Category: brazil summer 06

As tomorrow’s flight looms (see the shadow? or is that from the 70% chance of thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon here?) I’ve noticed Delta still doesn’t have its online check-in together for international flights. No sneaky exit row grabs for me (if Delta even allows those these days).

To my deep regret, I’ll be checking a bag. I further regret its weight: nearly 46 out of the 50 lbs. allotted by DL. Part of the problem is that it’s a heavy bag, but the rest of the problem is that I’m carrying random consumer goods (seriously, Listerine?). On the bright side, that means I can bring back lots of (light, easily packable) goodies for myself. It’s zipped and ready, as are a couple carry-on items. I just need to print some document and phone list copies for the bags and myself, and I’ll be set.

Hopefully, I’ll turn down enough of my grandmother’s food to fit in the seat on the way back. And while I’m being hopeful, it sounds like the violence in SP has died down for a bit (with the exception of the usual revenge- and excuse- killings from the police).

Assuming I get out of Charleston in time tomorrow, I should have a couple hour in the Atlanta airport and about a ten-hour flight to Rio, arriving at 7:10 a.m. local. Brazil is UTC-3 hours, one hour ahead of EDT. Unless I snag a leaky hotspot in ATL, this should be my last post from the States for a couple weeks–if you’d like anything from Brazil that’s not too painful to carry, get in touch and I’ll try to find it for you.

I seem to have picked an interesting time to visit Brazil: one where over 90 buses (at last count) have been torched in São Paulo and rumors of similar prison gang rebellions in two other states (at last count) persist and where the RJ government affirms that everything is just fine in Rio.

81 dead (15 civilians), 180 attacks, in the latest from O Globo.

I guess I have to hope that this won’t reach Rio in the next two weeks or so, since I won’t be in the tourist paradises of Rio but rather a section next to some of the favelas. And we ride the bus. Or maybe they’ll focus their attention on the rich targets; then I’ll only be in trouble when I have to get from/to the airport (passing over or through large sections of said favelas on the way).

I seem to be in what looks like an unusual situation: I need to learn to pack less efficiently.

In spring 2004, when I was panicking at the sudden realization that my non-refundable ticket to CDG in Paris would not be paired with friendly free housing on the beach, I started trying to figure out how to survive for a month with one backpack. In urban Europe, with marginal money, that isn’t hard to do: wonderful sites like Art of Travel, One Bag, and Travelite introduced me to freedom from luggage.

My trip to Brazil this week complicates matters. It seems, for some reason, to be harder to pack light when taking various items for family and a laptop. I should be able to pack it all in just over the carry-on and personal item allowance, but I don’t want to check a mostly empty bag (asking for trouble) or a mostly full bag (asking to lose my stuff).

Right now the best-sounding solution involves abusing compression straps.

I’ve been going to Brazil since I was six months old–a fact to which my January 1986 Brazilian passport picture testified, through a couple renewals, until 1998. Though I was born (weeks before my time) in Lubbock, Texas, my mother was (and is) Brazilian. Through the magic of jus sanguinis, I too am Brazilian.

This would come in handy–right now, actually, as Brazil and the States engage in reciprocal hissy-fits over the prices of visas and biometric data gathering from visitors. The only reason I maintain my Brazilian citizenship is to avoid forking over $100 or more every time I visit family.

Anyway, I did visit family plenty–I used to go at least every year in the summer. My living grandparents, great-aunt, godparents, and many other significant relatives live in Rio de Janeiro. To gloss over the details, my mother and sister more or less moved back to Rio in the late 1990s. The top relatives all live in the Tijuca district. I acquired Portuguese as a first language, although my lack of schooling and mostly native accent peg me as a very tall kindergartener.

“Portunhol” is a big problem for me: Portuguese made it very easy to pick up Spanish, since a lot of the roots and basic grammar are from Latin or common Iberian influences, but the realities of the world have me speaking much more Spanish than Portuguese.

I haven’t been since the fall of 2002, because I’ve developed things to do in the summer as high school turned into college.

I’ve seen all the sights in Rio, though I may not remember all of them. Sugar Loaf, the Christ on Corcovado, the various beaches, the Opera, the Botanical Gardens, etc etc etc. I’ve traveled a little inside the state of Rio, to Niteroi and Petropolis… I’ve also dipped into the state of Minas Gerais, at towns like São Lourenço.

I’m well acquainted with the international airports of Rio and São Paulo, and hazily remember a bit of Brasilia’s. I’ve never been out in those other cities, though.

It’s unlikely that this upcoming visit will bring anything exciting and new, but if there’s anything I’ll be sure to post about it. I might complain about the travel too, if I run out of other things to do. Hopefully I’ll be concentrating on studying for the LSAT and not have time to complain.