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 January
3, 2004
(from Brazil)
Feliz Ano Novo
OR
My Big Fat Brazilian Vacation...
In case you didn’t understand the first line, it means “Happy New Year”
in Portuguese... and why am I having a Big Fat Brazilian Vacation? Well,
mostly because since I got here the day after Boxing Day in semi-hot
cloudy Summer weather... I’ve been spending alot of time with a very
warm, friendly Brazilian family in Jacareí, a town about an hour’s drive
from São Paolo, and then with more of their family on the New Year’s
Eve weekend in a small town about 6 hours drive west of Jacarei, called
Olímpia. I’ve been having so much fun with them, we could even do our
own verson of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” with the usual soap operas
that happen in families.
They don’t speak one Word of English and of course, I never was thinking
of learning Portuguese until I got here... so I was lucky enough to
bring two translation books, one for me and one for the Brazilian I
would be talking to. If you are planning to come to Brazil and don’t
have a friend who knows English, you are definitely in for culture shock
if you go to any small towns... but after a week here, I’m starting
to get an ear for the language (but still have a very long way to go);
have learned some basic words (some being similar to Spanish), and we
communicate using our friend as a translator, but when he’s not around...
my translation books, sign language, a little English that we both understand
like yeah and no, some words portugese and spanish – all mixed in together.
And although no one knows Salsa dancing in this family, they are learning
about it vicariously through me. What’s even funnier is that salsa is
parsley in portuguese.
 On
New Year’s Eve, I did a salsa demo and taught one of the daughters how
to dance the basics – right down to wearing something I would typically
wear while dancing. That same night, one couple showed me one of the
traditional Brazilian partner dances, called Farro. Some of the basics
reminded me a little of cumbia and I was able to follow most of the
steps after watching them dance a whole song. I even got my partner
to pose with me in a “dip” and unfortunately that photo will have to
wait until we come back to Toronto.
Even their grandmother enjoyed the dancing so much that the next day
she gave us a howl when she lifted her skirt to make it look shorter
walking past me and my friends and pretending she was me dancing salsa...
it was one of those special moments you don’t forget when different
generations get together... and that’s what the holidays are all about...
getting together with family and friends and/or new friends you make
at home or around the World.
Although it’s not salsa, we were also showing r&b dance moves on the
weekend to a nine year old boy as we were blasting dance music from
the car in front of a ice cream shop. As he gets older, I can see he
hás the talent and the rhythm to be a good dancer... he totally entertained
us by dancing to the cars as they cruised by.
And will I get the chance to dance salsa in São Paolo... well, I have
been in touch with a salsa dancer, and plan to go before I leave, but
before I go there, it’s just tôo irresistible to enjoy the Summer weather
and head for the Brazilian beaches to enjoy the Summer weather.
Here’s hoping you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year... you can
be sure I am!
January
12, 2004
(from Brazil)
My Big Fat Brazilian Vacation, Part 2
 Wow
and Boo Hoo – did we have to leave?! I just got back tonight from the
beaches about an hour’s drive from Jacareí (a town near São Paolo),
and after these 5 eventful, fun-filled, sunny, hot, beautiful days there,
and a great tan to bring back to Toronto – I definitely want to visit
Brazil again to see and bask in more of these amazing beaches along
the coast; and on the next visit, see more of the Brazilian cities with
a little salsa thrown in, shopping of course, but dedicate two full
weeks to exploring the beaches along the coast. There’s no way you can
see, experience and explore each and every beach in one trip, unless
you can afford to take a few months off.
What’s most amazing about these beaches is the fact that each one has
its own character and feel – in terms of the water, the length of the
beach, the activities (such as the banana boat, boat cruise and/or kayaking),
the landscape and scenery surrounding the beach, and whether you want
to be on a popular strip or in a more secluded area. You can even buy
beachwear from local vendors and in Canadian dollars, it’s half price,
or 2/3 off in US dollars – what a deal! But the best part, is the kiosks,
which can lend you a tent and chairs, while you can purchase food and
drinks from them in return. I’ve been to beaches in Florida, Los Angeles
and other parts of the United States, Puerto Rico, Cannes, Nice, Canada,
Hong Kong, Puerto Vallarta, and Corfu near Greece; and none of those
beaches offer this great perks unless you’re at a all-inclusive hotel
resort.
What we did was rent a cozy two bedroom duplex home on the upper floor.
Each day, we went to a different small town and stayed the day or afternoon
at a specific beach nearby.
