Daily Life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Keepsake of the fruit in Brazil?

In my survey of Rio expats, I ask what everyone's favorite Brazilian treat is but inadvertently forgot to include the fruit as an option. Luckily many of you reminded me by adding the option.

Although the fruit will never be as fresh tasting back home, there is a way to preserve its beauty in your memory. Jann La Pointe is one of Rio's most talented photographers (we had our maternity photos done with her and have had a couple of sets of portraits of Canadoca done with her as well), and she has put together a beautiful book of photos of Brazil's tropical fruit treats - check it out here. 

To schedule your own portrait session with Jann, or to see more of her work, access her site here.

What We've Been Reading Lately

Besides baby books of course...

Me:

Loved this one - it was a gift from a friend back home. I had to really hide out when on vacation reading the last couple of chapters (crying)... good book.

I was quite excited to learn that Wally Lamb had a new book out when I was back home. I put off reading it for awhile as in the past I have become so consumed by his books that I could not put them down and ended up finishing them in a day or two - this one took me a bit longer, but I really enjoyed it.

I love Elizabeth Gilbert's writing so I bought all of her books after reading Eat, Pray, Love. The Last American Man was my favorite of the three additional books I read. It's about a man who lives at one with nature - very interesting.

Another Elizabeth Gilbert book - I liked it okay but mostly because of the way she writes, rather than the story itself.

This is a collection of Elizabeth Gilbert's short stories. Some were great, some I couldn't get through. Hit and miss in my books.

Mr. DRL:

Has been really into this book and laughs out loud frequently when reading... must be good! He wants me to read it when he finishes.

Deals on English Books in RIo

- And the proceeds even go to charity!

I've frequently referred to the "Rio Gringa" blog since my blog's inception. Rio Gringa is planning to leave Rio, and is auctioning off a number of books and DVDs to lighten her load on her way home and to support a Rio charity. Click here to check it out, there are some great deals to be had!

Canada Complaints

I came across an article for expats moving to Canada the other day and it inspired me to do a bit of research about what frustrates expats about living in Canada, to put myself in their shoes.   Which in this case means switching from Havaiana's to Sorels...

 

This is the time of year when everyone in Canada seems to be complaining, because they are ready for winter to be over! (It's one facebook status whining about the weather after another).

I wanted to see if I would get as defensive about Canada's shortfalls as some Brazilians have about frustrations or just experiences that I have commented on. I started reading the blog So, Are You New Here, which is about an American girl living in Calgary. I like her observations and certainly can't say I've been offended.

It's true that I have not finished my research - I still need to read my Will Ferguson books that I brought back this summer to get the full picture...

I also purchased his hits How to Be a Canadian and Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw ...

But the real dirt was found on the boards...  On the British Expat Boards under the topic "What's Wrong With Canada?": (My comments are italicized in brackets).

1. They wear their trousers too short. (LMAO & Hadn't noticed this myself!)
2. Public bathrooms have big open spaces between the wall panels. (Hadn't noticed this myself, but find it funny because everyone finds Canadians to be such prudes!)
3. People will not tell you what they really think of you - they are way too polite.
4. Too many immigrants. (This on a board for potential expats!)
5. Its got a right wing Prime Minister who has George W Bush as his political hero. (sic)
6. Fast food servers who couldn't get your order right if their life depended on it. (Totally agree)
7. Horrendous cell / mobile phone costs. I mean come on, who pays to receive a call. (Multiple mentions of this and all are justified, totally true).
8. Too much deadly fast food. (True, but also a choice to eat it...)
9. Cinnamon with everything. (Really? I am HOPING this is true, maybe then I can find that cinnamon ice cream that I love so much here in Rio!)
10. If I may state the obvious, it's ****ing cold here. (True! But a person hopefully would know this before moving there!)
11. They don't have proper bacon here. Just the streaky stuff. (There were a NUMBER of mentions of this - now I want to know what UK Bacon is like!)
12. Orange cheese....Whats that all about?
13. The radio. I now live in a place where they play Heart and other eighties soft rock on the radio. And not on golden oldie shows - as a normal part of the playlist. (Uh oh I am totally that demographic they are serving... I love Heart!)
14. All pizza features meat in some form. (Ok I am pretty sure this is just simply not true. All pizza joints I've ever been to have had a vegetarian or just plain cheese option).
15. There's still snow on the ground in April. (True story! But again... see #10.)
    
16. Tim Hortons coffee is pretty bad. (Agreed! Ok, not that I drink coffee, but everything there is awful besides a bagel.  I am Canadian and do not understand the Tim Horton's thing. The person who wrote #6 must have been talking about Timmy's...)
17. The standard of driving is dreadful, canadians may be polite to your face, but become rude arrogant &%#%# when in a car! (Agreed! Holy road rage. Don't even get me started on the tailgating truckers on mountain roads).
    
