(Click on map for larger version.)

Boa noite GBD!  Mari is just overflowing with love for you guys these past few days.  Not only did she bring you those fabulous Julia Nunes videos for ‘Mazing Mursdays, she’s also going to tell you about her hometown today.

Yes, I know.  This edition of Passport is late, as they usually post on Saturdays.  For this delay, feel free to blame Mari, because she only started writing it at 2AM Eastern Standard Time yesterday.  A few hours later, I received her write-up at 5:17AM.  Do you know what I was doing at 5:17AM yesterday morning?  I was in bed, half-awake, mustering up the energy and willpower to face a 24-hour workday.

But as a wise person once said, “If it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would ever get done.” 

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Oy, what can I tell you about my tiny little home town?  I’ve been thinking about this for-freaking-ever now, you can ask Kathy.  She’s been e-mailing me daily, yelling at me, and asking how come I was so slow…she’s mean u guis.     

I’m so tempted to just share pictures… ‘cos seriously, I can’t pick just one!  Can you blame me?

One thing that I find different about Rio is the fact that you can’t look ahead and see for miles (like you can up here in Vancouver)…instead you’d see either high rises, or mountains, or the slums…or all three at the same time!  That’s one of the interesting (albeit sad) things about Rio…you have extreme wealth and poverty side by side.  You could be living in a multi-million dollar penthouse, then look out your window, and BAM – you see the slums (also known as favelas).

In both of these pics, you can see Rocinha (the biggest slum in Brazil) in the foreground.

The weather is the opposite of  here: we have hot, hotter, warm, less warm.  The coldest I can remember it ever getting is 15ºC (59ºF), and the hottest would be over 45ºC (113ºF).  With temperatures like that, it’s a good thing we have all those beaches to help us cool down!

Copacabana Beach

We have a population of over 11,800,000 people, and the majority believe in God, with over 60% being Catholic, followed by 17% Protestant, 13% no religion, 3% Spiritist, 0.70% Umbandist, and 0.4% Jewish (If this is wrong, you can blame Wikipedia!).

Right now there’s this annoying thing going on called Carnival.  Why annoying?  For some people, it’s all about Samba school competitions, which I find very boring.  I like Carnival because you get Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday off, and if you’re lucky, you get Ash Wednesday off as well!  During Carnival it’s not rare to see streets closed down so people in costumes can walk freely without fearing being hit by a car.  And at my mom’s you’ll find daily barbecues – another reason I love Carnival.  Barbecue nearly everyday!

Which brings me to a subject Kathy has been anxiously waiting for: FOOD.  I will start with one of my favorites: barbecue!

Unlike here, we do NOT barbecue hamburgers, and hot dogs…instead, we barbecue all sorts of beef cuts, chicken hearts (in before the ew’s: IT’S YUMMY), chicken wings and drumsticks, garlic bread, sausage… and don’t forget the sides: potato salad, farofa…wow, I thought I could think of more.  It’s past 1AM and my brain is getting tired.    ANYWAY, if you ever go to Brazil, please go to a Churrascaria, which is an all-you-can-eat type of restaurant, where they serve you barbecue on skewers, and they have salad and seafood bars, and carts with an insane variety of desserts.   Speaking of desserts: brigadeiro, anyone?!

Brigadeiro

Holy crap, I’m getting hungry.  For more on Brazilian dishes, please visit this site.

People in Brazil are very very friendly.  But since I’m biased, I’ll just let Wikipedia do the talking:

According to a survey published in American Scientist Magazine, the Cariocas of Rio de Janeiro exhibited great friendliness and offered to help in various situations.  A quote from the article mentioned pointed to the following :

There is an important word in Brazil: simpático. (Actually it’s a Greek origin word means sym-pathy “συμ-πάθεια” that you feel very concern (almost the same) about someone else’s suffering). It refers to a range of desirable social qualities – to be friendly, nice, agreeable, and good-natured. A person who is fun to be with and pleasant to deal with…. Brazilians, especially the Cariocas of Rio (as citizens here are known), want very much to be seen as simpático. And going out of one’s way to assist strangers is part of this image.

What else can I tell you?  Do you know what a Brazilian looks like?!  Because I don’t!  I remember a teacher once telling us that officially Brazilians are white Portuguese Catholics… but that’s just officially, because if you go to Brazil you’ll see all sorts of races, and lots of mixes!  We’re just a bunch of mutts!  In Rio you’ll see people ranging from ghostly white to bluey black (if that’s not a color, it is now!).

And that picture brings me to yet another subject: soccer.  Yes, apparently we’re crazy about it.  Me?  I only care about soccer during the World Cup!  Then I go from indifferent to soccer crazed.  It helps that we kick a**!  Hehehehe!

Since this is getting prettyyyy long, I guess I’ll just end this now with some pretty pictures!

Maracanã – the largest soccer stadium in South America, and the 8th largest in the world.

The world’s largest floating tree, and you can see the Christ to your right. 

Cristo Redentor (The Christ) overlooking the city.

Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar)

New Year’s eve in Copacabana, which is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.   I don’t know if you can see it – but a lot of people wear white.  Traditionally you are supposed to wear the color of what you want most in the coming year…white means peace. 

Jardim Botanico (Botanical Gardens)

I could go on forever, but I will spare you all. I hope you liked my rambling about my beautiful hometown

Tchau!

P.S. – As per Kathy’s request, abobora:

Abobora com carne seca e arroz (Pumpkin with dried beef and rice.  I dunno if carne seca = dried beef, but that’s how it translates literally.)

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That was worth the wait, right?  Did you see the food??  Maaaaaan.  I’ve been to a churrascaria a couple times, and let me tell you…it’s ridiculous.  You have servers constantly coming to your table, bringing you food.  It’s insane.

Obrigada Mari!  Even though voce mentiu about my yelling at you and being mean.  Pfft!  I am, like, a saint. 

Anyway, tune in next week when Brit will tell us all about Burnaby, Canada.  Whoohoo!