South America – the posts that never made it

We’re sitting in the Sao Paolo airport, awaiting our flight to Johannesburg.  It’s hard to believe we’ve come to the end of our unforgettable six months in South America.  Over that time, we’ve gotten a good feel for a big chunk of the continent, and I’m sorry we won’t be around for a while.  The last time I was in South America was almost 20 years ago.  I really hope it won’t be that long before I return.

We’ve gotten to experience a lot more than we’ve been able to write about.  In closing out this chapter of our trip, I wanted to record some of the things I took notes about for blog posts that I never got around to writing.

1) The Austrian family we met on the coast of Ecuador traveling with their five year old son. 

My notes:

I was in awe of their car, the first I’ve ever seen with Western Australia plates (maybe also a first in Ecuador?).  Some kind of converted Toyota camper, with a pop-up roof, sleeping for 3, a stove, and a fridge.  Customized with roof racks from Uruguay and security boxes from Austria.  Gave me some real South American road trip envy.  Ever since we planned this trip, I was interested in the idea of driving all or a big part of it, maybe leaving from NY and driving all the way to Tierra del Fuego or something like that.  I wound up rejecting the idea because I thought it would involve too much car time and drive the kids crazy.  The time we spent with the Austrians more or less confirmed my hunch – they didn’t have the greatest things to say about the whole driving trip thing – long roads, cramped quarters, etc.

Next time, maybe motorcycles?

2) The last day we spent in Mindo, Ecuador, when we rented mountain bikes and rode through the cloud forest for hours along dirt roads.  We got really wet and muddy, but the ride along a raging river from which the forest rose on near-vertical walls, was really memorable.  One word: Lush.

3) On traveling the world with your kids and parents, after we spent two weeks with my parents on our Chilean road trip.

My notes:

We had a great time with my parents – my parents, Yo and I admitted that we all had a much better time than we were expecting.  Although I was happy that they were coming to join us for a week and a half, I had a lot of personal anxiety at having to be responsible for a larger, tri-generational group.  And vacationing with my parents has not always been completely seamless in the past. 

Hmm…maybe it’s better that I never wrote more than that.  But honestly, we had a great time together, despite my initial anxiety.  We were really lucky that they were able to join us then.

4) The fact that time always seemed off in Chile.  Although much of Chile is due south of NY, in the summer, the clock is 2 hours ahead of NY.  So everything felt really off.  Even in the middle of the summer, the sun didn’t rise until around 8:30am.  No one in Chile eats dinner before 9:00pm, when the sun was still out.  I never got used to the idea of waking up, fully rested, at 7:00am and still having an hour and a half until dawn.

5) The anomaly that is Chile.  Chile is often compared to an island, because it’s bounded on one side by the Pacific, which is never far away and on the other sides by deserts and mountains, which separate it from its neighbors.  But it stands apart from the rest of South America in other ways, too.  People are reserved and formal.  Punctuality and efficiency are the way of the land.  Rules, even minor ones, are taken very seriously (e.g., restaurants in Santiago would not serve us drinks without food because they weren’t licensed for it; even at 20 minutes before closing time on a weeknight).  And the language is very different from the Spanish spoken in the rest of the continent.  I’ve been looking for the right analogy – A Latin American Germany?

6)  The changes in Lima since my last visit in 1995.  When I was last in Peru, it was a scary place.  The country was still engaged in a brutal fight with the waning Shining Path guerillas, and nothing seemed really safe.  I remember that Lima in particular, seemed like an armed camp.  Banks were guarded by armored vehicles and nervous soldiers in full combat attire.  Now it just looks like a typical, only somewhat militarized South American capital.  The armed guards are still everywhere, but they look a little less combat ready.

Brazil Myths Debunked

I'm bummed that we only had ten days or so to explore Brazil.  What an interesting country!  Our three stops - Iguazu Falls, Rio and Ilha Grande, were all amazing and I'm looking forward to coming back for more.  But I have to admit to some apprehension before we arrived, over safety and costs in particular.

