How much deeper...

As Rotimi, one of my subjects for the documentary mentioned, its hard to tell what is being done for the World Cup and what is being done normally.  Rio is moving at a fast pace. Taking complete advantage of its renown as a country of football (soccer) fanatics who will host the 2014 World Cup, its notoriety as a country positioned to become the sixth largest economy based on its being the world's first sustainable biofuels economy and the biofuel industry leader and its union with other new leaders BRICS (the economic union of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Brazil is starting to ask for an end to the dominance of leaders from U.S. and Europe in the International Money Fund and the World Bank. 

"We will insist on the fact that governance at the IMF and the World Bank cannot be a systematic rotation between the U.S. and Europe, with the other countries excluded," Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff told reporters in Beijing April 12. "There is no reason for that."

The question for the small group of Brazilians which I chose to focus on in the documentary is how much of the economic power will filter down to the common man.  Most of the people that I asked about how they were going about making their dreams come true never mentioned going through the system to get funding or inquiring about opportunities, and I found that to be odd.  I know from my own experience that after you get over the initial fear of asking for help, and questioning whether your own ideas and interest have merit, applying for funding is just another way to keep your dreams moving.  It need not be an either or, but  is a  valid "in addition to" in combination with the do-it-yourself method. 

I am put in mind of the artist who I'd met in Salvador Bahia that also owned his own restaurant Artist X (he is a private person), who first mentioned that any and every infrastructure request that he'd ever made involved bribery to officials.  His statement stuck with me and I immediately gave up on my initial enthusiasm for Brazil.  I thought 'this apple has a worm in it, and I'm not moving here'.  However, since then, (late 1999) I have grown to know that the U.S. has its own brand of corruption that is just as insidious even for being more hidden, and infrequently talked about. 

In Brazil there is no welfare system, there is no bail out, but is what you see what you get?  As I look past the paradise that is the initial impression that I had of Brazil, I wonder what happened to the gang of little boys I used see by the park near the beginning of Ipanema, and who is fighting for the little girl that I saw watching the buses go by as she used the street as her facility in Lapa.  How much deeper will I need to go to find out WHY BRAZIL?

I later found out that Artist X,  that I met in 1999 still lives in Salvador, uses the international arts fund to ship his artwork to festivals and exhibits for free, and has also become a real estate agent. What is the unique element about this country that keeps people coming back, investing, and prospering despite its corruption, poverty and racial problems. 

Rio Carnaval 2011 and More

Rio 2011, and now I can say I've seen it all...

There is no way to truly prepare for Carnaval in Rio, to look at pictures, or video does not prepare you for the reality of being plugged into the light socket that is this unique celebration.  Carnaval goes from morning till night and one street party, "blocko" blends into another, until you feel like Alice in Wonderland.  Sometimes you want to step away for a minute, but then you find yourself in the midst of a group of people who are so warm, so willing to share their enjoyment, that you can't help but participate.  I am collecting a few select interviews, for my documentary, but at the same time uncovering a mystery.  Each person has a picture of what's going on in Rio and the rest of Brazil, some of it positive, some of it negative, all depending on the perspective.  One day I did an interview with a Carioca, native Brazilian, who spoke about the improvement in the bus routes.  Gone are the days of old when you could stick out your thumb and get any city bus to stop for you.  In preparation for the World Cup and the Olympics, Rio is now setting up Zone 1, 2, 3, etc. where only certain buses stop, and this has been going on for some time but with some resistance.  At 3 a.m. when I was trying to find the right bus to take me to Lapa after having attended 6 blockos that day, I was not amused that I had to keep walking until I found the right zone. 

Some of the favelas in Rio have been "cleaned up".  Drug lords (the guys) have been kicked out by police, who have established a permanent police presence in "some" favelas.  Meanwhile other favelas have the "guys" paying for mini-vans to transport people to and from the favelas, and the "guys" are improving the favelas in other ways.  Some Brazilians feel that kicking out drug lords, only forces them to move to other cities in Brazil, much like XXX shops moved from Time Square in New York to surrounding neighborhoods.  This is the fast paced city that is Rio de Janeiro, ever the same and ever changing.

I am greatful to Carnaval 2011 for rejuvenating my spirit, and reminding me that we all create our own reality each day.

I'm not shocked, I am surprised...

I had just finished the first part of my interview with a character in my documentary WHY BRAZIL. I left my camera with my subject at the table in a beachside bar, and went downstairs to the ladies room. After paying my 2 reals to the restroom attendant I went to a stall, saying 'escupa' as I brushed by the attendants girlfriend who was leaning over an overstuffed backpack and in the middle of a discussion. I thought nothing of it. It was around 11pm and in relaxed Rio seeing an attendant talking to a friend while working was no big deal. I went back to the table. my subject, a well brought up Nigerian man asked if I wanted another cerveza and I said sure. He continued telling me about the difference between loose woman and the nice girls that went to church that he had met in Rio.

