from Sandy Needham

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Rio-Rio Dispatch

On our way to the USA and home from the USA we stopped in Rio de Janeiro. En route was the second annual reunion of Newton’s high school buddies on beautiful, lush land just beyond Niteroi, Rio’s twin city across Guanabara Bay, where they all lived as teenagers. Amidst the fun and silliness of the four buddies and relatives, the incredible beauty of the forest reached out to me. I happened upon an entire horde of these transparent butterflies, though most went into hiding by the time Newton joined me with his camera.

butterfly 1     butterfly 2

butterfly 3      butterfly 5

We spent two nights in Niteroi with Natal friends Rossana and Cassio, previously of full-moon-boat-with-music on Natal’s big river, great hors d’oeuvres (Rossana) and percussion (Cassio) fame. They moved to Niteroi last November with their daughter Olivia. She goes to a truly happy Paulo Freire school, which I loved visiting. Cassio’s opportunities, as the consummate professional musician that he is, are greatly enhanced in Rio; we await Rossana’s inevitable restaurant there someday!

                                                                                         friends

They live across the road from a mountain. Cassio led us up to catch lovely views of the area:

niteroi hike view       hike

Newt captured more butterflies on film there:

butterfly 4          butterfly 4-a

And what is more beguiling than the beach in late afternoon? Rossana took us to Itaquatiara Beach, Newton’s favorite as a teenager:

Itaquatiara   

Note the nifty maneuvering of this surfer

Dusk brought even more magic on Piratininga Beach:

beach at dusk 1    beach at dusk 2

On our return from the USA, we visited our friend Maria Candida in the Leblon neighborhood, at the end of Ipanema Beach. Maria Candida is THE native Carioca guide to Rio, as she loves being out and about there as much as any tourist! Friday night was spent at Trapiche de Gamboa, a marvelous old, gutted structure with a high, high ceiling and an actual ‘roda de samba,’ – a circle of musicians playing and singing traditional samba.

On Saturday we visited the street scene of the city’s center:

centro      DSC02235

MC and me

We spotted this guy who looks like the model for the villain in the captivating animated film, “Rio,” which we had just seen in LA. Newton tried to get a closer shot of him, but was beginning to seem suspiciously stalkeresque and had to settle for this:

                                                                       villain

We joined a large lunch crowd in the elevated neighborhood of Santa Teresa (where this cable car travels from downtown:)

cable car     waiting

We ate at the charming seafood restaurant we picked out of several choices that curved up a hill. Here Maria Candida joined in with the local talent while we waited for a table.

We went to a beautiful old structure that has a gallery, live jazz, and spectacular views of the city from its significant height.

loaf      blue corcovado

On Saturday night we finally made it to the neighborhood called Lapa, where nightlife reigns (last visit, both Maria Candida and I got sick and we all stayed in). Being jazz-starved, I was particularly happy to end up in a really good jazz venue. The old aqueduct was right outside the club:

 b & w

The ebullience and youthful energy of the Lapa scene engulfed us:

Lapa

I guess I’ll always be in love with Rio, the place where I fell in love with Brazil 30 years ago! Maria Candida was part of that. Let’s hope the city is able to prepare for the soccer World Cup in 2014 (along with other Brazilian cities) and the summer Olympics in 2016. It has lots to repair, build and solve in that short time, though its dramatic physical beauty, urbane energy and samba beat are a siren song…which made great bookends for our California visit with Elise and Jake.

Love,

Sandy

LA Dispatch

Newton and I were very excited to get to Los Angeles and see Elise and Jake, as well as Elise’s new home there. Having lived 29 years in New York, we found plenty of contrasts in LA, the most striking of which was the big, sunny, airy sky and the big, sunny, airy apartment! Because I had barely seen a glimpse of LA since riding on an upside-down bucket between my parents in the front seat of our old Pontiac in ’53, I felt every bit the tourist. As luck would have it, Elise was missing a roommate until our last night (her friend in NY who holds the lease was frantically trying to solve this), so our family stayed in Elise’s apartment together and felt like LA residents, as well.

apt

Jake had already arrived from Las Vegas, so we filled Elise’s parking allotment:

parking

First things first: Trader Joes. ‘Nuff said. EXCEPT, it turns out I DO have to say more…because…I can: have you ever had their chocolate-covered pomegranate seeds?...or their dark chocolate peanut butter cups? Goat cheese with pesto and red pepper spread? There’s so much more to say, but I’ll move on.

