Miss Gay Brazil 2011

Great night last night. Luiz and I went to the Miss Gay Brazil pageant hosted at the Unidos da Tijuca samba school quadra. LOADS of queer guys.

I felt like the paparazzi, catching all the grrlz in their finest. But they LOVE the camera!  Hahaha

The show was great. I especially loved the intermission (between the regional costume portion and the evening gown portion of the pageant) that drummed the hell out of the place and featured super cute near naked boyz dancing and gesticulating all up in our face.  You go boyz! (I was too entranced to remember to take photos.)

Here’s a little look-see into the event from the photos I took..

Oh – and somehow we didn’t leave until nearly 5:00 a.m.  Plus the bus taking us home was PACKED and we had to stand. At nearly 5:00 in the morning!  Brazilians love their parties.

Oh - and I should mention that Miss Santa Catarina took home the honor.

World Military Games in Rio

The World Military Games just came and went in Rio.  In some ways they were a dress rehearsal for the World Cup and the Olympics; but on a smaller scale.  There were thousands of athletes put up in several villages who needed three meals a day and language-specific services throughout their stay.

There were competitions, the use of smaller venues (plus the big Copacabana beach venues) and the simple need to get athletes from one place to another. Athletes who had already placed out of their competitions needed something to do every day while others continued to compete.

Luiz was a volunteer during the games.  He was among the volunteers who spoke English – placing him among the more desirable guides. He spent 10 days arriving early and leaving late to facilitate the experience of visiting athletes and their organizers.

Thanks to a friend of ours who is a career military man, we got pairs of tickets to lots of events, including the opening and closing ceremonies.

Since the opening ceremonies conflicted with the Blogger Meet-Up, I just went to the closing ceremonies – with my mother-in-law. It was an adventure. And a beautiful show.

Luiz had a great time working with other volunteers and meeting international athletes. There were lots of cool people eager to discover Rio. He spent long days showing the athletes various parts of the city.

It was a great event. And I hope there were lessons learned. Luiz expressed some frustrations about the overall organization. It would be great to assume these problems were being recorded to help improve the planning for the World Cup and Olympics. One can hope.

Blogger Meet-up in Rio – report back

Gathering at our point of departure.

Phew – it’s been a great weekend spending time with fellow bloggers. Saturday was our planned event in Rio which attracted a great crowd (many bloggers and their husbands, partners, children, etc.).

Inside the Arco do Tellez.

The Arco do Telles area is PACKED every weeknight for Happy Hour.

It was my intention to arrive early to stake out the meeting area and be a responsible leader.  But, the best laid plans… We missed our ferry and given that it was Saturday, the next ferry was 30 minutes later. So by the time we arrived there was already a good group gathered. Thanks to cell phones, everyone was informed of our delay, and some who arrived a bit later were able to hop into the tour in progress.

Confeitaria Columbo has hosted dignitaries and the rest of us for over 100 years.

We somehow stumbled upon these happy barber shop workers...

Luiz was his beaming, charming self as he walked us through some very historic streets, showing us an old home of Carmen Miranda’s and pointing out an ancient street which still has the small gutter running the length of the center of the street (aka: the old open sewer channel).

Rua da Carioca is fantastically scenic busy old street lined with historic archetecture.

While we wandered from historic site to historic building, only a few were open, and many are best seen during the week when you can enter and take tours of. Luiz and I did a lot of encouraging folks to return and spend more time discovering Rio’s history. There is SO MUCH to see we could have walked for three days!

After peeking into the modern Cathedral and walking under the Lapa arches, we made our way to Cinelandia and pulled about 6 tables together and settled in for a LONG and social lunch. While we did get up and switch seats now and again, it was still impossible to chat with everyone.  There were just so many of us present! The meet-up was a total success!

Not everybody (sorry) but a nice group shot at the restaurant Amerelinho in Cinelandia.

Blogger Meet-Up final reminder

We’re ready to go. Don’t miss the action. The Rio/Brazil expat blogger world is about to get smaller. We’re about to meet each other in the flesh (imagine that!)

