Favela life
Topic: Brazil
We had a number for a guy called Paulo. We phoned him up and he agreed to be our guide to Rocinho, the largest favela in Rio and, in fact, the largest slum in south America. There are hundreds of favelas in Rio but this one has been around since the 1960s and is home to 250,000 people.

Paulo picked us up about 10am. He was a bit of a character: about 50, casually dressed with an infectious Eddie Murphy laugh. He'd studied languages at university and his English was really good. He occasionally provided guided trips of the favela when he wasn't busy with his other work as president of various neighbourhood societies and volunteer at a children's club.

He drove us through the leafy streets of Gavea past the gated communities. I was surprised that we stopped and parked the car there but then I looked up and saw Rocinho favela spread out up the hillside overlooking the posh suburb we were in.

We entered the favela up some narrow concrete steps. The steps wove upwards in and out of higgledy-piggldy houses. We then walked through a path separating houses along which ran a stinking open sewer which occasionally slopped onto the path. As slums go, this isn't a bad one. The residents have clean water and pay for electricity. A television was on in every house we passed even if no one was watching. Along the narrow path were houses (with floors added as families grew), bars, shops, salons and even youth centres.

Everyone knew Paulo and he was clearly a popular guy. As we were with him, everyone was so friendly to us too and made us feel very welcome.

We visited a children's club and met some volunteers and kids who had been playing in the swimming pool. Membership was free to children and they had access to the pool overlooking the city below, a gym room and various classes. We had a look round. Apparently there had been some English teachers there but they had just left and some replacements were expected. Children are taught various life skills in these classrooms after school.

We left the club and went back into the heart of the favela. Paulo kept going on about a motorbike ride. I told him I hadn't been a great fan of motorbikes ever since I fell off the back of one in the south of France 14 years ago and had to go to hospital.

We met a local musician who played us a few tunes as we looked at the view from a terrace. I looked down at kids flying kites on other roof terraces. We left the roof and carried on. Above us, we heard Oi! Up here! We looked up at a 7 year old Macy Gray waving like a nutter. We all waved back.

I'd bought a bag of bananas which I gradually gave away to kids we met. One kid gave his banana to a man whose house had fallen down. The man sat on his mattress eating his banana while his neighbours offered advice for how to start again with the rebuilding. He didn't seem too bothered about the task even though he had just lost everything.

We visited paulo's house in the "Middle Class" part of the favela. We met his wife and a couple of his children. The had two stories and a panoramic view of the city and the favela from the terrace.

We had been weaving our way downwards for some time and now it was time to go up to where the car was. We didn't walk, we were to go by moto-taxi. This is a new initiative in the slum. You sit on the back of a motorbike and the driver takes you where you want to go. I tried not to think about what I was doing - whizzing through the busy street, meeting buses head on as they came around corners downhill, weaving in and out of traffic going in both directions and all of this with no helmet on! Of course the fact that I was on the back of a bike with a stranger didn't help, especially as we had left David and Paulo behind on their own moto taxis. I was so terrified of falling of I held on to the poor driver so tightly I could have crushed his ribs. I wanted to ask him to stop but found that language was beyond me. Of course, I made it safely to the end of the journey without an injury but I really was scared. I am never doing that again. Paulo thought it was really funny and thought it was good therapy for me.

We drove out of the slum and went for lunch on Barra Island (not Barry Island!) Actually, it was called Lovers Island and is full of shopping malls and car show rooms. We stopped at a lovely restaurant next to a beach under the motorway flyover which connects the island with the mainland and had fried fish.

After lunch, Paulo dropped us home and we said goodbye and wished each other well. It had been a very interesting day and a good insight. He was keen to stress the positive aspects of favela life - the community spirit and the safety. When we asked him questions about drug problems, violence and gangs, he maintained that other slums had such problems as these but no Rocinho. He maintained that it was a safe, healthy place to live. I admit, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but wondered about the health and safety of people living next to open sewers, with dodgy DIY electrics and intermittent refuse collection.

Santa Teresa, Rio
Topic: Brazil
Today we decided to try out the Metro and were very impressed. It is clean, cool, safe and took us right to where we needed to go.

We wanted to explore the district of Santa Teresa travelling first from the center by tram. The tram is ancient and rattles through the cobbled streets up the hill into this historic section of town. Santa Teresa is full of crumbling mansions, lush gardens and old buildings inhabited by artists and students.