I even had a crash course on how to cook in a typical Brazilian kitchen,
shopping in their supermarkets and trying to compromise on ingredients
for my favourite pasta dishes, gnocchi with tomato sauce and spaghetti
bolognese – Brazilian style. Why do I say Brazilian style? Well the
pasta is the same, but the tomato sauce is not, they don’t carry all
the spices I’m used to in every supermarket, such as Italian seasoning,
and it was tough trying to find anyone in any restaurant who carries
hot pepper or chili flakes. They do have them in the grocery store as
Pimenta Calabresa, but it was a struggle to finally find it – they only
seem to use the typical Louisiana-style hot sauce (which is usually
NOT that hot); and you can rarely find ground black pepper anywhere
to season your food... it’s just not a popular ingredient
Or how about learning how to improvise when your "translator" ends up
having you buy the wrong type of spaghetti sauce (since all the writing
on the can is in portuguse) to make your typical spaghetti sauce...
called tomato paste -- not! Ugh, I had to come up with a quick inventive
ways to make it taste better. Luckily we also bought regular spaghetti
sauce, and along with some seasoning, garlic, onions and water... we
saved the sauce... barely...
They have great sausages here, but they don’t carry any varieties of
flavours, such as Spicy or Garlic; and I found them to be very salty.
In fact, they seem to like most of their foods very salty or sweet –
something I am having a problem getting used to as I’m used to a more
“healthy” diet which means less salt and sugar. And they have nice ice
cream here in lots of flavours, including milho (sweet corn), which
I can’t say I’m fond of, but I do enjoy limao (lime) ice cream.
I also learned to use a special contraption to make toasted, melted
ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast. I don’t think I can describe
in words exactly what this cooking utensil looked like – how about a
two sided square metal black spatula which holds the sandwich for toasting
over the gas stove. That’s the closest description I can think of (but
I did take a pic).
I also had the opportunity of showing them a new dish when I was with
the family, Seviche – a dish I discovered while in Ottawa and learned
to make in Toronto with tilapia fillets, cubed and marinated in lots
of lime juice, some lemon juice, spanish onion, salt and minced, fresh
garlic; and after marinating it for about a hour, draining and adding
chopped coriander and having it with some nice chilled chardonnay wine.
So what did I eat on the beach... well I had been craving some seafood,
so I got to try fried shrimp and fish (or shall I just say we had that
almost every day (yum yum), such as anchovy fillets and cacao (shark);
and two types of octopus, one breaded and fried and one cooked in vinaigrette.
They really like to eat alot of fried foods here, so anytime I could
get it in a stew or a light sauce, was a welcome change for me as I
don’t eat alot of fried foods in Toronto – I always prefer grilled,
baked, broiled or steamed, etc.
I also got to try some typical drinks of Brazil, that you would rarely
find at home, let’s hope I can get the spelling of some of these names
right... Caparinha – a popular lime-vodka cocktail, a soft drink called
Guarana (which I think is made from a vegetable extract of the same
name), and fresh coconut water; and lots of beer, either Skol or Chopp
(which is a form of draft beer that is very popular here), and all the
drinks are fairly cheap. With beer being $1 Canadian to $3.50 for na
alcoholic drink.
And what were my other highlights of my trip to the beach...
1. The beautiful scenic drive from Jacarei to the beaches, south-east
of São Paolo.
2. Finally acclimatizing and being able to wake up at 8 am (5 am Toronto
time) without na alarm clock just to drive and be able to hit the beaches
earlier... and still go to sleep at 3 am (12 midnight TO time) – back
to my usual 5 hours of sleep... I was getting over 8 hours of sleep
a night for the first 10 days – probably because I was exhausted from
everything I did in the last few months before I left for my Big Fat
Brazilian Vacation...
3. Ruben’s (my Brazilian translator and new friend and whose family
I’m staying with) ability and luck to find parking spots in busy areas
quickly without having to circle many times. Why is this so momentous,
my friends moan that I have the same luck back here in Toronto.
4. Being able to stay in a home with a shower and eat-in kitchen for
$10 reals a day ($5 Canadian) at the beach with friends – what a bargoon...
5. The trip to look at na aquarium and to be able to watch and photographic
a live small octopus in motion... to be honest, after watching how he
eats, I almost didn’t want to ever eat one again... But that moment
disappeared quickly once it appeared on the menu later in the week.