On Saturday, July 16^th everyone is invited to join us for a blogger meet-up in Rio. It seems to be shaping up into two gatherings: one at 10:00 a.m. sharp at Master Velentim’s Fountain in Praça XV in Rio Centro for a walking tour of about two hours or so through historic sections of Centro, and other interesting parts of downtown.

The second part is lunch at Amarelinho on the square in Cinelandia (not an expensive place). That should be around 12:30 p.m. I’ve heard from some that they cannot make the walking tour, but they will join us for lunch.  Wonderful.

However you can join us – we are eager to see you.

People have confirmed their attendance from all over. It is sure to be a great time. Please plan to join us. Contact me if you have any questions.

See you Saturday!

USA upset at the Women's World Cup

Wow - did you see this? I must admit my loyalties were split when the US matched up against Brazil. Then it turned into a fantastic victory for the women of the USA team.

Watch this... and who said US guys don't get excited about women's sports?



And here is an interview with player Ali Krieger discussing the win.

Gay Pride in São Paulo

June 26^th is Gay Day in San Francisco.  750,000 or so people will pack Market Street and the Civic Center to celebrate all things LGBTQQI. It is the highlight of the year and is the second largest public event in California, after the Rose Bowl parade.  Oh the memories.

Luiz and I lived within a quick, downhill walk of the Civic Center so each year we would host a Gay Day Brunch where friends would gather, fuel up on a good breakfast buffet (and cocktails), put the finishing touches on their special apparel (you can never over-accessorize on Gay Day) and strategic makeup, and then spill out onto the street to take in a full, long day of joyfulness.

This year, June 26^th is also the 15th annual Gay Day parade in São Paulo. While we won’t be attending, we love following the festivities online.  The event in São Paulo is the largest LGBT party on the planet.  This year they could well host 3 million participants. THAT’S a PARTY!

The theme of the event this year is “Love each other, end homophobia.”

For fun, the organizers have come up with the idea of getting everyone on the street dancing with each other, a sort of debutante ball. The organizers are preparing a waltz in the center of the city. They have provided a remix version of the Blue Danube waltz to each of the 17 tri-electricos that will be keeping the crowd in high gear. Whenever the Blue Danube waltz is played, everyone is encouraged to dance with whoever is next to them.  FUN!

Gay people are so clever.

Thanks to the Inside São Paulo team for posting about this on their terrific blog about all things São Paulo.  Check them out.

Cultural da Índia event report back

Wow. Wow. That was amazing.

Last night Luiz and I joined a couple friends to attend a music and dance performance by Indian artists at the Sala Baden Powell cultural space in Copacabana. It featured about 50 minutes of mind blowing music and drumming by Anuradha Pal and her group “Recharge.” And then about 40 minutes of exquisite dance by Arunima Kumar, with live musical accompaniment.

The performances were part of a cultural exchange festival sponsored by the Indian Consulate and the Brazilian Cultural Ministry, among others. The event, in Rio, started on May 19^th and will conclude May 22^nd. The event continues through June 5^th, touring through São Paulo, Brasilia, and then Belo Horizontes.  You can find the schedule and additional information here.

Check out this video of master drummer and composer Anuradha Pal.  Her website is here. She was AMAZING.

Here is a video of Arunima Kumar performing a number similar to one of the three she presented last night.  Really beautiful.

Keep in mind that tonight in Rio is a different performance than what we saw last night (so I cannot comment on its impact, but I bet it will be wonderful). To see what we saw, you would want to go May 22^nd. Oh, and if you go, sit in the balcony.  It is a small theater, so you will not be too far back.  The main floor seating is odd in that it slopes DOWNWARD away from the stage, so you cannot see the dance performer's feet, which would be best.

President Obama in Rio de Janeiro

In front of the Theatro Municipal

The television is all Obama all the time. And everyone is smiling.  Growing crisis and ill-fated war in Libya aside, this post is about the people’s reaction to President Obama’s visit to Brazil and Rio de Janeiro.  The guy is a rock star.

