A Mouth Full
September 16, 2002

<< pre-blog email >>

Hi all:
With the gaps between my “Tales of a Gringo” emails growing larger I’ve taken to keeping a laundry list of things to write about. I thought it might be interesting to include the list it in the email. If you don’t have the time (nor the desire) to read the whole email, you can at least quickly glance at the table of contents. Hope you enjoy the new format. I warn you, this email is long! I’d recommend printing it out.

In this issue:

My life as a gringo:
- Apartment #8: a place to hang my hammock
- Jesus ‘likes’ me
- 3 magic letters: CPF - everything but video rentals
- Making friends with the monkeys
- ActionAid - helping children in Brazil
- Staying on stage
- Melhdau in Rio
- Drunk in Botafogo at 3am

Random thoughts/reflections on Rio:
- World Cup in Rio ... who are you calling English?!!
- City of God ... the film
- Vida boa ... prison pizza delivery
- Can you change this? The value of change (as in small bills) in Brazil
- Bang, bang, bang ... a city “under construction”
- Cultural differences ... pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way
- “Everything works out in the end”

+ a link to some photos

***
My life as a gringo:

Well, after a year and five months and 7 apartments I’ve finally got a place to call my own in Rio. I’ve bounced around a lot here. It was due to a variety of reasons, depending on the moment. Some were financial, some were legal, but until now I’d have to say the main reason was a lack of commitment to staying here in Rio. When I realized I had to move a couple of months ago I was once again forced to figure out how I wanted to live here. I had had my fill (and then some) of sharing apartments, having no furniture and no real control over how long I could live in any given apartment. But I suppose this was all good for me to experience after 10 years of living alone in NYC ... at least for improving my tolerance levels! So, when I set out to look for apt. #8 I decided to commit to staying here for at least another year. This would give me ample time to settle into a place and be able to enjoy it for a while. It’s also the minimum amount of time you must stay in most apartments in Rio before breaking a ( 30 month - the norm here) lease (to avoid paying a fine).

So, I scoured the classifieds and pounded the pavement. I came to the harsh conclusion that it’s almost impossible to find a decent apartment in Rio without having a “fiador”. A fiador is not an easy thing to come by. It’s basically a guarantor who signs your lease. The fiador must own property in Rio (out of Rio doesn’t count!) and must provide info about this property along with proof of their income, etc.. A fiador is usually family. I’ve known people from Sao Paulo who moved to Rio and had just as much trouble as I’ve had finding a place. This necessity makes Rio one of the WORST places for looking for an apartment. Sometimes a landlord will accept a 3 month deposit, but it’s not that common. Of course a gringo can also rent a furnished place “mobiliado”, but anything decent is really expensive and either geared to international executives or tourists during high-season.

One night eating sushi downstairs from my last shared place in Jardim Botanico I was chatting with the sushi chef who had become a friend of sorts (besides making sushi he also paints and plays guitar and when he wasn’t making sushi he played for his customers). I mentioned to him about my apt. search and he asked if I wanted to take over the lease on his studio apt. - he had decided to go back to Japan. The place was well located, a decent size, quiet and cheap ... so I jumped at it. I went to see the management company (2 nasty, cigarette smoking, old hag lawyers) and began the process of interrogation ...

Do you have a CPF (more on this magic number later)? No. Do you have proof of income. No? Do you have an official ID card. No. Can we see your passport? Sure. Sir, do you realize you’ve been in this country illegally for almost a year now? Yes. And you want us to enter into a contract (lease) with you? Yes ... please! The old bitch looked at me like I was crazy and it was looking grim until my fiadora (the wonderful Luciana!) just happened to fax in her info at that very moment. The lawyer looked over the documents and told me that my chances just improved 80 percent. I threw in 20 percent of charm and the next thing I knew I had a signed contract in my hands.

About a week later I got wind that there was a one bedroom opening up in the same building and I jumped at it. I begged the management to let me out of the contract and sign a new one. I told them it had been my dream for the last 10 years to have a door (an actual one-bedroom)! Ah, what NY life will do to a person. So, they gave in and let me make the switch. I then realized how much work the place needed and quickly began fighting with the mgt. company for every little thing. Little did they know that I had already fought many a battle against my Hasidic Jew landlord back in NY. After that son of a bitch these two women were a fucking joke. The only thing I have to watch out for is that if I piss them off enough they could call the Federal Police on me and have me deported! Along the way of dealing with repairs I have come across dishonesty, incompetence and plain old laziness. It’s been a good opportunity for me to adapt my NY “take no shit” attitude and try to put it into a Brazilian framework ... not easy. But aside from the few assholes I’ve come across I’ve also met a couple of really nice guys working here in the apartment (ex. 80 year old Seu João who supervised the floor refinishing).