Hollywood BlvdWe headed for Hollywood Boulevard and, at last, I saw Grauman’s Chinese Theater and the sidewalks filled with inlaid stars of famous stars. Looking down constantly does not lend itself well to maneuvering on crowded sidewalks, but I did thrill to the film and television memories passing before my eyes. Even though you can’t tell it, we are in front of the Hollywood sign here.

 

 

 

 

 

Next on our priority list was to get started on the Mexican food! There are many choices near Elise, so sometimes we simply chose the restaurant with the $1 taco special that day. Once we discovered the Tex Mex place with barbeque rib tacos, we never cared what day it was again. Here’s the four-straw margarita special:

4 straws

A hike in Runyon Canyon (named for the writer, Damon Runyon), entered just off Mulholland Drive (of David Lynch fame), was the ideal way to experience that big blue sky, views of nature, beautiful homes and the LA skyline, and to begin to appreciate the extent to which perfect-looking people show up around LA. In this case, they had perfect-looking dogs with them. Elise and I especially liked watching Jake and Newton run backwards up part of the return trail, oblivious to the stares from Central Casting. A skywriter was making the most of that huge blue palette:

jettrail

Runyon Canyonhiking

A day at Venice Beach confirmed that New York is utterly sane compared to LA. They were selling bikini tops made of coconuts, sea shells, and athletic cups! Here is where we handily got both Botox and marijuana:

botoxbeach

An incredible athlete wowed the crowd with this feat:

Venice Beach

Elise has been back several times since that day; it is her funky kind of place!

I was pretty cold, especially at night, having believed that the 91° weather Elise mentioned the month prior upon arriving there would still be in effect. I took almost nothing warm, so was delighted to notice a large Goodwill store right around the corner from the apartment. Not only did they have beautiful long-sleeve shirts, sweaters and blazers at Goodwill prices, but everything was in perfect condition and the store was very well-run. I returned for shoes, dresses, belts, and a great ‘50’s table for Elise. Now the rest of my LA shopping experience consisted of an entire afternoon going through the endless, stuffed racks of the Men’s Department at Macy’s to replenish Newton’s wardrobe after some years…and a couple of hours with Jake – the one with the money – at Nordstrom’s at the chic Grove for two pairs of jeans and some shirts for many times the dollars. Just sayin’.

The four of us had time together at Elise’s for Bananagrams, Chinese Checkers, Hearts, shenanigans, even all-night conversation. We had seen the wonderful animated film, “Rio,” at Grauman’s, then just had to watch “Toy Story 3” on Elise’s flat screen, noting that some of the current animated films are far better than the usual fare. We also had a lovely Italian Father’s Day dinner in Santa Monica, temporarily breaking the Mexican streak. e & n

A constant parade of terrific-looking, friendly young women came through the apartment to consider renting the second bedroom. “Awesome” seems to be the most oft-used word at the moment! Most of them would have been decent roommates, but the final decision was Maritza, a lovely UCLA film graduate who works at the Armand Hammer Museum.

And speaking of friendly, I enjoyed joking with the kids that Southern California was partly settled by Okies who arrived during the Dust Bowl. This also explained the way people went out of their way to cross streets only at the crosswalks and only with the ‘walk’ signal (regardless of no traffic), and the early dining, with restaurants closing at 9:00pm.

 

 

 

 

We had the surreal experience of meeting up with our part-time Cotovelo Beach/Pium neighbors, Cleveland, of San Diego (left), and Larry, of LA (right), in Santa Monica. Larry has already come back to Brazil; Cleveland, who generously treated all of us to cocktails and dinner, is expected back in October. Both hope to find a way to stay as permanent residents.

pium-santa monica

My niece, April, had us over for grilled salmon at her home in Woodland Hills, though the real treat at her place is her whole unbelievably adorable family. Ryan is 7, a natural athlete, sweet, smart; did I say handsome?                                                                                              Here is Marty creating his grill magic:

Ryansalmon

Addie is 5-1/2, personable in a completely disarming way, and quite fond of Jake! We took them a favorite book from Elise and Jake’s childhood, Hailstones and Halibut Bones, a fabulous book about colors, which Addie ended up reading expertly to us!

Jake & AddieHailstones

After our 11 days together in LA, Jake returned to Las Vegas (with the queen-size blow-up mattress) and Newton headed to a trade show in San Diego. Elise and I joined him the next evening, blowing in from LA with the top down. Downtown San Diego is really well-planned, and despite some parking challenges, we loved walking around there. Both evenings had fancy trade show parties, one on the top floor terrace of a skyscraper, overlooking Petco Park while a Padres game was in session.

