Reflections from Felipão

I haven't had a chance to blog in a long time--a factor of shared computers, priority for checking e-mails, etc. Our time in São Paulo was a wonderful time for me, seeing houses I grew up in, visiting my school (first grade through twelfth grade international school) and my home church, and especially reconnecting with people I knew from my childhood. I don't know how to put it into words, but it's been very good for my soul being back in the city in the city in which I grew up. (Maybe more on this later.)

Paraty was beautiful. I have been to many beautiful beach locations, and this is one best I've ever seen--maybe the best in terms of beauty, given the combination of the achingly beautiful setting of an enormous bay dotted with tropical islands and dozens of beaches on the mainland side with the "Mata Atlantica" jungle cascading down mountains to the water's edge, along with the historic town of Paraty, with an old part of town containing all the original buildings from the 17th century gold shipping heyday.

Now we're in Rio being tourists, which is fun in it's own way. Paulistanos say about Cariocas (people from Rio) that they're lazy and just party all the time, and Cariocas say about Paulistanos that they don't know how to have fun because they work too hard. We'll write more about our time in Rio in a different blog.

Dana has jumped into this Brasil trip with both feet and put a lot of energy into learning the language, making relational connections, and generally learning the culture. While she would happily keep going longer on the Brasilian Birth Trek, she is looking forward to returning to life in Berkeley. The girls are longing to get back to see friends and home, and even school! I, however, would throw away my return ticket if the opportunity presented itself! But don't worry, I'm coming back :)

Notable Quotes

Felipão here. Two good quotes, especially with our São Paulo/Rio visits:

"Rio is beautiful. São Paulo . . . São Paulo is a city." Marlene Dietrich
"São Paulo sure is ugly" Dana Cunliffe on a tour of downtown São Paulo

Fabulous Rio

After an uneventful 4 hour bus ride, we are now at our final stop, the finale-- Rio de Janeiro, also known as "Cuidade Maravilhosa" the "Marvelous City." In many ways, it reminds us of San Francisco-- hills, water, lively people. We are staying at a B&B sort of place that would fit nicely in the City-- on a side of a hill in a leafy neighborhood. Today we did the total tourist thing-- took the tram up to Pao de Açucar (you James Bond fans-- remember the scene where James and Jaws have it out on top of the tram?),

(two of Bond's girls)


walked on Copacabana beach (and only sang the Barry Manilow song once, okay, twice), tried to find the Girl from Ipanema (and only hummed the song a million times) and ate feijoda with all of the other Brasilians. Feijoada is a black bean stew chock full of pig parts, served with rice, kale, toasted manioc, oranges and a caipirinha (lime juice with sugar cane alcohol) that every one eats on Saturday.


Tim-tim












eating at a restaurant on Copacabana beach (the hottest spot south of Havana) and a photo of Dana's feijoada dish

A Serendipitous Evening at the Circus

On our last night in Paraty, we had one of those kismet experiences. In the early evening, we were walking over to see an old fort in an unexplored part of town. However, we found out it was closed for the day. Instead, we discovered a circus tent and sure enough there was a show that evening. After dinner, we walked back there and found out that it was run by a bunch of artistic hippies who wanted to introduce the art of the circus to people. The cost was pay what you wanted. They said that the show would start later because heavy rains earlier had caused some flooding in the tent that they were cleaning up. So, we walked over to the beach next door, grabbed some chairs and watched the lightning illuminate the bay and its scattered islands. Claire asked us some great questions about what we wanted to do after she and Mad left home, what would be our dream jobs, would we want to live in another country. Between the conversation and the beautiful weather, it was an enchanted moment.

We entered the circus tent, replete with saw dust, a few strings of lights, and rickety chairs. The audience consisted of 20 folks. The circus perfomers consisted of a clown, a fiddler, a drummer, some acrobats, a juggler and a fire tosser. They were energetic, charming and talented. As we were enjoying the show, the rain returned. We noticed that the back stage was flooded. The performers, improv experts that they were, began to wear flippers and goggles. It was cozy being inside while the rain pelted the tent. However, the water lapped into our front row and soon our feet were swimming in a stew of saw dust and water. The only problem was there were electrical cords all around us and I began to be distracted from the show. What would electrocution feel like? What a macabre way to end this earthly life. The stage hands were scrambling to lift at least the connectors from the water and I prayed there were no frayed wires. The show went on! We sloshed our way back to the hotel laughing all the way.