6. Kayaking – so here’s something I haven’t done in years and actually
enjoy as na outdoor activity when I get the chance. Ruben, my Brazilian
translator and new friend and whose family I’m staying with and I, decided
to kayak from the beach to the island... It’s funny to have these people
talk to you in Portuguese and you not knowing a word of what they’re
saying but watching their body language, explaining how to paddle with
the kayak. I copied her motion, and then she would correct me on how
I was paddling. Then when we were halfway to the island, I noticed four
other kayaks coming toward us, so I moved closer to Ruben who was further
away and then we connected and lucky me, I tipped right and flipped
out of my kayak. It happened so fast that I wasn’t afraid as I was wearing
the life jacket, but when I surfaced, I then realized that oops, how
the heck was I going to get back in it... But I didn’t panic, as I figured
it worse came to worse, leave it and swim for shore. Afterwards, when
Ruben and I discussed what he should do; obviously, do not try to help
me as he would have also tipped over and we would have both been stuck,
so he would have paddled back to shore for help. In the meantime, three
of the four kayakers, who only spoke portuguese of course, helped me
eventually get back into the boat... without me understanding a word
of what they were talking about. Ruben had me laughing so hard as in
the first attempt to get in the boat, I was able to jump (or shall I
say throw my body back onto the boat), but didn’t have the strength
of balance to get back in which required the help of another experienced
kayaker. With their help I finally got in the boat (much to my surprise)
and owed them a huge thank you that the people are so friendly and helpful
in Brazil; and have two huge black and blue bruises on my outer left
thigh to show for it. But it was still fun and a great opportunity to
get na arm workout in as we made our way to the island, land and then
able to paddle out and go back to exactly where we started from.
 7.
Our evening in our beachtown and the small amusement park. Well, at
the beginning, I was really not in the mood to walk around after sunbathing
all day at the beach and after cooking, but my friends were insistent
that we go out on the town... Everyone who was in town was out as it
was Friday night and it seemed to be in party mode. What really woke
me up was going on the Kamakaze ride which is that wonderful ride (yeah
right...) that I haven’t done in years that puts you totally upside
down for 10 seconds. Luckily the ice cream I had just half na hour ago
was still in my stomach after that ride, but it was another moment to
treasure as we shared another fun experience together to add to my Brazilian
treasure chest of memories. And the ride was only $2 reals ($1 Canadian)
– what a bargain...
In turn, I’ve also given my share of laughs to the family as I get into
my little adventures; and habits you don’t realize you have – they point
out to you and becomes part of their memories of you... For example,
a cute moment was a small boy came up to my friends I guess to ask for
a ticket for a ride, and they grilled him before giving it to him. One
of his tests was to talk to me, so I said “Hi”, in English, and he just
gave me a look with a frown on his face, like what the heck is she saying,
and all of us just laughed in total understanding of what he was going
through; and it was nice to see how you can make someone beam from just
a small, simple gesture of good will.
8. Boat Cruise – well, it wasn’t as exotic as our Salsa Team Canada
cruises in Puerto Rico – BUT it’s definitely cheaper. You can get na
afternoon boat ride for about 5 hours with na hour to sunbathe, swim
and eat on na island for $15 reals (which works out to $7.50 Cdn). The
highlight was asking Ruben to ask the crew to allow me to play salsa
and R&B CD’s that I brought, and they had no issues with playing my
music; so what more can a salsa dancer ask for, except I was still missing
a partner. Oh, and of course another souvenir of the boat cruise, a
small cut on my right hand... to add to my collection. And sorry guys,
there was hardly any chiquitas worth photographing, but I did get some
chiquitas on the beach on Sunday, our last day at the beach because
it was a very popular day for everyone to go out suntanning and the
weather was perfect – mostly butt shots, but I’m sure no one will complain.
9. Banana Boat. On Sunday, as a finale to our wonderful days on the
beaches of Brazil, we decided to get a ride on the banana boat as there
was seven of us. This time there were no injuries from me, except the
thrill of having a speedy ride around the water and having them dunk
us twice. But I had fun watching one of our male friends who could swim,
being tugged along by another female, which you don’t see very often
back to the beach as he didn’t know how. This ride was only $5 reals
per person ($2.50 Canadian) – go figure...
10. And finally meeting up with Andre, a salsa dancer from São Paolo...
who came up Saturday night to hang out with us... Of course, my friends
couldn’t wait after we had dinner for us to give a salsa demo as they
have been waiting for over two weeks to see one... and his style is
a mix of salsa rueda and other moves all mixed in with very few combinations
(which he doesn’t like). It was nice to see he also had a very clear,
light lead – not rough.
On Sunday at the beach, Andre pointed out that they were playing Forro
at the beach, the brazilian dance I learned in Olimpia with the family.