Petco field

The next day Elise and I visited the famous San Diego zoo. It is really something special, even with many of the animals out of sight in their little caves or bushes. Watching the panda chewing on his bamboo was a highlight.

panda 2flamingoes

Our last night was back in LA, Newton now on the sofa and me in Elise’s room while Maritza got settled in the second bedroom. Elise was busy with all sorts of jobs she had dug up, many utilizing her professional graphic design and videography skills. She has recently been a regular at the Jonas Group offices, both shooting and editing video footage of the artists they manage, and this makes her very happy!

Time to get back to the rainy season in Natal.

Love,

Sandy

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

BRAZIL DISPATCH 33

Our ‘autumn’ in Natal ushered in the rainy season, which does not mean incessant rain for months, but unpredictable rain at any time. The world gets truly green, as well as our clothes and shoes in the closets. One challenge of the season is to keep in mind exactly what has been set out to receive bright, intermittent sun so one can race to retrieve it when the sudden showers arrive. I find myself often half-awakened in the night by an onslaught, foggily wondering if Newton’s loafers are still on the ledge outside…or not? Laundry presents its own set of problems with no dryer…let’s just say we went to bed with clean, damp sheets. The occasional days with completely bright sun and blue skies are typified by everyone being quite happy – the way New Yorkers get on the early, odd spring day.

The event of the season was a four-celebrant birthday party – one of them being Newton – with our ex-pat friends. The host, John, a Brit from Madeira, went all out with tents (just in case), a two-man bar, an espitinho man (little kabobs), a man on grilled steak duty and a DJ. We contributed a keg of draft beer and more food. It was a night to remember!

DSC01916

Here is our friend Ali (Turkey), whom I met in my Portuguese class, and his wife, Priscilla (from the south of Brazil). He is a researcher and she a professor, both in ecology at the federal university here…they are FUN!:

Ali & Priscilla

Our friend Lauren (Brooklyn, NY), is in Natal on a Fulbright grant and is also in my Portuguese class:

                                                 Lauren

Here are birthday girl Bella (British), friends Michelle (Montreal), Luciana (Natal) and Darius (Persian British):birthday ladies

Luciana had recently been in London at the same time as Darius. They went to a wild night spot complete with a snake handler. Luciana held the snake while someone snapped the camera, but as she looked away, the python BIT her in the eye and cheek with its fangs. She had to have two surgeries and almost lost the eye. Here she is nearly completely recovered with barely any evidence – hats off to the British surgeon!

                                                                         Sandy&Newton

Unfortunately, a week ahead of the party I had slipped in the shower and hit the right back of my ribs on the low barrier enclosing the shower. While I bruised the ribs (at least), the worst pain came from muscle spasms that shot down the right side of my back. By the time of Newton’s party, I could dance, and loved cutting the rug – especially old rock-n-rollin’ – with Newton. I believe my spasm-shortened right side is what caused us to NOT connect hands on a particularly risky swing to “Wake Up, Little Susie” (after all those years of NOT landing in the middle of the band on these moves). Alas, I fell backwards, trying to catch myself with my already challenged, congenitally weak wrists. It was a short fall, me being close to the ground height-wise, but my wrists hurt afterwards. Though I applied ice from the bar till we went home at 4:00am, I awoke to a very swollen and blue left wrist on Sunday morning. Off we went to get X-rays, planning to check out the back ribs while we were at it. After five hours at our so-called ‘better’ private insurance hospital, it turns out I didn’t break anything! Our friend Ali felt compelled to theorize, being a scientist, and concluded that rock-n-roll is more dangerous than osteoporosis! I sadly had to adapt two of my five Tibetan yoga poses that were already challenging to the wrists, but have steadily regained most of the practical use one needs moment to moment. I just HATE injuries.

I presented Newton with one of those amazing Nespresso machines for his birthday, which some friends brought back from London for me, along with 50 capsules of various types of espresso. I would say this is the closest to a science that something as arbitrary as making a great cup of espresso can get, and Newton is a huge espresso devoté. The machine from London and the capsules cost exactly one third of the price in São Paulo, where Brazilian import duties are prohibitive. We are loving the espresso.

