July 2010

trip to Brazil 2010 - A Diary

June 20, 2010, at 17:00, Brasilia airport

I started yesterday morning from London to Lisbon. I had to stop in Lisbon for a night. This time the journey is the Portuguese airline, TAP, and offered a room in Lisbon at Hotel Roma. Between Bologna and Lisbon is one hour of time zone, and then there are other 4 hour time difference between Lisbon and Brasilia.

yesterday in Lisbon, I took the metro to the center. I had heard on TV that he had died José Saramago, the famous Portuguese writer and Nobel laureate for literature, so I went to visit his funeral at the old town hall in Lisbon.

The queue of people to give their farewell to Saramago was long, but I was pleased to see that even famous people (not that I knew them but I think they were famous because they were followed by cameras and gave interviews ), waiting for their turn in line like everyone else. Apart from the fact that he had on his glasses, looked like he slept trquillamente Saramago.

After I turned in the center, and I made the climb to the cathedral, but without going to the castle. Fortunately, I found the cathedral open and so I went to see it. In the past, I had always seen only from outside.

In a central square, Largo Rossio, there was a large screen and there were many people watching the game between Cameroon and Denmark. When Cameroon scored a goal, all Africans in the square shouted their joy. However, I did not stop them for a long time and when I heard that he had won that game in Denmark, I thought of that square and I was sorry for all those people cheering for Cameroon.

In another corner of Rossio Square, have a memorial for the victims of the Holocaust and had written on the wall against racism. When I wanted to take a picture of that wall, some person from a group sitting nearby came (by the way they talk I think they were probably from North Africa) to protest because they would not be photographed. I did not want to discuss with them but I do not think people who sit close to the famous monuments, may complain that tourists want to photograph the monuments!

This morning I woke up early and at 07.30 I was in Lisbon airport because I had to do check-in to Brasilia. At the airport there was so much confusion, with many people crowded into a small space. It took me a lot to do the check-in and after about 3 hours and the various controls, I got to get on the bus to go to the plane just in time. Instead the plane was not ready, perhaps because he had arrived late from somewhere else, so we left by bus for half an hour. Finally when we got into the plane, I was already tired and fell asleep almost immediately.

The 9-hour journey was comfortable and I watched several movies on a personal monitor - Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer, Temple Grandin about an autistic girl, and a Valentine's Day Part of Shutter Island by Martin Scorzese. The film that I liked most was Temple Grandin.

When we got off the plane in Brasilia, the temperature seemed ideal. Should I wait here at the airport for about 6 hours for my flight, so I thought I'd come on the second floor, where there are restaurants and found a table near an electrical outlet. The sun is setting. Each restaurant has a television on all sides and the Brazilian fans are screaming because there is a match of the World Cup where Brazil is winning.

June 22 2010, ore 06,10 Porto Nacional

Yesterday, all day I was in the offices of Comsaude, an association founded by Dr.. Eduardo Manzano with his wife, Heloisa, both moved by the desire to foster social change and promote the struggles of the poorest people for the right to live with dignity. By now, Eduardo and Heloisa, have their age and have retired from an active presence in the association.

Comsaude has its registered office in a street near the cathedral, facing the lake Tocantins, formed after the construction of the dam on the Tocantins River Tucurì, most northern state of Para, where the river meets the Atlantic Ocean near the town of Belem. In this road, other buildings belonging to Comsaude.

La casa dove ha la sede la Comsaude, era un vecchio collegio delle suore, ed è stato donato al dott. Manzano. E’ molto bella. Ieri sull’albero nel cortile di questa avevo visto una grossa iguana.

Giuseppe che lavora qui al progetto, è una mia vecchia conoscenza. L’avevo incontrato per la prima volta in Guinea Bissau più di 20 anni fa. Così abbiamo parlato di tanti momenti e di tante persone del nostro passato, ricordando gli amici comuni che non ci sono più.

26 giugno 2010, ore 06,30

Oggi pomeriggio partirò per Goiania.

La permanenza qui a Porto Nacional è stata bella anche se sono contento all’idea to go away. It 's a small town with about 50,000 people and a beautiful lake formed when they built the dam on the Tocantins River. Is not yet very hot, and with a breeze is just right, but they say that in a few weeks you get the warm, humid and unbearable.

