Daily Life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Saturday Street Art: Gorgeous Graffiti in Rio de Janeiro

Okay so the rat may not be "gorgeous" but amazing nonetheless...

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!

5 quick things which are muito legal in Brazil that just... aren't quite so cool back home.

*Note that by legal, I mean cool, as in Portuguese.*

1) Speedos or sungas
2) Fanny packs
3) Big bums
4) The thumb's up gesture
5) Orange skin
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My Twilight Connections

I have somehow managed to completely avoid the whole Twilight thing. Haven't read a book or watched any of the movies. I'm sure it is not the only pop culture craze I missed out on living in Rio over the past few years. (As a complete aside I recently discovered that even after THREE years Ben Mulroney still has a TV show back in Canada. Really? REALLY? Disappointing. Though, encouraging to know that the job market clearly must not be THAT tough there. )

As I hear more and more about the movie in the series that's currently being filmed (see, I don't even know the title), I do think I will have to jump on the bandwagon at some point, no matter how late in the game.

Why? Well, it was filming in two locations I'm well familiar with - Rio (Paraty), and Tofino, the teeeeeeeny tiny fishing village where I was born. I kinda wonder if the film's location scout has been following me around....  If you can find anything else in the universe that's so connected to these two special and somewhat obscure places as, well, me and this film, then you can bet I want to know about it. If someone actually does come up with something - anything, I will even provide a prize.

So I guess I will have to see it. Vampires, right?

 

Ipad prices in rio

@ saraiva
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Craisins in Rio?

You heard it here, folks. @ zona sul on dias ferreiras in leblon.
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Saturday Street Art: Gorgeous Graffiti in 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!

Canadian Expats, Did You Know?

Did you know that the Canadian government currently has no legislative responsibility to protect Canadians abroad? This is of course coming up as disasters are occurring in countries around the world such as Japan, Egypt, Libya...

Do expats deserve to be protected (mostly meaning extracted when there's a disaster) by their home countries even when they have willingly moved away and in many cases no longer pay taxes or fulfill civic/national duties such as voting, etc.

Is it fair to have it both ways?

Interesting article on the subject here.

Obama in Brazil

President Barack Obama will be making a public speech at 2:30 pm on Sunday, March 20th in Rio de Janeiro.

Where? A platform in Cinelândia.

President Obama's wife and daughters are accompanying him to Brazil but are not expected to make an appearance at this event. 

Entrance to the square begins at 11:30 am at just one entrance point, at Santa Lúcia and Rua México, near the US Consulate’s visa entry door. It is advisable to take the metro to the Gloria or the Carioca station, as the Cinelândia station will be closed. Parking and traffic are expected to be a nightmare in the area.

I can tell you firsthand that there have been a LOT of low-flying aircraft in the area the past couple of days, not sure if that is related to the presidential visit or not.

How to get in: make sure to bring ID (not just a photocopy of it). Cameras and cell phones are permitted but purses, backpacks, umbrellas and liquids are not.

Do you plan to go and see Obama in Rio on Sunday?

Did you catch that, Obama?

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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!

Flurries of feathers and a sea of abacaxi

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Fireworks in the background...

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Photo from our carnaval group

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Because You Asked: The Cost of Having A Baby in Brazil

Let me preface this post (which has been requested over and over again by MANY readers) by saying that these are prices for private healthcare in the Zona Sul of Rio. In other words, yes there are other options available, not all doctors are this expensive nor are all hospitals. However, this is the information that I have on what it cost for the particular birth experience I had in Rio. The Canadoca was delivered at Perinatal in Laranjeiras by an English speaking well renown OB/GYN who practices in Gavea. These prices are from a friend who had her baby in the past year, so should be still current.

Two night's stay at Perinatal:                        BR$4,302*
OB/GYN Birth fees:                                      BR$8,000
Support staff (anaesthesiologist + 4 others)  BR$7,500
                                                                 BR $19,802  

Pre-pregnancy costs:

9 OB/GYN Appointments (BR$340 x 9)   BR$3,060
Ultrasounds (R$180 x 7)                       BR$1,260
Bloodwork (Can depend but approx)      BR$3,000
                                                         BR $7,320

For the birth experience I outlined for you in many posts, you are looking at BR$27,122 or US$16,400.

*In our case, insurance took care of this part on the spot, and so we did not have to personally pay for it.

 

Just call me a matchmaker

I have been getting more emails than usual from potential expats and soon-to-move-here expats. Seems Rio's a hotspot these days! There's also the constant stream of people leaving and selling things so if you are looking to buy or sell household goods, send me a quick email at dailyriolife at gmail dot com and I'll put you in touch!

 

Carnaval Break

So I thought I'd give myself a little vacation from the blog and take carnaval off.

This year, Mr. DRL and I participated in the parade at the Sambadromo. We had an absolute ball and can I just say it was such a pleasure to be a teeny tiny part of something so huge and beautiful. What a precious memory.

We paraded with Sao Clemente. One of my favorite moments of the night was when we left our friends' apartment with our costumes to walk the two blocks through the streets to meet up with our ride. Cariocas stopped what they were doing and stared at the gringos dressed in samba gear. To be fair, we were all dressed as different versions of giant pineapples. They cheered, they honked, whooped, they sang the Sao Clemente song. We were given more wishes of luck than I think I've ever been wished before. I was immediately choked up. I'm not a big crier. This was just on the street in Leblon! I wondered how we could possibly get through the entire Sambodromo with this level of emotion blasting at me.

When we went to pick up our costumes the previous week we were shown up a rickety set of stairs deep in Centro to a loft filled end to end with Brazilians frantically but carefully sewing feathers and sequins onto costumes - some as big as cars. What a sight. What dedication!

The amount of effort, blood, sweat and tears that goes into putting together the artistic creative masterpiece is terribly overwhelming.

It was an absolute privelige to be part of it, and it was a night I'll never forget.

The icing on this already-fabulous cake? I was particularly grateful for the cool temperatures!!!!!!!!!! Those costumes are roasting hot.

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!

Petrobras Sets Sights on being the World's Biggest Oil Company

This morning's CFA Institute news briefs started out with a link to an article in Forbes about Petrobras' big plans. Click here to read the article in full.