Petrópolis: Is this England?

Catedral de São Pedro de Alcântara

The catedral was built in 1884 by King Dom Pedro II in French Gothic style.  It holds the royal chapel where King Dom Pedro II, Princess Regent Dona Teresa Cristina, and many other members of the royal family are buried.

Petrópolis is a beautiful city with a lot of history in the mountains just one hour outside of Rio.  Petrópolis is known as the imperial city because the Brazilian royal family decided to build their summer palace and summer seat of the monarchy in 1843.  The city has many royal historical attractions and fantastic mountain scenery.

 Palácio de Cristal was built in France in 1879 and was used as the royal ballroom, now it is an exhibition space.

Casa de Santos Dumont built in 1918.

Possibly the coolest tree house ever built, Santos Dumont (1873-1932) was a famous Brazilian inventor who created the wristwatch.  Dumont was also one of the early pioneers of aviation.  There is some major controversy over whether the Wright brothers or Santos Dumont built and flew the first airplane.

Quitandinha

This Norman style palace was built in 1944 as the largest casino in South America, many of it's guests were royalty and Hollywood stars.  Today it is used as luxury condominiums.

Palácio Imperial

The Imperial Museum is the main attraction in Petrópolis, it holds the Imperial Crown Jewels as well as many other possessions of the royal family.  King Dom Pedro II built the Imperial Palace as his summer residence in 1845.

Serra dos Órgãos

This is the Serra dos Órgãos mountain range outside of Rio, it is spectacular!  In the morning the mountains are really misty and foggy.

Cidade Maravilhosa

The view of Pão de Açúcar and Baía de Guanabara from Corcovado.

Cristo Redentor is really really high, view from Pão de Açúcar.

The second cable car up to the top of Pão de Açúcar

Copacabana

Ipanema

Historical Santa Teresa, and its tram which constantly slides off the tracks...

Santa Teresa is a really nice area, with lots of restaurants and bars. It is more historical and the old fashioned tram is really cool because it goes over the Arcos da Lapa bridge, offering another great view of the city from it’s hills.

The beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana are spectacular, even when the weather is cold. I was surprised at how rough the ocean waves were, this is the best place to eat biscoito globo and sip a matte ice tea. The mountains pouring out over the beaches are so beautiful and make everything seem extra dreamy. At the end of each beach there is a mirante, or lookout point. 

The areas of Ipanema and Copacabana are located in a massive bubble. The rest of Cidade Maravilhosa is not so marvelous, because of the shock you get from moving between areas of extreme poverty and wealth. The sheer size and verticalness of the favelas is at the same time terrifying and mesmerizing, it`s like a giant maze of stairs and walkways. It is impressive to see how people can create their own homes, jobs, lives, and vibrant societies while the government leaves them stranded. I am not sure how to feel about favela tourism.  My friends had a great time on a favela tour. They loved seeing and celebrating another side of rio, they said it was amazing. I don’t know if the Cariocas living in the favelas think it is so amazing, nonetheless the favelas remain an important ink blot on the lens of Brasil`s new era of economic development.

 

Niterói

Niterói is the city across from Rio, Cariocas say the only good thing about going to Niterói is that you can see Rio. This is mostly true except for Niemeyer's wacky James Bond style MAC!

PROSAMIM Event

Recently PROSAMIM has begun a partnership with two universities in Manaus, where physiotherapy and medical students visit and consult with families living in their residential parks on medical issues. This is meant to encourage greater dialogue between lower income families and the public healthcare system. One of the event organisers commented that doctors never have enough time to properly meet and develop relationships with their patients. Here are some pictures of the PROSAMIM presentation to the medical students. 

Palácio Rio Negro

This magnificant building has been the official residence of the govenor of Manaus since 1918.  Nowadays it is a really nice museum and art gallery.  The history of Manaus is very interesting, in the early 1900s the rubber industry exploded. Manaus became the most developed city in this remote region, with electricity, public trams, and European inspired architecture.

A photo of the main street Avenida Eduardo Ribeiro in 1909

Amazonas boasts some great modern art!

Eli Bacelar

Moacir Andrade

IFAM II Mostra de Extensão

This week at IFAM was II Mostra de Extensão, a three day event which showcases all the IFAM campuses to prospective college students.  The program of events includes: a presentation booth of each campus, mini courses, lectures, and activities.  One of the main objectives of IFAM is to provide access to education and technical courses so that people from diverse backgrounds can be included in a variety of professional fields.

