World Cup Watch: Brazil's Identity Crisis

The World Cup is 18 days away. I am giddy with excitement, exacerbated by successfully picking up my tickets on Friday and the fact that Brazil flags and bunting has started going up in shops and bars all over the city. Finally, the fever is creeping in. But it is far later than normal, I’m told. Usually, the decorations go up over a month before the World Cup’s opening and Brazilians throw themselves exuberantly into everything that it entails: parties, bank holidays and, fairly regularly, watching their country win. But this year has been different. Delays and overspending, two things that seem to happen at every major sporting event, have tarnished the build-up to what should be Brazil’s moment in the sun. But unlike other major sporting events, protests by the local people have overshadowed the preparations even more. I don’t know how much has been heard about them outside of Brazil, but here they are a really big deal.

A happy man with my World Cup tickets

The main reason for the protesting, as far as I’m aware, is that the government have spent billions of reais on the ‘Copa’. This is in a country where social inequality is huge, millions are in poverty and basic infrastructure can be painfully limited. However, you could arguably be forgiven for thinking that the Brazilian public might see past the problems for the reward of hosting the World Cup. I mean, Brazilians spend all day on the beach, watching football or partying, right?

That’s the thing, they don’t. It’s true that football and the beach are big parts of life in Rio de Janeiro, but far less than the British media might have you believe. I find it very interesting to see that all British advertising for the World Cup seems to be exclusively based in Rio, just one of 12 cities to be hosting matches during the tournament. It is true that Rio is the centre of the Brazilian stereotype and its picturesque landscape naturally makes it the most appealing place to visit. But this is a huge country and there is so much more to it, in terms of landscape and culture. In the next month or so I will be visiting other places, but I won’t be scratching the surface of what is on offer.

Someone who did ‘scratch the surface’ is Michael Palin, who wrote a book and made a television show about Brazil. It’s a good read and gives you a taste of the vast diversity in the country, but the picture it paints is very positive, conforming to the stereotype that everyone here is constantly delighted. I met Tim Vickery, the BBC’s South American football correspondent, who said that Palin’s book is now almost irrelevant because so much has changed in the couple of years since he wrote it. He would now have to focus much more on the social unrest, protests against the Copa and the government, as well as showing that not all Brazilians are ecstatic with their current state of affairs.

Palin's Brazilian experience

Vickery stated that there has never been a more fascinating time to be here. The country is changing before our eyes, as the people realise the power their voice can have. The general election takes place at the beginning of October and there is a definite possibility that the World Cup will influence its outcome. I believe there will be protests during the tournament; it will be unavoidable. For that reason, pressure will be on those election candidates to deliver what the people want, especially as the eyes of the world will be on Brazil.

Looking specifically at the World Cup protests, it is easy to see why people are so annoyed. The stadia have taken the brunt of the abuse. The enormous delays in construction as well as the deaths of several workers have attracted attention. And perhaps most irritatingly, these are all things that the government could have avoided. FIFA suggested 8-10 stadia for the tournament, but the Brazilian organisers decided to have 12 host cities, in order to spread the tournament around the country. Several cities, Manaus and Brasilia, for example, have no good club teams and it is unlikely that these will ever reach full capacity again, except perhaps if Brazil were to play a friendly there. As a result, no private companies have taken an interest in funding the projects, meaning that all of the money has come from the government and, therefore, the taxpayer’s pocket. Quite how FIFA agreed to this is beyond me.

A protestor burns a World Cup sticker book

Secondly, politicians and Ronaldo, the World Cup’s all-time top goal scorer and a member of the 2014 World Cup team, have been talking about “o jeitinho brasileiro”, which would translate as “the Brazilian way”. This refers to the act of getting things done, but in a far more relaxed manner and ‘leaving everything to the last minute’ kind of way. Holding “o jeitinho brasileiro” responsible for your arriving late to a party might be just about acceptable, but for the construction of 12 stadia, not to mention drastically improving public transport, airports, roads, hotels, public services and security, it is ludicrous, quite frankly.

