Norwegian Wood

I am not a big fan of Murakami. It's not that I don't like him. On the contrary, I think his books are very readable. Every time I come across one of his books I gladly read it. But, there is nothing that would push me to the library to buy one of his books. I never put him in any of my lists of favorite books and I am not one of those people who wait impatiently for his next novel.

The main reason for this is that for me his books are quite forgettable. There is not a character, or a feeling, or an event that would linger after I finish the book. I read Norwegian Wood maybe 2 months ago and I can't recall anything, only the main atmosphere of the book, which as in most of his books is depressing and quite dark. It is a "love novel", but strangely, that love hasn't remained with me.
I have to return the book to my friend and I found that I had left bookmarks in two places. I find these excerpts quite true and well-composed. Here they are.

[...]Memory is a funny thing. When I was in the scene I hardly paid it any attention. I never stopped to think of it as something that would make a lasting impression, certainly never imagined that 18 years later I would recall it in such detail. I didn't give a damn about the scenery that day. I was thinking about myself. I was thinking about the beautiful girl walking next to me. I was thinking about the two of us together, and then about myself again. I was at that age, that time of life when every sight, every feeling, every thought came back, like a boomerang, to me. And worse, I was in love. Love with complications. Scenery was the last thing on my mind. 
Now, though, that meadow scene is the first thing that comes back to me. The smell of the grass, the faint chill of the wind, the line of the hills, the barking of a dog: these are the first things, and they come with absolute clarity. [...] And yet, as clear as the scene may be, no one is in it. No one.[...]

[...] "Hey, tell me, what do you think the best thing is about being rich?" [...] "Being able to say you don't have any money. Like, if I suggested to a school friend we do something she could say, 'Sorry, I don't have any money'. Which is something I could never say if the situation was reversed. If I said 'I don't have any money', it would really mean 'I don't have any money'. It's sad. Like, if a pretty girl says 'I look terrible today, I don't want to go out', that's ok, but if an ugly girl says the same thing people would laugh at her. That's what the world was like for me.[...]" 

Sagittarius

My Ascendant really defines me!

Sagittarius Ascendant from the Cosmo Natal Report:

"High-spirited, enthusiastic, and exuberant, you love adventure, change, exploring new territory, and are not happy confined to the same safe, familiar, secure little world all the time. You have a strong restlessness and yearning for something greater than anything you've yet experienced, and you often live in your dreams and visions for the future. You tend to believe that the grass is greener somewhere else and you like to keep moving, either literally or figuratively. Idealistic and optimistic, you always expect something better ahead. You love to have a goal, something to aim for, but once you achieve it you are on to something else. You are ever on the lookout for new opportunities and you are a gambler, willing to take risks and to break new ground. The possibility of discovering something new is what makes life interesting for you. You have great faith in life and bounce back quickly from disappointment and failure.

Freedom-loving and independent, you cannot tolerate being caged for very long, and friends and loved ones must respect your need for freedom of movement. Binding commitments and responsibilities often weigh heavily upon you and you may resist "growing up" and taking on the limitations of adult life.

You are friendly and outgoing and have a great sense of fun and playfulness. You are also philosophically minded and often quite outspoken about your convictions and beliefs. Sometimes you get carried away with your enthusiasm of the moment and you tend to exaggerate. You are often a big talker, full of big promises, and you are usually pretty convincing. You do everything in a big way, a generous way. You like to have the best, and you heartily dislike stinginess, littleness, or pettiness. Your vision is always large. You are able to perceive the big picture, general patterns and principles, and are well suited to politics, business, higher education or religion.

Other people see you as a good sport and a good friend, but one who is not always consistent and dependable. You may also be seen as a wise person since you do not get bogged down in pettiness and trivialities, and are able to communicate a larger way of looking at situations, one that opens up new potentials. You are a person who believes in miracles, grace, or just plain good luck, someone who never gives up on life, and you inspire and encourage others to keep looking forward."

From http://www.cafeastrology.com/sagittarius_ascendantrisingsign.html

MY BRAZIL II: Rio de Janeiro

Whatever you expect of Rio to be… it is not! It is not the immaculate beauty you see in the videos or in the photos. The sun does not always shine and all the faces are not smiling. The water is not always clear blue and the people on the beach are not all sexy and tanned. It’s not all these things but it’s more than that. The beauty of the nature is perfectly mixed with the flaws of the city structures. It is pretty much a normal city situated in a perfect surrounding. Rio is real!

That everything is not at all like in the photos you get to see immediately upon arriving when the plane approaches the airport and thus offering a magnificent view of the cidade. The beautiful coastline, the magnificent forest, the modern buildings… but also the small colorful packed houses of the favelas on every hill, guarding the city from above. That view is truly unforgettable! Santos Dumont airport is conveniently placed not far from the center, on a semi-island, giving you the impression you are landing in the ocean.

