The other reason to write again is to welcome Fred who I met recently. He is American and commutes to work in the USA but has a Brazilian wife and step-daughter in Vitória. He is going to write some articles for the blog. They should be an interesting contrast – seeing things from an American rather than European point of view.

If you look up you will see there is a new “about this blog” tag at the top of the page, take a look, especially if you do not know what a RSS feed is.

Salvador
It is a fascinating city with a strong African culture and tradition. The Pelourinho area is the old slave quarter and traditional centre of the city. Apart from the beaches we did not find much else of tourist interest. The name comes from the whipping post where the slaves were punished.

The sounds of drums are everywhere, the day we arrived there was a concert in the main square of the Pelourinho with Olodum playing.
It was to celebrate the the 20016 World Cup being held in Brazil. I think they find something to celebrate every weekend. About 100 drummers, maybe 75 girl dancers and a crowd packed in like sardines in a tin.

Olodum is part a drumming group, part a social welfare organisation, part political and part a youth club. It seems to be at the heart of everything that goes on in the Pelourhino. You cannot move without seeing their logo, a lopsided colourful version of the CND “ban the bomb” symbol. Impromptu groups of half a dozen eight year olds practice in the middle of the road. there are teen bands, youth bands female bands and probably pensioner ones too.

Closely related to drumming is the Candomblé religion with its variety of gods, especially Oxala. There are plenty of opportunities to watch their ceremonies but we did not on the grounds that it would be either a tourist rip-off or an intrusion into a serious spiritual affair.

It really is quite spectacular and quite different to anything else I have seen anywhere in the world. The Pelhourinho has the advantage of 100 years of neglect. This means that it has missed most of the ravages of modern civilisation and gives the modern world an insight into the way things were. The only place I have seen a similar thing is Tallinn in Estonia where time stood still during the years as a Russian satellite and is now reborn as a prosperous tourist city.

This brings me to the complaints. It is dirty, the facilities are poor and it is very dangerous.

When we arrived in Salvador we went to a small branch of a bank. Instead of the usual two or three armed guards with their hands on their holstered pistols there were eight guards all holding short barreled shotguns and looking very alert. I have no idea how well trained they are but would not like to be anywhere near when they start shooting. In our hotel one person was telling how her tourist bus from the airport was hijacked and everyone had to hand over all valuables. A few minutes later a rather breathless young man burst through the front door having escaped from an attempt to rob him. There are a lot of beggars and some are very persistent. If the authorities are going to succeed in their plan for mass tourism they are going to have to take security much more seriously.

We try to stay at the cheaper end of the hotel market. We must have looked at ten Pousadas (like a Spanish Hostal). They were very cheap (too cheap at R$50/60), smelly, damp mouldy bathrooms, dirty, in serious need of a coat of paint and poor electric wiring. We are not fussy people but were shocked. We tried to find better places but could only find rather classy four and five star hotels at R$400/600. Eventually we found a very nice youth hostal at R$110 for a double room Laranjeiras Hostel this was well run, clean and reasonably comfortable.

The third complaint is the tourist product. It has been a World Heritage site since 1985 but needs a lot of investment. Bahia is famous for its cuisine but we could not find any restaurants offering it. There are stalls selling acarajé a sort of bun made of ground black-eyed beans deep fried and then stuffed with a spicy mixture of prawns, tomato, palm oil and cashews. We did find one restaurant advertising Bahian food on Saturdays. We arrived at 2.30 and were told that it had finished for the day. There is a lot of poor quality tourist stuff for sale but if they are to improve the industry they will have to offer better quality arts and crafts. A large part of the charm is the architecture but so much of it is falling to pieces. There are some restoration projects but my feeling is too little, too late.
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The danger, of course, is that if they sanitise the area they will destroy the atmosphere. It is because the Pelhourinho is a residential area for some of the poorest people in the city with a unique culture that it is so interesting. If they are moved out to the suburbs and bused in to provide entertainment in a clean shiny new tourist ghetto the attraction will go. The tourist authorities will have a difficult job to find the right balance.

The Pelourinho is on my list of “must visit places” for a visitor to Brazil. One or two nights there is probably enough and a couple of days on the beach in one of the nearby islands. But be careful, especially after dark and in quiet places.