Party in Paraty?

Paraty is a colonial sea town between Sao Paulo and Rio (that's HEE-OOH, ya'll). It was founded in the 1600s as a slave port, gold port, coffee port, and then nothing for a good 100 years. The only way to reach Paraty was via the sea until a road was built in the 1970s. The neglect preserved the buildings, it's now a world heritage site chock full of artists (visual and performance). Its very pretty.

We went on a schooner trip yesterday (Maddie commented, "That's not a real schooner. A real schooner has 3 masts. This only has 2.") with 100 wealthy Brasilians. It was raucous and this was the upper class. Lots of beer and cigarettes and singing as we cruised around islands, stopping to swim in the green and azure waters. I realize I've adapted to the culture-- thongs and speedos seem normal now. We are the freaky one piece bathing suit family (and Phil wears baggy surf shorts). A little too crowded and boisterous for my taste, but this is high season, so it's to be expected.

(Felipao gets boisterous)

Brown Bear Grooves On

(Bear is tired of doing homework)

Since Maddie, the tempetuous Jungle Surfer, had her blog entry, it's only fair that Claire, Brown Bear (or at times red, pink, blistered, or mottled bear) gets her turn. Brown bear has jumped into Brasilian culture-- jumping into rice and beans at most meals, jumping into a spot-on Portuguese accent (although her comment is "I can't speak Portguese, it will corrupt my Spanish!"), jumping into any body of water, and being a mostly good sport. Everyone thinks she is Brasilian or Argentinian (could it be the large hoop earrings, spaghetti strap shirts and manicured fingernails?). We asked her this morning if she was ready to go home or if she could stay travelling longer. She answered that aside from missing friends, she would keep going. I do believe that the genetic travel bug found on both sides of her parents' has found the next generation.

Travel Aids

(LOOK, PICTURES ADDED THROUGHOUT BLOG. IT'S AMAZING!)

Yesterday, we took a six hour bus ride from Sao Paulo to Paraty. It was our third long bus ride (not to mention our many local bus rides, metro subway rides, taxi rides, car rides, air plane rides, and walking "rides".) To pass the time, we do Sudoku (since it is number puzzles, its the only literature in the news stands that the girls and I can read!), listen to music, look at the scenary, read, try to sleep, and every now and then, make friends with strangers. Maddie's seat mate showed her magic tricks, number games, and card games. Maddie taught him, well, Sudoku.

Maddie hits the wall. . . and bounces back!

At the beginning of week 4 of our travels, Maddie had had it. Her list went as follows: too hot, too many mosquitos, too many people, too much Portuguese, too little nature, too many toddlers asking to play with her, too few books (in fact she ran out after week 2 causing her to re read all of them), too much fruit, too much salt water (in Floripa) and just too much period. What's an introverted, cold loving girl to do? First, she gave her list of gripes, followed by what she wanted to do when she got back to Berkeley (go into her room, close the door and play with her animals. Later on, call her friends.) We prayed together, Maddie set some limits, and has bounced back. She even wrote this blog with Dana's help. She's been pretty cheerful since with a few dips. It dawned on me (Dana) that we are on a long trip and nothing is familiar and after a while whatever coping mechanisms we have, simply fail. Another insight that I have is that we are together every minute of the day and our moods effect each other (In Berkeley, we have different work/school/meetings/soccer/errand schedules and at times we can go a day or two without really being with each other. Well, not so on this trip!!!). Actually, both girls have been really amazing on this trip. They are gems!

(Maddie meets Gollum).

A frenzy of meat, then futbol

We are currently at the Tiete bus station, waiting for our bus to Paraty. Our last day in Sampa was full of frenzy. After church, not a frenzy, we had lunch at a churrascaria. If you ever saw the movie Polar Express, there's a scene where the train conductor orders hot cocoa for the little boy. All of a sudden, dozens of waiters dance out with steaming mugs of cocoa. Well, substitute meat for cocoa, and you can picture it. Every 30 seconds, a waiter carrying a slab of meat and a large knife would come to our table, slicing a hunk for us if we seemed vaguely interested. Faster and faster they flew, enticing us with about 15 different types of flesh. Wow, vegetarians would sorta suffer (except for the sushi, salads and lebanese food they had at the buffet part). After that frenzy, we went to Pacaembu Stadium and saw 2 Sao Paulo teams play soccer-- the Corinthians versus Portuguesa. We sat with the Corinthians. They have cousins with the Raider Nation-- cheers, boos, drums thumping, rythmic whistling, large banners waving, men cursing and even a love song that went (Corinthians, you are my life. Corinthians, you are my story. Corinthians, you are my love. Corinthians.). Wild frenzy and great fun.