What I found very interesting is that later, in the bookshop, when I was looking at some books with photographs of Rio, in all the photos taken from above the photos were cut exactly at the place where there should be a favela. I never understood why! Seems that they are embarrassed of these slums, just ignoring them or avoiding them. For me, that is the real beauty of Rio.. the immediate contrast between rich and poor, between lovely houses and neighborhoods and favelas with small, badly made colorful houses (some even from cardboard).

Rio has undergone a big transformation through the years. It has been restructured to get a more strict, more organized form, which can clearly be seen on Rio Branco street, all lined with tall modern buildings that emit an atmosphere of not belonging in that laid back relaxed city.

Passing Rio Branco you immediately immerse in small crowded streets without any pattern or scheme. A couple of those streets form Saara, a neighborhood where you can find really cheap and low-quality goods, mostly of Chinese origins. Saara is very crowded during the day (it is not advised to go there during the night), but it is before Carnaval that it gets almost impossible to move there because everyone buys their wigs, hats, costumes and all the different accessories in Saara. I bought an afro-wig, oversized sunglasses, Minnie Mouse ears, glitter etc.

Bloco na Gloria

Being in Rio for the Carnaval you have to concentrate exclusively to that event, since all the shops are closed and the city becomes literally occupied by the blocos, playing carnival songs everywhere. It is really fun and exciting the first two days, but I have to admit it becomes annoying the third day. And it took a week for the city to come back to normal, meaning that shops and the museums were back to normal opening hours and the attractions resumed their primary place for the tourists.

Clearly, the first of those attractions is Cristo Redentor, or Corcovado, the statue of Christ overlooking the city from above. The view is spectacular, the crowds of people you have to struggle to take a photo of the Christ not so much. As with all symbols of cities they are always overcrowded and not a place you can spend more than half an hour. However, it is not very expensive (36 Reais, or around 16 Euros) so it’s well worth the visit.

The one thing Rio is proud of is its view from above, so you get many opportunities to go up and glance at the Cidade maravilhosa!

The second attraction after Corcovado is Pão de Açúcar (the Sugarloaf). It’s two hills connected with cable car and besides the view, which (in my opinion) is not as spectacular as from Corcovado, the really interesting thing is going up in the cable-car. For this enjoyment you’ll have to pay a little bit more: 45 Reais (or around 22 Euro). My friend told me people make parties up there and I’m sure they are really nice, considering the view and the surrounding.

Another place with a great view is Santa Teresa neighborhood. For the transport, the old bondinho (tram) is a must. It passes the Arcos da Lapa and going up you feel as if you’ve traveled in time. The neighborhood is not very well maintained, which is a pity since it’s one of the most authentic places, being a center for many artists, who have their art galleries and studios in all the unexpected places. I adored the shops with handicrafts and the walls painted with graffiti. An interesting spot to have a coffee with a great view of the city is the museum Museu das Ruínas, that is if you arrive on time (and not after 6 pm, like us). It is an old house where the socialite Dona Laurinda Santos Lobo held famous parties with guests like Villa-Lobos and Isadora Duncan.

The old bondinho in Santa Teresa

Very close to the bondinho stop in Lapa there is one unmissable place - Escadaria Selarón! The surrounding is a little bit shady, and going there by myself I felt a little bit uneasy. That feeling disappeared very soon. A woman saw me and invited me in a house, if I would like to buy some of the works from Selarón, who was sitting on the stairs and painting something (apparently pregnant women are his latest obsession). Speaking half-English and half-Portuguese they told me that the artist, who is Chilean, decorated the stairs to express his love for the city. I bought two small tiles and I got a free photo with him, which is definitely my favorite photo from the whole album! What a character! (Unfortunately, Selarón was found dead at this same place in 2013.)

Me and Selarón on the famous steps

To get a great view you can also go to one of the pacified favelas, like Santa Marta, right above Humaitá neighbourhood. They have installed a cable-car so you don’t have to climb all those stairs. What’s interesting about this favela is that Michael Jackson filmed his video for “They Don’t Care About Us” (here and in Salvador) and the spot where MJ danced in the video has become the main square of the slum. It was the first favela where the police entered and “liberated” it from the drug traffickers in 2008 so it’s pretty safe to walk around.

Michael Jackson's square in Santa Marta

One thing that really surprises me is the rising popularity of the favela tours. People pay a lot of money to go in the favelas with a guide that usually has an arrangement with the bosses of the favela. Obviously, the more popular ones are those not pacified, like Rocinha, the largest favela in Brasil and South America, which overlooks Leblon and Ipanema, the most exclusive neighborhoods in Rio. Beside the views, there is really nothing else you could see or do in a favela. Normal poor people, poor houses, sometimes no sewage or electricity... just real life, as it exists everywhere (without the stunning views).