If anything, what the situation has demonstrated to me is that England should be hosting another World Cup very soon. FIFA’s attempts to spread the World Cup to Asia and Africa are all well and good, but Japan, South Korea and South Africa are all dealing with the problem of stadia becoming ‘white elephants’. Brazil, even with its well-documented footballing traditions will probably face the same problems. The decision to award Qatar the 2022 World Cup was a disgrace, but the one saving grace is that the Qataris have enough money to throw at it, without feeling the wrath of the people. FIFA needs to give the tournament to countries with footballing tradition that are capable of managing it.

For Brazil, it remains to be seen how the Copa will pan out. Stadia should be full and the public will get behind it, but I am certain the ramifications of the protests will be felt. The country could even begin to show the world that life here it is not just a samba-fuelled, football, 24-hour beach party. Gone are the days where a World Cup win might make everyone forget about the social problems. Whatever happens, the tournament should throw up a few shocks.

Nights Out And Caipirinhas

Rio de Janeiro is famed as being one of the world’s party capitals. This is no lie. Party-happy Brazilians occupy the city’s bars every night of the week, spilling out onto the streets. Meanwhile, millions of tourists come every year to wreak havoc in clubs, beaches and pretty much anywhere else they can find. It is a city that attracts people with its splendours: year-round sun, beaches and a phenomenal variety of fruit that almost rivals its cultural diversity. As a result, it is certainly a happening place and this translates to a lively nightlife scene.

The first thing to mention is the caipirinha, Brazil’s favourite cocktail, made from cachaça (a sugarcane based spirit), ice, lots of crushed lime and alarming amounts of sugar. My first few weeks here were spent revelling in the brilliance of this drink. Refreshingly zingy, the strength of the pure alcohol masked by a sweet, citrus layer, it is a drink that will bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses of the recipient. In other words, it will get you drunk quicker than you realise, such that you’ll have already bought your fourth one before it’s too late. However, about a month into this cachaça-fuelled existence, its supposed wonder had faded and the caipirinha became nothing more to me than a sticky, sickly addition to the hangover. From time to time, I still indulge.

a typical lapa street stall

Indeed, when consumed sparingly, the caipirinha is superb. On the beach it serves as an antidote to the heat and your dehydration, while on the streets of Lapa, Rio’s weekend haven of crowds and dangerously cheap beverages, it will give you enough confidence to try that samba move, or approach that stunning girl. Lapa is synonymous with partying. A large square under an imposing aqueduct becomes home to street stalls, selling caipirinhas of every flavour imaginable and some marvellous food. The local haunt is one stall that sells a litre of caipirinha for a mere 6 reais (about £1.50). Having overdosed on the original lime variant during carnaval, I have since moved onto several other flavours, settling on mango or strawberry as a favourite, only after a harrowing encounter with a passion fruit.

Aside from cheap drinks and sumptuous snacks, Lapa houses street performers, jazz bars and clubs, with music ranging from samba and Brazilian funk to the painful depths of remixed Pitbull. On the weekend these places will be heaving with punters and there’s rarely a dull moment, not least because of a peculiar approach to paying. In almost every drink-serving establishment, you will be given a card, which will list everything you have consumed. This card will be paper or electronic, depending, I suppose, upon the sophistication of the establishment. You may not leave until the debt has been paid. The electronic cards are particularly dangerous because there is no way of knowing how many drinks you have ordered until you hand it over to the cashier upon leaving; it is, undoubtedly, one of life’s tensest moments. I did once see a rather unfortunate, and let’s face it, simple girl, who found herself without enough money to pay for the countless drinks she had happily imbibed, believing everything to be free. Well, she might have said ‘countless’, but the card knew. It always knows.

lapa's arches by day

Despite the abundance of venues, finding the perfect place to while away the evening has proved to be somewhat challenging. I have found myself at a ‘gringo’ party far too often for my liking, where the people and music are very similar to what I might find at home. My pursuit of a more authentic Brazilian night has been to ask locals (who have been surprisingly unhelpful) and just wing it (which rarely produces successful results). Of course, I have been to my fair share of Brazilian-themed affairs, particularly during carnaval, but also on the odd night where you come up trumps and find yourself dancing to an unknown music style, surrounded by exuberant cariocas. The most spectacular night was arguably spent in Vidigal, a favela that overlooks Ipanema beach and the Lagoa. Ironically, the main demographic present was of a similarly ‘gringo’ persuasion. What a pity.

