Simplicity.

Welcome to my One Hundredth (that is 100th!) My Town Friday Shoot-out.  Starting in March of 2009 with PEOPLE, spanning well over 2 years, learning about my towns, about my camera and very much about myself.   Along the way, I have met many wonderful ‘shoot-out gang’ members.  Being invited in, at the very beginning by Patty H in Maryland and Gina when they were first conceiving ‘My Town’. Getting to know Gordon and Chef E while putting together the Friday Shoot-out blog, and working that blog for nearly a year before turning over the reins to Doreen, et al.  Corresponding with Pauline, Jarielyn, Mark, and many others, off and on over the years; enjoying moments of total understanding and acceptance.  So many great moments like ringing the bells for Barry and participating in the final honorary post after his passing. 

You all know by now that I post based on where I am on any given Friday. I routinely enjoy giving you bits and pieces of Nova Friburgo and of Rio de Janeiro in Brasil, and from Houston, Texas my hometown, but I’ve also brought you topics from France, Italy and from other cities in South America and I hope you have enjoyed this trip through towns and cities around the world as much as I have.  A big Thank You to all that have passed through my computer bringing me interesting topics, laughter and tears, from my town to yours and back.

And the one hundredth – Simplicity.

Another view, another mood from the veranda in the mountains north of Rio,

As the day begins in the Valley Stucky, Nova Friburgo, RJ, Brasil.

June 14, 2011

Nightlife in Rio

By now, you all know that we live part-time in Nova Friburgo and the other part in Rio de Janeiro.  When in Friburgo, we don’t really go out at night.  In the 8 years living here in Brasil, I’ve been out maybe 10 times at night in Friburgo and two of those was to go downtown for carnival.  The road from our house is a narrow two lane road, with many sharp hairpin turns – neither of us really likes driving it at night – so we don’t.  I am sad to say we watch TV.   We go to Rio if we start wanting to be out after dark.  We either walk around Ipanema to go to the movies, or to dinner, or to just go for a beer and ‘Lula & French fries’ or we take a taxi to meet friends for an occasional change of pace in their neighborhood – for dinner or drinks... Yep not a very exciting night life for us.   

In Ipanema, by around 7 all the stores (lojas) are closed up for the night.  The people that are on the street are local residents and tourist that are staying at the hotels.  Like us they are looking for food or a movie.  I think that there are clubs on either end of this barrio that keep the young people entertained, but we aren’t really aware of them and most definitely don’t go anywhere near them. 

During the day the streets are so crowded that you can’t loose focus long enough to look in the shop windows but at night our 6 block area of Ipanema is quiet and it is nice to window shop or to walk along the beach. ..... (for us that is between 8 and 10, then to home!)

   

Down by the beach there is still a little traffic and some action.  Most of the action is soccer or volley ball games on the beach and people enjoying a beer and conversation at one of the kiosks along the way.  The day is winding down. 

Spin – Fall - Rest

well its not Rio and its not Friburgo but it is in Brasil.

the Iguaçu Fall, Brasilian side.

“spin, drop, rest”

just in case you don’t believe the rest part....

  

well it looks like it is somewhat at rest before it tumbles again and its way down stream

Flowers in Brasil

When you live in a country that blooms, blooming in all seasons, with different trees blooming bright orange or soft delicate pinks or vibrant yellow flowers and you love to take photos of flowers, it is difficult to choose favorites.  But, when I think of flowers in Brasil there are two that come to mind more often than any other.  Whether I am at home in Nova Friburgo where they grow naturally in the forest, or in Rio where the trees lining the streets are home to many and the small gardens in front of most buildings usually have one or more species, and best of all when I take my semi-annual walk to the Botanical Gardens, I can take photos to my heart’s content, never finding the exact same combination on display – this is when I know that flowers in Brasil mean orchids and bromeliads. 

For this post I want to show you some of the smallest Orchids and the most unusual bromeliads I have found in bloom both here in Rio and up in the forest that surrounds our home.  Enjoy.

these first little babies are about the size of my thumb nail and the rest are no bigger than my thumb...... 

  

And the bromeliads....

      

catching up

Watching the newest world disaster, the annual flooding of the Mississippi Valley, made me think again of the flooding and landslides in Nova Friburgo early this year. I want to tell briefly what is happening here, even as the story unfolds in the USA.

The view of slides just from our veranda – about 20 degrees of the total 360 in our community.

Back in February, I wrote about Lucia and her daughter, and the loss of their homes in the area landslides in the early morning hours of the 13th of January. I don’t have the final numbers of loss of life or of number of homes lost, but I know that loss of life across this mountain region was over 1000 and homes lost over 12 thousand. For me though, the loss of life here in our small community was the most personal. Six people were lost here in this little community of 1500 or so. (Who knows – who has counted) and the homes both damaged and destroyed – now I am guessing – 25 or so. I guess this number because of the brothers, or cousins, or aunts of people we know personally, and have been told directly of these losses. This is not information to be found on the ‘prefeitura's’ (mayor’s) website, and definitely not to be found in the international or national news that were so hot on the stories up to the earthquake in New Zealand in the next month and went completely off the radar after the big quake in Japan last month. After that first month of shocking news, there hasn’t been much interest in how the little guy, the little stories are still unfolding.

Lucia and her daughter’s stories I do know. Lucia’s little house sat on a piece of land owned by her husband’s family. This house is where they lived during the raising of their 4 children. They started small, like most do around here, and added on as the family grew. The house, though solidly built, was never registered with the government. So is considered ‘illegal’. To register a house here costs between 3 and 5 thousand Reais, for someone like Lucia about a year’s salary. Her daughter’s home sat adjacent to her home.... I imagine the land was given to the daughter by Lucia and her husband, more than likely there was no paperwork done .... who need paperwork between family. Lucia’s husband died about 4 years ago at Christmas and the paperwork to put the house in her name has never been completed. She lost all her documents along with the house.

The civil police have declared her house completely destroyed, and the land, ‘unusable’, or in an area of high risk for homes. It can be used for a garden, for a business, but not a home. The government will not buy the lot. She can not sell it to another ‘forest’ family. To build again, she will need to try and find another piece of land.

    

 

   

Land starts at around R$15,000.00 for about 500 sq. meters. - 5 year’s salary - plus to build another very simple home – 100 sq. meters or so (around 900 sq. ft.) another 20 thousand. Because her home was ‘illegal’ and without documents there will not likely be help from the government. With help from some of our family and friends, both here and in the USA, we started a fund for her and were able to help her replace the basics of her household – beds and bedding, cooking and serving dishes, clothing and shoes, and to help pay some of the travel back and forth to Rio while here daughter was in the hospital, going through multiple surgeries and being treated for major infections. The daughter is finally home (a rented house) with her family.

   

For now Lucia is renting. The government will pay a rental allowance for the next year. The rented house is more than an hour away by bus from her work. There was nothing affordable available in this area. She still arrives here every Monday at 7am to clean our home.

We are still committed to helping her where we can, but tread softly as to not make her feel dependent or obligated. If she decides to buy and rebuild someplace, we will contribute as we can, to give her some support but there are so many, there is so much need – we can only help the ones we know the best – and the worlds interest has moved on, the governments seems to have forgotten now that the photo ops are no longer here. The most help will come from neighbor helping neighbor and from their own considerable personal strength.