The artist brought this as a gift to President Obama. The image shows Obama crying a tear of joy at the reality that a black man is president.

These guys in white worked up a song and dance routine to celebrate Barak Obama as an honorary Brazilian.

News reporters tripped over themselves to sing the praises of President Obama and they had no difficulty finding people on the street who were eager to express their excitement and pride in just being in the same city while the President and his family visited.

As a US American I consider myself pretty cynical and hardened against putting too much stock in a politician.  But when a black man can be president of the United States and he brings his family with two small girls to a poor community in Rio for a visit – Brazilians of African descent take note.  The pride, the excitement, the hope, the thrill of it all sent ripples of promise throughout the community.  It was very moving to watch.

Lots of security.

Luiz and I went to Cinelandia to watch President Obama’s speech from outside the recently restored (magnificently so) Theatro Municipal.  Much to our disappointment there were no jumbo-trons televising the speech to those of us standing in the square.  We did not even see his motorcade drop him off at the theater.  Oh well.  The crowd was fun and we, of course, spent the afternoon sitting  in an outdoor restaurant enjoying the warm sunshine and cold beer.  We watched the President’s speech on the televisions hung over the diners.

Watching the speach on the television.

"Obama generico" - an Obama look-a-like works the crowd.

It was a bit eerie to be on the streets of Rio with absolutely no traffic.  It was a ghost town.  We could even walk down the middle of the street. Very weird. And security forces were everywhere.

But the take away experience was one of pride. Brazilians were feeling proud and Luiz and I felt proud. It is amazing, the hope and promise President Obama inspires just by being who he is.

Making friends with the security guys.

Here is President Obama's speach in English.

Carnaval weekend

Carnaval is one of those long weekends we spend a lot of time planning for.  We don’t go anywhere, just across the bay to Rio.  Luiz has a lifetime of experience working every last bit of excitement out of the event and he still insists on a full tilt weekend.

We’re not the twenty-something party guys we once were.  Actually, we’ve held our own into our fifty-something years, but it is worth noting that things have changed.  Now we take pain relief medication and sore muscle cream in our overnight bags.

Anyway – I thought rather than a trip tick log of our weekend I would share some thoughts and impressions we had along the way, in no particular order.

-          Old haunts like Elite (a gay club open only during Carnaval) hosting a 15 person band playing classic samba tunes can still draw an over-flowing crowd.  Might I add that the crowd has aged with the club – so we felt right at home.  Luiz danced nonstop until 4 in the morning.

-          Tip: best to buy your subway ticket WAY in advance.  The line during Carnaval can take 30 minutes! (Luiz gets a free pass, including me, due to his chronic health situation.)

-          Packing your own food and drink saves a bundle.  We entered the Sambadromo with two thermal bags filled with beer/ice along with a plastic bag with our sandwiches.  Carnaval night cost us only R$8 for ice.

-          The Rio Carnaval street party scene (blocos) seems to have exploded in recent years.  Everywhere we went in Rio – if there was a public square, there was a bloco.  Everywhere.

-          Angels do exist.  Rachel and Daniel generously offered us their apartment, while they were away, to crash between all-night marathons from Saturday through Wednesday.  Mil beijos!

-          Contrary to established lore, Banda de Ipanema is no longer a gay bloco. There was a time (for many, many years) when the gays and the meticulously adorned, larger than life drag performers would crowd the Banda de Ipanema bloco.  Trust me – those days are gone.

-          This year the city government of Rio rolled out a strategy to calm the frenzied street vendors selling beer and other beverages along every curb throughout Carnaval.  Vendors had to get a license or their goods would be confiscated. (The price was minimal.)  It worked!  Things were calmer, while there were still a gazillion vendors on the street.  The city also promoted a campaign to discourage peeing on the streets (UUUURRGGHHH!!!!). It included a hundred times more chemical porta-toilets.  This also seemed to have an impact.  This was definitely a case of Rio getting caught being good.  Hurray!