Beer doesn't stay in my system long so I went back to the restroom. I noticed after I'd paid that the same backpack was on the floor of the first stall. I finished and went to wash my hands and realized the same girl had changed from Jean shorts to a red sequined dress that barely covered anything. She had plugged the curling iron into a socket next to the electric hand dryer and it caused the hand dryer not to work. She politely took her plug out but I shook my hands and my head and left the bathroom.

I am surprised that I didn't see a red letter on her forehead, when I first saw her in the bathroom. SHE SEEMED LIKE A REGULAR GIRL! Not like a hooker, loose woman, street or should I say beach walker, at all. I was to find myself surprised often in Brazil but that was one of the last times I went anywhere without my camera.

A part of me thinks stealing a picture of the girl curling her hair would be judgmental and the filmmaker in me deeply regrets not having the image to explain in a quicker way, this dark side of Brazil.

Surrounded by Mountains that encircle myriad cultures

Brazil is a multi-ethnic society, consisting mainly of the Amerindians (the indigenous Indians of Brazil), the descendents of colonial and post-colonial Poruguese settlers and immigrants, and the African slaves brought over primarily to work the sugar cane industry.  These were later followed by Italians, Spaniards, Germans, Japanese, Syrians and Lebanese.

From Africa, Brazilians get some of their most addictive spices: dende, peppers, dried spiced shrimp, nuts, and cilantro, and coconut milk that were added to the sweet potatoes, cassava meal, corn porridge, hearts of palm, roots, and appreciation of certain species of fish, that were first used by the Brazilian Indians, resulting in foods such as Acharaje: a cornmeal sandwich with a shrimp and ocra filling, and Feijoada a stew of beans with beef and pork, which is a typical Portuguese dish, also typical in Brazil, Angola and other former Portuguese colonies. In Brazil, feijoada is considered the national dish; and finally they make Moqueca (pronounced "mo-KEH-kah"), a stew made with fish, onions, garlic, tomatoes, cilantro, and in the northern state of Bahia, coconut milk.  Though all of the above are enough to endear a visitor to the country's food, it is the Churrasco that consist of a large variety of meats including chicken, beef, sausage and pork, that is a Brazilian food tradition that has spread to many of the world's cosmopolitan cities.  The meat is usually barbequed, sliced at the table and offered buffet style by wondering attendants.

But it is the African tradition of extended family that I most noticed during many visits to some of the juice bars found throughout the city. From Portugal, the Brazilians got port development experience first acquired in 1808, when the capital of the Portuguese Kingdom was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, after Napoleon invaded Portugal. Similar to China where every viable space holds a mom and pop business, like a curbside tailor, or shoe cobbler, the Brazilians are an enterprising people, that believe in building from the ground up.  This has led to economic growth first inspired by developments in fossil fuels and later, marketing, and its ability to judge the competition that led to Brazil acquiring the 2016 Olympics and the 2014 World Cup (Brazil is the world's second largest producer of ethanol fuel and the world's largest exporter).

Even now the Brazilian government has renewed its efforts to put a new face on Rio, and in particular, the favelas.  It has encouraged celebrating the art found in many of the favelas, by sanctioning tour groups comprised of upperclass European and Western tourist to downplay the harder urban elements.  Another example of the celebration of art is the roadside panels which frame the highway into Rio de Janeiro's center coming from the airport.  The panels attempt to cover your initial site of the favelas that dot, the city, with art ranging from graffitti, to religious portraits.  Another way that the Brazilian government is attempting to homogenize the landscape is the insertion of movie theaters on the edges of favelas; along with a permanent police presence in some favelas. The question is will these additions benefit the poorer Brazilians, or is all of the profit from this and other beautification projects going to the new breed of entrepreneur that has landed in the city.  This and other tough questions are ones that I long to ask the new government, led by Brazil's first female president, who grew to strenth as first the Secretary and then the Minister of Mining and Energy.

In our global economy what lessons will Brazil take from other cultures to mix with its own multi-cultural soup.  The visuals of the synergy and community present at a juice bar, or along a street, filled with Coconut water vendors, and mop salesman, are all a part of what Why Brazil, the doc will quickly express visually, far more simply and thoroughly than Why Brazil the blog.

The beauty and the ugliness are an equal draw...