Practically everyone on the tram was foreign (so that's where they are!) often accompanied by a guide. Urchins jump on the tram as it moves and ride on the outside because it's free. When we got to the top, we wandered slowly back down into town, taking in the main squares, museums, a cultural center and some art shops selling very creative pieces. The views looked over the city and a neighboring favela. The last part of the walk took us down some really steep steps decorated with hundreds of old tiles. People hang out on the steps. Kids played cards, a man played a guitar and a prostitute advertised her services. Santa Teresa is a neighbourhood bursting with stories and atmosphere.

Centro, Rio
Topic: Brazil
We decided to explore the "centro" neighbourhood today and it was a good day for it as it was overcast and cooler after the night's storm. We got off the bus where it started to get interesting - beautiful old building in amongst the snazzy and (sometimes) monstrous new towers. We alternated between wandering aimlessly and getting lost and following a map and walking tour suggested by Lonely Planet. I am always very nervous of getting out a map or guidebook in public as you draw attention to yourself, but to be honest, in the business district of Centro, people took no notice of us and just went about their way. We found the most famous churches and squares and also had a look inside the art museum and the old library.

Saara street market in the Lebanese quarter was probably the tackiest market I have ever been to and that includes Abu Dhabi Souk (although no one tried to sell me a "Rolex Rolex"...). It was great fun, especially as people are getting ready for carnival and you can buy all the paraphernalia there. The mask collection was quite something. Amongst the ones of pirates, monsters and Chucky masks, were Osama Bin Laden, Sadam Hussein and even George Bush!

We had lunch in a scruffy corner diner advertising Fejouada for 7 Reis. Fejouada is the national dish of black beans and bits of meat in a stew. It was lovely. David finished off a whole pot leaving nothing but bits of bone and the manioc flour.

We went into the "Campo de Santana" park where vagrants and nutters shared benches with tiny cats weak with hunger and enormous "agoutis", a kind of rodent. It was a vile place but David (for some reason) liked it.

We saw about 4 foreigners the whole day. Where is everyone? On the beach I suspect.

Bossa Nova
Topic: Brazil
"The girl from Ipanema" has become a bit of a theme tune for our trip to Brazil ever since we first went to Foz do Iguacu back in September with Christine. The lovely singer at the bar in our hotel would play the song every night to accompany our caipirinhas.

One of the first things we did in Rio was visit a famous Bossa Nova record shop and acquire some CDs. Being new to the genre, we asked the sales assistant for help. She played a few samples for us and we bought 2 albums, both featuring Tom Jobim. the first a classic interpretation of the songs and music and the second more contemporary.

the music really is relaxing and sultry sung in Portuguese. Words like lush, mellifluous, languid, sumptuous and luxuriant spring to mind as you listen. It's the ideal backdrop to laid back, chilled out, steamy, tropical Rio. We have a CD player in our retro flat and, if I had any friends, I would invite them round for a retro Bossa Nova night and mushroom vol-au-vents.

The girl in the record shop invited us to a free concert on Sunday night in the street. We got all dolled up (relatively speaking, I still wore flip flops - this is Rio) and took seats next to the well dressed women, almost all in their late 50s-early 60s, who formed most of the audience. I imagine that the ladies remembered the exciting early days of Bossa Nova in Rio first hand. The band consisted of a female vocalist and two male guitarists. They played for about an hour, some songs so moving that they brought tears to the eyes. They played some of the old classics including "The girl from Ipanema" to enthusiastic applause and ended with some sing-alongs to songs praising the beauty of Rio de Janeiro that everyone knew. Although I know no Portuguese, I found myself magically joining in on the choruses.

Sunday Markets Brazilian Style
Topic: Brazil
We thought Sunday would be a good day for a market. We had read about two - a local one which takes place once a month in Ipanema and another one every weekend in S?o Cristov?o. The one in Ipanema occupies the whole square and was very civilised. Stalls sold "hippy" crafts and lovely colourful art.

To get to the other one, we had to take the 464 bus. It took a long time to get there but it was a really interesting trip through Copacabana, Urca, along the coast to Botafogo and Flamego where numerous simultaneous football matches were going on, past a favella on the side of a largish hill and finally to the northern suburb of S?o Cristov?o.

The bus conductor told us where to get off and, really, we wouldn't have missed it. the venue was a huge exhibition centre called the Feria Nordestino - the North Eastern fair, a place where people originally from the North East of Brazil sold traditional food and crafts. It was absolutely enormous and packed with people and stands selling kebabs, steaks, grilled cheese, crafts and clothes. Groups of friends and family sat around drinking Skol beer or coconut water watching loud live samba music. There was a really great atmosphere and no other foreigners. I think we managed to blend in fairly well despite being several shades lighter than anyone else. No one took any notice of us anyway.