-          While I have long maintained that the best kept secret among travel agents around the world is that Carnaval in Rio happens during the rainy season (and it almost ALWAYS rains during Carnaval) this year we were fortunate to view Sunday’s Parade with only a tiny bit of rain.  Monday had a downpour during Grande Rio’s performance, but otherwise was dry.  It was an unusually dry year.

-          Our friends Lilian, Zanza, Paulo and Liani ran the marathon this year.  They paraded with the “Access” group, Cubango, on Saturday, sat with us in the stands all night on Sunday to watch half of the “Special” schools parade, then returned Monday night to parade with Beija Flor, stepping off at 5:00 a.m., for the second half of the Special groups.  Can you say exhausted!?

-          Time is turned topsy turvey during Carnaval.  Day becomes night and night becomes day.  Then it takes a few days to get back on your feet.

Any Carnaval experiences/thoughts you wish to share?

My computer died - sigh

It was bound to happen.  I´ve been plunking away on a nearly six year old Dell laptop.  There have been warnings.  Now I am writing from an undisclosed location squeezed into a teeny tiny cubicle in a LAN house.

And, since this is Carnaval weekend, it may be a while before I can get my data recovered and set up a new system.

The good news is my reading time has expanded by a factor of 10.

See you soon (and in comments sections elswhere...)

Bom Carnaval.

Catch Ivete Sangalo live today on YouTube

Today at 18:30 Brasília time, get in the mood for Carnaval by tuning in to a live transmission of the Carnival rehearsal of Ivete Sangalo, one of the most popular singers in the Salvador festival. Check it out here http://www.youtube.com/carnaval

Here Ivete makes her invitation.

Ivete Sangalo in concert

Yesterday was a scorching day in the sun dancing to music at a Mistura Brasileira concert in the park, featuring Ivete Sangalo.

The concert was a rare chance to see Ivete Sangalo in Niterói, and even better that it was in a relatively small venue, the Rio Cricket club (so the space is just a bit larger than a cricket pitch).

The gate opened at 2:00, so naturally we arrived just after 4:30 p.m.  Perfect timing.  The first of two warm up bands had just begun and the sun was just beginning to slope back down out of the sky. 

There was a vibrant street party going on outside the club with police trying to get folks to allow at least one lane of traffic to flow.  These scenes are mind blowing to the forever restricted and rules-following Americans.  Everyone has a beer or a cocktail in their hand.  Young men are holding liters of tequila or scotch overhead and hawking shots.  Circles of friends are pouring Red Bull and vodka for themselves, priming the pump before entering the field for the show.

It was blisteringly hot.  Once inside everyone was cramped under whatever shade they could find along the perimeter of the field.  The bands were terrific.

Occasionally the event organizers would cool the crowd down by shooting a fire hose fountain of water into the air.  People would run to stand under the refreshing “rain” to take the heat down a notch.  Oh the eye candy.

In true Brazilian style, beers were bought 10 at a time for your group.  The vendors filled a heavy plastic bag with 10 cans and a lot of crushed ice.  Instant cooler.  And you got a volume discount.

So we danced, and chatted, drank beer, met up with more friends and continued to dance waiting for Ivete.

Eventually she made her grand entrance and the place exploded.  True to her never-to-disappoint style of live performance, the energy started out at a “10” and never let up.  One song ran into the next, her 8 sidekick dancers never stopped, and she held the crowd in the palm of her hand for well over an hour.

It seemed everyone present knew every word to all her songs and sang along.  The crowd never stopped jumping up and down.

It was Brazil at its best for me.  I love being in that energy (even if I do not jump up and down for 90 minutes).  I adore music made buy a couple guitars, a saxophone and 24 drums and other percussion instruments.  And I really enjoy being in a crowd of all ages having fun together.