So, I’m now writing to you from my same old hammock, but it’s hanging in my first one-bedroom apartment. It’s on a street called Conde de Irajá in a neighborhood called Botafogo (which literally means “put fire”). It’s a quiet street in a great residential/commercial area and I’m loving it. Lots of places to eat/drink and a great place to rent DVDs. I have not only an amazing view of Corcovado and Giant Jesus from here in the living room, but also from my bed! There’s also a ton of light during the whole day and a fantastic breeze. Can’t complain. Those of you who know who Marcos Suzano is will get a kick out of this ... my apartment just happens to be around the corner (literally!) from where he gives his workshops. Bizarre coincidence.

The Christ statue (aka Giant Jesus) is a trip. It’s really like the Empire State building of Rio. It seems like almost everywhere you go you can see it. Many people have views of it from their apartment. I think it’s funny how my view of it keeps improving with each move. I joked with my mother that eventually I’ll wind up converting to Catholicism! I wonder how many Jewish boys from the Bronx have spent so much time staring up at that statue. I told my mother as things were starting to look up with the apt., etc, “I’m not sure if Jesus loves me, but I’m starting to think that he at least ‘likes’ me”! Frankly, I don’t give a shit what it stands for, it’s one of the most beautiful man-made sites I’ve ever seen. I rode home from the beach today (by bike) and saw it cast against an amazing sunset and now it’s got it’s night-light illumination, set against the black sky ... what can I say?

I mentioned the need for a CPF. Come to think of it, I’ve never bothered to find out what it stands for, but I can tell you about it’s importance. A CPF is like some sort of financial social security number (as far as I know we don’t have anything like it in the US). Without one you’re pretty screwed. I’ve heard you can buy them on the black market, but they’re pretty expensive (plus, I wouldn’t want to get caught with an illegal CPF). But somehow, even without this magic number, I’ve managed to get: a bank account with checks in my name and a Visa card; a lease for an apartment; a health insurance policy; and electricity & gas bills in my name. The phone bill was a bit trickier ... I had to open the account in the name of a friend of mine and use her CPF. But here’s the funniest thing. Even after accomplishing all of this, I still can’t open a freaking video store rental account on my own! I’ve had to sign onto other people’s accounts like a family member. Funny, isn’t it? Brazil is a trip.

Close to my last apartment in Jardim Botanico there’s a park called Parque Lage. It’s an incredible place, extremely green with lots of paths to walk around and explore. You can even walk up to Corcovado via a trail that starts in this park (about a 2 hour hike, which I’m definitely going to do one day). My favorite thing to do in Parque Lage is to go visit the monkeys. The place is ‘filled’ with them. Not just the little overgrown squirrel types (called “micos”), but also pretty big ones (“macacos”), the size of small children. People tend to feed them like pigeons or squirrels back in NYC, so they will come close if you play it right. One day I happened across a mother and her little girl with a bag of bananas. It was amazing ... the monkeys climbed down the trees, grabbed the bananas and hang out eating them and watching us. The only time I couldn’t find the monkeys was the day I actually went looking for them with my own bag of bananas. I took my friend Ana there to give her a show and not one fucking monkey showed up! 2 kilos of bananas for nothing!

I’ve started to do some volunteer work here in Rio. I’m almost reluctant to talk about it, because as of late I haven’t done anything and am feeling guilty about it. But I might as well mention it and share a little with all of you ... you can help as well, even far away. It’s an organization called ActionAid. It’s basically like a “Save the Children” kind of program, with the same sponsorship idea. There are millions (no exaggeration) of poor children in Brazil who don’t get to eat right, nor get a proper education. This organization is trying to help improve this situation. So far my small contribution has been translating the thank you cards the children write to their sponsors back in England. Usually it gets pretty boring (how many times can you write, “Today I ate rice and beans... “??!!), but it needs to get done. Sometimes you encounter a really sweet card and a kid with exceptional artistic talents ... those are the best ones. After I get more settled into my place I plan on returning and going to visit the areas where these kids live and hopefully get more involved. The ActionAid site is very informative and I urge you to take a look. The dollar is very strong right now and donations would go a LONG way. http://www.actionaid.org.br/