Our next trip is to Fortaleza.
It is 2300 km north of here on the most eastern tip of Brazil. It is the State capital of Ceará. The metropolitan area is 3.4 million and it has a reputation as a party city. It is the nearest point to Europe (7,000 km to London) and has a thriving international tourist business. We go for ten days on 3rd September and ten days after we return i go back to Europe.

A little background to begin. I and the family were residing in the U.S. My wife is Brazilian, and our intention was always to return to Brazil when I considered retirement (that kind of hints at my age, doesn’t it? Although I understand Steve managed it quite a bit earlier once upon a time, but that is for him to relate if he so chooses.) My wife was fortunate in being able to take leave without pay from her employment and an extended sabbatical from her studies. We set a return to Brazil date of Christmas, 2007. We decided to ship most of the household goods to Brazil, but we realized that the apartment the wife owned here in Vitória was not of sufficient size to contain everything, so, that precipitated the decision to purchase a larger apartment. Note that an apartment here is bought, like a condominium in the U.S. They can also be rented.

In early 2007 we started looking on the internet at various apartment properties. We looked at both used and under construction and soon to be built properties. Most locations were in Vitória, but we also looked at surrounding areas for comparisons in various factors, such as overall size, price, distance to commute, floor plan, number of bedrooms and suites, etc. One thing that struck me about the floor plans was that to me the traditional Brazilian apartment has a relatively small sala (living room), often just large enough to have a sofa and a TV. This was different for me, having come from a 4 bedroom colonial style house in the U.S. that was over 2500 square feet (232 square meters) and had both a living room and family room. Thus, in our search, I was always focusing (perhaps obsessing?) on the size of the sala more so than any other aspect. This isn’t to say other aspects did not factor into the decision, as they did, just that any floor plan with a substantial sala already had a leg up in my book.

We looked at a lot of properties online, and in the course of some visits to Vitória, we even went and looked at some models. Finally we came across one that had a large sala in proportion to the rest of the apartment. This was achieved in one of the floor plan variations by converting a 4^th bedroom into part of the sala. The remaining part of the 4^th bedroom became a walk in closet for the master bedroom, another feature we liked. There were other positives, such as the location being closer to the wife’s work place, having 3 suites, so we would have an extra suite for family and friends that visit, and other things. We “pulled the trigger” and decide to buy an apartment in this complex.

Room with a view

Here is where things get interesting and how the process differs from what I was used to in the U.S. When we made the decision to buy, the complex was not even under construction. Generally, at least here in Vitória, the firms that construct the high-rise apartment buildings pre-sell most of the units before actually beginning construction. The announced date for this initial sale for our apartment complex of choice was in June of 2007, before we were scheduled to return to Brazil. Thus we ended up obtaining a power of attorney to enable my wife’s sister to act in our behalf to make the purchase which she successfully completed.

Now, Brazil only recently made changes to some of its banking and financial laws to allow mortgages to be obtained that are somewhat similar to those in the U.S., but not exactly. The traditional way of making a purchase is to finance through the builder. This is why the builder likes to pre-sell most of the units before beginning construction. We went with the traditional method of financing and agreed upon a payment plan whose precise details I won’t bore you with. This payment schedule was fine, and while a substantial amount is paid up front prior to getting the key to the apartment (May 2010 by the way) the entire amount would be paid off in a much shorter time frame that a typical U.S. mortgage, even a 15 year one. The surprise came a bit later.

In the U.S. the regular conventional mortgage is set for the life of the mortgage based on the amortization schedule for the principle and interest. The monthly payment only varies if an adjustment needs to be made in the escrow funds that cover taxes and insurance. When making the purchase here in Brazil, I did not know, and did not realize until later, that the payment schedule set up would be pegged to a construction index. Thus, what I thought were going to be more or less stable payments have slowly crept upwards over time. And that construction index never goes down (inflation don’t you know). I’m still unsure at this point what happens once we receive the key. I believe the construction index will no longer be a factor, but I have yet to verify that. So, anyone who purchases property in the manner I have described, and you aren’t paying cash up front, be aware of the construction index factor.

