Back in Belem

For those who have been following the blog and our travels for several years now, you might remember that I've been to Belem before. It is a city that is located at the mouth of the Amazon, and has a rich colonial history, dating from when there was a rubber boom in the Amazon. This colonial history has definitely left it's architectural mark as evidenced by buildings such as this:



real purty house


real purty house closeup


Situated at the mouth of the Amazon, Belem get's its fair share of rain.


not on my parade


This is currently the rainy season; but i had an interesting conversation with a taxi driver about what the rainy season actually means, as I was here in June, i.e. the dry season, and it rained here everyday as well. Well, he said, in the dry season it does rain everyday, but it's in the afternoon. In the rainy season it rains everyday in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Thanks for the clarification.

It's not too hot though, and is actually quite pleasant, especially after the rain when the entire city seems to glow (i guess mix equatorial sun with rain drops and that's what you get).


Belem after the rain

One of the nicest parts about Belem is the renovated/gentrified/revitalized area near the river called 'the docks' (as docas). It is a series of large hanger/warehouses that have been converted to fancy restaurants, theaters, and ice cream shops!!! all of this with a nice promenade along the river. A staple of my, and any sensible tourist's, Belem experience.


Guess why this sign isn't in Portuguese (something tells me the locals know where they are)


K., is a friend who is also a Fulbrighter here in Brazil, and we are both working on similar topics in the southeastern Amazon. Here she and I are at the river preparing for an ice cream splurge!






K. and I have made a pact to each other to scientifically test all 100+ flavors of ice cream at the dock's fancy ice cream shop during our time in Belem. From Brazil nut flavored to the innumerable Amazonian fruits, such as Bacaba, it's going to be a challenge, but K. and I are determined, and I believe when Jo gets here we'll have a research assistant in our noble quest.


Fine dining anyone?


dock long view



Another great thing about Belem is the local market at the river side (a subsequent post will be devoted to the early morning market, which is much different)


meats, glorious meats


Unknown fruit #1


Unknown fruit #2


Unknown fruit #3


Brazil nuts anyone?


Karimeh and cupuacu (one of my favorite fruits)

And that's just a taste of Belem!

Getting Started in Brazil: Sao Paulo

Hard to believe that a year in India has come and gone, as have three months visiting with family and friends in the U.S. After much preparation, including, but not limited to, grant applications, courses, preliminary field work over two summers, networking with Brazilian scholars, I am finally in Brazil for my dissertation research!

As one of the grants that I was fortunate enough to get was the Fulbright, I was invited to participate in an orientation seminar in Sao Paulo. It was a truly great way to start out my year here in Brazil.
Sao Paulo itself is an absolutely mammoth city.  Upon flying in, you are greeted or confronted, depending on your perspective, by skyscrapers as far as the eye can see. Literally.

It is a very fast paced city. And very expensive, even for someone coming from the US. In many of the nicer neighborhoods, it is actually more on par with what I remember of Italy in terms of cost of living.

As a group of about 30 Fulbrighters, we were in Sao Paulo (SP) for 4-5 days. Most days were spent with  practical overviews, talks about safety, health, but also time for a variety of group networking opportunities. And like many things the world over, networking happens over drinks and dinner!

We also did a bit of site seeing, checking out the Pinacoteca museum. Going to art museum is one of my favorite things to do in a foreign city. I feel like I just get a great insight into what's going on in local art, and who are major domestic artists, that might not make it to US museums. Below are some things I liked:

 

Atlas shrugged

Tocando, cantando no campo. This will be Jo and I pretty shortly...I just need to get a cool hat.

 

It took a while for us to figure out that this giant cardboard structure was part of the art work. Those artists, always trying to fool you.

                                           Interesting sculpture with very Brazilian features.



We also checked out the central market, which was pretty amazing.

 

Stained glass over market stalls

The market was just an absolute blur of activity with folks buying fruit, eating lunch, and just mingling

 Purty stained glass closeup

I don't think anyone was brave enough, but our tour guide on the bus told us that there would be a sandwich there that we might like. It was a roast beef sandwich. After he told us about it, one of our Fulbright folks stood up and clarified that this was a sandwich for someone that REALLY REALLY REALLY liked roast beef. He wasn't kidding, I have never, ever, ever, seen anything like this. I wish I had gotten a photo (actually I don't because it was disgusting), but I'm convinced one would need to have jaws like an Amazonian snake, i.e. detachable, in order to confront this feat.

Ok, after writing that, I realized I needed to find an image. With the search terms: sandwich, Sao Paulo, mercardo, Google Images came up with this:

Sorry. I just had to do it.  Feel free to be sick now. Oh, and the sandwich is called a 'mortadella', which I will offer a joking translation of 'the death of her' (not quite, mixing Spanish and Portuguese, but that's what it should mean).

My attempt at being artsy: in the mercado there were two floors, one of which had thick opaque glass. It was quite a surprise when I looked up and saw these ethereal foot steps. The photo didn't quite come out how I envisioned it, but so it goes.

No artsy-ness here. Joke. Just a view of the building next door from my hotel room. A beautiful sunset to end the first steps in Sao Paulo.