We stopped at a stand/restaurant (baraka) for a bite. It was stiflingly hot and the thick air didn't move despite the fan in the corner. The menu was full of things called "espetos". We had no idea what they were so asked the young waitress. She jabbered on in Portuguese and we think the conversation went something like this:

Us: What are espetos?
Her: Well, we have meat, chicken, mixed meat with onion etc.........
Us: Yes, but what are they?
Her: Well I just told you - meat, chicken....
Us (trying a new approach): Are they like kebabs?
Her: Meat or chicken? Anything else?

We ordered 3 meat espetos and discovered that they were indeed little pieces of skewered grilled meat on a stick. Very nice. We realised that we had done the equivalent of, say, going into Starbucks and asking what coffee was. How can anyone not know what coffee is? How could anyone not know what espetos were? It was outside the waitress realm of experience.

As we were tucking in, the chef/owner came over and started jabbering away in Portuguese. We think he was asking us where in Portugal we were from. How on earth had he come to that conclusion? We couldn't even place a simple food order! When people speak to us, we generally understand about 40%, when we speak slow Spanish back, they usually get the gist, particularly if they are used to foreigners. Unlike our young friend the waitress.

We wandered around the stalls in sun so hot that it scorches skin on contact. We tried to stay under the shelters. Later,we stopped at another "baraka" near one of the main samba stages. Dripping with sweat at this stage, we sat under a fan. No one seems concerned about the heat here. It was a cloudless, airless 34 degrees but people all just sweat together. There was an Air Con restaurant in the complex but we resisted the temptation to go in as we would be away from the music and the atmosphere.

We ordered food which was a bit like a Sunday roast with a Brazilian twist - grilled salty cheese, roast beef and deepfried turnip, all heavily salted. This came with manioc flour (a bit like sawdust) and we washed it down with Skol. When we had had our fill of food, salt, skol, noise and heat, we went to look for our bus back home. When our bus finally came, it was horribly hot, packed and went at racing speeds with sketchy shock absorbers. I hung on for dear life all the way back to Ipanema. If David suggests getting on a packed bus on a hot afternoon again, I am just going to laugh at him.

It was a good fun day out all in all and the fair is probably great fun at night when the caipirinha and cocktail stands come into their own. Perhaps we'll have time for another visit before leaving Rio.

Urca and the Sugarloaf
Topic: Brazil
Rio is divided into neighbourhoods, each with a distinct character. We took a local bus Urca on Saturday day to discover the village by the sea within the city and then go up the Sugarloaf mountain.

The main beach in Urca is very scenic. It has the backdrop of the Sugarloaf, Christ the Redeemer looking over it and misty, mysterious mountains straight out to sea. The small promenade is lined with chairs where you can get a beer or drink coconut water straight from the coconut.

We walked through the streets admiring the houses. Some were Portuguese style, others mock Tudors and others art deco, all set in lush gardens. We managed to locate Carmen Miranda's former residence. We decided that if we ever lived in Rio, it would have to be Urca.

Every now and then we looked up at the sugar loaf which seemed to permanently be in cloud. We weren't sure whether to go up it or not. Would there be a view?

We took the risk and got the two cable cars, each about 3 minutes, to the top of the mountain. What a phenomenal view! It was hard to decide what to look at first, the beach we had just been sitting on, the long stretch of Copacabana, the city centre and its parks and beaches, Christ the Redeemer, or Niteroi across the bay circled by a rainbow. Rio really is a gorgeous city. We stayed up there until sunset and still weren't ready to come down.

Ipanema Beach
Topic: Brazil
Ipanema beach is fabulous. We walked along the boardwalk on our first day in light trousers and t-shirts feeling totally overdressed. I kitted myself out in more appropriate attire in a bargain shop called Marisa before hitting the beach ourselves the following day. In most cities, wearing shorts makes you stand out as a tourist, in Rio if you don't wear shorts you stand out! Plastic flip flops are also the thing to wear. I treated myself to a bright pink pair.