My pandeiro playing is going well. Back in July things actually got busy. One week I even played 4 gigs. People started calling me to sub and paid me. Imagine, a gringo pandeiro player getting paid in Rio. Some people told me it might have been a first! Things are a bit quieter right now, but I try to keep perspective and not take any thing for granted. While all other gigs seem to have dried up at the moment I continue to play every Monday night at a place called Centro Cultural Carioca (the place where Hermeto sat in) with Ze Paulo Becker. This has already gone on for over 2 months straight. It’s been a good experience for me. It’s a well-run place with a good sound system and sound man. I get to play all “mic’ed up” which is a whole other thing as far as pandeiro playing goes. Ze’s special guests have been quite a who’s who in the world of both instrumental and vocal music here in Rio. It’s been very cool to get a chance to play in front of (and sometimes with) these musicians. I’ve been very lucky to get this kind of exposure and experience. I’ve also gotten to play along side Beto Cazes who’s one of the most experienced percussionists here in Rio and plays the gig with Ze every week. Beto swings his ass off.

Aside from the weekly gig at C.C.C. I’ve probably played at just about all of the other main clubs in the Lapa section of Rio. If not on the gig, at least sitting in. There’s Semente (which is sort of Rio’s version of Augie’s), Carioca da Gema, Rio Scenarium, Casarão, Emporium 100, etc.. Probably some of the most fun I’ve had playing has been sitting in at Carioca da Gema with a group called “Rabo de Lagartixa” (loosely translated is, “Lizard’s Tail”). I have several friends in this group, among them Beto, and they always invite me to join them for a set or two ... always a blast. By the way, I’ll be forwarding an email to all of you in NYC, Washington D.C., and Chicago, as this group will be on a short tour in the US this month.

My biggest challenge right now is to keep practicing and improving. I really need to have a steady gig or at least a group of guys to play with every week ... even if just to play at home. But this isn’t easy. The level of player that I need/want to play with isn’t so readily available ... basically the best players. I know that I still have plenty to learn and improve on, and that there are plenty of guys around to keep me quite humble. But, after all of those years playing jazz I just don’t have the tolerance to play with sub-par musicians ... regardless of the style of music. There are ensemble workshops around but I just can’t deal with playing with beginner level musicians. This limits my possibilities. So, I just try to keep good company and play when I can ... even if it’s just sitting in. I learned while playing guitar that the best way to learn is getting your ass kicked on the bandstand by guys that are at a higher level ... so, that’s what I try to do here in Rio. I try to stay humble and respectful, but when the opportunity arises I step on stage and play. I’ve been through a lot of pain (with my neck and arm) to get to this point and I take it really seriously. I ‘think’ people respect this. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I recorded a radio show with Ze Paulo. It was an interview with a musician named Pedro Luis. His group "A Parede" played with us on the recording ... it was a blast. It's going to air at the end of this month.

Out of frustration with trying to deal with guys to fix my pandeiros I’ve started to teach myself how to make repairs and alterations. I’ve got a few friends in the “pandeiro community” and there’s always a nice exchange of ideas going on. “Hey, I tried a heavier skin on such and such pandeiro and it’s sounding nice... why don’t you stop by and check it out”. I love this feeling of community ... it reminds me of my guitar player friends back home.

Speaking of back home. About a month ago or so Brad Mehldau arrived in town with his trio (most of you getting this probably know of Brad, but if you don’t, just go to the record store). Brad and I used to play together way back when in the early 90s in NYC ... all of those wonderful $50 brunch gigs, etc.. Now Brad’s an internationally renown jazz pianist and I was extremely excited to find out his was coming to Rio. Unfortunately there’s really only ONE venue here in Rio where someone like Brad would be playing. “Mistura Fina” is sort of Rio’s Blue Note. Anyway, Brad, Larry Grenadier and Jorge Rossy (all guys from “back in the day”) came into town and sounded great. They managed to get some of my friends in as well which was great ... since it’s ‘really’ freaking expensive to get in there. I truly wish it wasn’t so hard to get great jazz down to Rio ... this city needs more of it. I had a blast hanging out with them backstage and going down memory lane. I took Jorge out both nights they were here after the gig to hear some samba and choro and he went nuts ... it was beautiful to see his reaction. Brad later wrote and said that Jorge talked about it for days.

