I especially like the intro. when Snoop is talking on the phone. Did ya know we are staying about 2 minutes away from these renowned tiled steps they sit on in the video? These are called 'Escaleras de Selaron', and they are just that - The set of steps by an eccentric Chilean artist by the name of Selaron, who has been painting and tiling the stairs as his life's art project for the past 20 years. See his mug below. Who wouldn't give for a moustache like that!

Seleçoes Da Samba! DJ mix

What kind of half-assed DJ living in Brazil wouldn't sew together a mix to send off the ship that is

their blog? Twould be madness! Thus, with a click at your leisure, you may absorb a compilation of no fewer (or greater) than 17 songs to get immersed in the musicgasm that this place has produced.

Predominantly Samba, Brazilian Funk, MPB, Tropicalia, Batucada & Jazz from the 70s, but with a sprinkling of other treats from the country also.  To save space, all of the track names can be found on the mixcloud website (http://www.mixcloud.com/mogpaws)

The sound snippets in the earlier stages of the selections are clips from political parties promoting themselves that were on the radio just before the Oct.3rd election (No affiliation with our political beliefs) and the later sound clips are from a great film called Estomago that we borrowed from the great people renting us our apartment.

Some of the names will be familiar, but there was lots of digging for these and so hopefully there's a lot of material that you Brazillophiles haven't yet encountered. I can't think of a country more skilled at incorporating sounds from outside their borders....can you?

peace!

Simmer Down: Seleçoes Da Samba by Mogpaws on Mixcloud