A couple of observations:
1.  Despite its terrible reputation for street crime, we never felt unsafe, even in Rio.  Yes, I get that Rio is like other large South American cities - you really need to keep an eye open, and there definitely are people out there who will rip you off.  But in six months of travel through the continent, including stops in big cities with bad reputations like Quito, Guayaquil, Lima, La Paz, BA and Rio, we never had any problems.  And Rio seemed no different than Quito or Lima in this regard.
2.  We read that Brazil is now the most expensive country in the world to visit.  We found that Brazil we definitely more expensive than most other countries we visited, with the possible exception of Chile.  But at the end of the day, it's still cheaper than New York.  We paid $225 a night for a family suite in Rio.  Dinners for the four of us ran between $60 and $200.  Beers on the beach cost $2.50.  It's not Peru to be sure, but it's still cheaper than England, Italy, France, or even New York, by a long shot.

Last observation, and a reminder to self:  Outside of a few very international spots, English is not widely spoken in Brazil.  And don't fool yourself into thinking that you can get by with Spanish - you can't.  It's a big country, and people here speak Portuguese only, for the most part.  Native Spanish speakers seem to pick it up quickly, but for us, it was tougher than I expected.  For my next trip, I'm going to learn at least a little Portuguese in advance.

Rio Olympics in 2016 anyone?

Our Race around the World

We are what is currently called in the US, a “multi-racial family.”  In our New York lives, we don’t really give it much thought.  And while race does come up at times, such as when Oscar explained to us that he has to approve all Asian jokes among his peers (gotta love teenage boys), white/Asian families really don’t attract any particular attention where we live.  But what is commonplace in the US is often extraordinary in other countries.

Outside of the US, people still tend to associate “American” with “white.”  So we often get questions from people asking about our family.  It’s been interesting to compare the reactions we have gotten from people in different countries.  Because we all have a sense of how we each look a bit different in racial terms, we have a bit of a game that we play when we go to a new place about who could pass for Ecuadorian/Chilean/Peruvian/etc.  And it’s worth pointing out that South America is actually pretty diverse – there are some Asians and Jews and tons of multi-racial people in every country in South America, so really any one of us could be from any one of the places we’ve been.  Granted, Ruby looks really Chilean, and I can seamlessly pass for an Argentine.  But what makes us stand out as foreigners is the combination of all four of us together.

Brazilian Mom and Daughter?

Interestingly, it is only in Brazil where we seem to fit right in.  Relative to other places, Brazil seems particularly diverse, both in terms of the people, as well as in terms of the number of multi-racial families we see.  And it’s really been the only place where people we meet casually (taxis, restaurants, etc.) seem initially surprised that we aren’t Brazilian.  Until they hear our Portuguese…

The less glamorous side of travel

Our day started with soothing tropical rain and a visit from monkeys at breakfast.  Then, a 2 hour bumpy and nauseating boat ride from Ihla Grande to Angra dos Reis on the mainland.  

Two members of the family were thrilled to have ramen for lunch at the bus terminal.

We took this bus to São Paolo - 8 hours.

It was secondary roads most of the way, with three brief rest stops.  Those of us inclined to motion sickness did not enjoy it much.  

Arriving at the central bus terminal and then grabbing a taxi to the airport Marriott felt surprisingly like arriving at the JFK airport hotel from NJ.  In the dark, São Paolo feels more like a US city than anyplace we've been in South America.  Something about the scale and level of commerce and development just feels familiar.  

With the kids in bed, we find ourselves in the hotel lobby.  Maybe caipirinhas and martinis settle the stomach?

Tomorrow afternoon, we're off to Johannesburg.  Looking forward to hitting the gym and enjoying the breakfast buffet before we leave!  

Leaving South America

It's been a wonderful 5 months in South America.  We saw almost all of Ecuador and Chile, some of Peru and Bolivia, and a smidgen of Argentina and Brazil.  I'm glad we spent time in the cities, but I particularly treasure our time in nature -- the volcanoes, altiplano, rivers and glaciers were unforgettable.  

Our last days here have been spent on a remote spot on Ihla Grande, an island without roads located a 2 hour boat ride off the coast of Brazil.  It's been as good a place as any to relax, reflect and prepare for the stage of our trip.  Our pousada is run by a lovely Argentinian/Brazilian couple.  As a pleasant surprise, Spanish has been the best common language so we can try to forget our fumbling efforts at Portuguese and actually carry on a conversation.

The owner's mom is visiting from Buenos Aires and it's low season, so we went together yesterday on a day-long excursion to Praia Lopez Mendez, the beach on the other side of the island often touted as Brazil's most beautiful beach.  Another day, we walked along jungly trails to a various beaches and one small village.  The island has 102 beaches and few visitors right now, so it really does feel like Gilligan's Island.