this happens in lapa 

But, of course, the sheer brilliance of Rio’s nightlife lies in its unpredictability. No evening is the same. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but on the flip side, sometimes it can be incredible. And it embodies the Brazilian attitude of taking it easy and just seeing what happens. My initial incredulity at the inefficiency of many things here was not an opinion shared by many, and certainly by very few Brazilians. But gradually, I have become accustomed to the fact that although some things may seem ridiculous, it really has little bearing on my life. And let’s face it, if you can’t have a good time here, then where can you? 

A Week In The Life Of An International Businessman

Time is flying. Upon successfully renewing my visa this week, I realised that I will be leaving Brazil in a mere 68 days. What is perhaps more alarming is the amount of things that need doing before that time comes, not to mention the small matter of the world’s largest sporting event. You may think that beaches, buses, burning and boozing have been dominating my time here and, to a certain extent, you would be right. I do know my way around the bus system, have spent a fair few hours on beaches, have enjoyed the odd tipple and seem to burn around the clock, whether shirtless on a clear day or tucked up in bed. But in fact, I have been putting my time to fairly good use.

A distracting sunset

Back in late February, I managed to secure two jobs, with which I have been occupying my time. The first is with a sports newspaper, Lance! (http://www.lancenet.com.br/) which focuses almost entirely on football. If I were to give myself a job title, it would be ‘Foreign Liaisons Officer’. Until now, my role has mainly been to phone journalists in various countries around the world and arrange contacts for during the Copa (World Cup). It has been challenging, due to the need to flip between languages and everyone outside of England thinking that not responding to emails is an ok thing to do. Nevertheless, it has been fun to masquerade as a successful journalist when conversing with Ghanaians, who are none the wiser to my true identity.

Now, my duties have extended into the translation sphere. It is nice to be given the responsibility and, when translating from Portuguese to English I can have a bit of fun creatively, almost making it my own article. I have also written a few articles in Portuguese myself. My attempts to use flowery language have been shot down by not keeping with the newspaper’s style, but I have tried nonetheless. I am yet to have anything published for the paper, but did manage to get a piece up on the website. It’s about Leicester City Football Club and if that doesn’t excite you enough to whack it into Google Translate, then I don’t know what will…

Leicester City (Portuguese)

My other job is with the British and Commonwealth Society of Rio de Janeiro, working as their ‘Communications Policy Advisor’. The job has been to analyse all the societies communications vehicles and come up with way to make them work better. This has been more interesting than it might sound, with the chance to try my hand at website design and lead the social media to charge proving to be fairly interesting. Although admittedly, the hearing tweets of an exotic bird on a nearby jungle trek would be more entertaining than reading those of a conservation company on Twitter. (See what I did there?)

One real perk of this job has been the opportunity to meet people that I would not have been able to otherwise, whether that be British expats or young Brazilian lawyers. I have been given the chance to go to corporate events with the British Chamber, fundraisers in Barra de Tijuca (the ‘Miami’ of Brazil) and eat out at fancy restaurants for business lunches. It is something that quite simply couldn’t have happened if I were just a student.

João's farewell party

I suppose I’m trying to press home that my life is not all just fun and games. I am working 5-day weeks and getting myself around town, being useful. This week alone I have ventured into several different districts, running errands and attending meetings. One Direction almost scuppered my plans on Wednesday as I rushed to the office, after they caused most of Ipanema to be taken over by screaming fans, trying to get a glimpse of them leaving their hotel. When I had finally wriggled away, my voice was a little hoarse. The previous night had been spent saying farewell to a Portuguese housemate, such that I had forgone most of the night’s sleep. Quite how I managed to stay awake and functioning in the office until 9pm is beyond me, but it bodes well for the future.