Newton and I went to a new place that opened up just across the street from our beloved Buraco da Catita, called Consulado Bar. This very interesting old building was literally the Italian consulate during World War II, when there was an American/Allied base right here in Natal. The owner of the building has an extensive collection of WWII memorabilia, including fantastic old posters hanging in the restaurant from the US (‘Loose lips sink ships’), Britain, and Russia. There is an old photo of Franklin D. Roosevelt in Natal, as well as aerial photos of the base. The big surprise comes with the floor tiles in a foyer:

Consulado Bar

Those damn Fascists.

Here are some of my friends who gathered one evening at our neighborhood Zen Bar to send Mary, an American from the next beach town, off to her second extended stay in India. From left to right are Glades, of Nigerian fishermen fame – she’s the one who helped them for months – and she has since moved to Florianopolis in the south of Brazil, being from the south herself; Neuma, a native Potiguar who owns Zen Bar along with her Sardinian husband; me; Mary; Julie, a Brit who teaches English here; and Jennifer, an American who is in graduate school in linguistics here. It is highly unusual to have three Americans in one space in Natal!

                               Ladies at Zen Bar

My Portuguese for Foreigners class, free at the federal university on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, has been quite difficult this semester. While it is common for Brazilians to use the proper words without knowing why…without learning the rules exactly, Newton has been particularly surprised to see all the rather formal items that we have been taught. I’d like to speak better and understand better, pure and simple, but it helps to know the names of things in order to learn them, so the route, particularly to grammar, is a circuitous one. The verbs, which are famous for being difficult, are nearly impossible for one whose short-term memory fails her regularly! I have to re-learn the irregular verbs over and over, pining for the good memory of my youth.

Here are the conjugations of VER (to see) and VIR (to come), for example:

I see/you, he, she sees                                     I saw/you, he, she saw                                        Note: three words:

we see/you, they see                                        we saw/you, they saw                                          see, sees, saw

vejo/vê                                                            vi/viu

vemos/vêem                                                     vimos/viram                                                       Note: eight words

Now for VIR:

venho/vem                                                        vim/veio

vimos/vêm                                                        viemos/vieram                                                  Note: seven more words

I came and I saw, but I did not conquer. Note how ‘we saw’ (past) and ‘we come’ (present) are the same? This is just the tip of the iceberg. Don’t even think about the imperfect, past perfect, the subjunctive present and past, the future, future conditional, past participle, etc. One needs to memorize and remember.

The course sometimes adds an additional afternoon with a Brazilian movie with Portuguese subtitles to help us. I find the spoken and written words often going by in a blur. I need more conversations, more immersion…which means it would be helpful if our caretaker and his wife – the people I speak to every day - spoke proper Portuguese, which they don’t (I finally learned that when she says “bichinho” – ‘little animal,’ she means ‘thing”); or if Newton spoke Portuguese with me, which he never has (not that his is exactly correct after 29 years abroad); or if I watched more Brazilian TV, which I dislike; or if I were more ambitious, which I’m not; or if I had not forsworn the entire notion of ‘should’ when I moved here, which I did, after a lifetime of ‘should.’ In the meantime, my Portuguese is improving, and I wouldn’t trade my English-speaking friends for the world, one of whom is Marcelo, the director of the program at the university, who also loves to speak English!

Newton walked around the block by the beach here and picked these colorful flowers for my Mother’s Day bouquet, arranged them like an expert, then made breakfast with the - are you ready?... American style bacon we had just discovered at a store here. It was a beautiful breakfast, and I am extremely lucky.

Mother's Day Bouquet          Mother's Day Breakfast

Elise spent the spring in New York preparing for her move to Los Angeles by cleaning out, selling, donating, packing, shipping, good-bye partying and catching a plane. She already had an apartment waiting because a friend of hers in NYC holds the lease. She pulled all of it off with some help from her friends, bought a used Bug convertible, and was awaiting our upcoming visit.

                                         Elise house & car

Jake was on a trip to Europe when the US Justice Department decided to close down the three biggest online gambling sites. Even though he was in Madrid at the time, his accounts were now frozen American accounts, so were inoperable there, as well as subsequently in Prague, Berlin and Amsterdam. The Justice Department was ostensibly going after the off-shore companies for finding ways to get money into and out of the sites in the USA, which had previously been prohibited, but it seems the real reasons behind this infringement of freedoms has to do with the formidable domestic gambling interests who wish to overtake on-line gaming. Until it is reinstated by way of the powers that be, it helps that Jake has a European Union passport (Italian via Newton’s great-grandfather), which now allows him to play Texas Hold-em poker from foreign shores.

As the rains increased in Natal, Newton and I took off for the USA, west coast only this time.

Love,

Sandy

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