You may ask, “Why purchase something before it has been built?” Some people will invest in new construction with the express intent of selling the unit once it is completed. This is because the builder discounts the cost of the units pre-construction. We have been told by sales people that the price of units in the complex have already escalated by 40 percent, and are likely to be even higher by the completion date. By purchasing at the initial sale date, we were better able to choose a location within the complex that we preferred.

There are essentially two different types of high-rise construction companies. They can be referred to as the “Big Boys” and the “Little Guys”. When buying property that is being built by the little guy, the possibility of making changes here and there, such as relocating a wall or moving a doorway, are more likely to be accommodated. With the larger outfits, you pretty much get what they build; any changes you want to make would have to be done later at additional and likely higher cost. Our new apartment is being built by the big boys. Offsetting an unwillingness to make changes is the fact that quite a few amenities are provided, which often are lacking, or of a lesser amount, in construction done by the smaller firms. The smaller firms generally limit the height of the building to 7 or 8 floors while the larger firms can go upwards of 30 floors.

Another item needed to purchase property in Brazil is a CPF Number. It is the Brazilian tax payer card. One does not have to be a resident of Brazil to obtain a CPF Number. I had this number long before even starting the process to become a permanent resident (another tale). But be aware of any tax requirements. If you have a CPF Number, and you purchase property in Brazil, but are not a resident, you still must declare that you made the purchase, even though there is no tax applied. At least that is my understanding. When I went to the Receita Federal to actually get the card in place of the the temporary paper with the CPF number, they were aware of the fact that I had not made the declaration as required. Got that straightened out and now have the CPF card.

Looking forward to May 2010.

Fred

I haven’t done much in the way of blogging previously, but Steve was kind enough to allow me to post some thoughts, musings, or whatever on his blog.

As to how this came about, I ran across Steve’s web site in some manner that I don’t recall. But I posted a comment on it and informed him that I also lived in Espirito Santo, in Vitoria itself. Steve responded and we exchanged several emails and agreed to a face-to-face meeting.

The meeting happened the morning of the day after I suffered my 4^th kidney stone, the previous one being about 20 years ago when in Spain. I had enough pain killer medication and anti inflammation medication that I actually felt up to going to the meeting that Friday morning.

Well, won’t bore you all with details of the meeting, just wanted to let you know that I am around and will personally bug Steve to update his blog!!! LOL When time permits, I may comment on subjects Steve writes (or has written) about and either reinforce his comments or provide an alternative viewpoint.

Até logo,

Fred

Salvador was founded in the early 16th century, is the oldest city in South America, the third largest in Brazil and it used to be the capital city. We discovered how big it was coming from the airport and taking a 30 minute bus ride to the area where the city started and later a similar journey to the old city centre. It is quite different to anywhere I have ever been before. There are not many people who are pure white or pure black. There is every shade of brown that you have ever seen anywhere. It is not surprising that it is a popular holiday destination for middle class blacks from the USA

The next blog report will talk about Salvador itself as in the morning we left for Morro do Sao Paulo which is on a beautiful little island about 30km away. You can fly there by air taxi from Salvador airport or take a taxi to the docks and an expensive fast ferry. Feeling mean and adventurous we took two buses and two ferries at maybe 25% of the cost and an extra three hours. If you only have a couple of days and a generous budget take the plane. Only take our route if you are confident, know the itinerary and speak at least basic Portuguese.

Morro do Sao Paulo has no paved roads and the only powered vehicles are boats and tractors. The ferry is met by a couple of dozen young men with wheelbarrows ready to carry your cases and take you to one of the hundred or so Pousadas (small hotels)spread along the five beaches. We found a reasonably priced place, clean but basic, with the bed right under large window and the beach 10 metres below us. It faced east and we were treated to such a beautiful sunrise that we were inspired to take a long walk at 5.30 am. Those who know me well will find that very hard to believe!

We soon recovered from this strange malady and became progressively lazier, going to bed earlier and rising later. The most energetic thing we did was watching the locals on the beach: soccer, surfing. volleyball, a form of beach tennis, running, gymnastics, stretching and practicing Capoeira a spectacular martial art. They have to be fit as every brick, can of beer. bottle of water or gas has to be carried through the water, across the beach, up steps and onto the sandy road and to the final destination. This makes everything a bit more expensive but is excellent value.