So, in conclusion, my free time is more limited than I have been letting on, thanks to my somewhat debatable claim of being an international businessman. Of course, working 5 days a week is neither impressive nor noteworthy, but when you have a whole country’s worth of experiences to get stuck into, it does impinge on your time. Believe it or not, some of us ‘year abroaders’ do actually work and have things to do. But then again, many a distraction is all too close at hand and I am far too eager to slack off.

the front garden - need to spend more time here

Feed Me: Brazilian Cuisine

Food. Unlike anything else, it is the one part of your life that will inevitably change when living abroad. Theoretically, you could lock yourself in a room, ignore all other people and refuse to speak the language or experience the culture. The wonders of the Internet mean you could spend your time watching British television and talking with friends and relatives via Skype. As I’m sure you would agree, it would be a pathetic existence.

Food, however, is something that even the Internet cannot replace. Sure, I always take Marmite and Earl Grey tea bags with me, but am hard pushed to find the perfect butter and milk to complement them. It has been a year particularly lacking in good cheese and sausages, but filling my suitcase with Messrs Cathedral City Extra Mature and Cumberland Pork would have perhaps been misjudged. What this means of course, is that you must venture into local supermarkets and eateries in order to find food and stay alive. I am pleased to report that Brazil has some promising results.

Some English treats

The first thing to say about Brazilians’ attitude to food is that they like it; and then some. Portions are enormous. In the canteen at work, I receive double what I would expect to receive in England. Two large pieces of meat over a plateful of rice and beans with a smattering of salad on the side tends to be the order of the day. ‘All you can eat’ buffets and restaurants that serve by the kilo are everywhere. Given the quantity and variety of food on offer, these are extraordinarily good value as well.

Meat features heavily in these establishments, ranging from tender beef and grilled chicken to fried cod and shrimp. Rice is the carbohydrate of choice, comfortably preferred to either pasta or potatoes. Black or brown beans provide the sauce for what becomes a fairly enjoyable culinary treat. It is beans and meat that form the base of Brazil’s signature dish: the ‘feijoada’: a ‘black bean stew’ with various bits of beef and pork thrown in. Many people add ‘farofa’, a powdery substance, which has a similar flavour and texture to sawdust. It is the one culinary preference that has perplexed me. Nevertheless, from what I can tell, the ‘feijoada’ is enjoyed at lunchtime, mainly by the working class, presumably to replenish one’s strength.

the 'feijoada'

And if that isn’t enough to keep you going, you will struggle to avoid the temptation of the ‘salgado’. At open-fronted snack bars, called ‘lanchonetes’, which are all over the country, a large assortment of snack-sized nibbles drag you in from the street. The ‘coxinha’ is my favourite: some sort of fried dough, filled with chicken and catipury, a Brazilian creamy cheese. Heavenly would be a good way to describe these. They fill that hunger void magnificently, yet barely trouble your wallet. Other ‘salgados’ are similarly fantastic. There are cheese balls and calzone-type pastries as well as sweet variants, the ‘brigadeiro’ taking many of the sweet-toothed plaudits with its creamy melted chocolate surrounded by more chocolate.

a salgado selection

It would be a crime for me not to mention beverages. Fruit juices and coffee are naturally found in abundance. There are ‘normal’ fruits like pineapple, peach and mango; and then there are the weird ones: caju, guarana, jaboticaba and carambola to name but a few fruits that I have never seen or tasted before. Drinking the juice out of a coconut is another popular, refreshing alternative.

what are these things?

If it isn’t fruit, it’s coffee. Brazil produces considerably more coffee than any other country and there is definitely a coffee-drinking culture. But not the commercialised coffees that Starbucks and various other chains serve. Just a bog standard shot of coffee, which most Brazilians ruin (in my view) by adding unthinkable amounts of sugar or sweetener. But then, Brazil does also produces considerably more sugar than any other country. However, putting four teaspoons of sugar in an espresso can never be justifiable, no matter how much sugar you have. 

Of course, I don’t eat out every day. The supermarket provides most of the food I eat, but coxinhas and kilo restaurants are a nice treat. Meat is much cheaper over here, so homemade steaks are frequent. The heavy, flavoursome food on offer is mostly delicious, but can thwart all attempts to fine-tune the beach bod. Such are the problems I face…