Brazil Dispatch 34

We are all tucked in under the mosquito net, it’s after midnight. We hear…a cowbell? Out to the balcony to investigate: oh. Six cows ambling along our road, unattended. Except three of them are on the inside of the coconut field fence, three outside, and there’s no access we know of to the inside of the field from that direction. They seemed puzzled themselves by this fence between them, but we figured they would all meet up at the highway, so returned to bed as the cowbell faded.

Other sounds that pierce the rhythmic white noise of the ocean here: a migrating bird that sounds like the tea kettle going off (I always head towards the tea kettle, confused); stray cats who have screeching 2:00am arguments over who rules our yard; the ingenious roving vehicles with speakers blasting all the daily specials at the grocery store (too blurry to understand); the distant security alarm of an anonymous house beyond the coconut field which goes off over and over for the duration, lasting a whole day and night; the loud, cackling laughter from our caretaker’s cottage, which is Eliselma – our twice-a-week maid – reacting to the dubious humor of Brazilian television all evening (I feel like Jane Eyre!); oh…and additional wonderful birdsongs - always passing through; the whisper of breeze; rain; the whoosh of strong winds. No lasting complaints, really!

The rainy season ended pretty abruptly mid-July and the windy season kicked in, though we have some perfect summery days with just mild breezes, occasional rain, some cool evenings, and days with all of the above! About now is the mid-point of winter, and we actually wore our warm PJ’s once when it got to around 67°, but by 3:00am it was hot and we had to give up on that idea. Our plants are green and healthy from the rainy months, and soon we will power wash all the dark, puddle-stained areas of our beautiful stones and paint the house trim, just like spring up north!

We took a three-day trip with friends to Serra do São Bento, a place in the interior of our state, Rio Grande do Norte. When we moved almost 5 years ago, we drove to Natal from Ceará along a forbidding highway landscape and had never seen any other part of our state since. I must now attest to its beauty. As we approached the São Bento area, we all had the same reaction to the other-worldly landscape of green rolling hills and the mounds of rock rising randomly out of them: alien.

 

Our lovely motel had the great view above, and very expensive bad food and service. It is a disquieting clash when these places try to be sophisticated, but rely on the innocents from the interior to pull that off…totally unfair to both the helpers and the customers. But I woke up to the amazing fragrance of fresh herva doce – licorice – wafting over our balcony from the myriad plants around, and I savored the view and aroma while doing my yoga.

The highlight of the trip was a side excursion to the national park called Pedra da Boca (Rock of the Mouth) on the border with the next state south (Paraíba):

                                            A guide led us past the Pedra da Caveira (Skull Rock):                                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

We passed so many types of plants, trees and wildflowers, my father’s little verse called ‘Hawaii’ kept coming to mind:

I’m glad it’s not my duty

To identify the beauty.

Everyone but Hian and me got rigged up in order to rope their way down a rock mound. I found a resting spot:

From left: Ana Paula (S. of Brazil), Jesseli, her daughter with Hian (Singapore-not pictured), Rob Hofman (Australia), Newton, Rob’s wife Samantha (London). Newt descending.

 

                        We saw old petroglyphs (no one knows their age):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time we headed back towards the parking lot it was absolutely sluicing rain. Unfortunately, I have no photos of our bedraggled group slogging along in the mud, stopping sopping wet under a kind woman’s porch overhang to wring out wraps and wait for Hian to arrive with the car…because our cameras would have been ruined!

A couple of local, very local haunts supplied us with very local fare for lunches (also mixed reviews, but no refinancing necessary). En route home we stopped for lunch at a former train station in Nisia Floresta, not far from Natal, where the beauty, good food, good service and prices were all in perfect balance! The colonial architecture is lovely (the train ran between Recife and Fortaleza until 20 years ago). To our surprise, they sell a guaraná (Brazilian fruit soft drink) named ‘Jesus’ here, no kidding:

 

In the meantime, we have been staying home more than usual, something that makes me supremely happy, as I am as enamored of my home as ever. Newton has finally taken up tennis again after five years, so is supremely happy, too, with his two lessons-plus-free play per week. I am on break from my Portuguese classes, so never need to know what day it is! The second semester will start at the federal university on September 12^th, which means I can further procrastinate cleaning out our walk-in closet, as I made the start of classes my deadline. I have also been laid low for a week with a stomach virus, missing my favorite foods and impersonating a slug and a lug. Surprisingly enough, the 12 exquisite oysters, martini and chocolate mousse at Hian’s restaurant the other night made me feel like myself again!

 

 

 

 

Our son Jake lost a bet and was required to play in the women’s Texas Hold’em tournament, one of the events around the annual World Series of Poker Tournament in Las Vegas…in drag. It was probably a good thing that he did not win!…(though by Nevada law, tournaments cannot be exclusive.)

He also played in the main event of the WSP for the fourth year, lasting till the third day. He just returned from Mexico, where online play is possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elise is in heaven with too much professional work in LA. She is currently under contract with the Jonas Group, shooting and editing all sorts of fun things for their teen website, including an interview with the stupendously friendly and funny Dolly Parton! She also has some free-lance graphic design work. Elise felt like she had really arrived in LA when she stopped at a stoplight in her little convertible and Demi Lovato - a teen star she had accompanied as videographer on two South American tours – rolled down the darkened window of a limo in the next lane and called out, “Elise!”

I cannot imagine a luckier person than I, even with my petty complaints about the third world. Guess I would have a few of those if I were in the USA right now, anyway! What nonsense, our absurd Congress, and our being decimated by greed. Speaking of third world, I’m here if you need any tips in the coming months. With the dramatic fall of the dollar and some price increases here, our buying power has decreased by half since we arrived in 2006. Thank goodness room and board are still cheaper and life simpler here!

Love,

Sandy

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.

    

     

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!

                                                                                        

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

      

Newt captured more butterflies on film there:

         

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

   

Note the nifty maneuvering of this surfer

Dusk brought even more magic on Piratininga Beach:

   

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:

     

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:

                                                                      

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

    

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.

     

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:

 

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

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.

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

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.

We 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:

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:

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:

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.

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.

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:

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!

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.

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.

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