The pousada is feeding us well with breakfasts full of tropical fruit, good coffee, and baked goods.  We also had amazing moqueca, seafood stew, and homemade gnocchi (in Argentina, the 29th of every month is gnocchi day).

We know that everyone at home is finishing up school and getting ready for summer.  We are trying to wrap up the kids' math curricula (running a bit behind), and prepare for South Africa and 

China with relevant readings and movie watching.  Kaffir Boy and Invictus.  Any suggestions for China?

Tomorrow, our journey away from South America begins - a 2 hour boat ride to the mainland, a 7 hour bus ride to Sao Paolo, a quick overnight at the airport hotel, then a 9 hour flight to Johannesburg.  Wish us luck!

Brazilian bathrooms

Still not flushing toilet paper, but I love the bathroom icon at the Rio bus terminal.  You just can't take the sexy out of Brazilian women.  

First day in Rio

I don't consider myself a beach person, but one day on Copacabana Beach has caused me to reconsider.

It helped that conditions were perfect.  It's almost winter down here, which means it's balmy and humid, but not suffocatingly so.  Consequently, the beach on a Saturday was busy enough for people-watching, but not crazily packed.  Also, the sand is pristine -- white & soft -- and the beach is cleaner than any beach we saw in Ecuador or Peru.  Last, the water was great -- our familiar Atlantic waters like they are in NY in August -- with perfect waves for body surfing.

We started the day on the rooftop patio of our hotel with the best tropical fruit we've had during our entire trip, fresh baked bread, and (to the kids' delight) homemade cake.  Then, it was a pleasant walk to the mall to outfit ourselves like proper Brazilians -- bikini and beach cover up for me, board shorts for Neil and Oscar (they refused to go completely native and wear speedos) and haivianas.  A short 15 minute walk later, we were on Copacabana Beach.  

Everything else we needed could be rented or purchased on site.  Within minutes, we were seated with beach chairs, an umbrella and drinks.  Vendors hawk everything: sunglasses, straw hats, kangas (Brazilian sarongs), dresses, beers, caparinhas, juices, shrimp, empadas, sandwiches, etc.  Nothing was a hassle.  It was a thoroughly relaxing beach afternoon.

An update on our progress with Portuguese, a tough language for English speakers because of the pronunciation.  Beyond a few key phrases, I simply resort to Spanish and hope for the best.  Neil tries to speak Portugese but sometimes fake Italian with a weird accent comes out.  O&R are simply mortified.

Finally, here are some initial impressions of Brazil and Brazilians.  

Neil pointed out, correctly I think, that Brazil is proud the way Brooklynites are proud.  Just as Brooklynites wear lots of Brooklyn swag, you see lots of Brazil paraphernalia and clothing here.  But it's not to be confused with World Cup fever.  Public support for the Copa del Mundo is declining fast in Rio and we saw quite a bit of anti-World Cup graffiti in town.  

Brazilians are the Italians of South America - flashy dressers and flamboyantly friendly.  The women favor high heels, leopard print, tight, revealing clothes (no matter the body type), and tan like there's no tomorrow.  The best way to blend in would be to have a small, white lap dog with hair ribbons and bling.  The men play or watch soccer all the time -- e.g., we saw gas station attendants kicking a ball around and soccer is always on TV in restaurants.  On the beach, they play foot-volley (yes, volleyball with feet).  

Here's the view from our hotel room in Urca, a residential neighborhood in Rio right at the base of Sugar Loaf Mountain. That's Christ the Redeemer at the top of the mountain across the way.  Just below is a police kiosk, which doesn't stop people from drinking, eating and socializing on the low wall by the water.  The area's got a great vibe.

Rio!

Landed in Rio last night. Woke up to this view.  Today is definitely a beach day!

Also part of the view...police station immediately outside the front door of our hotel. 

Iguazu Falls -- Day 2

The Brazilian side, Cataratas do Iguacu, provides a better panorama of the falls than the Argentinian side, but there's much less hiking.  For some reason, the Brazilian side was also much less crowded.

We took the local bus out to the park and spent a relaxing couple of hours checking out everything.  It was overcast and a bit chilly, so we decided to forego the expensive speedboat ride.  It still felt very special to be there, close to the roaring water.

Itaipu Dam, a joint project of Brazil and Paraguay

Amazingly, the waterfall destroyed by the Itaipu Dam, which we had visited the day before, was many times the size of Iguazu.

