Daily Life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Saturday Street Art: The Gorgeous Graffiti of Rio de Janeiro

Thanks so much to "Grams" for compiling this series for me. Although not all of the graffiti in Rio is gorgeous, I'm featuring some that is, on Saturdays for your viewing pleasure. If you see some fantastic graffiti in Rio that you think I should feature, send a pic!

 

Looking for something to do in Rio tonight? Live English Music perhaps?

Really? A post about baby wipes?

Yep. Sure is. What have we come to here?

I went to Shopping da Gavea yesterday with the Canadoca. She and I needed passport photos for our Canadian passports and I've been told by multiple people that the only place to get that done is located across the street. We did get the photos, we'll see if Passport Canada accepts them before I give a full "recommendation" for this place .

Sidenote - I must shamelessly brag that the only reason I need a new passport is because I am out of pages! Probably the only time in my life that this will happen, and yes at least half the stamps are just from homeland security while I pass through the US on my way to and from the great white north, but still! A full passport!

Bragging over, and the process of getting said new passport is of course nothing to brag about! Note that the Canadoca needs a new one because hers was a temporary 2 yr passport, issued prior to her gaining Canadian citizenship.

What on earth does this have to do with baby wipes you may ask? Back to Shopping da Gavea, which has some truly great shopping for kids, by Rio standards. I couldn't believe some of the great products available! Things are changing in Rio indeed. I even found... unscented baby wipes.... Recently our babysitter had asked me about where I buy my unscented baby wipes for the Canadoca's bumbum, as she wanted to get some for a friend. Not here, I said. Haven't seen them.

Until yesterday, when I encountered a travel pack:

What-what - yes we need a closeup of that pricetag, peeps.

For those needing some context here, a year's supply of kirkland signature unscented baby wipes sets you back about C$20.74. Today that's R$35. Or you can buy a week's worth (at best) here for twice that.

Ok. Done with the baby wipe talk. Promise.

 

So... 25 days in... How are those New Year's Resolutions Coming Along?

Good thing my new year's resolution wasn't to post things on my blog in a timely manner. Would have had to call it a massive fail already and it's only January 25th.
Better late than never, right? Here are some terrible quality bb photos I captured on New Year's Eve on Copacabana beach. Mr. DRL and I arrived in Rio on the 30th after 2 weeks in Uruguay & Argentina. We intended to go to one of the big parties at a club on the beach but decided against it at the last minute, which was good because I actually ended up falling asleep on the beach before the fireworks began (yes, I woke up in time!). But that gives you an idea of how peaceful it can be down there - though we waded through blocks and blocks of rowdies on the way back out of course.
All in all a magical night. A brazilion (ok, in reality only about a million) Brazilians dressed in white, with flowers and offerings and wishes for 365 days of bliss...

A typical scene - families with candles and flowers...

So - how are those resolutions coming along?

 

Holiday Weekend Away

Just arrived home from four days in Colonial Brazil with Mr. DRL and the Canadoca. We visited Tirandentes, Ouro Preto and Mariana.

With the exception of a bit of carsickness on the Canadoca's part on the way home (eeek!) it was a lovely time had by all. Looking forward to posting about it soon (and my Christmas trip to Uruguay... oops. I'm a little behind.), just responded to a bunch of your comments which I always enjoy.

Ta-ta for now...

Saturday Street Art: Gorgeous Graffiti of Rio de Janeiro

Thanks so much to "Grams" for compiling this series for me. Although not all of the graffiti in Rio is gorgeous, I'm featuring some that is, on Saturdays for your viewing pleasure. If you see some fantastic graffiti in Rio that you think I should feature, send a pic!

We be clubbing

This nightclub along the road to Tiradentes could very well have been the inspiration for "the club can't even handle me right now" - love it.
Enviado pelo meu aparelho BlackBerry® da Vivo

A couple of notes on the floods

Though we have not been personally affected by the floods (didn't know any of the victims etc.) other than of course our heartfelt sympathies to those who lost loved ones, there are a few related items-about-town to mention.

There are donation bins and collections points set up virtually everywhere. They are asking for donations such as water and food, clothing, toiletries, candles - basically anything useful is welcome. Transportation of these items is reportedly a bit of a nightmare though and so therefore although Cariocas (along with the rest of the country) being known for their generousity of course, have opened their hearts and wallets, apparently not many of these goods have yet reached those in need.

There is/was a great need for blood donations. However, I have been unable to locate anywhere other than the blood bank in centro to make said donations. If anyone knows of other places to donate blood, please advise. That would be good info to have in any case.

At the grocery stores, the produce shelves are pretty barren in the legumes section. Many of our fruits and veg come from affected areas.

 

The Art of the Facebook Status

Sometimes I wonder why I bother reading facebook statuses. 90% of them are super annoying. Especially the ones that include TMI, or consist of whining about illness - complete with detailed symptoms, or my pet peeve - people complaining about their kids on fb (maybe they aren't behaving because those parents are spending all your time on facebook.... just an idea?) other annoying examples include the ones which are fake, braggy, projecting an image that is nowhere close to reality... but I digress. 

