Let's have a party.....I mean, let's impeach the President

Spitting, shouting, singing. Speeches honouring your grandchildren, corrupt politicians and former torturers – a family day out at the Brazilian Parliament.

When your back's against the wall, impeach the President

A couple of weeks ago was another step in the impeachment process against President Dilma, for allegations of tinkering with the government accounts before the last election. Those against the impeachment say it’s a coup d’etat, instigated by those set to gain the most. 

Assuming the impeachment goes ahead, Vice-President Michel Temer will become the President, in spite of a body of evidence of corruption against him. Also set to benefit is the President of the Lower House of Congress, Eduardo Cunha, also, in spite of evidence of corruption, bribery and purgery. And, of course, there are many hinting at US interference as well.

It all seems to me the type of 1980’s conspiratorial farce that you read about years later when CIA documents are declassified.

The media have been said to be rather biased

I was gripped to the embarrassing train wreck of the impeachment vote for several hours – during which each of the congressmen and women had up to 30 seconds to justify and declare their vote.

30 seconds was not enough ego-boosting time on national TV for many of the self-promoting congressmen and women whipping themselves into a feverish frenzy. Here are some highlights (remember, all live on national TV, in the Lower House of Republic’s Parliamant):

- most voters in favour of impeachment, draped in the colours of the national flag like partisan football fans, seized their 30 seconds to scream dedications to their wives, children, parents and friends and wish happy birthday to grandchildren. They often thanked God for this day and sited their Christian or Evangelical beliefs, and informed the nation how many votes they won in their last elections.

- as in general life here (especially TV commercials), the public were treated as imbeciles incapable of independent thought, seduced by the person shouting the loudest, and boy, did they shout!

- many voters against impeachment presented clear and reasonable arguments and a rational justification for their vote, explaining why they see the impeachment as a coup d’etat instigated by major politicians already under huge investigations for their own corruption scandals.

- Jair Bolsonaro honoured army man Colonel Ustra, who ran a torture centre during the dictatorship.

- Eduardo Bolsonaro, Jair’s son, honoured the general  responsible for military coup of 1964 that led to the dictatorship.

- Congressman Jean Wyllys reacted to this by spitting enthusiastically at Bolsonaro Senior 

- one elated congressmen tried to hand his vote to his son, until the President of the Lower House Eduardo Cunha, for once following the rules, advised the congressmen this was not legal.

- 303 congressmen and women accused of various other crimes all had their chance to vote, and voted overwhelmingly in favour of impeachment in a move of self-preservation (of course siting democracy).

- some of the politicians refused to move from the same spot for hours on end, for fear of having their moment of fame and glory ended. One guy spent the whole evening wiping his sweaty bald head with the national flag.

- each vote in favour was greeted with rapturous song and cheer, one shot off a party popper. 

Wlad going wild

It was like watching a raucous, out-of-control stag do, not the nation’s politicians meeting on a somber, historical day deciding the politically-motivated impeachment of a democratically-elected president based on flimsy evidence. But then, huge numbers of these politicians have a vested interest in the impeachment, as they hope it will see investigations into their own, more widespread corruption disappear.

Inevitably, the yes vote won and it now goes to the senate. It will be an intriguing few months ahead to see how all this evolves.

For an interesting article on the vote and the impeachment process by The Guardian - http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/18/dilma-rousseff-congress-impeach-brazilian-president

Two Adjectives to Describe the Culture of Palmas

Palmas, 2008

On my first trip to Palmas I played a game of beach football. I ran into space to be available for a pass, monitored my teammates availability, looking around when I had the ball, looking to pass.

A common perception in Palmas.

It was all a waste of time. You get the ball, run and shoot. When you don’t have the ball, you do nothing. The person with the ball will not pass to you, so why bother? 

It was not a team game, it was a game for individuals to seek their own individual glory.

At the end of that trip, leaving the airport, I was attended to by an airline agent. Another customer approaches, interrupts and the attendant serves him first. The “culture” here does not allow the attendant to refuse the interruption but obliges him to attend the interupter.

These two experiences serve as perfect metaphors for my time here in 2015.

