Brasilia

Blogging was so much easier on the road.  Part of that's because of the novelty of life on the road but mostly due to the lessened daily responsibilities.  Sure, we still had to feed ourselves and generally make sure the children weren't complete ruffians, but we didn't have piles of clutter, bills, work, etc.  And it's not that interesting things haven't happened after our family trip.

To whit--I went to Brazil in June (and am just now getting around to at least share some photos here).  For the work side of things, I was asked to present to an industry lobbying group on how to evaluate advocacy efforts.  I was one of six invited presenters (three Americans, one Irish and two Brazilians) and the only non-academic.

Because the trip came so fast on the heels of Iceland and France, I think it was literally the day or two before my arrival that I had time to really even realize I was soon going to be in another country, realizing things like, oh, yeah, I know absolutely no Portuguese.  What should I eat?  What should I do while I'm there?  Next thing I knew, I was saying goodbye to Tyler and the kids and on a plane headed south.

So, first off--my business travel is usually not so glamorous.  I've had many more trips to Pasco, Washington or Palo Alto, California.  And not since my first overseas trip to Indonesia have I been treated to business class.  Man, it's a good thing I didn't have this trip *before* the flight to Iceland.  I won't lie.  It's nice.  Food.  Wine.  Room to stretch out.  The little bag of goodies with useful things like eye masks and hand cream and socks.

Another unusual perk of this particular conference--the super fancy "VIP suite" next to the conference room.  It was gorgeous.  And we spent almost no time in it.

Yet it is also still a long overnight haul.  And I was still totally jetlagged upon arrival.  Even though Brasilia is only four hours ahead of Seattle, the red eye flight and not enough sleep still threw me for a loop.

After checking in, getting a bit more sleep and catching up on some work, I headed out with one of the other presenters to do a little sightseeing.  She wanted to head to a mall for some presents for her grandkids.  Not usually my first choice of an outing in a new country, but it was nice to have some company, and the mall was an interesting first look at the key thing to know about Brasilia:  it has fascinating architecture.

The outside of the mall, with the soaring entryway and two halves of a circle with the circle in the middle.  The shopping section was just two floors.  Oh and every store had at least six employees ready to wait on the couple of customers who seemed to be there at any given moment.

Mostly when I mentioned I was going to Brazil for a conference people would say, "Rio?!"  And I would say, "No, Brasilia," at which point they would pretty much have the same comment I initially had, which was something like, "Is that the capitol?  Is it on the beach?"  Yes, and no. But when I mentioned to some clearly better-read friends, one of them exclaimed, "You're so lucky!  The architecture!"  And so I learned about Brasilia.

Essentially, in the 50s the president decided to move the capitol and create a brand new city in the center of the country.  (Rio is still peeved.)  So it's a planned city with architecture from one particular period and even generally one particular architect, who is spoken of in reverent and hushed terms among the Brasilia residents I met, Niemeyer.

After the conference, I got to tour around and see lots of Neimeyer's work with the other presenters and some kind (and English-speaking) Brasilians associated with our conference, including the striking Cathedral:

The cathedral, flanked by large bronze statues of some of the apostles

I didn't realize until going in how gorgeous the stained glass is, with sculptures of angels hanging from the ceiling.

Outside the chapel, to the left is a bell structure, further back and on the left, the national gallery--more on that later

A large plaza with a monument (center, white) and bird tower (concrete, left)

One thing you might have noticed from the previous pictures is that the design of the city is big on lots of plains of concrete.  Which is an interesting choice, given the heat and lack of shade available.

Next to the plaza is the Supreme Court building

 But what was really amazing was that the wife (who was really lovely, more on her later) was a key staff person for the ranking Senator of Brazil.  So she was able to take us into the Congress.  While we weren't allowed to take any photos inside, we actually got to go into the senator's office (in one of the white towers below) and into the Senate (bowl down) and the House (bowl up).  I learned to tell the difference between the two sides because the design was based on the idea that the House is meant to take in the ideas and voices of all the people (hence its openness) while the Senate is more closed and insular.

 

Panorama of the Congress

I'm sure at one point Brasilia seemed out of date, but it is so mod and stylish.  In almost all of the buildings, there was fashionable furniture and rugs like this

After seeing the Congress buildings, we tried to go to some exhibits at another government building, but it was closed.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs--the photo doesn't do justice, but the architecture and its reflection in the pond were something to behold

I never got my own photo of the Department of Justice, but it was one that intrigued me.....

So, instead, we got to drive out to see the President's house:

Pretty snazzy digs!

Because I was going so far (12+ hours on a plane), it was silly to arrive and turn right back around, so I stayed an extra day.  The same woman who had taken us to the Congress offered to come and take me and one of the other presenters still in town sightseeing again. 