My only complaints were about the hotel which would not share wifi with us (the only guests) and about a couple of dozen dogs always on the beach having a fine time. They were a nuisance when we were eating and could get boisterous. Flavia does not like dogs and was troubled by them, especially when one barged into her and twisted her ankle. A cook at the hotel gave her a hot compress and a massage but insisted on closing all the doors and windows before she started and for an hour afterwards. It is, she explained, very dangerous to be exposed to any wind after a hot compress.

Having extended out stay by a day and preferring to be in the city during a forecast rainy spell we decided to leave. Two minutes before we were due to start the 15 minute walk to the ferry a tropical storm started, the rain was impressive. We were soaked in seconds and missed the ferry and lost an hour. Several hours and several more storms we were back in the first hotel and we still could not connect to the internet.

In a week I will add a chapter about the city and add some photos to this page.

A lot of the entertainment is almost the same as in Europe but in Portuguese. We have shopping channels, premium movies, cartoons, MTV, Discovery Channel lots of old movie channels, religion, three sports, and endless regurgitated old serials, CNN (in English as well as Portuguese), Fox News, Bloomberg etc. The similarity is probably because it is the same multinational companies controlling the media. Rupert Murdoch is here with Sky TV, various US corporations and Globo which is the Brazilian equivalent of Murdoch’s News International Corp.

There are some interesting differences.  There are three channels showing live debates in the legislative chambers of the State Government, The Senate and The Chamber of Deputies. There are also two channels which seem to show cattle and horse auctions 24 hours a day. There is no general news and entertainment  station dealing with Just Vila Velha or Greater Vitoria.

One interesting feature is the University Channel. The three local universities have a joint channel where all content is created by them. Each university creates its own content and has several one hour slots each day. The programs are anything from infomercials touting for new students, concerts and recitals, experimental projects by students, university news and productions as part of academic courses in journalism, TV production, music etc.

The other unusual item is the  legal channel which is the house journal for lawyers. It all looks pretty serius stuff with endless discussions of current legal affairs. It does not show trials.

Foreigners are reasonably well provided for. We receive the overseas or news versions of the main TV channel of the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, and Portugal plus CNN and Fox News in English.. TV programs are all dubbed but movies are mostly shown in their original languages and sub-titles.

The Brazilian TV and movie industry is big and they produce a wide variety of programs. A lot of familiar formats with a Portuguese accent are here. Local versions of Big Brother, X Factor, The Apprentice and many others are popular. Soaps are just as important as anywhere else and the current big hit is about an extended family based in both Brazil and India. Churrasco and saris make an exotic combination.  Of course soccer is an obsession here and I  could (but don’t) watch the big matches of the week from a dozen different countries.

So, as with many things, Brazil is much like any other country.

The cult of the noisy motor cycle that plagues Spain does not seem to exist. There the youngsters compensate for their lack of horse power by disabling most of the silencing. The rock concerts and clubs here are as loud as anywhere but they do not over-amplify the calmer music like Jazz or soft rock. What does surprise me is the neighbouring building about 30 metres away. Half a dozen time a year they have a party with very load music starting about 4pm on a Sunday and lasting for five or six hours. It is very hard to make yourself heard in maybe 50 or 60 apartments. I wonder if anyone complains.

Romaria Vitoria to Vila Velha

On Friday evening the annual Romaria or pilgrimage of Nossa Senhora da Penha took place. This involved some 12,000 people walking 14km in a procession. We watched for around an hour and I was very impressed but the “trio elétrico”. This is a large lorry fitted with a stage, amplifiers, light show and and speakers the size of small cars. They are mainly used in the carnivals but can be rented at any time of year. Unfortunately I did not have my camera handy but the general idea seems to be to make your ears bleed and turn your liver into water. This will give you the general idea

Iriri beach

Boy racer

On the road
Traffic lights have two red lights; presumably to allow for a broken bulb.
Cats eyes (the studs in the road) are four times the size of European ones. They really do encourage lane discipline as nobody wants to drive over them.
Speed bumps (known here as suspension breakers) are like mini mountains and often quite well concealed. I think that these account for the almost complete absence of low slung sports cars.
Speed cameras are everywhere. On the edge of town they are just before traffic lights, at the lights and again 100 metres later. Speed up to almost catch the lights on green and you can get three fines in 20 seconds.