Local transport in Foz do Iguacu

The highlight of the day was spending the afternoon at Parque das Aves, a bird rescue park founded 20 years ago.  About half of the birds in the park were bred in captivity, and thus do not fear people.  We had a chance to interact with them up close.  My favorite was the enormous macaw area, where people can enter the cage and hang out while hundreds of macaws fly around and scream.  The parque reminded us of the condor park in Otavalo, Ecuador, but this was larger and contained a larger variety of bird species.

First Day in Brazil

Happy to be here in Foz do Iguaçu.  But still not flushing toilet paper!

The local supermarket is appropriately merchandised for the upcoming World Cup.

We had our first Brazilian lunch buffet (restaurante por quilo) at said supermarket.

Who can guess which three borders we visited?

The colors on the highway barriers are a hint.

Ruby enjoyed brigadeiro na canega (hot chocolate pudding in a mug).

And I took a liking to bananas flambado with caramel and cheese.  Trust me, it was quite edible.  

Portuguese lessons began too.  It's hard saying "obrigado" or "obrigada" instead of "gracias."  We also figured out sobremesa = postre (dessert) and sorbetta = helado (ice cream), so we're all set.

Oh, we also visited a massive dam today, the second largest in the world.  More on that to come . . .

Crying for Argentina

Today is our last day in Argentina. While we got to know BA a bit, I'm sorry that we didn't get a chance to see more of the country. But I'm excited to go to Brazil, a place I've always wanted to visit. And after staring at it all day, right across the Paraná River, I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

It really feels like a new phase of our trip begins tomorrow.  After months of speaking Spanish, and getting to feel quite comfortable with it, things will seem a bit more foreign from here on. At least Portuguese will be a bit of a soft transition...

Argentina is all about Alfajores - in many many varieties everywhere

Iguazu Falls - Day 1

We left BA yesterday afternoon, on a smooth 2 hour flight north to Iguazu Falls.  We used up my balance of Amex points to stay in the Sheraton here as it is located right in the National Park on the Argentina side, as opposed to in the town, some 20 minutes away.  So I'm writing this from the bar of the hotel, where Ruby and I are enjoying the view (and the sound) of the falls, about 1/2 mile from here, obscured only by the mist clouds wafting off the cascades.

I was a big skeptical about coming here at first - it's out of the way and a bit expensive to get to.  And really - a waterfall?  I haven't even been to Niagara, and that's a lot easier to get to.

As is often the case, my initial reluctance was not only unwarranted, it was really misguided.  Not only are the falls really impressive, they are one of those things that really defies photography and other attempts to describe or record what is really a primal experience.

So I'm not going to try to describe too much here.  I took a lot of photos, and videos, because my experience of the falls was as much about sound as about vision. 

We spent about 4 hours hiking around the Argentina (the larger) side this morning.  Staying in the park allowed us to beat most of the crowds, which were similar to what you might see in a US National Park in summer.  It takes a while to see the falls because they are not one unified waterfall, rather a group of dozens of falls that spread over a mile or so.  The largest, La Garganta del Diablo, was the most amazing, and the walkway is constructed in such a way that you can walk out to a vertigo-inducing spot right above the highest, maximum volume spot.  The rest of our walk consisted of trips to various viewpoints over, and at the base of different falls.

La Garganta del Diablo from above

In the afternoon, I walked out to another, much smaller falls, along a less-traveled path, mostly to see what wildlife there was - I saw a bunch of monkeys and some rodent things that we had seen in the BA Zoo.  In the morning, we had seen a few colorful varieties of birds, and too many coatis, raccoon-like creatures that terrorize the snack bars.

Coatis terrorizing the snack bar

Buenos Aires Culture Vultures

We’ve been in BA for longer than any other big city – and we’ve certainly done a lot here, in addition to all the steak.  Our cultural excursions ran the gamut from high to low, and from mass market to quirky.  Some highlights:

Last night, we saw the Boca Juniors, one of the most storied soccer teams in the world, defeat Lanús 3-1 in a match so energizing and exciting, we didn’t really mind the cold and the rain.  Fantastic experience, nothing at all like a sporting event in the US.  The only thing I can compare it to was a soccer game that Yo and I went to in Greece on our last world tour, 23 years ago.