Every so often there's a brilliant status update that reminds me of why I wade through these loads of other garbage... and more often than not, the ones which fall into this latter, special category which generally make me cackle with glee, are written by my college friend, G.

Here's today's:

Don't you love it when someone who lives in the burbs, has kids, and whose biggest challenge and excitement in life is programming their pvr proclaims adamantly "I won't own a minivan!" Good call - I'm sure the shape of the box you're driving is really holding you back from being Indiana Jones or Bear Grylls. Take a look in the mirror there stretchpants.

Seriously I love this. I also love statuses which announce births or other fun life events, tell hilarious stories of kids saying the darndest things, contain news references I would have otherwise missed, spark interesting debate, are helpful, or are just all around hilarious.  

Anyway totally not Brazil related obviously, but just thought I'd share.

G, I nominate you to teach the world a course called "Creative Status Updates 101" - sadly needed!

 

 

Children's Dance Classes in English in Rio de Janeiro

My friend Nora is starting a dance class for 3-6 year olds :) I would enroll the Canadoca but she doesn't fall into the age group. Sounds like fun!

Rock in Rio 2011

I've driven by the giant guitars in Gavea & Copa but hadn't really looked into what Rock in Rio entails until this weekend. Turns out it's from September 23rd until October 2nd and will feature the following bands (announced thus far): 

September 24: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Snow Patrol, Capital Inicial, NX Zero, Stone Sour.

September 25: Metallica, Slipknot, Motorhead, Coheed and Cambria, Sepultura, Angra.

October 1: Coldplay, Skank.

 

For more info: Rock in Rio site

Saturday Street Art: Gorgeous Graffiti of Rio de Janeiro

 

Thanks so much to "Grams" for compiling this series for me. Although not all of the graffiti in Rio is gorgeous, I'm featuring some that is, on Saturdays for your viewing pleasure. If you see some fantastic graffiti in Rio that you think I should feature, send a pic! 

 

Unreal... flood images.

You must see it to believe it. Click here for the slideshow of the flooding north of Rio de Janeiro.

Flooding in Rio State

If you have missed it on the news there is a horrible flooding situation north of Rio de Janeiro, in communities such as Teresopolis and Novo Friburgo. Almost 500 people are confirmed dead and many more remain missing. The rain is expected to continue as well.

 

There is a shortage of blood, to donate blood in Rio de Janeiro:

Banco do Sangue: Rua Cde Irajá, 183 - Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro - 21 2527-7300

Yesterday the lineups to donate were apparently really long but you can make an appointment to donate blood by callling Hemorio (21) 2332-8611 or 0800 282-0708.

The Hemorio runs from 8:00 to 18:00 hours (including Saturdays and Sundays) at Rua Frei Caneca 8, in Centro. To donate you must be between 18 and 65 years, more than 50 pounds and in good health.

Many malls and shops/grocery stores are accepting donations as well.

 

 

Skype Conference Calling

That's right, expats, you can say it once now instead of spending your sundays telling the same stories multiple times! Skype now has a conference calling feature. Download the new version.

So, who's the blonde?

The other day while out for a lovely lunch at Resto with the Canarioca (that's right the Canadoca and Canarioca finally met), the Canadoca was obsessed with this photo:

Apparently I'm the smoker in the one piece and Mr. DRL (Dadd-EEEE!) is chatting up the blonde. Interesting....

It was lovely to finally meet the Canarioca, and she was ever so helpful with what ensued after lunch: the Canadoca's first full on public meltdown. In the streets of Ipanema in 36 degree weather. Not fun. Thanks for your help!! :)

 

Where to Begin

I'm trying to get back to the blog after a few weeks off from writing (I pre-did a lot of posts over Christmas, quite lazily actually as most of them were photos of Rio Christmas scenes).

I could write about my trip to Uruguay, my 2011 Rio bucket list, the cost of having a baby in Brazil (since I had THREE people request info on this from me yesterday), or a number of other topics I have sitting on my "to do list" - they will come soon, I promise.

Today, I will ease back into it. Rio celebrity gossip. Mr. DRL had drinks with a guy last night who saw Leonardo Dicaprio at the Copacabana Palace on the weekend. Don't all flock there at once, I have no idea if he is still in town. Amy Winehouse, who was staying at the Santa Teresa Hotel, put on a show last night which lasted all of an hour from what I'm told. Making headlines (and the front page of the paper) were her boobs, which had popped out of her bikini top.

 

Anyone up for a game of monopoly?

The way Petrobras operates (or should I say how the Brazilian government allows them to!) in Brazil makes it difficult for other players to have decent opportunities in this market. Much like any state oil company anywhere in the world controlling most of the country's reserves would, of course.

I plan on enlisting the help of Mr. DRL to write more on this soon, but for now let's just say.... barriers to entry, much? Ummm, yeah. Now (today it was announced) Petrobras is starting up a rig holding company (read more here) - likely not good news for anyone in the oil and gas drilling services business in Brazil. Unless of course you're with Tio Petrobras.