There was one reminder of how differently things are done here in terms of garbage.  There were no garbage cans, anywhere.  Tens of thousands of people were drinking from beer cans and using plastic cups (not to mention water bottles and soda cans) creating a mountain of trash.  The solution?  There was a small army of men and women in bright yellow shirts with stiff brooms and garbage bags wandering the site sweeping up after everyone.  Huh?  We were supposed to throw our trash on the ground because people had been hired to then pick it up.  Part of Brazil’s full employment program, I guess.  But I can’t help but believe that if there were large garbage cans set out they would be used properly.  Oh well.

Side note: Rachel recently did a post about the length of people's names here in Brazil. For the record, Ivete's full name is Ivete Maria Dias de Sangalo Nascimento.

Anyway – it was a blast.  Here is a clip of Ivete Sangalo to share the love.

Horrific fire at Samba City in Rio

A tragedy of a different sort has befallen Rio.  It does not, to be sure, compare in terms of lives and livelihoods lost to the ongoing struggles brought on by flooding in nearby mountain towns.  There families continue to search for lost relatives and remain camped out in school gymnasiums awaiting what might come next.  At last count the dead have surpassed 850 and there are still some 400+ people missing.  It was proclaimed Brazil’s worst natural disaster several hundred fatalities ago…

But now in Rio, just one month before the annual Carnaval festival that brings a bit of joy and levity into people’s otherwise very difficult lives, there has been a tragic fire at the Samba City complex were Schools design and build their huge floats and create thousands of elaborate costumes.

What a horror show.  Early Monday morning fire broke out in one of the barracãos (warehouse work spaces) and quickly grew to engulf the entire three story space, while spreading into the two neighboring spaces as well.

See more photos here.

The plastic, foam, polyester, feathers, fiberglass, wood and other flammable materials used to create the floats and costumes made the fire fierce and fast-growing.

At escola Grande Rio nearly everything was lost: floats, costumes, design molds, computers, cell phones, cash reserves – more than R$7 million in losses.  Thankfully the bateria’s (percussion band’s) instruments were off site at the time and so have been spared.

It may be “just a parade” to some, but creating a winning Carnaval presentation is big business, and so much of the effort resonates in people’s hearts throughout the year.  It is a full time job for some, and hundreds of workers are employed for a good six months to make it a reality.

Just as some Brazilians identify so strongly with their beloved futebol teams, many in Rio’s poorer neighborhoods invest their hearts in their School of Samba.  This loss has cut people to the bone.

Organizers and the City’s leadership have quickly moved to guarantee that all is done to preserve and support everything possible to ensure a celebratory Carnaval event.  Leaders from the Schools affected have proclaimed proudly that, while works of art that have been up to 8 months in the making are now gone, the spirit of Carnaval can not be taken from the members of their communities

The show will go on.  It is sure to be an emotional event.

[Two photos taken from here.]

Rio Carnaval tickets for sale

Thanks to the forever unexplainable ongoing good luck that is my husband (he wins everything) we were able to purchase more tickets to Rio’s Carnaval parade than we need.  In fact, within our circle of friends we had a good year and many people were able to buy tickets, so our extras are not needed among our group, which goes to the event almost every year.  Having extra tickets is not an easy feat.  Tickets sold out (for both nights) in less than 10 minutes.  Look here for more about our phone-frenzy morning the day they went on sale.

We have six tickets for sale for Sunday, March 6^th in Sector 3, the night we will be attending. They are available for R$275 each (that’s reais, not dollars).  (The trusted website many folks turn to for tickets sells the same ticket for R$375 – but they are already sold out.)

Our group of friends is a bit crazy about Carnaval.  We go to many, many pre-Carnaval samba school rehearsals.  Most everyone knows all the words to all the Schools’ sambas before the parade.  And this year four of our friends will be parading with Beja Flor on Monday night (well, actually at 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, but hey…)

Sector 3 is the second section up on the left, the first is Sector 1

Sector 3 is right near the beginning of the parade.  The seats are up in the bleachers with a great “looking down from above” view of everything.  As is true for most Sectors, there are not assigned seats.  You have to arrive early and camp out to get a good spot.  We always bring sandwiches, salgadinhos, fruit and treats – along with beer and water to last us through the night.  You just can’t bring in glass containers. 