Some mini courses were held on: the development of applications for facebook, computer maintenance, fruit production, and mathematical instruments. Many students from other schools attended the event.

There were also many exciting presentations featuring different modern and folkloric dances. The most entertaining dance was Olha o Arara because it is similar to musical chairs - except that instead of chairs you grab a girl and the odd one out has to hold a giant stick with a stuffed parrot!

A Portuguese folk dance

Capoeira

Capoeira is an artform unique to Brasil, it combines martial arts, dance, and music.  The history of capoeira dates back to the 16th century African slave trade where Brasil was the main importer.  The music of capoeira was used as a clever way to disguise any fighting or dissent against plantation owners. Contemporary capoeira still uses this element of trickery, there is a certain way of disguising gestures and using bravado to fake out your opponent. The day after this amazing performance we took a class at this capoeira school, and lasted about 20 minutes! Capoeira is a great workout and requires a lot of skill and endurance. I think I will stick with the Berimbau....  

Standing on the Opposite Shore

I first started to notice pictures and images of North America from the poster of a big suburban house with a lawn in my apartment.  Then all of the hotel rooms I have stayed in had pictures of snow capped mountains, evergreen trees, and sometimes even a bit of caribou.

I am not sure if "travel broadens the mind" but I do love travelling because it makes me think differently about where I come from. Before moving to Manaus I never thought about how the Brasilian imagination would envision North America, it's the opposite of our popular images of "exotic" empty tropical sandy beaches!

I had several misconceptions about Manaus and Brasil in general before arriving. 

Firstly, I thought the food and produce in Manaus would be amazing because of the Amazon rainforest. Unfortunately this is not true, according to friends all the delicious fruit is grown in the states of Rio and Sao Paulo while nothing is grown in Amazonia. I guess this is due to the extreme heat and lack of agriculture.  I had the best fruits in Rio and Sao Paulo, the kind that make you think you have never tasted a real banana because it's so fresh and sugary sweet!

The second misconception I had was that Brasil is hot.  Despite being Canadian, I froze in Rio and Sao Paulo. I even had to buy sweaters, jackets, and socks. The temperatures did not look too cold, they were always around 7-15 degrees.  But the nonexistence of heating and the open buildings get really really cold.  Maybe Manaus has destroyed my ability to withstand cold...

Another misconception I had was that the pace of life would be slower and lazier in Brasil compared to Canada. Most people I have met work an insane amount of hours and find working on Saturdays is normal!  The pace of life here feels like it is going at breakneck speed compared to slow and lazy North America.

The Many Faces of Brasil

So far every city I have visited in Brasil feels like another continent. 

Rio stands up to it´s dreamy reputation, beaches, mountains, and all the mod cons what more could you want? The Cariocas are a bit different from everyone else, they have a really strange sense of humor.  For example, everyday someone would yell at me: LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL!!! I had such an amazing time, and made a lot of new friends. Carioca cab drivers are especially chatty, they love tourists and want to hear all about Manaus and Toronto.  Whereas, in Manaus the Manauaras are less interested in trying to decipher my broken Portuguese. Did I mention the steak-cheese-pineapple sandwhiches!?

Petropolis is a very worthwile bus trip one hour outside of Rio.  The bus ride alone is on par with driving through the Rockey Mountains on Glacier Parkway, the mountains outside Rio are just spectacular.  Petropolis has a lot of historical colonial sites such as the Imperial Museum.  I had a fun time getting lost on a local bus in the mountains! Petropolis feels like being in a sleepy town in the midlands of England, the pace is slower, and there are lots of older people doing funny outdoor exercises.


Sao Paulo is a monster of a city, I thought I could handle it but I was wrong.  I lasted about 4 minutes on Rua 25 Marco, which is the big shopping street. In the downtown centro part there are so many people you can´t see your own nose, it is very overwhelming.  Sampa feels like the most dangerous city so far, I am not sure why. Maybe it is because the streets are not lit very well, and everything is located in private space.   Sao Paulo feels closed, everything is behind a door or in a random place so you need to know precisely where you are going. I am so lucky to have some wonderful friends here, otherwise I would be totally lost in this massive jungle.