Palmas, 2015

In another post I’ll detail some (recent) experiences that have led me to these conclusions (there are too many to include in one post), but here is a summary of my one year of living among the people of Palmas. And please remember I am not talking about everyone. There are many truly genuine, generous people. But my impression of the culture as a whole is thus.

Arrogant and selfish. These are the two main adjectives that spring to my mind, and that I hear on the lips of anyone here who has a perspective of the overwhelming attitude in the culture here.

The individual's priority is to look out for onself. At every moment of their lives they are searching for an advantage over others. Overtaking on the inside lane, or on a roundabout, queue jumping, interrupting people being served, arriving late for work, leaving early and doing nothing in between.

Short term individual resolution is all that counts. The consequences of a lie told today are not considered. The “culture” dictates that people should pursue the easiest resolution for today, now, regardless of how this may affect other people today, or you tomorrow.

Brazilians have a very strong image overseas as friendly, welcoming, open. Solidarity and community are apparently essential to Brazilian culture. And it’s true, amongst people you know, amongst family and friends, people look after one another extremely well. I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of many people here. Sadly, however, here in Palmas my overwhelming experience is very different to the image everyone expects of Brazil.

I understand there are reasons for this attitude. Given the history of colonisation, theft, slavery, corruption, dictatorship, exploitation and extreme poverty, survival for oneself and one’s family takes precedent. However we are no longer living in those times. Society has moved on but the attitude remains in the past.

What is also frustrating is to see this same attitude amongst people you would hope would be instigators of social change – educated, intelligent, well-travelled, socially aware people often behave in the same way as everyone else. To see a doctor or lawyer driving drunk, and terribly, with kids in the back seat and no one using a seat belt for me is the worst of all. 

“Skol Skol Skol Skol!” The unexpected predictability of life in Palmas

One of the impressions of Brazilian people and the way of life here is that of spontaneity. This seems fair to me, in Palmas. Little planning occurs, people live from one moment to the next and enjoy life. People do things without much analysis or stress, and obstacles that another person might try to foresee are easily overcome as they appear. Potential problems are not considered, only problems that are in front of you at any given moment.

Mushrooms spreading like fungus

There is another side though, which has surprised me. That is the predictability of the daily routine. Maybe it's the fact it's dark at 6.30pm every day of the year.  Or, being a new city founded only 27 years ago, there has been little time to develop the diversity of older cities.

Most people work the standard 8am to 12pm, 2pm to 6pm. At 7.50am our car park is full. By 8.15am (given the fact that people like to arrive late) it’s empty. By 6.30pm, full again.

One of two remotely interesting buildings in Palmas

Architecture is very limited here. There are only two buildings I find remotely interesting, but neither would engage me in another city. The rest are either standard condominiums (gated residential communities, usually with blocks of flats 6 floors high) or “mushrooms”, a small ground floor with a broader first floor. 

Shoddy paintmanship at the Palace

As a planned city the road layout is very standardised and homogenised. 3 lane highways lined by palm trees and joined by roundabouts. Upon entering a block you are always faced with 5 lanes that meet at one point, and no one in the city understands who has priority (there are no signs) but everyone drives on the assumption that it’s them. The entire road system has white painted curbs, but no one has learned how to paint a curb. Drivers are invariably reckless and aggressive, ignoring all rules such as lanes, indicating, and sobriety.

5 lanes meet with no one given priority

Lunch break for everyone starts at 12pm. By 12.05pm the restaurants are rammed. By 1pm they are emptying out and there is no food left. Everyone eats “per kilo” – it’s quick, good value and usually pretty good food. Rice, beans and meat are essential. We have to be careful who we invite for dinner as most people expect rice and beans and may be disappointed if it is not served. Many people would not like anything I cook as it’s too "exotic" (imagine an Englishman's food being called exotic). I know some who have visited other countries and really struggled without rice and beans every day. One told me that many in their group visiting Korea literally cried at mealtimes, and lost huge amounts of weight.

Our car park typically empty by 8.15am

The vast majority of restaurants and bars have plastic Skol tables and plastic Skol chairs. Usually white, occasionally red or yellow but always the same format. They all sell the same 2-3 brands of lager, always wonderfully cold, in 600ml bottles. Some only sell cans. 