We went up to a TV tower, which is also attractive and from which you can get a lay of the land.  Brasilia is laid out with a central mall along which run all the ministries down toward the Congress, Supreme Court and the plaza I saw the first day.  Then the city fans out on either side like wings, and each kind of area you can imagine has a district.  So we were in the hotel district, which is directly adjacent to the central area.  But interestingly there are two hotel districts, one north and one south, and the districts are mirror images to each other.  So you know if you need to do banking, or go to a pharmacy, or the like, that you would go to one of the two districts with that kind of stuff.

Looking down the mall--the white bump toward the back are the towers of the Congress building

Ariel view (not my own) so you can see the winged shape and the lake

A fancy bridge--my photo was blurry

Stopping to actually go into the National gallery (and prove I was actually there).  Unfortunately, they were between exhibits so there wasn't much to see, but it is a wild building.

The swoosh

The line of ministry buildings

She also took us to lunch on the lake and helped me mail postcards home, Stella's only real request of me on the trip!

I'm so glad I got the opportunity to go there.  A few other random thoughts:

• The people I met there were absolutely lovely, so helpful and hospitable.  People really went out of their way to share their city and country with me in a way that was really touching.
• And everyone who spoke English apologized for the poorness of their English, which was ridiculous.  I could hardly pick up "thank you" before I left.  I thought I'd be in better shape than I was with my background of some French and Spanish, but Portuguese has different sounds and a sing-song quality that I could not pick up at all in the few days I was there.
• Business travel is an interesting thing.  I always feel like I'm getting a somewhat insular experience--I'm picked up, taken nice places, and don't always feel like I get a real feel for the place.  But getting to go to the Congress and seeing sites with a local was an amazing treat and I got way more out of my time there than I would have otherwise.
• The protests started right as I was leaving, which I didn't see any of, though the Confederation Cup was about to get underway.
• The city is like a museum almost.  Almost everything is striking--there are mosaics and sculptures and notable architecture and well-designed furniture everywhere you look.  I can't imagine another city like it in the world.

It definitely created a hunger to go back and see more of the country.  (Though I better learn some Portuguese first...)

Photo Catch Up: Bolivia and Chile

We didn't get to these in Santiago (ironically, we found it harder to do many things in the big city than we did in tiny towns in Peru and Bolivia). And then internet was too expensive in Easter Island and Tahiti (prices have ranged from US 30 cents an hour in Peru to $10 an hour in Tahiti). So here are some of the things we raved about in the past month.

Isla del Sol on Lake Titicaca:





The motley crew on the Bolivian Tour (look in the rearview mirror) and pictures of the Salar de Uyuni:









Our first Bolivian Altiplano Lake and flamingos!





The broad barrenness of the Altiplano:




A volcano smoking in Chile seen from Bolivia:



Lago Colorada and Lago Verde:





The colorful hills and houses of Valparaiso, Chile:



When flying into New Zealand this morning, the immigration form asked which countries we'd been to in the last 30 days. It was sort of amazing to realize we're already on our fifth country (Peru, Bolivia, Chile and French Polynesia) in about six weeks. Hopping between three countries (and three time zones) in one week was a little intense. We're looking forward to being in one place for a chunk of time again.

Emerging from the South Pacific

Today, Tyler and I arrived in Auckland, New Zealand. It's a little strange to be somewhere so...familiar....and easy. Signs are in English and things look more or less like they do at home or Canada. We're using a few days in Auckland to catch up on travelling 'housekeeping'--laundry, blog entries, and such. And there's much to catch up on! And with pictures we actually took! (For a better view, double click the photos to enlarge them.)

We arrived late on Easter Island to step out of the plane onto a humid tarmac and our host waiting for us with beautiful flower leis. After a short ride with others at our hostel in the back of a pickup truck (along with our luggage), we settled in, not quite sure where exactly we were, but ready to experience the island and the moai the next day.



Tyler still contends that one of his favorite moments of our three days on Easter Island was that first morning. After waking up with the heat and roosters crowing, we decided to wander about for a few minutes before breakfast. Since we'd arrived at in the dark, we didn't really have a sense for where our hostel was in relation to anything else. So we walked to the road, realized we were only two blocks from the ocean and could see downtown Hanga Roa (the only town on the island) as well as our first set of moai that are close to town.



We decided to rent a car that day to make our way around the island. While it's fairly small, it's not walkable, and the main moai sites range all across the island. Because it was a manual, Tyler got to do all the driving on many bumpy, off-road feeling roads. You can tell he minded terribly:



We started driving up the eastern coast in a counterclockwise fashion, until we stumbled upon our first overlook. We pulled the car over, mostly to look at the coast, when all the sudden, I noticed that the boulders I saw were in fact pukao, or the topknots that some moai have on their heads. Then Tyler noticed that we were also looking at a set of knocked over moai.



