Com X Todo

Though it has only been a few weeks since the last update of my trip, the days have been inordinately busy, such that I am surprised to find myself already looking in to February - the month of the Carnival - which is only two weeks away now, commencing on the 13th. The heat has been relentlessly strong during the day, though there was a period of a week where the nights would be punctuated with tropical thunderstorms, the likes of which I have never seen or heard anywhere else before. Lightning would strike dozens of times a minute across the cloud strewn skies accompanied by titanic thunder, making one cower even in the relative safety of home. Nightly power cuts would have the staff and the guests of the house sat around candlelight contemplating how out of sorts we felt without our electronics and internet amongst lulls in conversation. Thankfully these episodes have stopped for now and we're back to the sweltering heat of the night time in Rio, and safely plugged back in to the internet .

I have finally had my first real taste of Brazilian football at a state league match between Vasco and Tigres which I attended with a Chilean guest, Mauro. The first half of the match was missed due to the palaver of trying to acquire tickets from touts / guys who thought they knew someone who had a mate who had a cousin who might have a few tickets going spare, with comical, if not frustrating charades to communicate our dilemma. It goes without saying that there are some marvellous talents in Brazilian football, and all players seem to have such a tenacious edge to their game. I couldn't help noticing, however, that the players seemed to have excessive tendency to play, where possible, on one side of the pitch that was shaded in the afternoon sun. In 38 degree heat, you can hardly blame them, though it was rather amusing to see all the players take a 5 minute break in the 70th minute to revive themselves for the final minutes of the game. Cheering for Vasco, we weren't left disappointed with a 1-0 lead going into the final minute, and though there was a near clutching of a draw from the jaws of victory by conceding a penalty in extra time, it was to no avail. A great day out at the game with all the flair and flourish you could want.


The squad on their 3/4 time water break at Vasco’s picturesque home ground

After a day out in the city, it is great to be able return the tranquil bohemian town that is Santa Teresa, there are some wonderfully quaint historic bars in the centre, Largo do Guimarães, where a few glasses of ice cold choppe (draught beer) go down a perfectly. After a drink or two, naturally you gravitate towards a street vendor (who would never be more than a few metres away) and cast a discerning eye across the spurious looking ingredients he has ready for your late night snack. Boldly, you chose the hot dog, and are reassured that this comes 'com x todo' pointing to the sign on his cart. 'Com' means 'with', 'todo' - 'everything' and keen to appeal to the Western market, there is an 'X' - a letter pronounced on its own in Portuguese as 'shees' and therefore obviously pertains to 'cheese' for the English speaking patron. i.e. With Cheese and Everything. Far from obscure when you think about it, right? You are then treated to Everything: Cheese, ketchup, mustard, mayo, hot sauce, lettuce, corn, peas, onion, and (my personal favourite) long thin potato chips, all over your hot dog. You are then left to make your happy way home, leaving a trail of Todo splattering and crunching behind you, suppressing the thought of the dire consequences that surely await your stomach later in the night. Wonderful.


Snapped by a guest at Bar do Gomes, Santa Teresa

I naturally have been busy acquiring new friends in my time here, but am proud to say this now includes new family. Before my family have a collective acute panic attack, I should clarify - I mean to say that I have been affectionately adopted by our cleaning lady, Vera, who has kindly nominated herself as my stand-in mother while I am here in Rio. A wonderful lady, who, alas, I fail to understand most of the time due to her resistance to speaking Portuguese more slowly for me so that I can follow her, I now have an arrangement whereby I bring her ingredients from the supermarket and help wash up in return for her delicious Brazilian meals of chicken rice and beans. I am truly set up well here now...


Me and the staff at Casa 579 (Vera in yellow)

With Carnival just around the corner, we are really getting in to the spirit of things in town at the moment and getting the guests out to see the best of what is around. Friday was a night at Centro Cultural Carioca - a free outdoor samba concert with a superb performance by a dance group showing their moves to wow the local crowd. The following day, we got a rare opportunity to parade with the samba school Estácio during their technical rehearsal at the Sambadrome - the same event that I described in my last post, the difference being that I was no longer just a spectator. In amongst the thousands of dancers and the mighty 'bateria' (percussion group), wearing the Estácio shirts and colours, the guests and I were lined up, given handkerchiefs to wave and sent down the Sambadrome with thousands of spectators cheering us on down the strip. Though this was a rehearsal and few were in full costume, the magnitude of the event was just enormous. The whole parade was singing the school’s song at the top of their lungs, dancing and waving as we slowly made our way down. The parade took just over an hour to reach the end of the strip where we waited for the rest of the parade to stream through, meeting everyone from the top dancer girls to the Samba Queen herself, in all her sparkling cat-suit glory. The atmosphere from start to finish was utterly electric and the excitement of the Carnival to come is hard to contain – it is going to be truly epic.


A view from the Estácio 30th January rehearsal parade

As you may have sensed by now, the city manages to ground you after such nights with startling regularity. The taxi ride home from the parade was going rather well - not only was I able to converse well with the driver in Portuguese, I was directing him up through Santa Teresa's darkened roads and showing him short cuts to get us home quickly. Taking a moment to reflect on the evening, I took my eyes of the road for a while, only to turn back to see a man suddenly step out into the road, holding a large rifle, the barrel of which was aimed straight at my head. The taxi hit the brakes and we came to a sudden stop. It became clear that the man was a policeman, though far from a reassuring factor as police robbing tourists is not exactly unheard of. After checking out the cab, we were left to drive on and returned home without further incident... I was later informed that the police can be rather direct in attempts to prevent the drug trade going in to the favelas, and that all was safe, which is understandable - it is more the feeling during that split second moment when a gun is suddenly pointed at your head that stays with you than the motives behind it.

With all these adventures, both positive and negative, all in all I am really having such an incredible time here and enjoying some amazing experiences. I am also in high spirits as Vera has brought me some spaghetti bolognaise - Brazilian style, much the same as traditional spaghetti, with the wondrous exception that has been sprinkled, not with cheese, but with batata fritas (potato chips). Well, they say you can't knock it until you've tried it, but forgive me for being less than optimistic. Bom apetite...


A samba girl from the Estácio parade

[For those keen on seeing some of my photos, for those who have not already, do have a look on my facebook page (email link: danrobertson2@hotmail.com) or a couple of the photos (more to come) on http://www.flickr.com/photos/dandoestheworld . By the next posting I also hope to have a youtube account to share a few short videos too for the real die-hard fans – collector’s limited edition DVDs to come in late 2010]