Yesterday there was the football World Cup between Brazil and Portugal. The whole town is closed. Early in the morning I went to talk to the nurse who follows the leprosy-TB program, and then it was not possible to have other appointments because everyone was busy watching the game. There seems to be a government order that even the government offices are closed when play Brazil.

As I walked toward the hotel, the streets were deserted. In that game, no goal is scored, so I did not hear any roar or the call of trumpets, as had happened at the airport of Brasilia.

Yesterday afternoon I saw a group of small monkeys. Jumping continuously and were never still, so it was difficult to photograph them. I went to the health center to meet the staff, and while I waited all arrived, I saw a monkey. One of the nurses, when he saw my interest, brought a banana placed on the wall and broke it. After 5 minutes, they arrived many other monkeys. E 'was great to see them. I heard that there is in Goiania a zoo. I'd like to go to see animals in Brazil.

I have rediscovered the kilo restaurants here in Porto Nacional. You can take what one wants from a buffet and then pay according to the weight of the dish. I wonder why you do not use this system in restaurants in other countries? Instead of me, this system of eating really like. Also, I like all the various fruit juices that can be found in Brazil, Cupuaçu, a passion fruit, Acerola and Caja.

June 28 2010, ore 19.00 Goiania

This afternoon there was the match of the World Cup where he played Brazil, but did not interest me and I fell asleep. Then I woke up, quando ho sentito il grande boato fuori sulle strade con tutta la gente che gridava e urlava, suonavano le trombe, scoppiavano i petardi e le rare macchine sulla strada premevano sui clacson. Ho capito subito che la squadra brasiliana aveva segnato un gol. Potevo sentire tutto il baccano dall’ottavo piano del mio hotel, per cui la sotto il rumore doveva essere davvero forte. Più tardi sono uscito per fare una passeggiata e in un bar dove si sentiva la musica forte, tante persone giovani, tutte con la maglietta del Brasile, ballavano e facevano un baccano incredibile, ovviamente per celebrare la vittoria brasiliana.

Deolinda mi aveva già mandato il preavviso che lunedì vi sarà la partita per cui gli uffici saranno chiusi e non possiamo do anything. Instead, there was better because the game was in the afternoon and so we worked this morning.

Goiania I did not expect to see so large and full of skyscrapers. We are in a rich area of \u200b\u200bthe city, surrounded by luxury residences and offices of multinational corporations.

Yesterday morning I went to the colony with Deo Santa Marta, where I bought a picture of Tadeus, a person who lives in the colony and makes beautiful paintings.

Then we went to eat in a Churrascheria, but this time I could manage them much better and I refused most of the meat that they brought us. In other years, I ended up eating too much meat and always after me Nausea was a smell of meat. Deo said that when she went to that restaurant the last time, did the last episode of a soap opera set in India and all, customers and waiters were glued to the TV because they would not lose a word. When I heard that

Goias has a zoo and that is not very far from our hotel after dinner to Churrascheria, I immediately asked Deo to take me there, I thought back to hotel on foot. Instead we found it closed for renovation. I'm sorry, I thought to see so many animals and birds in Brazil, especially those from the Amazon. However

Deo is so afraid of being attacked or kidnapped and continues be concerned about when I talk to go around on foot. I can understand his fear. They had shot his son in the head to steal his car, even if he survived and came out without serious damage.

I was a bit 'surprised by the prices of things in the supermarkets. Trivial things such as fruit juice or potato chips cost more than what it costs to Bologna. I do not know if it's because we are rich in this area or if the prices are really these (or maybe it all depends on a weak Euro). Some years ago, during my last visit to Bahia, I bought some shirts that I liked very much and I paid very little for them. Instead, this time I looked at a few stores around, and apart I have not found what you want, but prices seem incredible. Maybe it's better than waiting to go to some Asian country to buy them!

Last night I went to a garden near the hotel - it's called, Bosque dos Buritis. Buritis seem like a palm tree. It 's a beautiful garden in a small protected forest and a lake. They have a sculpture of an hourglass, not very nice, as a monument of peace. In the evening light, the reflections of the skyscrapers in the lake were beautiful.