A couple of weeks ago I was walking home around 3am or so. I was fairly drunk after having gone to hear some music at a club near my new place. I was enjoying these new, deserted streets and just as I was entering my building a police car rolls up behind me and one of the cops calls to me. I decided to ignore him and opened my gate. He called out again and I figured I’d better answer him. It’s important to remind you that in Rio many people fear the cops more than the criminals! So, I turned around and with slightly slurred speech asked him what he wanted. He asked me if I knew who lived in apartment 304 (I live in 304!). I decided to play dumb and I told him I didn’t know who lived there, but I asked him why. He mumbled something about a stolen car and he drove off. Man, I was pretty scared for that one moment ... I thought, “Oh shit, they’ve finally come for me”! But 3am, a strange time to be fetching Visa offenders ;-).

Random thoughts/reflections:

I’ve been wanting to write about the World Cup since it was going on back in June. I have all sorts of great photos that I’d love to share, but unfortunately they were taken just before my digital camera arrived. One day hopefully I’ll scan them.

Anyway, I want to somehow give you all an idea of what it’s like to experience seeing Brazil will the World Cup ... while being in Rio. I thought about it a lot while it was going on and discussed it with friends as well. I came to the conclusion that there’s no equivalent back home. You must remember that the Soccer World Cup is truly a ‘World’ championship. In the US we use that term loosely in Basketball, Baseball, etc... those are really ‘National’ championships, being that the rest of the world has nothing to do with it. I’m sure many of you have heard about how fanatical Brazilian soccer fans are. I had heard about it and I had experienced it ... you can see it during any televised game on any given weekend at any given bar in Rio. But when I experienced Brazil win the World Cup I saw something beyond fanaticism. It’s very hard to explain, but let me try to show how beautiful it was.

Imagine something (in this case a sport) that can bring so many people together (in this case a huge country). I’m talking about male/female; young/old; rich/poor; black/white; educated/uneducated, etc.. Please remember, I’m not talking about a neighborhood or even a city celebrating something with such emotion. I’m talking about a country! Even when the NY Yankess win a World Series the entire Bronx doesn’t celebrate. With each goal scored during the Cup you can’t imagine the celebration. The noise makers, the screams of “Gooooaaaaaaaaallllllll” from the windows of apartment buildings, the car horns honking. Wild. And you must remember that all of the games this year took place at either 3:30am, 6:00am or 8:00am. And you have to realize that this kind of celebration was going on all over this huge nation at the exact same moment. But the actual day of the final was the deepest. The joy on the faces of the people in the street was amazing. People flocked to the streets to celebrate. I headed down to Ipanema beach with my friend and his two little daughters. It was great. There was samba and maracatu drumming going on and everyone dressed in the yellow and green of the Brazilian flag. For weeks after the final people drove around with flags hanging from their car windows and streets and houses remained decorated with the colors of Brazil ... it was like a christmas that wouldn’t end. I had already experienced Carnaval and New Year’s, each twice, here in Rio ... but nothing compared with the energy of the World Cup. I can now truly say I’ve seen every major celebration in this city.

I’m sure many of you have already heard about a new Brazilian film called “Cidade de Deus” (God’s City or City of God). Many people are already predicting an Oscar for best Foreign Film and I’m sure it will get a lot of attention. I saw it last week and thought it was a great film. However, it’s also become quite controversial here in Rio and I thought I should mention something about it in one of my emails. Cidade de Deus is a film based on a book that was based on true events. It takes place in a “favela” (slum) not very far from the Rio that I know. But it might as well be thousands of miles away. The film focuses on the effects that drug trafficking have had on those communities and blatantly shows the level of violence that takes place. So, why is the film controversial. Well, because it’s a beautifully made film with great editing and images. The film even has humor in it ... some great humor. I think many people (and film critics) aren’t comfortable with a pretty (at times even slick) looking film about a pretty dark subject. There is some horrible shit that takes place in the film ... children kill and children are killed. There was a period when I lot of Brazilian filmmakers had to turn to making commercials and many critics feel this influence is hurting the industry here.

