Adventures by the Dozen!

Well, it's been quite a while since I've posted! I think that means I'm having fun :) Now, lets recap (this is a little long, if you want read half now and save the other half for the next time you're wondering if I've gotten around to posting yet):

1. Museums!
São Paulo is the New York of Brazil, and the museums did not disappoint. MASP, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, had a number of neat exhibits going on, including the modernist Bible interpretations of Candido Portinari, one of the most famous Brazilian painters, and an epic display on the history of the portrait. The Museu de Arte Sacra was a fascinating tour Christian art over the last 4 centuries, mostly from Portugal and Brazil, though there was an incredible display of Nativity scenes from around the world. I was fascinated by the many sculptures of St. Anthony (I think...) holding the baby Jesus in one hand and a cross in the other. Baby Jesus and the cross... Lastly I got to see the Museu Afro-Brasil, a gigantic museum documenting the history of African culture in Brazil, with some of the most powerful art I have ever seen. Particularly the photographer Walter Firmo is worth checking out!

2. Sé

This massive cathedral in the old center of São Paulo was just like the cathedrals I've seen in Europe. I guess I've never really been to cathedrals in the States, perhaps they're the same...Anyway it was amazing to see, and then to walk around the old center to see the immense variety of architecture used over the last 400 years here, and PoMo blend of ancient churches, capoeira dancers, juice bars, and infinite street hawkers celling cheap plastic crap.

3. CCSP

The Centro Cultural de São Paulo was quite a find on my second to last day in the city. I went to see a play (see #4) but got so much more! If I lived in São Paulo, CCSP is where I'd be...There's a big library downstairs, and a whole bunch of open area upstairs with a cafe, tables, etc. In one section are the chess players (including one blind player who had a really neat special board so that he could rub his hands over all the pieces at once without knocking them over). Then, interspersed throughout the rest were, get this, Role-Players! Dungeons and Dragons! That's right! It was Brazilian geek heaven. Top it off with the theater crowd that night, and clearly it was my scene...

4. The Play!

It was called 650 Mil Horas (650 thousand hours), which is the average life expectancy for Brazilians (72 years, I think). It was billed as part of a mime festival, and I was quite excited about the philosophy of the studio that was putting it on, because of the emphasis on the body and physical theater. Unfortunately the good stuff was in Portuguese (which I understand about 25% of) and the physical theater felt fairly amateurish. But it was a great experience, and I wish I could have seen more theater in São Paulo, it's supposed to be the best in Brazil.

5. Unitarian Universalists

I don't remember why (I think it was in a conversation with my mom), but before I came I looked up on the UUA (Unitarian Universalist Associate, for those non-believers out there, wink-wink, nudge-nudge) website, and saw that there was a Brazilian UU group in São Paulo. Well, I remembered this while I was in São Paulo, and managed to get in contact through...drumroll...their Listserve! That's right, they have a thriving yahoo listserve! I took the train to meet up with them in a suburb (of course) of São Paulo, where I participated in a New Years ritual (typically a week after New Years) with 5 UUs. It was remarkable just how UU it was. Like, from the ritual itself--which included singing Come, Come and Go Now in Peace in Portuguese, writing things to let go of on paper and burning them, and the lay leader's reflection on New Years--to the fact that in the couple who were hosting us, the man was a computer nerd and his wife was an herbalist, former tarot reader, and that the lay leader explained to me that they were more esoteric and new age, and that he and Bruno, the other lay leader, were more humanist. And our conversations outside of the ritual? Science fiction and board games. It was clear that I shared more culture through our common religion (however that happened...) than I do with many Americans...

6. Back to Rio!

I took an overnight bus back to Rio, where it was delight to reconnect with my little community here. I spent a few nights sleeping the hammock, a few days reading and lying on the beach, and used CouchSurfing.com to find the next adventures!

7. River Rafting in Petrópolis

I wasn't sure that I was going to go until 15 minutes before I left. I threw my stuff in a bag and rushed down the hill to meet a bunch of strangers from the internet, jump in their car, and drive an hour and a half up to Petrópolis, a beautiful rolling town outside of Rio. Me and about 15 other couchsurfers crashed in one generous couple's house, then woke up early the next morning to drive out to the Trés Rios meeting point. We were served breakfast, suited up, and bussed out to our starting point. 

After the truck with the boats got stuck in the mud, we hopped into the river a little early. The rapids were smaller than the times I've gone in California and Oregon, but it felt a whole lot more dangerous. In part maybe because the guide was speaking Portuguese, in part because the river was deceptively strong, and mostly I think because there were low-hanging trees on both banks and often in the middle of the river, and we were continually ramming into them as if on purpose. But despite getting sucked the wrong way several times, getting stuck in a few different trees, two of our crew getting stung by hornets, and a rain storm finale, we finally made back to our starting point and were served a hot lunch. Well worth it!

7. Cachaça Room

Ok, it doesn't really deserve it's own entry, but at the river rafting place was a room full of cachaça bottles, and some to try. Couldn't resist the photo op :)

8. Pizza

Way cool pizza place that night. For a fixed price, you eat all the pizza you want. The waiters just keep coming around with different types of pizzas, and give you a slice of whichever ones you want. While most of them, of course, have mounds of meat on top, they had a few that don't, including Rúcula, arugula with sundried tomatoes, which has become my favorite thing to eat here.

9. Serra dos Órgãos

The next day we went hiking in this extraordinary rainforest national park. It had the grandeur of Yosemite but a 100 times greener.

Our hike culminated in getting to a gorgeous waterfall. Classic travel experience accomplished!

10. The Ride Back

This was maybe the scariest car ride I have ever taken. That whole, it was a dark and stormy night thing...Well, it was definitely dark, but I don't think stormy really gets at the experience of torrential rain constantly rendering the windshield opaque while crazy Brazilian drivers swerve around each other on windy hilly roads and freeways without lane markings. Sorry moms!

11. Obama Day

It was a great day to be an American. I saw a couple others, as I ducked into an Irish pub to just miss the inauguration. We'd ask each other, are you american? And then give a long knowing nod when we'd say yes. Everyone, the my brazilian friends, my british housemates, people on the streets, was celebrating the moment, but it was something unique to be an American on that day, to tell Alice, I got to vote for that guy.

12. Sick Weekend, Pressure Cooker

Well, I got sick, with a nasty cold, but I think it might be at the end now. I watched movies (Doubt is excellent!) and listened to my audiobooks (the Twilight books are absolutely terrible!), and bought a pressure cooker to make brazilian style beans with. My first go was fairly successful, but a little overcooked. I'm excited to try again, but we've run out of gas for our camping stove, and we don't yet know how to get more (the original was a gift from a friend). I've got three excited leads on places to work with kids that I'll be pursuing this week, so more on that front soon!

Beijos e Abraços!