Brazil Book--cross-posted from the lounge

[DFW]

To some people, this will be old hat, so please indulge me here. Brazil is a large and diverse country, and we only saw a tiny piece of it. But one of guys who was there for the convention and seminars went all out to organize some dinners, security, and some sightseeing that took us to some parts that the tour guides will usually not take you to.

Just off the plane


On the Sugar Loaf


A friendly native giving us the once-over on Sugar Loaf


At the Botanical Garden, some "not quite sunflowers"


At the Botanical Garden: "the old mango tree"


At the Botanical Garden--a not very Botanical resident


The "Museum of Tomorrow," dedicated to the environment before we got here, what we have done to it, and what is facing us in the future, if we do anything about it or (worse) if we don't--VERY thought-provoking--wish it were in DC or NYC!


In the old town, the old "Municipal Theater"


A famous building in "Little Africa," a part of town so named because it was a neighborhood originally populated by newly-freed slaves, which, being in 1888, was relatively late as history goes.


Another view of "Little Africa," now starting to gentrify


A historical former barrier in Little Africa. This was before Rio started reclaiming land to extend the available land the city could use. The big white wall used to be the water's edge before the land-reclaiming project was started.


A final dinner with Mrs. DFW catching a gust of wind in her dress making her look 8 months pregnant (she isn't), me half asleep (I was), Gabrielle, a local event organizer who was charming, but spoke only Portuguese, so conversation was only rudimentary, and "Caffeu," which is just a nickname. He takes pains not to stand out, and is a great guy, but he is also one of Rio's top security/bodyguards. If you see photos of top model Giselle Bünchen when she is in Rio, and it is a public event, chances are he will not be much more than 6 inches from her side if that.


Someone with connections surprised us with a small troupe of the top carnival dancers of Rio (if there is a Brazilian version of the Dallas Cowgirls cheerleaders, this was it). These women can put on unwieldy costumes, dance their (complete as you wish, because, yes, they did)--and still maintain their balance while dancing like that for hours on top of a moving car roof. One of them decided to show me...well...let's say say it was NOT "the ropes."


Mrs. DFW taking a pic down at the Copacabana beach. One last evening before leaving. It was cool, quite windy, and the water was a little rough, but we could have stood there listening to the waves crash for hours. We were advised not to be there after dark since it would no longer be safe (Toto, I don't think we're in Cape Cod any more). So we walked back to the hotel.


It is an immense city, and one in a part of a vast, very diverse country, influenced by a checkered history and beset by corruption who cares for nothing but money, and doesn't care if it ruins the country's vast natural beauty, which is the real wealth of Brazil.

I can't say if or when we'll be back, but I am glad we went. Age 73, which we both are, is not too old to be up for something new.

[Deuxcents]

1. Been to Brazil once..Rio de Janeiro and So Paulo. All I can say about it is..I've been there

Nice pictures DFW.. hope your experience was better than mine 🌺

[DFW]

2. I take it your trip was less enjoyable. Sorry to hear it.

As it is, I did leave out the part where paramilitary police armed with machine guns were omnipresent, which took some getting used to. Also, one of the division heads of my outfit is a native of Brazil, and grew up there. One of his cousins is a Senator (or equivalent) in their Federal government. So that somehow grease a few wheels. Having a top floor room with a view of Copacabana beach didn't hurt, either, and he had a friend arrange an English-speaking driver to be available for us (especially my wife, who couldn't care less about my work there). The driver was a Rio native, and knew some ins and outs that many tourists (and probably most who visit for work) don't get to see. I don't speak Portuguese, although I can figure out way more of the written language than I can when it's spoken. It's more similar to Catalan than it is to Spanish, but the pronunciation takes more getting used to than I had time for.

Like the relationship between Danish and Swedish (which are more similar than Portuguese and Spanish are), it is difficult to reconcile what a native speaker says with what comes out of their mouths. Swedish is phonetic and very straightforward with a very simple grammar. Danish has a slightly more complicated grammar with a numbering system that makes French seem easy (!!). Even in French, if you want to say 57, you say cinquante-sept, or fifty-seven. Same with Swedish: femtiosju. Fiftyseven as one word. In Danish it's "su og halvtreds," or "seven and half (a twenty) down from three twenties."

I re-did the OP in the Lounge forum with a few more photos I forgot to post in this one, if you want to bother.