The other Brasil

School’s done, for the most part. I just have one more exam on Monday and then I stick a fork into the academic semester. But then the real fun starts. No sooner does the semester end than I set off for another trip. This is going to be a big one though. It’s the one I’ve been waiting for and what I anticipate to be one of the great trips of my many fortunate experiences. I’ll be heading up to the northeast of Brazil and making my way down the coast all the way to Rio de Janeiro for New Years. I will be gone for a little less than a month, traveling mainly solo, in a poorer region of the country, on a shoe-string budget, covering a distance roughly equal to that of New York to Florida, primarily on a bus, and ultimately landing me back in São Paulo just days before I fly home to the US on January 8. It’s my one-last hurrah in Brasil before riding off into the sunset, or rather, into the piercing cold and snow of the US northeast. It’s a mixed reaction, bitter sweet feeling going on. I’ve had December 9 circled on my calendar for a while now. It’s the day after my last final and the day that I’ve been planning on taking off for this grand trip in order to maximize the travel time. And come December 9 I’ll still have an entire month left in this beautiful country. But without a doubt the time will fly and this trip sadly marks the beginning of the end of my time in Brasil. What a way to go though. On Tuesday I fly up to Fortaleza, and then will work my way down to Rio hitting up the beach cities of Natal, Recife, Maceió, and Salvador along the way. Check out the route below:

Brasil is a very iconic country and the northeast region is no exception. Admit it, for those who haven’t been down here when you hear Brasil you think of Rio de Janeiro, Carnaval, samba, monkeys, anacondas, and the Amazon. I did. After that the next popular images would probably go something like: capoeira, favelas, and gun slinging flip flop wearing teenagers wreaking havoc in the streets like in the hit movie “City of God.” Again, before coming down here for the first time, I thought that. While the country is a little more complex than that, there is some truth to all the imagery, particularly the latter ones. They’re the popular images and icons for “the other” Brasil. The Brasil that is outside the skyscrapers of São Paulo and the clubs of Rio de Janeiro. Let’s face it, Brasil is a country of huge inequalities. We’re talking a country where 10% of the people have 50% of the country’s wealth and are mainly clustered in the south and southeast, while the poorest 10% receive about only 1% of total income. It’s no secret that most of that 10% is located in the northeast of the country. The northeast of Brasil is very much like the south of the US….generally poorer, home to the historic cash crop sugar industry, which led to a huge presence of slavery, and reflected today by the large black population living in the region. The inequality issue is a pretty deal in Brasil, at least in the policy circle, and Brasil is infamously known as one of the most unequal countries in the world with regards to income distribution. However, much to their credit, the government has taken many positive steps in the past few years to curb the inequality. But the issue persists.

Anyway, I am really intrigued to see the “other Brasil.” Last year I was living in the southern state of Paraná, considered to have one of the highest qualities of life in Brasil. And this year, of course, I’m in Sao Paulo – largest economy in Latin America, cosmopolitan & international city, and home of much of the country’s wealth. So I have read and studied all about the “other Brasil” that’s geographically only a plan ride away from São Paulo, but culturally a world apart. It should be an eye opening experience to see a part of the country with a more homogenous population, poorer standard of living, and with still very strong remnants of the legacy of slavery.

But it’s those differences and unique identity that lure so many travelers to the northeast. It’s the home of the Afro-Caribbean Brazilian culture, the reggae capital of the country, and the birthplace of capoeira – the artistic dance that mimics a fight between two participants mixing martial arts with traditional dance steps. And let’s not kid ourselves…the northeast has hundreds of miles of coastline, is stacked with sun-kissed beaches, 360 days of sun, and year round 85-90 degree weather. AaaAAhhAhhHHH!!! But my plan whenever I travel is to not expect, rather, just let things unfold. So I don’t want to get too caught up in anticipations and expectations.

Logistically, I will be on the road bouncing from hostel to hostel over the next 4 weeks so my opportunities for blog posts will be few and far between. This could even be my last blog post until I get back to São Paulo in early January. Then from there I might flood the blog with recap stories. But hopefully I’ll be able to sneak into an internet café somewhere along the way and throw a quick shout out in. OK, signing off for now. But I leave you with some random pics from the past couple weeks in São Paulo.

Me and the king (Pelé, not Lebron James)

Hall of the greats - Brazilian Soccer Museum

Paulista Avenue
Christmas performance on Paulista Avenue
Paulista Avenue Christmas decorations
Student lounge at my school
Outside my school