The week has flown by. Work has been keeping me extremely busy and putting in 12-13 hr days this week. The good thing about working in the Brazilian time zone is it allows me to interact with Europe easier as 6 to 7am Brazilian time is still morning in Europe, hence I've been more productive for the European projects. The downside is we're 4 hours ahead of pacific time which means the Colorado and California projects are keeping me busy until 6 to 8pm. All this only gives me a couple hours in the evening to get dinner and take a walk along the Boa Viagem avenue (the beach)
General Observations
I've been meaning to share general observations since being here. Follows are thoughts and comments:
City and people cleanliness
The air quality is amazingly clear here! Thank goodness I'm not in the more popular cities of Sao Paulo and Rio De Janiero. When I flew though there, the smog was overwhelming. See more about Sao Paulo and Rio below.
I'm amazed how clean the city, surrounding areas and the people are. While this is a modern city by 3rd world standards, its definitely not the US. When riding around on the bus I'm constantly amazed at how the "people" of Recife make an effort to keep things clean and organized. Like any city there is some clutter and trash. But what stands out is in the poorest neighborhoods to the most upscale, all the streets are swept clean (by hand, no street sweepers here) and ALL trash, refuse, garbage is always stacked neatly in a place where the garbage trucks --essentially dump trucks-- come around to pick things up. When paying attention, its obvious the majority of the people take responsibility for keeping their city clean; quite impressive when thinking about it.
Also, the people are all clean, well groomed and well kept. Even in the poorest areas, people are always well groomed, bathed and have clean clothes. When riding crowded buses on hot days, you kind of expect the worst, but I was amazed how clean people are here.
Observing the people
One thing that quickly becomes evident is the Brazilian people are happy people. I've yet to see any anger, impatience or unhappy people. There is a certain peace, yet confidence in their demeanor. Watching Paulo (my trusty tour guide) he has a placid almost sleepy demeanor about him. But his mind is always going a 100 miles an hour and never misses a thing. As a side note, it took me a while to figure out his body language, hence almost missing a bus with him and getting stuck crossing a busy intersection. We were waiting for the bus and he appeared to relax, crossed his arms and looked like he was going to stay put for a few mins. I turned around to look at something, turned back and he was gone...YIKE, catch up Dale. On the other hand, when nothing is happening and we're waiting for something he fidgets and paces. So the body language is misleading i.e., when things are moving he's calm and calculated. When waiting, he paces and fidgets; this seem to be the norm of the people.
Another thing is people do not like pictures taken, even at the beaches. A camera at the beach is openly frowned upon. So carrying the camera and taking pictures is all done quickly and must be done with clear intention you're focusing on building etc.
Still 3rd world
Despite this being a modern city, there are many things that remind you you're still in a developing country. For example, the main sewer systems are not underground. They are open canals that run along major thoroughfares to the central city to a catch basin, where some basic filtering is done before it empties into the ocean. They control the flow based on tides and current to assure it flows out and away, but it is a far cry from anything we have in the US. As a result, whenever you're near one of these canals, the smell clearly reminds you what you're around. Interestingly the odor stays very close the the waterway and does not permeate beyond and into the neighborhood.
Also power, gas and water infrastructure is sub par. All the modern building have back-up generators. Only the newest have gas plumbed in and water is not reliable. All new building have underground reservoirs where big (water) tanker truck deliver water. While the streets are in fairly good repair, side walks are all rough and mismatched where you must always watch where you're walking.
No potties
Oh my gosh, there are minimal facilities available!! When you go out for the day, you must be prepared there will be no restrooms are available until you get back, or near modern public places. The beaches and most public areas do not have facilities near by.
Stealth camera
As mentioned, in general, Recife is not a place to openly carry a camera for multiple reasons. First is it tags you immediately as a tourist. Despite the feeling of relative safety, all the areas still have potential of troubles. In fact, even in my district which is upscale and safe, after 10pm it legal to run stop signs to prevent car jackings. As a result, I only take the camera when out in safe public and wearing pants that allow me to keep it in my pocket hidden. Back-packs mean you're carrying things, so not a good idea either. All in all its not severe, but you have to take certain caution.
SCORE, FOOD!
WOW---did I find the food score of the century!! I think I now have a new favorite food. Lebanese food (until now) has been my favorite. Seems "rice and beans" is the typical food of this region. Any bland concepts I may have had regarding rice and beans has been completely debunked. Being desperate for something beyond my ability --face it, my cooking gets old in 36 hours and I'm on my second week, thus desperate for something more-- I went down to the building guard and asked "ondge pode eu (find) lanche?" where can I find lunch? He pointed to a guard at a building across the street. Then net of the story is there's a lady who prepares lunch in her kitchen each day. From what I can tell her lunches are word of mouth only. Basically you walk up to the guard and say "lanche". He hands you the phone to her apartment --ok, you have to imagine what an adventure this is with my minimalist portuguese-- and ask for "arroz y fisgando com galinhas" (rice and beans with chicken). Then she delivers as its not cool for people to wait around on the street for the food. Anyway, the food is simply divine. Rice and beans includes salad, vegetables and baked chicken with flavor beyond description. OMG, its heavily. I'm going to miss this ladies cooking immensely.
Thank Goodness I'm NOT in Sao Paulo or Rio De Janiero
Watching TV, both Sao Paulo and Rio are experiencing torrential rains. Things are flooded, the cities are jammed and just a mess. The other thing is (especially Rio) there's weekly shootouts between drug runners and the police. These are highly televised and every week there's another occurrence. Its obvious the government is trying very hard to get the drug and violence problem under control. The police are highly armed, armed helicopters, armored cars all equipped with cameras recording everything in addition to "media" following. On TV there's no hesitation to clearly show people being chased out, gunned down, showing the dead bodies etc. Its all an attempt to let the drug lords know there's no hesitation to shoot on sight to kill. Quite violet and real. As a side note, coincidental a friend of mine happened to be in Rio de Janiero the same time I arrived in Recife. As he left he commented the constant worry for security, hearing gun fights in the slums, and the dirty air (smog) were wearing on him --just before the rain.
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