I have lived in New York since my college days, and though I come from Texas, and country beginnings, I thrive on the energy of NYC.  Brazil has that same energy, the big city kind, and yet it also has forest and beach, and mountains.  Something both places share is a disparity between classes.  I believe the negative aspects of Brazil, the poverty, the sexism and the corruption are part of what makes Brazil "cook"; just like NYC.  In Brazil, the negative is offset by the spontaneity and warmth of the people. 

I can think of no better experience from Brazil to explain the mix of negative and positive, than relating my experience walking up to the "Christ the Redeemer" statue in Rio de Janeiro.  Why hike up 12 miles to a popular tourist site that had both cable cars and taxis to reach it?  Because the day before I went, a taxi driver half convinced me with his 12 words of English that the hike was just a little over 5 miles.  My ego backed by my frequent stints of 5 mile  jogs on the treadmill in gyms across America further convinced me that I was up to the task of hiking to the top. 

Approximately 8 miles in, I realized that I'd taken on more than I could handle. I found myself walking along the edge of a poor neighborhood and thrust into the theater of a chicken, a disheveled man and a half naked baby around 2 years old.  First I observed the chicken running after the child, a boy, pecking very close to its chubby legs,  and then I realized that the man was watching me very closely from a slab of concrete that filled in as the porch of his home.  Something about the way the building was leaning quite precariously against the next, made the word favela come to mind.  The man starred, and I became uncomfortable, but then we both turned as we heard the chicken clucking loudly; the child was now chasing it and attempting to grab its tail feathers.  No longer threatening the father looked on proudly and smiled, just a a laugh came from my mouth, and no further communication was needed. 

I kept walking energized by the contact, but 10 miles in the encounter and the beauty of the rain forest surrounding me, were no longer enough to sustain me, and the tea and the raisins, and nuts that I'd brought along were finished.  At this point, a taxi driver stopped offering to take me the rest of the way for free, because I looked so tired.  In the end, he did ask for payment, a kiss on the cheek, and in less than two minutes I was at the statue.  I was sooo tired that after wringing out my t-shirt and and buttoning my jacket to act as a shirt, I barely took five pictures of this huge Christ statue.  However, what I lack in pictures, I am rich in memories, of the way I felt, changing from being threatened by the man's stare to sharing in his joy and pride over his son's hutzpah.  Who knew my most beautiful memory of the Christ the Redeemer journey would be a father's pride.

What's His Name?

It's funny, when I tell people I've been to Brazil over 12 times, for many people the next question is "What's his name?"  Though there are many men who travel to Brazil just for the women, and come back with multiple girlfriends, or even a wife.  I have never had a boyfriend in Brazil, and that's not why I go... 

One of the reasons I enjoy my visits is the music, there's nothing like going to a Samba club, and having what begins as a theatre style Samba music performance by a live band turn into a club wide party with smiles, appreciation, joy and over-all breaking down of barriers.  It's most similar to an old school, jazz jam in the Village in New York with musicians joining in, or a freestyle rap cypher, or a drum circle in a park. 

...or a political rally (they almost always include a band and drinks after the politicians speak) on the beach in Salvador, Brazil where the audience is one big gyrating mass.  You forget that you don't know the dances and you feel comfortable joining in because no one is judging you.

The last example I'll give here that is especially unique to Brazil, is a Friday night party in Lapa.  Lapa is a neighborhood in Brazil famous for its nightlife and landmarks, particularly Carioca Aqueduct, also know as Arcos da Lapa (An aqueduct constructed in the mid-18th century).  It is near these arches that a cluster of clubs is surrounded every Friday night by food and drink vendors, and Samba bands that play out in the street.  Some nights the parties spill out of the "clubs" that are basically brazilian hip-hop jams, with only a beer/wine licquor bar inside, and restrooms, and speakers facing the streets.  Brazilian street parties are an equal mixture house party, and block party, which is includes street people, and tourist and Carioca all dancing together.  Best enjoyed when attended by a large group of friends, who go with the attitude, "we come to sweat".

Why Brazil and not somewhere else?

Through my daytime gig, I've seen beautiful beaches in Costa Rica, Barcelona, Tel Aviv, Nice, Mexico, Venice, and Cape Town, and its not just the beaches.  I've gone to wonderful outdoor markets, in each cities and many more but its not just the markets.  I exhale in Brazil, I forgive myself, and let go of the control and expectations that I've tortured myself with for much of my life, and I can just enjoy.  Control and expectations are a part of any upwardly mobile civilization, however in Brazil, and Rio specifically for me, I seem to be able to slow down.  As my "PAPA" (my mother's father) would always tell me, "Rita! hurry up and slow down."  Even to monitoring how many sheets of toilet paper I use in the bathroom; instead of in typical "Ugly American fashion" rolling off as much as I feel entitled to use...I slow down and appreciate many small things that I enjoy in Brazil.