Another interesting thing I did and I would recommend is going to Niterói (passing the magnificent but very full of traffic bridge) and glance at Rio from there. Cariocas have a saying (not very gentle) that the only thing worth seeing in Niterói is the view of Rio. It’s not quite true since there is also the extraordinary Museum of Modern Art designed by Oscar Niemeyer.

Having seen Rio from above, next are the wonderful parks. My first stop was Parque Lage, the beautiful setting from Snoop Dogg and Pharell’s “Beautiful”. It’s really a wonderful place to have a coffee and rest, or have a party at night. Then, there is Jardim Botânico, the botanical garden, where I felt as Alice in Wonderland among all the palm trees and walking on the small paths (unsuccessfully looking for monkeys). My friend also took me to Palácio do Catete, in the garden surrounding the old presidential palace (from when Rio was the capital of Brasil). The small park is nice and quiet, and I didn’t go inside the museum... Actually, the whole time I was in Rio I visited just one museum, Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil. I really didn’t feel like going to museums with all that beautiful nature.

Then there are the beaches. And they are beautiful beyond words. Copacabana is better for games and exercise because the stretch of sand is much larger, while Ipanema and Leblon are the beaches mostly visited by Cariocas. The first thing you should know when going to the beach in Rio is that the smaller the lower part of your bikini the better (cellulite and imperfections are very normal and no one seems to pay attention to those things) and never to take off the upper part of the bikini. Topless is forbidden and considered (oh the irony!) very vulgar. The second thing is that you shouldn’t take a towel to the beach unless you would like everyone to know you are a tourist. You should buy a kanga, sold literally everywhere. At first I was skeptical about not having a towel but then I realized that kangas are much more practical (sand doesn’t stick) and are easier to carry. However, the beach in Rio is not a place you would find peace and relaxation. People with all the possible things that can be sold at the beach cruise ALL the time. You are offered: açai,  camarão, bikinis, kangas, Globo-snacks, queijo, water, agua de coco, cerveja Atlantica, Guaranà, jewellery and everything else you can possibly imagine.

Copacabana

Rio's inhabitants, the Cariocas, are really relaxed, which is maybe a characteristic for all the people living by the sea. They wear their havaianas everywhere, cross the street wherever they want, drink really cold beer in small glasses and rarely arrive exactly on time. They, as all the Brazilians, are very passionate about football and the two main teams Flamengo and Fluminense. It was such a pity I couldn’t go to Maracanã (it was undergoing reconstruction works for the World Cup and the Olimpics), but I got to see the famous Fla-Flu derby at the second largest stadium – Engenhão, which, if the match hadn’t ended 0:0, would have been indeed spectacular.

With all this, the thing I enjoyed most was staying with my friends, experiencing their way of life, going with them to birthday parties and house parties (I'm so thankful they took me with them!), meeting new people, dancing samba with them, eating wonderful food, explaining where Macedonia is and how come I am there, inviting them all to come to Europe, hoping that some day I'll see them again... To all of them I can just say: Saudade enorme!

MY BRAZIL I: My São Paulo

Even without knowing the facts about the population and the dimensions of the city, you just need a glance through the window in the plane and everything will be clear. I had the luck to choose São Paulo as my first destination, and the view on the city from above is literally INDESCRIBABLE. An immense surface covered with concrete, intersected with snake-like roads. What is even more beyond words is the view and the feeling if you are landing or taking off at the airport Congonhas. When built the airport was situated outside the city but with the fast growth of Sampa it became an airport among buildings… and São Paulo is the third city in the world in number of buildings, the largest city in Brazil and second largest in Latin America with around 12 millions inhabitants. The heliopads on the top of the buildings are unmissable, since Sampa has the largest helicopter fleet in the world. And opposite of what is commonly presumed, the helicopters are not used because of the crime threat, but because of the traffic.

However, the view from above is not the only thing that would make you conscious about the vastness of São Paulo. It is a city where most of the population lives in the buildings, and where houses have become shops, designer show-rooms, cute craftsman’s spaces etc. There are some beautiful shops in the houses in Vila Madalena (one of the trendiest neighborhoods in Sampa) that seem like museums. Almost every building has a guard and huge fences, so if you want to go in you have to explain to the guard who you are because even the people who live in the building do not have the key to the front door. It is one thing that remained from the 90s, when São Paulo was a very dangerous city to live in. Today it is much safer, but still you have to know where to go and when and which places to avoid, a common practice in almost every big city. For example, the places you should avoid at night and where you should be careful even during the day in São Paulo are, sadly, the most beautiful and historic places, like Praça da Sé, the Pinacoteca, Estação da Luz etc. All around these places there are homeless people, drug addicts, crazy people.. it stinks and it’s dirty. I don’t know the reason, but it must be because the favelas in Sampa are outside the city, so these people just stay there not having the means to go to the outskirts of the city. It is such a pity!