Though I had heard that seeing the knocked over moai might seem anticlimactic after some of the more spectacular restored moai, I actually found them quite moving. The first book I read on the trip was Jared Diamond's Collapse, which chronicles the falls of various societies, including Easter Island. Basically, the Cliff's Notes version is that the Easter Islanders first started building the ahu, or raised platforms for burial and ceremonial purposes. Then they started erecting the stone figures, or moai. At some point, the six societies on this small island started trying to outdo the moai building with each other, used all their energies and natural resources to this purpose, knocked other tribes' moai over, until they basically collapsed. Knowing all this made the fallen moai seem that much more tragic.

We had also heard and read that eventually you find yourself just tripping over ruins and moai, which was totally true. At every turn, you could see all rock walls, house foundations, circular walls used for agriculture, ahu and the moai and pukao.

One of the most amazing places we visited was called Rano Rarako, aka the "nursery." All the moai were carved out of the same volcanic stone from one place on the island. When the civilization petered out, there were more carved and partially carved moai on this volcano than there are on the entire island. It was really an incredible site.



And they are massive. It's hard to appreciate their size, but we tried to catch their looming quality in this photo. In the next, at a nearby site where a Japanese corporation helped re-erect the largest stand of moai, I'm the small pink dot in the center.





It seemed very strange and amazing to be surrounded by the reminders of a civilization that had nearly disappeared. As I mentioned, there is one town on the island, where really everything is. No homes, hostels, gas stations, anything on the rest of the island. Just remains and lots and lots of wild horses. Here are two more moai pictures:





On our second day, we decided to do some exploring on foot and headed up to an old volcano on the southeast end of the island. It had a huge crater lake and is a significant site for the birdman cult on the island.



While I expected the anthropologist in me to be blown away by the moai and cultural artifacts, the nature-hiker in me also was in awe of the volcanic geology and landscape. On a hike we found down from the crater lake, we encountered tons of amazing coastline, with bright aqua water next to black, craggy rocks. There are also lots of lava tube caves, places where rock solidifed around flowing lava and other beautiful and strange rock formations.





I really can't say enough good things about our experience on Easter Island. While some people at our hostel found it a little quiet for their tastes, I would have been really happy to have had an entire week there, to continue exploring the coast, enjoying the two white sand beaches, and just soaking in the island. I'd have to say it's been the high point of our trip for me so far.

Oh, and here's probably my favorite picture of Tyler from the trip yet.

Iorana! (Or hello, in Polynesian-speak.)

We are on Easter Island, and it is fantastic. The moai are amazing, the geology is incredible and we love it. But we don't love the expensive per-hour internet charges, so we'll be sure to wax rhapsodic, probably post-Tahiti.

We've had two days to explore, wander and stare in awe, and one day tomorrow until flying to Papeete, French Polynesia, for a quick two-day, three-night Tahitian adventure. We'll fill you in soon!

Something in the Air.

So, apparently, Sarah is allergic to Santiago. As our bus made the hour and half long trip from Valpariso, Sarah rapidly grew more and more congested. The last couple of days she´d been flirting with a cough, but as our bus raced pass the vineyards surrounding Santiago, she found herself increasingly sneezing, and her nose grew congested.

The last day in full Valpariso had been a pleasant one. We had awoken early, and taken the commuter train to Vin Del Mar, just a couple hours north. Vin Del Mar had proven to be a bit underwelming though. It´s a tourist beach town, and unfortunately it proved long on the cheapo gift stands and the beaches didn´t seem to be calling our name. So, after a pleasant walk around a large park, we caught the train back.

Back in Valpariso, we made the hike up a nearby hill to look at an old cememtary. Then, after some debate, we caught a funicular back up onto our hill. We´d be avoiding riding it, because we thought the people who lived on the hill were boycotting it because the fares had been increased. But, on the other hand, we were tourists in Valpariso... we were there to ride funiculars. And, I mean, just look at it, it wants us to ride it! Its begging us to ride it.

In the end, it turned out there wasn´t even a boycott... so we happily rode it up the hill. Joy!

That night, we spent the evening in the Vinilo Cafe (at least I think that was the name), raeding, drawing and sipping wine. Followed by a late night dinner in a tapas restaurant down the hill.

The following morning, we rose early, ate breakfast, caught a public bus to the bus station (which we were quite proud of ourselves for), and then hopped on a bus to Santiago.

