Rio Gringa

Earth Hour, Coming Soon!

Earth Hour is this Saturday, March 28th, from 8:30pm to 9:30pm. For one hour, people all over the world will shut off their lights in a symbolic vote against global warming. Check out the info below, and please participate! It's just an hour.

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Update: Goldman Case

There has been a brief lull in the Goldman case, but here's the latest on what's going on:

• Eduardo over at Brasil com Z, who has done a spectacular job following the case and interviewing those involved, reports that the results of David's psychological exam will come out on April 1st, and then both sides' lawyers have 10 days to submit their pleas to the Federal Court, with a possible judicial decision after this deadline. This means there could be a major change in the case in April. Another Brazilian rooting for David, Admar Branco, wrote an opinion piece published in Globo yesterday.
• Seth Kugel at Global Post wrote a huge article about the case, as well as a number of side articles with excellent summaries and links to the Brazilian media coverage. According to his interview with the LeS lawyer Sergio Tostes, Tostes will be traveling to New York this week to deal with the case. Whether it involves legal proceedings or media appearances isn't clear.
• Lula discussed the case on CNN this week. I admit what struck me the most about the clip is the guy they used to do Lula's English voiceover, which nearly made me burst out laughing. It would have only been more authentic if he had added a little lisp in there. Though he didn't reveal much, he did compare the case to the Elian Gonzalez saga. Video after the jump.
• On Wednesday, the Special Secretary of Human Rights Paulo Vannuchi testified before the Brazilian Senate and requested that the legal case officially change the term "kidnapping" to "illegal retention."
• Meanwhile, in the US Senate, Senate Resolution 37 calling for Sean's return to the US was passed unanimously on Tuesday.
• This week, four videos mysteriously appeared on Youtube of JPLeS' father, Paulo, giving a speech about the Hague Convention and parental alienation in 2007, in which he literally describes everything that has happened with the case. Unfortunately, only one video has English subtitles so far, which I've included below.
• I received new threats regarding my involvement in the case, which came from a protected Rio IP address. I have reported them to the proper authorities, but I am still feeling a bit shaken, nonetheless.

Videos after the jump.

On Brazilian Diplomacy

With everything that's gone on in the last few weeks with the Goldman case, I got to thinking about Brazilian diplomacy. Brazil is known for having exceptional diplomats, and its diplomatic corps, the Itamaraty, is one of the best in the world. But is this because of an institutional tradition, or because Brazilians themselves, as individuals, are great diplomats?

I vote for the latter.

Guest Writer Call Out!

I'm now accepting guest writer posts! If you're interested in writing about any of the following topics, please email submissions to riogringaconsult at gmail dot com. They're pretty broad topics, so if you'd like to write, please pick something specific within the category. I can't guarantee that they'll all be published, but if I decide to publish your post, I'll include a link to your blog and any other information you'd like me to post about yourself. Posts can be in Portuguese and/or English.

Topics include:

• [email protected] experiences in Brazil
• Brazilian anthropology/sociology/culture
• Brazilian expat experiences abroad
• funny Brazilian family stories
• expat cultural lessons

Top Ten Reasons You Know You're a [email protected] in Brazil

Inspired by Jen's list from last week, I decided to make my own that applies to both gringos and gringas living in Brazil.

10. No matter how hard you try to imagine otherwise, reais still feel like Monopoly money (despite how many of them you spend).

9. You do or have done some form of volunteer work, community service project, or academic research in Brazil.

8. You know you'll get disgusted or curious looks if you pick up that slice of pizza/sandwich/french fry/hamburger/olive/piece of cheese with your bare hands, but sometimes you just can't help it.

7. You post photos of your Brazilian life and travels on Facebook, Myspace, or your blog, making all of your family and friends at home jealous of you.

6. You've invested money into blending in, be it with dresses, shirts, Brazilian-style bathing suits, shoes, sandals, or even jewelery.

5. You own at least three pairs of Havaianas and wear them at every opportunity (though you've learned they're supposed to be used in informal situations, like at the beach).

4. You speak fluent Portuguese, but the second you pronounce a word with an accent, like an "lh" or a tricky "r," the person you're talking to whips his head around, stares you down, and says,"Você é daqui não, né?" [You're not from here, are you?]