Speaking of the places to see in São Paulo, there is one saying that São Paulo is famous for its ugliness as Rio is for its beauty. My impression did not confirm this. Rio’s beauty is undeniable, but more obvious, more commercialized, more on the outside. Sampa is beautiful on the inside, its beauty is more subtle and it is something you have to discover. São Paulo is beautiful for its vastness, for its diversity, for its offer of places and things to do, especially if you like discovering different restaurants, bars and clubs. In São Paulo there is the largest Japanese community outside Japan, so there are a large number of good quality Japanese restaurants. One thing you have to be very conscious of is that São Paulo is not a cheap city. Everything costs more than anywhere else in Brazil. But it corresponds with how much money people make, because São Paulo is the commercial center of Brazil and obviously people make more money than anywhere else in Brazil. 

Among the most important things worth seeing in Sampa are: Avenida Paulista (the most important landmark street you can see in almost every postcard of the city), Museu de Arte de São Paulo –MASP (a beautiful building on Avenida Paulista, not exception to the rule of gathering gloomy people), the Jardins district (one of the most luxurious districts in the world, Rua Oscar Freire after Fifth Avenue in New York is the most luxurious street in the world), Teatro Municipal de São Paulo (a cake-like building), Edifício Itália (the highest building in São Paulo, the view from the 41^st floor is spectacular, there is free access to the terrace from 16 h, so you don’t have to pay a fortune to sit in the bar).

View from Edificio Italia

Next to Edifício Itália is Edificio Copan (a residential building designed by Oscar Niemeyer), Catedral da Sé (the main cathedral in the central point of the city, sadly, taken over by drug addict, homeless people and lunatics), Pátio do Colégio (the place where the city was founded by the Jesuits, the school where they converted the population to Catholicism), the beautiful shopping centers, Galeria do Rock (an “alternative” shopping center dedicated to rock-culture), Mercado Municipal (the city market, where the thing to try is Pastel de bacalhau), Parque do Ibirapuera (the largest park in the city, where you can see the Museum of Modern Art - MAM - Museu de Arte Moderna, the Auditorium – an Oscar Niemeyer building and Oca – also from Oscar Niemeyer), the street 25 de Março (a street full of cheap low quality goods; the strange thing was that everyone I met asked me if I’d been to this street which I never understood why, being overcrowded, and not very enjoyable to walk through). The new IN place in Sampa is Mocotó, where you will wait for at least an hour to get a table but it’s worth it; you will surely enjoy every bite of the specialties from the Northeast of Brazil they prepare there. Something not to be missed during a visit of Sampa is Maria Brigadeiro, a lovely small place where they prepare brigadeiros, small but delicious sweets. Also not to be missed is Vila Madalena, the district full of small designer shops and graffiti.

My very own favorite place in São Paulo was Livraria Cultura in Conjunto Nacional at Avenida Paulista. It is the largest bookstore in the country. The vast space on three levels with a nice coffee shop is very enjoyable for reading, drinking coffee, meeting people.. There are more than 3 millions books and José Saramago called it a “cathedral of the books; modern, effective and beautiful”. One thing I didn’t like was that of all the Brazilian literature there were only translations of Paulo Coelho’s books and only two books from Jorge Amado (I bought “Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands”).

There are two major problems São Paulo is facing. The first one is the pollution. It is a city that developed very fast. It is the impelling force of Brazil, and when people started with the industrialization little attention was given to the protection of the environment. In the state of São Paulo there is one of the most polluted cities in the world – Cubatão, in the 80s called the Valley of Death where the consequences are seen in the life span of the people and the children born with deformities. The tap water in the city of São Paulo is undrinkable, the two largest rivers are deeply polluted, and what they do is pollute even more. They buy water in plastic bottles and in the supermarket they give you a plastic bag for almost every item.

The second problem is the rain. At least, it was the problem I encountered being there in February and March, the period with most rain. The problem in São Paulo is that the whole city is hills and valleys so when it rains (and they are usually rains that last for half an hour to hour but are very intensive) the lower parts of the streets become full with water. This is how the city looks after an intensive rainfall. The positive thing is that it almost never rains in the morning, so you are lucky if you are a morning person, which I am not J

Beside all, the positive things about São Paulo prevail. I enjoyed every minute spent there and wouldn't hesitate to go there again.. if I had the chance I'd go immediately, I don't need to pack, I can find everything in São Paulo!!