Favela Visit

Yesterday, we visited a favela (a slum) with John Macy. John and his wife Yvonne and their 5 kids are very dynamic and peripetic. They have started a work helping prostitues, then worked with street kids, then moved to the North East (a very poor part of Brasil) and started a training center for like minded folks, and then moved back to Sampa and are working with this favela doing community organizing and church work and training. There were many interesting things about this favela. It is named "Hot Hole" and is nestled behind a giant super market, busy streets, and a nice middle class neighborhood. Hot Hole existed for 40 years and was rife with drugs, selling $6,000 worth nightly. Last year there was a fire and the whole place burned to a crisp, mostly because the police didn't want to fire fighters to extinguish it. All 180 families were placed in tents in the soccer field next to it (the favela itself is about on the same acreage as a soccer field!). The mennonite church that John and Yvonne work with was asked by the government to distribute compensation to the families and ulitmately to rebuild the favela. They have gathered a committee of favela residents and are busy rebuilding-- holding flea markets to get money to buy sewer pipes and other basic needs. Unfortunately, the drug powers returned recently. They changed the pathways so they are no longer straight but a labyrinth so they can elude the authorities. The favela residents feel safer not confronting the drug guys. As we were leaving, two young men high on pot and just making a sale ran by us. They were eluding the police. Luckily, the police did not come after them. Often, they shoot randomly when they chase people. Thus far, the menonnites have the respect of both the police and the drug kings. Obviously, at some point, it won't continue. After we left, Claire looked relieved. She had remembered the intense filth and hoards of people when we visited a slum in Bangkok. Because Hot Hole was being rebuilt, it was pretty clean and the residents were quite proud of their new favela. Poor kid. I didn't know she had geared herself up for it to be horrible. As always, such visits stir up in me deep feelings about justice, systemic evil, what-am-I-doing-with-my-life wonderings. Much to ponder.

Regular Life in Sao Paulo

Excuse our lack of blog updates. The computer is in the bedroom of 3 toddlers and our life has gotten pretty regular (no stunning sites) so there's less time to write and less content on one level. Our life in Sampa is sorta like life in the States-- washing clothes and hanging them on the line (I (Dana) only drop 10% of the wet clothes on the ground!), going daily to the store for food, riding local buses, kids doing homework (for some reason, Maddie got a huge amount of work to do. One cool thing is that Maddie's supposed to write a paper on a famous African-American but since we're here,

(Helen and Edimilson Bizerra, with 2 of their 3 toddlers. They are the younger generation of Shedds who have graciously let us stay in their home)

her teacher said she could write about an African-Brasilian. We found out about a guy in the 17th century named Ganga Zumba, who started a settlement of escaped slaves. We're betting no one else in the class is writing about Zumba).



We've mostly seen Felipao's old stomping grounds-- his dad's publishing house, his old school, his church, his old houses, and various family friends. It's been great to hear Felipao's stories, and great to hear how much people hold the Felipao's family in high regard. Person after person tell stories about how Felipao's mom met with them or Felipao's dad helped them out. Very inspiring. We did run into an old Portuguese teacher who was talking about how smart Cunliffes are. She said, "I think that the bigger the forehead, the bigger the brains." Some of Felipao's reminiscing is pretty funny. We were looking at sites downtown (top of the BANESPA building, opera house, cathedral) when Felipao gets excited and points to a building, "Look, that's the largest post office in all of Brasil. My dad used to have a post office box there.
That's where I developed my love of opening mail!" Which goes to show that everyone gets their thrills in different ways.


(Sampa. Look any direction and the buildings go on and on and on and on. . . )



(Felipao's school from kindergarten thru high school and his P.E. teacher Mr. Fast)