The beach was less crowded than I thought it would be and people do not sit still. There's volleyball, surfing, jogging, power walking all going on in addition to the favourite pastime: posing. The thing to do is stand up, stretch, rub oil on, check out the talent, do some testicular jiggling (if you are a bloke), and move in slow circles (presumably to get an all over tan). If you're a girl, this is all done wearing the skimpiest bikini imaginable (regardless of your size). Blokes display a mind boggling selection of togs - all 1950s style - in colours like lime green and orange. White is also popular. A posing guy near us had bundies to match his deckchair - what ever possessed him to buy them?

We spent a pleasant few hours on the beach one day covered in Factor 30 and sitting under an umbrella hired from an exuberant character called Ana. We still managed to burn a bit but didn't realise until later. Ana or one of her friends kept us well supplied with ice cold water and cans of skol and even grilled shrimp!

The Girl from Ipanema
Topic: Brazil
We arrived in Rio de Janeiro during a sticky, cloudy evening. The air conditioned taxi sped along highways and through tunnels cut into mountains into the city. It felt very exotic to see road signs for "Copacabana" and "Ipanema".

Ipanema was where we were headed as we thought it sounded cooler and more upmarket. We were right. Rain had begun to fall but people walked unhurriedly through the steamy, rainy streets wearing nothing but skimpy beach clothes and flip flops. Almost all of the apartment blocks on our street are tall, 1960s concrete, including ours. The doorman took our bags and we followed him into a clean but shabby lobby. Another doorman sat watching two TV screens showing black and white security camera views of the apartment's corridors and doorways.

The apartment is very funky and very retro. It is a modern version of 1950s chic, down to the red wall and white leather sofa! It is also huge and will be a very comfortable home for 2 weeks. Here it is if you are interested: Our apartment

That night we found a nearby chilled out restaurant and had pizza while we watched all these beautiful men walk by - we were firmly in the gay district.

From Cusco to Lima to Buenos Aires.....to Japan!
Topic: Buenos Aires
After a couple of flights and a brief stop in Lima, we were back in lovely Buenos Aires ready to shop for suits and prepare for our long-awaited job interview.

The day of the interview was hot and sticky. We met the president of Nagoya University of Commerce and Business in the lobby of the Sheraton hotel and began by having a nice chat about travelling in South America. I was concerned that he might not look favourably on this gap year of ours, but as it turns out, he was all for it and had backpacked around South America himself back in 1960!

After the interview, the president made a call to the dean of English Language and came back with two signed contracts for us as Assistant Professors of English Language starting April 1st 2005. We were very cool about the offer as it didn't sink in right away. Later, half way through a bife de lomo steak and a celebratory bottle of Saint Felicien Malbec, we realised that we both had jobs! We were very happy indeed.

We spent the next few days preparing and sending paperwork to Japan, and looking online at potential apartments in Nagoya.

In between all this excitement, we sweated through a summer heatwave in Buenos Aires, bought return flights to Rio de Janeiro, celebrated New year's Eve with our friends Cris and Ray, I turned 35 and we realised that our South American adventures are almost over. We'll need to head back home at the end of February.

Apologies for this rather rushed blog entry - I am badly falling behind in my writing!

Bless this Jesus
Topic: Peru
Christmas Day was great fun full of cheesy gifts, good food (guinea pig for David, chicken for me), good company and too many pisco sours!

We walked up the hill to San Cristobal church in the morning. People from the local parish gathered outside. A brass band played and the poor queued up for tea, bread, panetone and donated toys for the children while their snooty-looking llamas waited for them in the nearby courtyard. Inside the dark church was a wonderful belen built on mountain terraces giving it an Andean feel.

The cathedral was the place to be on Christmas morning however. It was the first time that we had seen the front doors wide open. People were milling in and out even though the sermon was in full swing. Some people were in fancy dress. Many brought little little baskets containing a baby Jesus or two to be blessed by the priest. there were hundreds of them all over the steps in front of the pulpit. They were carefully dressed and resting on a silk bed. What's that all about? Well, our theory is that the catholics introduced this custom to the Incas in order to wean them off child sacrifices. This way, the Incas kept a sense of ritual and ceremony and no one got hurt.

Outside, after mass had finished, the people in fancy dress paraded and danced and sang their way through the streets of Cusco. At one point I was so excited about getting a perfect full on picture with no tourists in the way, that I tripped over the curb, landing on my camera and then sending it skidding along the pavement towards a bench where an old man sat in the sun. David tried to help me up but I just spluttered "my camera, my camera". I was hoping that the damage would be minimum but it is VERY badly damaged. I need to find somewhere to repair it. Ah well, at least I brought a back up camera with me but it isn't digital.