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News :: Miscellaneous |
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On the road in Brazil |
Current rating: 0 |
by Sascha Meinrath
Email: meinrath (nospam) urbana.indymedia.org (unverified!) |
30 Jun 2001
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This is the first of what I hope will be several reports by Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center reporters Sascha Meinrath and Sarah Kanouse on some of the happenings during our trip to Brazil. Here's how we spent our first day: |
Day 1:
Sarah and I arrived this morning in Sao Paulo, Brazil to cool, sunny weather. We were both a little jetlagged from nearly 24 hours of traveling. Luckily, we were met at the airport and did not have to figure out the public transportation system in this city of roughly 16 million on 2 hours of sleep.
Sao Paulo is a city in a state of flux. Along the sides of the road from the airport into the city center we could see slums -- some of them nothing more than pieces of wood and tin held together with twine. However, these symbols of Brazil's continued poverty were interspersed with stadiums, housing developments, and newly constructed international conference centers -- all signs that the country is slowly revitalizing itself.
The economy, which until several years ago suffered from hyperinflation is now rather stable, but the aftermath can be seen everywhere. Though locals state that the income gap has narrowed now that hyperinflation has been tamed, poverty is still ubiquitous. Driving through the city center, at almost every traffic stop beggars approach the idling cars. In the area where we are staying, there are almost a dozen banks within a 3 block radius, and personal loans, are lower now than they have been in decades -- only 4-12 percent... a month! Alright, perhaps not what people in the United States are used to, but for Brazilians, this represents tremendous progress.
We spent several hours at a food market that is held at outside a soccer stadium not far from where we are staying. One benefit of staying with locals (or Paulistas as Sao Paulo's residents are called) was talking with the grocers and sampling the wares. I tried well over a dozen fruits -- many of which I've never tried, much less ever seen before. I should also mention that the taste of fresh tropical fruits are really amazing -- they were so sweet I could not believe it.
We spent what remained of our afternoon window shopping in a mall -- a passtime I don't tend to engage in in the states, but which my Brazilian cousins love. I learned that Paulistas tend to spend a lot of time at the malls since they are both air-conditioned, and their private security forces keep beggars and muggers away. We finished out the day throwing a party for my cousin Anna who turned 12 today. She has taken great delight is teaching me her language, and I've spent a good bit of time pouring over various phrase books and picture books while she has quizzed me on everything she can point to.
One final note, Brazil is currently attempting to avoid California-style rolling blackouts by voluntarily reducing their electrical usage. Everyone in Sao Paulo is being asked to reduce their electrical consumption by 20% over last year's levels. It is very strange, for example, to be in the mall and see every third escalator turned off. Also, the apartment building where we are staying has shut down one of their elevators and is using compact fluorescent lighting instead of incandescent bulbs. From the windows here on the 16th floor, we can see that many of the lights of Sao Paulo are off -- even if this plan fails to stave off rolling blackouts, perhaps us Americans (and especially those in California) could take a lesson from this conservation effort. |
See also:
http://urbana.indymedia.org
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