In the shops
Pharmacies will often deliver medicines at trivial cost. They open seven days a week and late in the evening, there seems to be one in every street competing strongly on price. Not many medicines seem to need prescriptions. Judging from the number of pharmacies and the queues in some it is safe to assume that Brazilians really like medicine.
Supermarkets always have someone at the till to put your shopping into bags. Often they will also push the trolley to the car. Usually there is free coffee (near the coffee shelves) and often also cheese, salami and other promoted products.
Tradesmen have little shops and can fix watches, phones, printers, TVs, washing machines, toasters and all the things Europeans tend to throw away when they break after the guarantee period finishes. You can buy the exact number of screws you need at the screw shop. It can be cheaper to get a dress made to measure than buy a known brand.

Apartment blocks
Security is paramount and almost all the buildings in middle class areas have 24 hour guards and high walls. Nobody gets in or out without the guard’s permission.
Shared facilities are common here. Flavia’s apartment, like mine in Spain, is around 30 years old and has much more land than more modern blocks. The neighbours share a basketball court, two barbecue areas, pool and changing rooms, beach volleyball (which is a bit derelict) and a room for parties and meetings. The underground garage has an area for storing bikes and a compressor for tyres and lilos. Newer buildings often have no land at all but the ground and first floors have barbecues, party rooms, gymnasium, sauna etc.
Apartment sizes are much larger than in Europe. 120 square metres is small and 150 to 200 is very common. Penthouses are as large as 600. There are some smaller apartments but not many.
Maids room and service area and kitchen. Often take up to 50 metres (my apartment in Spain is 75 metres) They all have a large cupboard without windows called the maid’s room. Even a London estate agent would be too embarrassed to call it a bedroom. There is a tiny bathroom with a shower over the lavatory. There is also a large scullery with laundry sink, washing machine, clothes line tumble dryer etc. Nobody I have met has a resident maid and it does strike me as a terrible waste of space.
A chimney over a metre square goes up the centre of the buildings and internal bathrooms have windows into the chimney. Some people have also put in windows from the kitchen. This can add up to a very interesting combination of sounds and smells wafting between apartments. The bathroom door must always be kept closed!
Dogs and cats are allowed but their feet must not touch communal areas. They have to be carried from the apartment front door to the street. This accounts for the large numbers of toy Poodles and absence of Great Danes. The Brazilian pet owners are much better than Europeans at clearing up the mess their dogs make on the pavements.

Bureaucracy
It is terrible! A bit like Spain 20 years ago (and England in 10 years’ time?). So far I have not had much to do with it but recently read that it takes 50 pieces of paper to start a new business and you should allow six months for the formalities. According to a TV program this week many legal processes are still open 20 years after starting

Food
Staples are rice and beans. Flavia says that it is correct to serve rice at any meal unless pasta is served. I think I would add that it is probably also correct to eat beans whenever rice is served unless fish is part of the dish. Bread is mostly eaten for breakfast in little french rolls. If you can afford it it is with butter cheese and ham. Plenty of potatoes are sold but french fries are not often served in restaurants. My roast potatoes (with beef and yorkshire pudding) went down very well.
Restaurants In previous posts I have talked about self service restaurants which I love. Mostly these are open for lunch only. In the evenings they become conventional restaurants or cafe/bars. A meal is often three times the price we pay for lunch for two and is big enough for three or even four people. This is very restricting when you are a couple. If there are more people you have to all agree on what to eat. Smaller portions are often available but it is not cheaper to have two small portions than one mega-meal

That is it for this week. sorry, no pics as I could not think of much that would go with this article. We have just booked two weeks vacation in Salvador, Bahia starting on 31st May. This is a very interesting city, the third biggest in Brazil with wonderful beaches all around and beaten for life, music and art only by Rio.

A brilliant landmark

This is by far the best time of day to get a brilliant first impression of the city. It really is spectacular and is worth the long trip just for this.

