Brasil hosts the next summer Olympics in Rio, and I think it is a serious loss that the real athletes in this country will not be included. Everyone here is soccer crazed, true, and we see people (loucos) riding bikes along the sides of the major highways, and there are many gyms of various sizes in urban areas, but the serious athletes are easily seen (and heard) on the streets every day, doing their jobs. These are the guys who spend ALL DAY running after a garbage truck that continually cruises the streets- in second gear I'm guessing- shouting and tossing small garbage bags into the truck. You can hear them coming every morning, and I often encounter them, in uniform (like a team), running up the hills in our neighborhood. These guys are fit.
Now can't you see the event? Each country could send their sanitary engineers (as a garbage man I once knew called himself) to Rio, and set them loose with garbage to collect and a stopwatch. X games. Points for style. Ah, the status, the chance to gain honor for your country!
So, those are the not jiggly bottoms (only surmised), but another observation has to do with our trip a week ago to Rio and to some beaches there. I think the industry in this country with perhaps the biggest margin may be the bikini industry. Or biquínis. EVERYONE wears them here, even those who, as my mother would say, "shouldn't be wearing that". These bikinis are also more scant than most of the ones we see on beaches at home; I did a little research and found that the bottoms consist of a piece of fabric generally around 3"x8", attached to a cord, and the front is a bit smaller. I figure the total fabric involved is about 50 square inches. The cost? About $50-$90. Do the math. Oh yea. The beaches are a great placê to walk and swim, and there are plenty of jiggly bottoms wherever you look. I'm not sure I saw any lixeiros on the beach.
This is so funny. Now that I have figured out how to use all the accents in Portuguese, my computer is ahead of me and thinks I need accents on área or placê. I did not add those. Geez...
Our trip to Rio followed a lovely visit to Minas Gerais, another state, where we spent 2 days with Horta, Cristina, and their grandson, 2 year old Felipe, and nephew Victor. We loved the mountainous countryside, the people, all the local food they brought out for us, including the tropical fruit liqueurs that Horta made from fruit he carefully brought back from Bahía, and added to cachasa, the liquor made from sugar cane that is popular here. Felipe was visiting avo and vovo for a week while his parents traveled, and they were all having a blast.
But, the name of the state- Minas Gerais. This state hás a huge mining industry, and produces 70% of the GDP of the big economy of São Pãulo state. So it is called, English translation, General Mines. Imagine if Colorado or South Dakota were called "General Mines", or even, "Important Mines". I don't think it would fly. And it is an odd name for such beautiful countryside, and for a people who are known for their warmth and hospitality.
A little word about my new friend, Beija-flor, or Hummingbird. Over the rickety card table where we eat our breakfast on the veranda, hangs a plant hanger that Beija-Flor hás turned into a nest, or a ninha. She sits on it pretty much all day and night, taking little trips (especially when we startle her) to the bananas or other still unidentified fruit trees in the back garden. She is quite comfortable with our morning meal there. I can't wait to see these babies. This thing is tiny! And do they cheep? I'll let you know.
My last observation; In the US, as you are all experiencing, democracy is annoying. All those phone calls, political adds, mailings, signs... Here in Brasil, municipalities elected their mayors, or the first round of their mayors, yesterday. In Campinas there were 12 candidates. In Brasil, democracy is annoying and LOUD! In addition to the daily campaign fliers, phone calls, signs, ads, there are these guys (always) who drive through town with huge speakers on the roof of their cars, blaring either songs or speeches of the candidates. We went to a nearby rural town on Saturday, and the streets were cloggged with booming speakers, and flag waving lovely ladies. All in uniform, looking a bit like Carnaval. I'm thinking that maybe decisions are made according to decibels, or how attractive the flag wavers are? In Brasil, voting is mandatory, so unless you have a good excuse (travel, hospitalization, you are required to vote. And the choices are not always
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