3. People constantly ask you if you'll give them English lessons which either a) thrills you, since you're barely scraping by teaching or b) annoys you because you have either refused to teach from the start or have moved on to greener pastures and never want to look at an English textbook again.

2. You came here because your significant other is Brazilian. Or you came single and left with a Brazilian--or stayed here with one!

1. Whenever you admit to a new acquaintance that you're a [email protected], you inevitably face the question: "Do you like Brazil?" Though for you, that loaded question would be better answered in a thesis than in a few words, you smile widely and say, "Of course! I love it!"

Twitter Generation

This video describes how Eli feels about Twitter. (For some reason, it won't embed correctly, so click the link.)

I, on the other hand, try to use Twitter as a mini-blog, and sometimes mention things I don't feel like going into detail about on my regular blog. I also like to use it like Delicious (which I don't use), by posting interesting links. I try to avoid the whole "I just got up!" and "Going to lunch" sort of thing.

Maracana Madness

Though I'd been to Maracana before, I'd never been to a city league game. It is supposed to be quite an experience, but since I'm not a big fan of being in the middle of rambunctious crowds, I'd never really felt a desire to go. But when Eli scored box seats, I decided to check it out.

As soon as we got off the Metro, we were greeted with huge crowds, and suddenly people began rushing to see something. The Vasco team bus had arrived, and fans flooded into the street to greet the team:

As we made our way to the stadium, the fans began singing their team's anthems: hundreds and hundreds of people in the street, singing the same thing. It was eerie, like being in a huge church.

We waited for Eli's brother outside the stadium, and I had a chance to witness the scene. People of all ages and social classes flocked to the stadium, many of them wearing their team's uniform. Alcohol inside and in the immediate area outside the stadium has been banned, and we saw several people getting hauled off by police with beers in hand.

Then, the torcidas arrived. Each team has organized groups of fans that bring huge flags and banners, as well as instruments, to each game (like the giant tee-shirt below). They began playing their booming drums and chanting their anthems, which continued throughout the game. It struck me as being incredibly tribal, and almost primitive.

The game was between Vasco and Flamengo. Flamengo is arguably the most popular team in Rio with a huge following, while Vasco is an underdog team which was recently put into a "AA" league in the national rankings. Of all four major Rio soccer teams, the Vasco-Flamengo rivalry is the greatest. Think the Yankees-Red Socks rivalry times 1,000,000.

Inside the stadium, we got to the box too late to get the big comfy chairs, and wound up sitting on glorified bar stools for most of the time. But it was fine by me, considering the smaller group of people (compared to the 70,000+ in the stadium), air conditioning, and food. They had the best brownies I've ever had in Brazil (cut into 1cm x 1cm squares), the most delicious chocolate mousse (served in shot glasses), finger foods, cold cuts, and soda. I even won the box raffle, and got a cute polo shirt. It was awesome.

 

Yes, that's Homer Simpson on the Flamengo team flag there. And some dude's hand.

The only problem with the box was that it was a mixed crowd in terms of fans. I was worried there might be some sort of fight, but luckily nothing of the sort happened, except for a few angry fans who stormed out just before Vasco beat Flamengo 2-0. There was a lot of shouting and a lot of cursing, but it was otherwise uneventful.

However, in the stands, there were fireworks and all sorts of insanity, and outside the stadium, we later heard, a plainclothes police officer shot a guy just because he was from the rival team. About five minutes after we left the stadium, we heard a loud explosion, which made my heart stop. "What the hell was that?" I asked Eli. "Uma bomba. Normal," he responded nonchalantly. Just a bomb. It's normal. (As in a fireworks-type explosion) Right.

I did feel a little detached from the madness being in the box, but I was happy I was able to witness it. Soccer is not only an equalizer, that brings people together from all corners of the city, united together with a common goal when they're normally so segregated. It is also an outlet; soccer is a constant, and there will always be a chance to be the winner, and there will always be the opportunity to escape from everyday life to watch the game. Nowhere in Rio, or Brazil for that matter, have I witnessed such intensity or blind passion as I did at the game. It really is a sight to see.