Where the politicians talk

Brasilia was conceived a long time ago but in the early 1950s President Kubitschek appointed Lúcio Costa as the urban planner and Oscar Niemeyer as the architect to realise the dream of a new capital city. Even 49 years after the inauguration of the city centre it still looks very contemporary, spacious and uncrowded. The clever layout of the city meant that originally there were no traffic lights at all. There are a few now and occasionally the pedestrian wishes that there were more as he ponders crossing six lanes of traffic between him and his destination.

A shower of sunlight

Walking on air

The original design was for a city of half a million people. There are now five times that plus another couple of million in nearby satellite cities. The concept was a city shaped roughly like a bird or aeroplane. The cockpit and front fusilage is the centre of government and is the equivalent of Westminster and Whitehall in London. The rear fusilage houses lots of different sectors such as banking, hotels, embassies, churches, medicine etc. The two wings are residential laid out to a strict formula with wide roads, lots of open spaces, and easy access to local shopping, entertainment, schools and all the requirements of modern life.

Around this is a very large artificial Lake Paranoá (not paranoia) which fulfills three functions: reservoir, leisure and humidifying what used to be a very dry atmosphere. The city is on a plain one thousand metres high which gives it a very nice climate, not often too hot or too cold and two seasons: wet and dry.

Lots of broken panes of glass

Closed, derelict and unloved

I loved the city and my only reservation is that many of the buildings are in need of maintenance or restoration. For example the cathedral is a brilliant concept, looks wonderful from a distance at night but closer inspection shows that a lot of the stained glass is broken and missing. Similarly the Praça dos Três Poderes (Portuguese for Square of the Three Powers) In the words of wikipedia :
“The name is derived from the encounter of the three federal branches around the plaza: the Executive, represented by the Palácio do Planalto (presidential office); the Legislative, represented by the Congresso Nacional (National Congress); and the Judicial branch, represented by the Supremo Tribunal Federal (Supreme Federal Court)”. For more information see here

All this sounds wonderful except that the square now looks a bit bleak and one of the Niemeyer buildings is permanently closed. It is a brave man who orders the demolition of a Niemeyer building but this will have to happen to some of them. Even though it is a United Nations World Heritage Site the occasional bad building will have to make way for a new one.

On a more personal note it was a very nice trip. Once again Flavia’s extended family were very hospitable. Monica is a doctor but the morning after we arrived she went off on a course and returned a few hours before we left. We looked after the cat in lieu of rent. Her flat is very conveniently located for the city centre being a 15 minutes bus ride. The taxis are reasonably priced and all fares are on the meter so getting around was not a problem. The centre is very hard on the feet as the buildings are often a long way apart.

May 1st was a national holiday and there was a big party in the square under the TV transmitter mast. This is a little like the Eiffel Tower and there is an elevator to a viewing platform 75 metres high. This is well worth a visit to get the best view of the city. We did not attend the party but saw it on TV. The City Hall provided a very big churrasco with lots of live music all free of charge. Tens of thousands of the poorer people attended and had a fine time. During the day teams of dentists, doctors, hairdressers, masseurs, manicurists and other personal care professionals gave free services to all comers. Some people queued for five or six hours.

Marcelo and Juliana after lunch

Talking of markets we also went to the very big imported goods market (popularly known as Feira do Paraguai). Much as I hate shopping I was impressed. It is very large and seems to sell just about anything you can carry. I was surprised at the extensive pirated software openly on sale. Even in Bangkok they are not quite so open. I was not tempted as it was all for Windows and almost free is too high a price for me.

Floating in the air

I think I might start being more polite about TAM. The tickets were paid for with air miles and my trip to Brazil from London was enough for two return tickets. The flights were on time and without incident. The only complaint is that the outward journey had a three hour stopover in Belo Horizonte turning a two hour journey into nearly six hours. If anyone comes to Brazil with TAM make sure that you first register with their frequent flyer scheme.

It is easy to ramble on for hours as there is so much there. I had better stop now.

PS

It looks better in real life

I forgot the The Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge. It is a recent addition and totally in the spirit of Brasilia. There are lots of very nice new buildings complementing the older ones.

There are similar arrangement at the University where Flavia’s daughter studies, this depends on the course, demand, facilities etc Last year Jana attended in the afternoons and evenings while other students study in the mornings. This has the obvious advantage of using the teaching facilities much more intensively than in Britain. The other advantage is that it allows students to take either morning or afternoon jobs to finance their studies. These hours can certainly help the parents of younger children who want to work part time.