Real Boca fans don't mind the rain

On the other end of the spectrum, also yesterday, we caught a concert at Teatro Colón, one of the city’s early 20^th Century architectural treasures, and supposedly one of the top five or so concert halls in the world for acoustics.  I’m not the best person to judge, but the acoustics were beautifully soft, as well as quite clear.  We went for a free Sunday morning concert, and saw one of their in-house orchestras (Yo knew the concert master from her violin course) play Beethoven’s 4^th and 8^th symphonies, directed by 8 different conductors who are graduating from their training program.  Interesting crowd – the 3,000 person hall was packed with all sorts of Porteños, probably a lot more diverse than what you’d get from a paying crowd.

Interior of Teatro Colon

We saw Fuerza Bruta, a “theater piece” in which the audience is standing up in a nightclub-like space, watching and interacting with performers who are running, flying, and even swimming all around.  Fuerza Bruta has been playing on the road in NY for a few years, near my office in Union Square.  But this is the original.  It was loud, even louder than the soccer game.  And we go wet, although not as wet as at the soccer game.  Ruby didn’t care for it so much, but the rest of us liked it.

I saw three new movies (in English!) in big new multiplexes.  Oscar and I caught Spiderman 2 in 3D during one of the violin training days.  Ruby, Yo and I saw Divergent, which is very big with the middle school girl set, both in NY and BA.  And Yo and I got out for a couple of hours on our own to see Fading Gigolo, the new movie by John Turturro.  We’ve learned not to try to take Oscar to anything resembling a Woody Allen movie, which is too bad, since a friend of his was in it.

Yo and I got out (again) to go to MALBA, BA’s museum of Modern Latin American Art.  It was a small, but worthwhile collection.  And it was nice to get out to a museum for a little while without O&R complaining about it.

We went on an insider street art tour, during which we learned about the street art movement in BA (and learned what street art is, and how it differs from graffiti, etc.)  It was a fascinating way to see some parts of the city we wouldn’t have seen otherwise, as well as an interesting filter through which to learn about the politics and economics of the past 25 years.  And the art was pretty impressive, although in my opinion, both Santiago and Valparaiso have BA beat when it comes to quality street art.

Street art abounds in BA

BA Jewish Museum.  I always like to try and see synagogues when we travel – it’s always interesting to see something so personal and familiar in a foreign context.  BA has a large and active Jewish community (there are 80+ synagogues in BA), and the Jewish Museum is attached to one of the main conservative shuls.  Although there were some tragic terrorist attacks in the 90s, and many Jews have emigrated to the US and Israel, the community is not a fading relic like many Jewish communities around the world (like in much of Europe).  It actually didn’t seem very different from a conservative shul in the US.  The kids liked how the Hebrew hard “H” or “Ch” is transliterated into Spanish as “J”.  So, “Pesaj”, “Januka” and “Jala” instead of “Pesach,” “Chanukah” and “Challah.”

Recoleta Cemetery.  It’s interesting that the top tourist attraction in BA is a graveyard.  We’re just a few blocks from the famed Recoleta Cemetery, which is sort of a “living” museum of BA history.  Lots of the prominent families in the city have crypts here.  I found the actual operations of the cemetery more interesting than the history.  All of the crypts go underground and in many, you can see through the doors right down to the shelved coffins.  While there are no more crypts being built, there is a secondary market – and with more supply than demand, prices are coming down.  Apparently, fewer Porteños are interested in spending time and money on their families’ final resting places.  For about $60,000, you can buy a decent 3-bedroom apartment in a middle class neighborhood, or a crypt for your family in Recoleta.  The whole thing was a bit creepy, and I was ready to leave after an hour or so.

We even went to a Tango parlor to see a professional show.  Musicians, singers, and of course, dancers.  Cabaret shows aren’t really my thing, and while I can’t say I’m completely smitten with Tango the way some visitors to BA are, I did enjoy it.  I can see why Porteños are proud of the Tango heritage, even if most of them do not actually know how to dance it.

One day, when Yo was at her training, I took the kids to the Buenos Aires Zoo, which they would tell you was one of the real highlights.  It was pretty nice, a compact urban zoo, more like the Central Park Zoo than the Bronx Zoo.  There were some unusual (for us) South American giant rodents, Capybaras, I think, wandering around in the open.  They are the size of medium dogs, and people were posing for pictures and feeding them.  For me, the best thing about the Zoo was seeing how utterly absorbed the kids were – they had so much fun in the couple of hours we spent there.   Reminded me that they really are still kids, for now.

White Tigers!