18. Poutine is truly gross. (I have actually never had poutine).
19. Inappropriate use of the "awesome" (Haha I believe it.)
20. Shops that dont open til noon on sundays.
21. eh! (No comment... )
22. The incessant droning of community helpers, unions, quangos, not-for-profit NGOs and special interest groups trying to get you to do something a particular way. (I've said many times that in my opinion, Canada is too socialist...)
23. Phone charges, homeless people, bank charges, crap driving, gangland violence, everywhere shutting early, interventionist government, institutional racism, jobsworth attitude, RCMP corruption, more homeless people.
24. Maple syrup in baked beans (I have not experienced this myself, but I am not big on the baked bean thing).
25. The KFC isn't as good.  (Ok I believe you.)
26. Cream cheese icing on cinnamon buns. (Now that you mention it, I miss this. Love cream cheese icing, but like cheesecake, not to mention baked beans and poutine, it's not for everyone.)
27. There's humour but it's different. Corner Gas, Little Mosque on the Prairie, etc. (Personally I don't watch these shows so can't comment).
28. Banks are the biggest rip of merchants out, all 5 big CDN banks I beleive are in the top 7 most profitable in the world. (True story!)
29. As much as it says you must be fluent in English or French to get in here its amazing how many people can get a job in the GTA with a complete crap grasp of the English language to the point you cant understand them, if your going to move to a country learn the lingo! (So true!)
30. I wish Canadians were more supportive of their own culture. (Another legitimate point!)
31. Canadians are obsessed with community events, helping their neighbours, and going overseas to contribute to/help less-fortunate people.

Interesting, for sure.

From the very tongue-in-cheek blog "Stuff White People Like" - #75 Threatening to Move to Canada

So, what was the verdict? Well honestly the complaints were pretty boring, except for the short pants one.  The rest of them - things I complained about myself when I lived there!

Some Books to Consider

These books were a Christmas gift from some good friends and they have sure come in handy! 

The first is a guide to restaurants in Rio.  Danusia Barbara Guia 2009 - can be purchased at Livraria da Travessa or Senac, among other places.

The second is a guide to Hotels & Restaurants throughout Brasil. Circuito Elegante - comes in very handy for Baby Moon Planning (haha much better than a travel agent - see post from yesterday!)

 

What Our Visitors Buy

What do our visitors typically buy as souvenirs/mementos/additions to their wardrobes/gifts for friends and family, while in Brazil? This post could also be titled "good buys in Brazil"...

1) The number one item, hands down, would be Havaianas. Everybody buys them. I spend a lot of time frantically texting and emailing people back home for their shoe sizes while standing in Centro with my guests while they shop and try to figure out their girlfriends/wives/daughter in laws'/sister's/brother's shoe sizes.
We have had visitors leave with more than 25 pairs. Below are the acquisition of a recent Casa DRL guest...
What's the big draw for Havaiana's here? Well they are quite a bit cheaper than back home. For plain jane Havaiana's in Canada you generally pay $20-$25.  Here, the plain jane ones are $R10 in Centro (which is about $6.50 Canadian). There are much "fancier" designs available here, as you can see, and besides people love to say that they were purchased in Brazil!

2) Shoes & Purses. As I may have mentioned before, shoes in Brazil are, in my opinion, are a great price for excellent quality shoes.  Wide variety of styles and colors, very funky and unique styles. Although I don't have photos of shoes my visitors bought (as in the case of the Havaiana's, above), here are a bunch I've purchased in Brazil. Yes, I realize these photos are already on the blog in different places.

3) Swimwear
Biquini's & Sungas... gotta do it. With a lot of the styles at places like BlueMan, they are easily enough worn back home as well. Here is a selection of swimwear I've purchased in Brazil...

4) Jewellery
Be it handmade wooden jewellery, strands of beads, cascading earrings with semiprecious stones (there is an amazing kiosk in the Ipanema 2000 "mall" on V. de. Piraja in Ipanema with tons of beautiful sets of these), or some serious bling from Amsterdam Sauer or H. Stern, Brazil is a fantastic place to buy amazing, unique jewellery!

5) Clothing
Everyone asks me about the clothing shopping here and to be honest, I find it hit-and-miss. If you are looking for something specific, forget it! But if you come here with an open mind and don't need anything per se, clothing shoppping in Rio can be a lot of fun.  Items I don't recommend buying: for women - bras (weird weird sizing...) and business clothes (generally of pretty poor quality - but men's are much better).

6) Coasters
Seems silly & simple but there are some beautiful stone coasters here - like little works of art in fact- we started buying them for hostess gifts for friends & family back home when my husband started working down here, they come in a wide array of colors and are just gorgeous and very unique.

7) Art
The Hippie Fair & Copacabana Art Markets (are there other regular ones we should be frequenting? Let me know!) make some great sales thanks to our guests - art is incredibly unique and cheap here in Brazil.  Most mounted canvases can be removed and rolled up (you just have it re-stretched and mounted upon returning home).

8) Books
After trying to capture as much of this fantastically picturesque city, many of us have not quite admitted defeat but enlisted the help of a coffee table/photo book to remind of the bluer than blue skies and mountains that emerge straight out of the ocean. Also a popular read with our guests: How to Be a Carioca.

9) Cachaca!
Enough said.

10) Funky cooking stuff
Like this beautiful limestone and copper fondue pot (they also have pizza stones - Santa Teresa shops) or a wooden mortar and pestle set for making caiprhinhas with the cachaca you already bought...

I would also like to divulge that guests purchased 12 sparkly wigs, 12 pairs of light-up sunglasses a six pack of Guarana, and two pirate hats. But I am not saying who's who...