In Brazil there is the system of “Lei do Estágio” or the law that covers the work experience for those in higher education. Students are required to work part time in employment related to their degrees. It is a similar idea to the British “industrial year” but the students work for four hours a day and study during the rest of the day. They receive the minimum wage and insurance cover but no employment protection. This idea might not go down well with British students as the Brazilians do not have nearly so much time for beer, sex and rock & roll.

So far I do not fully understand the system but can see that it works in different ways. I have heard of estagiarios who refuse to do any work at all because they have good family connections. Others seem to work hard and learn a bit about the world outside of academia. No doubt some are treated as a source of cheap labour. The work is supposed to be supervised and relevant to the subject being studied but it is not always easy to meet the requirements of the employer and the university. It seems to be a system that would be worth studying in Britain. Certainly the idea behind the system is excellent even if it does not always work as well as it should.

The other striking difference in education here is the vast number courses for adults. Most civil servants and other public employees have strong financial incentives to study. Most people seem to be doing some sort of course to accumulate more points to enable them to move to the next pay grade. This does lead to a very well educated work force.

The problem is that a lot of the study is totally pointless. Flavia scours the internet for suitable courses. Recently she found an advanced course in Portuguese punctuation and accents (which can be very tricky) which gave credit for 40 hours of study. Being very well educated she and several colleagues signed up and paid for the course and took the tests after a few hours of revision. They passed and the cost of the course will be more than repaid by the salary increase. A few years ago she studied very hard for five years to obtain a law degree. One would think that The Appeal Court might find some way of using the law degree of one of its administrators. She is in the same job as before – but with a higher salary. It seems so wasteful.

We have just come back from Brasilia where we spent the May 1st holiday weekend. As soon as I have time I will write an article about it.

The wedding vows

On Sunday we went to the wedding of Heliana (Flavia’s cousin) and David an Englishman.  They are both PhDs from Reading University where they met.  This explained a table full of Brazilians who had also studied at Reading.  It is tough to get any PhD but it must be very hard to do it in a second language.

The ceremony took place at 11am which is unusual in Brazil, they are usually held on Saturday evenings. The church is on the Vitoria military base probably because Heliana’s late father was a General.  The officiating priest was the bride’s brother which made it all much more personal.  There was no organ so the music was by a trio of flute, guitar and violin who also played at the reception which was in a local hotel.

As so often happens when I look at people around the world I was struck by the similarities rather than the differences.  Most of what happened would be very familiar to anyone who has attended a middle class wedding in England or Spain.  The best about a Brazilian wedding  are that there are no speeches, the clothing is less formal and there was no heavy drinking.  In fact it was very similar to a wedding in Spain but without the noise and excitement.

It is Holy Week at the moment and as Brazil is a very Catholic country I was expecting a lot more activity.  Around here it is very much business as usual apart from the the very religious who go to church every day. Friday is a holiday and the beaches were full and Saõ Paulo had 248km of traffic jams.  I was expecting processions, penitents carrying statues and passion plays.  There are some of those reported on the television but it seems to be very local.  Not like Spain where the smallest village will have some sort of demonstration of their faith.  In fact it seems as low key as the British Easter.

We went to the cinema twice last week and I was not impressed with the quality of staff at the ticket desk.  I had my passport ready each time and was ready to prove that I was entitled to my over 60s 50% discount. Each time they issued to ticket without comment.  Ridiculous!  Anyone would think that I look 60 years old.

As usual I am a bit rushed and will add the pictures later.  We are off early tomorrow morning for our second Torta Capixaba A traditional Easter fish dish. It is delicious.  One of the ingredients is heart of palm. Rather than coming in small cans you buy a tree trunk around one metre long.  I have not seen how this is prepared yet.  At this time of year street sellers have mounds of palms stacked up and plenty of customers buying them,

I was a bit premature last week when I said that you should register to
be able to add a comment to the blog. There was a glitch and the emails
with a password were not sent. This has been fixed but anyone who has
not received an email should either register again with a different
name or email me asking for a new password.