July 5, 2010, Salvador de Bahia, at 06,40

By now the days in Brazil are almost at the end, after going to start tomorrow for Italy. The meeting in Goiania was very intensive and there was no time for anything else. But I was free Saturday, July 3 morning, so I took a map of Goiania and went out to tour on foot. I went to the Bosque dos Buritis Tamada Square, then to the Civic Square and the cathedral, and in the end, I came back to visit the museum of contemporary art in the Bosque dos Buritis. I walked for about 3 hours and aside from a mistake at the beginning, when I took a wrong turn which lost me about half an hour, the walk was fantastic.

I really liked a wall in front of the municipal center Texeira, covered entirely tiles that told the story of the old and Goias Goiania. At the art museum there was not much to see in the traveling exhibition of paintings by an artist called Sanatan, who paints nature, animals and birds. Together with his paintings, he also did an installation where he dressed as an Indian guru and the girl told me that the museum at noon when the sun comes up in the right position, everything is illuminated in a wonderful way.

Sunday, July 4, Deo and I we went to Salvador de Bahia, but we spent the day almost entirely by air from Goiania because first we went to St. Paul and then we took a second flight to Salvador. Eliana with her husband Andre, was at the airport to receive us.

Yesterday we had a meeting at the Ministry of Health, but we got a bit 'in advance and so we went to sit outside, but it started raining. Luckily the rain did not last long. After the meeting with the Department of Mental Health, we went to see Sonia Marisa to the Department of leprosy, with whom I had worked some years ago. After Marisa took us to the sea front restaurant where you eat the Bahian cuisine with vatapá, Maqueca, Farafà, etc..

After lunch, Marisa left us at the park Digue de Torrero and we had a nice walk and admire the statues of the Orisha. Then, we wanted to go to Pelorinho and Deo asked directions to a lady, who suggested us to walk with her to the square of Piedade and then take a taxi. It 'been very good this trip brought us to the metro station of Lapa (but the metro there, is under construction for 15 years) and then the square. We shot in the square and then we went to Pelorinho.

From Pelorinho, we took the elevator to go to the market modelo. The sky with the sunset and the clouds were beautiful. I bought some shirts at the Mercado Modelo, which was the old market of slaves brought from Africa. By now we were tired and we took a taxi.

The driver, Alberto, it was a bahaiano doc, talked without stopping, often looked upon to explain and drove calmly. At first the traffic was terrible and we got stuck for half an hour but after everything went smooth. However, I was surprised that no one was playing horn or showed signs of nervousness while we were stuck for half an hour. In India, the parked cars are so much more nervous and noisy.

Today we have another meeting with Dr. Iordan in the department of mental health.

July 6, 2010 Salvador, 18.00

The day was full of work. We visited diverse strutture di salute mentale compreso l’ospedale-carcere psichiatrico. Nel cortile del padiglione femminile, ho visto due passerotti che mi hanno fatto pensare al film Bandini di Bimal Roy, dove le prigioniere donne guardano i passerotti e cantano una canzone.

Durante il viaggio di ritorno dal carcere, c’era Tania una psicologa che parlava con Deolinda e anche se non stavo ad ascoltarle con attenzione, mi rendevo conto che riuscivo a seguire il senso della loro discussione senza grosso sforzo. Penso che questo vuol dire che la mia comprensione del brasiliano è migliorata in questi giorni. Per la maggior parte delle discussioni, mi sono arrangiato da solo e soltanto alcune volte ho dovuto chiedere l’aiuto di Deolinda per tradurre per me.

Domani pomeriggio devo partire per Italia. Domani mattina, se il tempo è bello, pensiamo di fare una breve visita allo zoo di Salvador.

Ora che sono alla fine non vedo l’ora di essere a casa.

Brasile mi piace molto e mi piacciono molto i brasiliani, e anche durante questa visita ho conosciuto diverse persone molto interessanti. Per me il momento più bello di questa visita era la passeggiata con la signora brasiliana, dal parco di Digue de Torrero fino alla Piazza della Piedade.