Arriving in Santiago, with a very stuffy Sarah, we caught several very congested subway cars to Barrio Brazil, a neighborhood I´d stayed in the last time I was in Santiago, and the neighborhood that Lonely Planet referred blissfully to as a "bohemian enclave." Frankly, the last time I was there, I wasn´t blown away, but figured I´d give it another chance.

After checking into our hotel, we set out on what I would eventually dub a "death march," to cehck out Barrio Brazil. Eventually, tired and a little disillusioned (thus the term "death march"), we ended up in a corner bar, where we had some beer and swore we´d more to another neighborhood tomorrow.

After probably drinking too much beer, we needed food and tooled down the street to another restraunt. At the restaurant, we split a dinner who´s name escapes me now, but which could safely be called the Chilean Gut Bomb™. Let me describe it: First take a plate and put a heaping pile of fries on it. Not, cut up a steak, and put that on it. Then cut up a hot dog, and a chorizo sausage, and put that on top of the steak. Finally, fry a couple eggs, and stick those on top of the whole thing.

Literally.

It makes late night Denny´s food look positively healthy.

Then we went and got ice cream. We´re decedant like that.

The next morning, we made good on our pledge and relocated to a hostel in Barrio Bellavista. Greener and hipper at the same time, we agreed imediately that it was a beter neighborhood. Unfortuantely, Sarah´s allergies were still wrecking havok on her, and she spent the afternoon in bed while I took care of some odd chores.

That evening though, we took the funicular to the top of the hill in Parque Metropolitano, where we could properly watch the sun set on the sprawl of Santiago. Tres romantic... even with the occasional sneeze. We then ended the day at El Caramaño, a traditional Chilean restaurant that served food which was a little better perpared than the previous nights grease-fest.

Today, Sarah was able to wrangle some control over her sinuses with the help of her allergy medication, so we set out on a full day. First, we took a very long subway (metro) drive our to one of the Concha Y Toro Winery. There we got to tour the ground, see the cellars and taste some wines. At first, I almost through a mild temp-tantrum because we though we´d missed the English language tour. But, when our tour guide found out we didn´t speak Spanish,he gave us an English tour on the side. Yay for awesome tour guides. Boo for Tyler´s pouting.

Heading back into Santiago after the tour and tastings, we stopped at a super market and bought sandwiches, bananas and raspberry juice for a picnic at Cerro San Lucia in the center of Santiago. Cerro San Lucia is a small hill with an old monestary and fort on it, that has been turned into the park.

Last time I came to Santiago, I explored the park on my own, where I was amazed at the number of teenagers making out on every bench and green patch of lawn. In South America, most people live with their parents until they get married. So, its much more common to see young couples making-out in parks, bars, restaurants, etc, since that´s the easiest way for them to get some "privacy."

Anyhow, last time I was in Santiago, I remember thinking to myself while I was at Cerro San Lucia: "If that girl I just started dating, Sarah, was here, I´d totally make out with her here!" And now, three years later (and thanks to the wonders of allergy medicine) I was able to make that dream a reality.

Now its early evening in Santiago, and its also St. Patrick´s Day, so in a little bit, I think we´ll go out and get some food, and then maybe see if Santiago has any Irish Bars. Then, tomorrow, we say goodbye to South America and head off for the next leg of our trip!!

Peru Photos!

If you notice, this entry has no "Tyler Reporting" or "Sarah Reporting" graphic... because this is both of us working together on this post. We´ve got all our photos from Peru transfered onto a couple disks, so now we thought we´d upload a few here for all your viewing enjoyment.

This is far from all the photos we´ve taken, but we thought you´d all still like to see some pictures from our misadventures so far. (Click on the photos to see them enlarged.)


Here we are, at 4:30 AM, about to depart on our adventure!


Sarah appreciating some frescoes at the Santa Catalina Monastary in Arequipa.


Fruit stands at the market in Arequipa. Sarah´s heaven!


Plaza de Armas in Arequipa. We were having a beer in a restaurant high above it. We´ve really enjoyed the plazas in all the cities we´ve visited.


Tyler in a side street in Cusco. All the moderns buildings in this part of town were built on top of Incan walls.


The plaza in Cusco. Everything in Cusco seemed so epic.


Tyler kneeling on top of the watch tower in Pisac. Notice that he´s proudly wearing his alpaca wool cap that he got for about $4.


Tyler kneeling in front of some other ruin... we forget its name... Machu something?


Sarah appreciating the view.


An old woman carrying her bundle down a path toward a rock arch on Isla Taquile, on Lake Titicaca.

That´s it for now. But, in the future we´ll try to be better about uploading photos. With any luck, we´ll have some pictures of Bolivia and Chile before we leave the continent on Saturdsay.