The insiders among us will tell you that Sunday has a “better” lineup than Monday.  That is, the more popular or accomplished Schools will be parading Sunday, with some exceptions.  The champion from last year, Unidos da Tijuca, will be parading then.  And the night includes Mangueira, the oldest and some would say the most popular and traditional of all the schools.  For the full schedule, look here. It promises to be one heck of a show.  Plan to spend all night.  The competition begins at 9:00 p.m. and continues until the sun rises.

Overall safety is not an issue within the Sambadromo.  Everyone brings their camera.  Food and beverages are sold by vendors throughout the night. It’s a good idea to bring a little stadium cushion to sit on!

Anyway, I will write more about how a night watching the Carnaval parade in Rio works as we get closer.  WAY too much info for one post!

Let me know if you have any questions or if you are interested in the tickets.  Bom Carnaval!

UPDATE: Two tickets have been sold. (That took 4.5 hours...)  Just four left. (Selling only in pairs.)

Our hearts break for the disaster victims and their families

Normally I do not include news stories or so-called “bad” stuff in my blog. Qualidade de Vida is meant to be a celebration of Brazil in all its manifestations, along with some story telling about Luiz and my life here.

But the horror of the floods and mudslides in the mountain communities not too far from our home makes me feel negligent in not acknowledging this tragedy.  Continuing with the happy dance that is my blog during this time seems to place me in a parallel universe.  It doesn’t feel right.

So I do want to mention that Luiz and I, along with our family and friends have been deeply moved by this tragedy (which continues as the rain still falls).  Some of our friends have family living in the affected areas who have been impacted, some horribly so.

You can visit this photo essay to get a greater understanding of how tragic this situation is.

This article offers a host of ways you can help with material aid or by making a bank deposit to an assistance organization.

New logo for the 2016 Olympics in Rio

The new logo for the 2016 Olympic games was unveiled during the New Year's Eve celebration on Copacabana Beach. I like it.

Here's the logo launch video.  The official website is pretty cool as well.

Tickets for Rio’s Carnaval go on sale tomorrow

Think: Ticketron and Lady Gaga or Rolling Stones.

Tomorrow, beginning moments before 9:00 a.m., everyone we know will be hitting re-dial from all their phones trying to get through to the computers that will be taking ticket orders.  All of the available tickets for both Sunday and Monday’s big event (March 6th and 7th) will sell out in less than 10 minutes.

It’s always a frantic 10 minutes.  Busy, re-dial.  Busy, re-dial.  Busy, redial.

Each sector has its own phone number.  If the computer picks up here's how it goes (something to this effect): "You have reached the ticket agency for Rio Carnaval 2011.  Listen carefully.  Have a paper and pencil handy, as well as your CPF number.  You may reserve up to four tickets for Sunday, March 6th.  Please enter the number of tickets you wish to reserve, or press zero if you do not want any tickets for Sunday's event.  Please wait... You my reserve up to 4 tickets for Monday, March 7th.  Please enter...  Please wait.  Your order is confirmed...  Your reservation number is...  To pick up your tickets you must go to the Bradesco Bank office in Centro Rio on January 13 or 14 in Centro Rio... (and pay for them).  If you do not show up, your tickets will be made available to others who wish to purchace them."

While we all try to get tickets to attend, LOTS of people are trying to get tickets because they can be sold INSTANTLY upon exiting the Bradesco office where the ticktes are purchased for up to twice their value.

It’s always a crazy morning.  I’ll let you know how it works out.

UPDATE!!!  Luiz is a super lucky man!  We used our home phone and his cell phone to try and connect.  (My cell - I forgot to re-activate my chip for January so it was a dud.)  Luiz got through once and used his CPF to get 4 tickets for both Sunday and Monday, then he got through again and used my CPF to get 4 tickets for Sunday -- by that time all tickets for Monday were sold out.

Of the six other friends who were dialing for tickets this morning 3 of them got tickets as well!  So it looks like our entire group will be going. *happy dance*