So of course, since Andre said it was the first dance he learned and
I was hoping to dance on the beach at some point – it didn’t take much
effort to convince him to dance it in the sun... So we did, and his
style and moves reminded me alot of our old Toronto-style cumbia dancing
– so it was very easy to follow him in most of the moves and it was
another moment to treasure from Brazil. A perfect way to almost end
our last day at the beach, along with lots of sun, fun, drinks and my
favourite finger foods – fried shrimp, fish, and a few frog legs...
What more can a salsa girl ask for... except now to experience São Paolo
and a few nights of salsa along with mega-shopping with my tour guide,
Part 2, Andre, another salsa addict, before I head back to Toronto.
P.S. If there’s spelling mistakes, most of them are from the Word file
changing the characters because there’s no English dictionary and I
can’t seem to permanently turn off the auto-check speller (aargh....)
PPS. And just imagine how much cheaper it is for Americans to shop and
eat here in Brazil – you can almost divide the meals by 3 to get the
US exchange rate.
January
14, 2004
(from Sao Paulo, Brazil)
 Thanks
to Andre, my host in Sao Paulo, I can do some updates, but it sucks
when you don't have hi-speed connection. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.
And yes, I am in Sao Paulo now, and I hit the club for the first time
last night... but it will just have to wait as I need to do some errands
before I hit the salsa clubs again tonight...
PS I already have some priceless moments to share, including the fact
that I did my famous split on someone who seemed to want to show what
a great dancer he was with a little bit of an ego; and me, getting into
the swing of it, decided to give him a little taste of his own medicine;
and got a touche from him in body language. Who says you need to know
another language to express what you truly want to say -- just learn
to dance salsa, and you'll get your point across every time! Stay tuned
for Part 3 of My Big Fat Brazilian Vacation, you won't want to miss
the usual antics of Rose Knows... so check out Dear
TOsalsa and the Discussion Forum Updates below... and of course
another Top 10 List from Athens,
Greece!
January
15, 2004
(from Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Should I stay or should I go?
Wow, after a nice 3 hour nap in the afternoon, I woke up to some lengthy
responses in Dear TOsalsa and in the discussion forum. And I understand
why, it's a windchill of -30 degrees in Toronto and New York City, while
I was wear short-shorts and sweating it out at an all-you-can-eat BBQ
grill for $10 reals per person ($5 Cdn or $3.50 US) in Sao Paulo with
Andre, Gustavo and Fabiana of Cia Terra Dance School in Brazil. I spent
two hours stuffing my face, trying out various meats -- some of which
we have in Toronto, but they have their own unique style of preparation
you would never see in Toronto.
Anyways, I can't believe how fast time is flying and I'm having alot
of salsa fun and lots of shopping here... a perfect way to end my summer
vacation (oops did I rub it in again). The sad part will be trying to
show off my tan back in Toronto when I will be freezing my butt off...
especially since I only have a short leather jacket, a pair of jeans
and running shoes to wear when I get back...
Hmmm... should I stay or should I go...
January
25, 2004
The After-Affects of My Big Fat Brazilian Vacation...
Not a day goes by this past week in Toronto that I don't wish I was
still back in Brazil wearing skimpy tops and short-shorts, eating fresh
fruits like mango or trying some new exotic fruits you can never find
in Toronto, drinking caipirinhas, mojitos or chopp (brazilian draft
beer). How to console yourself? Well how about making use of the Puerto
Rican Rum I brought back from last summer and making mojitos and variations
of lime juice cocktails reminiscent of Brazil, along with the fact that
Sonia and Moris were in town this weekend to kick off the Toronto STC
rehearsals. And just for the record, I spent so much time on salsa last
year, that this year, you'll find me taking a break from going salsa
crazy to congresses and from STC. Last year was a total burnout because
of all the summer travelling and rehearsals; and this year, I am taking
a breather and picking and choosing where I go; and going out just to
dance and have fun.
Because Sonia and Moris were in town, I finally was brave enough to
venture out into the winter cold and dance salsa on Sunday. Basically
all week I was catching up on some much-needed sleep, started back into
working out, and went to the Mambo Tribe Social and also had energy
left over for Left Bank. Both venues were comfortably busy and I was
able to see many of my salsa friends.
After being in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where Salsa is almost 5 years behind
Toronto. Many dancers in Toronto seems to take our level of dancing
for granted and are getting picky and choosy about whom they dance with.
After spending almost a week dancing in Sao Paulo, it's made me realize
how lucky we are in Toronto to have such a large, mature salsa scene,
and no dancer in TO should take it for granted; because we've progressed
more rapidly than many of the cities around the World...
Travelling
with new US 20's
All
about Sao Paulo
Caipirinha
Typical Brazilian
Foods
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