Many years ago Rio only existed in the realm of imagination. I recall those days vividly, because I owned a Barry White's Beware cassette, with the catchy song - Rio de Janeiro. It's a happy and upbeat song describing the character of Brazilians. This past week I got to see Brazilians live in their own space.
Rio and Brazil are the most recognisable places in the world. Rio is associated with the carnival (a week of partying really), characterised by great colour and sexiness. Rio's Copacabana and Ipanema beaches are canvasses on which Brazilian humanity plays itself out. For many these beaches are associated with busty well toned ladies traipsing about in the slinkiest bikinis. Brazil as a whole is known for its love and pedigree in football.
I was on a four day working visit to Brazil, and surely never enough to capture the essence of that vibrant country. Firstly, I had to endure a 10 hour long daylight flight from OR Tambo to Sao Paolo. Flying for that long during the day can be very boring and tiring. When I finally got to Sao Paolo, I quickly booked a connecting flight to Rio. A beautiful thing about Brazil is that, South Africans do not require a visa to get into the country. This made passage through immigration a breeze. In Europe, things are quite stringent. The flight from Sao Paolo to Rio is very short, lasting just about an hour. The plane itself was very full, and Brazilians can be quite loud. A large group of women scattered across the plane was chatting loudly to another. It was after 9pm when we finally touched down in Rio. By this time I was very tired, and luckily my driver was on time to take me to my hotel (Pestana), which is right at Copacabana beach.
The following day would reveal the beauty of Brazil and its people. It was a hot and humid morning, very much like Durban. The fascinating thing about the people of Rio is their love of the beach. Quite early in the morning they are at the beach - walking, jogging, cycling others swimming. This scene would play itself out like that the whole day. The numbers grow significantly in the afternoon. A big misconception is that Brazilians have great bodies. Well, some do, but many people I saw at the beach were overweight. What they are not scared of however, is to show flesh. Again, I must hasten to say that, it is illegal to bath topless at the Copacabana beach and many other beaches for that matter, at least for women. Because they are not shy to wear skimpy clothing, I noticed that ladies prefer tattoos on the leg and at times very high up in the thigh area.
This was a working visit. We gathered here as city representatives to discuss and share ideas on best practises for our cities in the event of disasters posed by climate change. The cities were: Rome, Da es Salaam, New York, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Vancouver, Sao Paolo, Rio.
The city of Rio seems to have similar challenges to those faced by other developing country cities. During one of the site visits, we drove through a large section of city that seems to have been abandoned for many years. The area looks very much like the abandoned areas in the JHB CBD. The good thing about this area is that now, the city of Rio is rebuilding it.
Our workshop took place in a building next to the municipal headquarters. In this vicinity there are also private sector offices, and this allowed us to see many white collar workers. What is curious about dress code among these workers is that, it is very casual. Guys usually wear shirts and chinos and most times jeans. Ladies were usually in flat shoes and skirts or dresses. A disturbing trend however was seeing many guys going to work on training shoes. I was even told that in the municipality, wearing plain bermudas is allowed. Our lunched was served in a restaurant not far from this building. The food is similar to what we eat in South Africa. Brazil is known for its beef exports, so it is common to find beef. Fish and chicken are also readily available.
Brazil has a history and legacy of slavery. The area on which slaves from various parts of Africa were docked is now preserved as Rio's African Heritage museum. Not far from here Brazil's first favela can be seen, and we were told, that is where Samba was born.
Of the few countries I have visited, I found Brazil so laid back. I would love to visit again to explore even more. Michael Franks was right when he sang: Down in Brazil, it takes an hour to walk a mile, time just stands still...
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