I personally don’t agree with the critics in this case. The film is a great film ... period. It wasn’t supposed to be a documentary. Obviously there is some danger that lies in foreigners seeing this film. A friend of mine even said, “Man, don’t let your mother see this movie, or she’s going to beg you to leave Brazil”! I can only imagine what the Secretary of Tourism felt when he saw this film. He must have shit his pants!

So, basically I’m including my little Siskel and Ebert routine here to clarify something for you potential visitors to Rio de Janeiro. The Rio that Cidade de Deus shows is not the Rio I live in (nor the Rio you would be visiting). It’s the equivalent of someone seeing a film about the South Bronx or East New York and thinking that’s what they’d encounter while visiting Manhattan. Yes, Rio is a dangerous place, but I’ve been here for a year and a half now and (knock on wood) haven’t had a problem yet. People say I’m lucky and they’re probably right.

In certain ways the favela drug trade actually makes Rio safer than it would be without it. Of course this is just in certain areas and it’s just my opinion ... but I know I’m right. Take away that business from the favelas and there would really be some wild west shit going on here.

All this talk about the favelas just reminded me of something (darkly) funny. Lately the front page news has been about an imprisoned drug lord named Fernandinho Beira-Mar. It turns out that this guy is so powerful that even in prison this guy can pull off all kinds of stuff. Last week he managed to get several firearms in the prison and had 4 rival guys killed in the same place. I’m also pretty sure he created some sort of riot by holding a bunch of guards hostage. But the part I liked best was that he had 12 pizzas delivered to the prison ... that’s some funny shit! He’s got cell phones and all sorts of things at his disposal. Most Brazilians I’ve talked to about it are pretty embarrassed, but I tell them not to be. Back in the US those Mafia guys were always up to something, but it was just a bit more low key. I would have loved to have seen footage of that pizza delivery!

Change, as in small bills, is quite an interesting thing here in Rio. Nobody seems to have it! I’ve literally had to walk out of a place without getting something to eat because they couldn’t break a 50. Even something as small as a 10 sometimes will get you a reaction of, “Don’t you have exact change”? I still have no idea why this is, but one day I joked with a cashier at a bakery, saying that I would start a business selling small bills and coins for more than there actual value! 10 singles for 15 reais, etc... Stupid little things like this can get one frustrated ;-).

No matter where I live and no matter where I go here in Rio there’s banging going on. Not just banging of course, there’s also drilling, sanding, sawing, etc.. It’s unbelievable. I guess this has to do with the concept of a “developing nation”. But man, it could drive one crazy. In my last apartment, someone bought the place next-door and started some intense demolition and construction that was set to go on for 3 months! No one said a freaking word to me or my roommates about it ... just started banging away, from 9am to 5pm Monday through Friday. Luckily I only had to deal with it for about a week.

Unfortunately that kind of lack of consideration is something you can see quite a bit of here in Rio. I’ve had many a debate (at times heated) about this concept and it’s definitely not one of my favorite things I’ve seen here. This kind of discussion opens the door for other social issues. People love to ask me things like, “What do you think the biggest difference is between Americans and Brazilians”, or “What do you like/dislike the most about Rio”. These are dangerous things to ask me because I’m usually not very shy about voicing my opinions. I don’t want to dwell on negatives here, but I’ll share one more example of a cultural difference that bugs the shit out of me. Here in Rio pedestrians DO NOT have the right of way. It doesn’t matter if you’re an old lady with 4 full shopping bags, crossing the street in the pouring rain. Just about NO ONE will stop for you to cross the street, even if you both have the light. I find it quite offensive and have even gotten into yelling matches with drivers over it. I’ve asked friends for explanations regarding this behavior, but I’ve yet to be satisfied with any of them. I guess you have to try to get used to stuff like this, or else you’ll go nuts! But it’s hard not to compare things.

Well, I think that’s about enough for this novel. I’ll leave you with one last thought. Brazilians have an expression, “Tudo da certo no final” (Everything works out in the end). With each month here I think I’m learning how to be more patient and to let things happen. Learning how to believe that things really will work out. I think this place and these experiences are teaching me this lesson.

Hope you’re all doing well. Please stay in touch and come visit Rio when you can! It's one of the most striking cities you'll ever see.

Here are some misc. photos I just posted:
http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?UV=499897721702_35697078503&US=0&collid=75856078503

Abraços,
Scott

Posted by Scott at 11:26 PM