Daily Life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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.

 

Just when you thought there couldn't possibly be more nativity scenes in Rio...

 Can you tell what this one's made of?

Pop (soda) bottles! How's that for creative?

Photo credit: Grams

Around the Web

• Recently I did a little piece on what the expat wives of Rio do to occupy themselves. Here's another article I found about expat wives, complete with a poem at the end.
• Oh great, now everyone in other countries will not only think that Canadians don't lock their doors and have a great healthcare system, but also that we live in little teeny tiny houses like this one for sale in Toronto. But maybe at least it will raise some awareness that we don't actually live in igloos?
• Apparently there is a movement to reduce the number of plastic bags consumed in Brazil. The environment minister is aiming to reduce by over a billion and a half bags per year. I figure this is totally do-able! My action plan? Inform all baggers at all grocery stores that it is possible to put more than one item in each bag. It's news to all of them, I assure you.
• Finally, a piece on how working abroad could be good for your health. I believe it! Mr. DRL works more hours than ever here, has 5 times longer of a commute (on a good day) and yet is WAAAYYYYY healthier here than he was back home. Seriously never gets sick, and back home I thought he had chronic fatigue syndrome or worse.  I think he and I are just both allergic to Calgary. Anyway, here's the article.

News Roundup

Haven't done one of these in awhile... just some stories that caught my attention

• This story really freaks me out, it's really sad - a 41 year old engineer named Michael Kanaley, an American expat, married to a Brazilian, a father, had been here 7 years... encountered some sort of major trouble while driving home from Buzios earlier this week - he was found shot to death, and his vehicle was found later, burned out. Awful.
• On a happier note, 6 day cruises departing Sao Paulo at the end of the montha re as low as $374 per person (based on double occupancy). Smoking deal!!!! Click here for details.
• Currently meeting in Brazil - an international commission deciding on fishing limits for tuna and other large migratory fish. 
• In 2009 Brazil set a record for the most vehicles sold ever in its history. Mercedes Benz apparently caught wind of this and is plannng a major expansion, which will be in part financed by a loan of 1.2 billion reais from Brazilian state development bank BNDES.
• Looking to invest in a Brazilian equities fund? Small to mid-caps? There's a new fund - The Advance Brazil Leblon Equities fund. Click here for more.
• A Boston family is seeking justice for the death of their family member who was shot by an off-duty police officer in the streets of Rio. 
• The Rio Times (formerly known as the Gringo Times) just put out a list of Rio's 10 Most Interesting Gringoes of 2009. Check it out!
• A piece on the life of a taxi driver in RIo. Click here. 
• Wondering where to samba in RIo? Click here.

On TV Lately

Three things...

1) China in Box ads still crack me up every time. CHINNNNNA IN BOX! 

2) I am probably one of the last Bloggers about Brazil to mention this but there is a movement here to xixi no banho... meaning, pee in the shower, people! Save a flush. I am sorry to have yet another post about urine, perhaps I should add it as a category...

Please, please, please click on the link above (xixi no banho) as the ad is QUITE hilarious and worth watching...

Some people are really worked up about this and disgusted. I figure if it can keep even one person from peeing outside in the street, it gets a big thumb's up.  ;) Because you all know how I feel about THAT.

Some still images from the commercial (click above....)

 

3) What I find much more disturbing than the above propaganda are the commercials for made-by-Becel probiotic drinks. I see them and think: icky!  I picture  hydrogenated oil in a drink and want to puke. It may not contain this but the becel name just reminds me of margarine.... eek!  Can you tell I'm a butter or olive oil or virgin coconut oil kind of gal?

Xixi (she shee - also known as pee pee) times three

So... I wasn't going to post about any of these, er... events individually, but now that they have all happened within about a week, I think it's a sign...

STORY 1: It's no secret that a lot of public urination goes on in Rio.  During Carnaval it takes place even more.  You know, it's normal -  the drinking, the outdoors-ness. No, sorry I don't understand it.  Oh you really really just "had to go"? Yes, I am familiar with the concept being that I am now more than 30 weeks pregnant... trust me if I can hold it, so can you. Yes, I realize that there are a lack of public washrooms, but frankly, no one wants to see or smell you do it... Can you tell I saw a few too many people partaking in this over Carnavale? According to this little piece in OGlobo, the city of Rio is using 120 thousand litres of disinfectant to combat this... situation.

STORY 2: Continuing on the topic... then, at Carnaval, I was handed a little envelope as I entered the premises. After we got settled in, I checked it out.  See the photos below:
Understand the directions? It's a device for women to direct their urine (so they can pee standing up). How nice for the Sambodromo to provide us with this technology!

Back home, thanks to a girlfriend's stagette (bachelorette party) ... I am familiar with such devices.  The brand of choice is called the "Freshette" and at my friend's last celebration of singledom, which had an out in the bush theme since we were in rural BC, a freshette was purchased for her as a gift/dare.

After reviewing the Freshette website I see there are many benefits to using such devices... check it out here. 

STORY 3: This surely falls in the TMI (Too Much Information!) category and also in the completely mortifying and pretty disgusting categories... but like I said - I didn't intend to post about any of these incidents individually but now that they've all come together it does make for an interesting blog post... and also a head's up to anyone who's pregnant in Brazil.  And posts like this also make me happy that this blog is fairly anonymous ;)  Okay, so consider yourself warned.

Being pregnant, I frequently go for blood and urine testing.  I noticed that the directions for the urine testing are much more "thorough" (meaning diagrams and everything) when it comes to the pre-urine cleansing or wipe-down that is to take place, as opposed to back home where they sometimes just give you a wet nap type thing or something to use beforehand.  Ok, so no big deal.  However, last time I went for testing, when it came time for the urine test, the nurse had me lay down on the table, get into the stirrups (so that she could ensure the "pre-urine cleansing" was done properly - yikes!) and then after that MADE me pee in a cup she was holding WHILE I was still in the stirrups at the lab.  I was SURE that it was a language barrier issue at first until she showed me some MORE detailed instructions with drawings and everything. Yes, I had some major stage fright.

It should be noted that I have talked to a few people about this and NO ONE back home has ever heard of anything like this, and people here who have been pregnant in Brazil have not necessarily gone through this either, depending on which lab they used. So I'm not saying this is a procedure that is followed in every Brazilian lab, I'm just stating the facts of what happened to me!

Water Quality

On Saturday we headed to the beach in Recreio with friends, as they'd read the paper that morning and the only place recommended to hit the beach was out there.  It was gorgeous and an hour of soaking my very swollen feet in the very cold water made a huge difference in my quality of life! (It is soooo hot here. So swelling is an issue for the quite-pregnant.  Drinking coconut water and elevating the feet and soaking them in the ocean all help!)

We went to the beach in Leblon yesterday for a quick dip and definitely realized why the warning... it was honestly disgusting. I went in briefly to cool off and found myself dodging condoms... sick.  Got out quick.  We attended the show at the Sambodromo last night and I will post a full review soon but after our beach experience we found some of the show's focus on nature to be quite ironic seeing as how the reality of Carnaval is quite hard on the environment and well, consumptive.