Crazy Packed Beaches

Check out this online gallery of how packed Rio's beaches were Sunday... can't blame everyone as the highest temperature I saw on the signs was 38 celsius. A lot of people have commented lately that the beach in Ipanema has been way more packed since the metro now goes there...

We were at the beach on Saturday but spent Sunday at the water park in Recreio. I'll tell you all about it later in the week...

Oh that Peanut Allergy.

It's a pesky one, that peanut allergy of mine. Always getting in the way of my fun. I thought that with spending Christmas in the south this year I'd avoid any temptation or mishap, not surrounded by boxes of chocolates and nuts and bolts. Wrong!

At the Freddo (aka the best icecream ever) counter in Buenos Aires, I was indecisive. Who could blame me, right? The English-speaking girl behind the counter offered me a sample of "Mantecol" flavour, and assured me it did not contain nuts.

My throat was instantly itchy and swollen and I told her that whatever she'd given me most certainly had to have contained nuts. She insisted it didn't... we went to a corner store and bought a "Mantecol" bar, its main ingredient is "pasta de mani" - peanut paste.... nice.

On another occasion a few months back I ordered a stirfry dish while out for lunch, and asked the waiter if it contained nuts. He said no, then yes, so I informed him of my allergy. He brought out the dish with nuts on top of it, then while serving it Brazilian family style assured me he would pick around the nuts (they were tiny and everywhere) when plating mine. When I explained this wouldn't work he still insisted on plating me some rice, using the spoon that was still covered in nuts from the other dish...

The bottom line: be very careful eating out in this part of the world if you have serious allergies. Waitstaff are NOT educated on the seriousness of allergies and brush it off, and are not always well informed of food ingredients, either.

I must say it would be nice to find a happy medium. Back in Canada + the states, many restaurants have over the top paranoid policies on allergies in fear of being sued. In many cases when I've informed a server of my allergy it's either led to me not being able to order what I want (because they can't 100% guarantee it hasn't come into contact with nuts - which by the way I'm fine with, as basically everything "may contain" or have had contact with nuts, but they weren't okay with it and didn't let me) or having a lengthy conversation with some restaurant manager .

 

Saturday Street Art: Gorgeous Graffiti of Rio de Janeiro

Thanks so much to "Grams" for compiling this series for me. Although not all of the graffiti in Rio is gorgeous, I'm featuring some that is, on Saturdays for your viewing pleasure. If you see some fantastic graffiti in Rio that you think I should feature, send a pic!

New in the Neighbourhood...

The NK store is now open in Ipanema. It features designers such as Stella McCartney, Pucci, Givenchy, Lanvin, Céline, Isabel Marant, Azzedine Alaïa. It's right beside DeliRio Tropical and has valet parking... might need to check this out soon! Web site here. Rua Garcia D'avila, 56, Ipanema.

Over at Shopping Leblon, there's a new baby store, Upia. The window was the most exciting part, but it's cute.

When I was last at Shopping Leblon the new Juicy Couture store was coming soon, but it may be open by now.

Down in my neck of the woods we have a beautiful new book store, Saraiva, where the dive shop used to be by Cafeina.

The Saraiva store has many international magazines I hadn't previously spotten in Rio. 

not to mention other "international favorites" - this popped right out at me

Down on Dias Ferreira there's a new steakhouse that comes recommended (haven't been there yet myself) - CT Boucherie. The desserts are supposed to be fab.

I've been meaning to mention it for ages but there is also now a Mini Cooper dealership right on Ataulfa de Paiva.

 

My Summer is Now Complete

Well we've now had our annual electrical fire causing a/c meltdown. My summer is complete. This one freaked me out more than the others as it happened on the a/c unit that sits right above where the Canadoca's highchair is and there was some sparking and craziness happening (luckily she was not in her chair or anywhere nearby for that matter). I will now take a moment to be grateful for concrete construction.

Here's a photo of the aftermath:

A/C = fixed and just in the nick of time, it's hot here again! It seems to be a bit of a klutzy week for me, I also dropped my keys down the elevator shaft, and my washing machine isoverflowing... but things happen in threes, right?

It's Friday, right?

 

New Venga!

I have three friends in particular who will be sad they've moved away and won't be able to check out the new Venga! Which is located on Garcila D'Avila in Ipanema. As I have mentioned I love love love Venga, the only complaint I have is that it's too busy! Anyway I am happy that they've expanded into a new location :)

 

 

Tiradentes?

Mr. DRL and I have composed a bit of a hit list of things we'd like to do this year and we aren't wasting any time getting started. Furniture buying in Tiradentes is on the list - anyone have recommendations? Restaurants, stores, pousadas?

Frango Bem Passado

On countless occasions in a variety of restaurants in Rio, I or my dining companions have been served chicken that's more than just a little pink on the inside. Not quite done! The frequency in which this happens leads me to believe that Brazilians might like their chicken a little more on the rare side than we're accustomed to in North America. "Bem Passado" is the key word for well done in case you want to avoid this!

Feliz Ano Novo

Happy New Year! I'm back in Rio after 2 glorious weeks in Uruguay and Argentina. I'll blog about that and a whole lot more soon, just need a moment or so to collect my thoughts....