After the sun sets at 6.30pm it starts to cool down a little and people spill out on to the pavements, and sit there.

At weekends people have barbecues, providing endless quantities of delicious meats – steak, sausage, chicken, pork. Accompanied by rice, beans, cassava and salad (lettuce leaves and sliced tomatoes with no dressing); Skol, Guarana and Coca Cola.

Other people find it fun to spend Saturday afternoons drinking on petrol station forecourts then drive home drunk.

The principle pastime is attending church. Churches in Palmas are as ubiquitous as pubs in England. Every street has one, usually Evangelical, and outside of work and home, they are where most people spend their time. Religion is a huge part of daily life and conversation here. Yesterday my mother-in-law invited me to her church, asking “do you not like Jesus”. Everything that happens, for better or worse, is thanks to God, or what God wanted. 

So when Palmeiras won the Brazil Cup earlier this month in a penalty shootout that was delayed due to the amount of prayers the players were offering, with a penalty taken by their goalkeeper, I can only assume it was because the goalkeeper who scored had attended church more than the goalkeeper who failed to save the penalty.

(Disclaimer: these are only my observations aimed at summarising my experience of living in Palmas, Tocantins. They do not claim to be solid fact, nor represent anything beyond my humble impressions)

Some Surprisingly Practical Innovations

My favourite innovation in Brazil is the individual beer bottle cooler. Here it is common to share a 600ml bottle between 2, 3 or 4 people, each with a small glass. To further avoid the beer getting warm (absolutely unacceptable here), beer is always served in an insulated beer holder. Here is the best part: to order another beer you simply remove the empty bottle from its cooling skin and leave it exposed on the table. Very quickly it will be replaced. No queues, no rounds, no fiddling with change. Drinking continues uninterrupted, as drinking should do.

It surprises me when I find practical solutions here. The ham and cheese sandwich here is omnipotent, forming an integral part of the diet in most households. As a result, there is a specifically designed Tupperware – shallow and with two independent sections, giving easy access to both ham and cheese and preserving them as well.

I also like the miniature wipers for kitchen tops. Kitchen tops are almost always made from marble, and with a thick, raised trim to prevent water dripping onto the floor. This way, you can be as reckless as you like with your dishwashing, and simply wipe the excess water back into the sink with the wiper.

Continuing the theme, houses here always have tile floors and skirting boards, and often the walls. Again, this means you can go wild when using water to clean the floor. There is always a drain in a corner to flush away the water. No carpets, no wood that can rot. Brazilian homes have a tendency to be very clean.

Instead of cardboard or plastic packaging, traditional wooden fruit boxes are used here to transport fruit and vegetables. And they are reused over and over – no needless waste. (We currently use some as a TV rack and bookcase).

I also like the shopping trolleys, short and two tiers. Very maneuverable in small spaces when ignorant people stand 4 abreast, each with trolleys, blocking the narrow aisle chatting away. They also take up little space in the inevitable, unmoving queues. It's a shame people leave them empty at the checkout in the way, or in the car park occupying a disabled or shaded space.

It’s normal to have pedestrian crossings across 3 lanes of one-way traffic. Apparently this is not taught in driving school, but it’s common practice for the driver to out on their hazard lights when they intend to stop for a pedestrian. This helps both the pedestrian to know he/she can cross, and the cars behind to know that they should slow down. This small piece of courtesy surprises me every time I see it, occurring as it does in an otherwise aggressive, selfish and reckless traffic culture.  

Scenes from the road

Aside from the reckless and irresponsible driving, I am often amused by sights I see while driving in Palmas.

A strategically placed phone box.

A while ago I was driving down a one way, 3 lane highway. Common sense would suggest it was 2 lanes, but I knew it was 3 lanes (no lanes painted of course) because you can squeeze 3 cars together on it and still have millimetres between the cars (definition of 3 lanes here). The sunset in front of me made everything silhouetted but I managed to make out the scene ahead.

On the right, 3 pedestrians and a wobbling cyclist, backs to the traffic, strolling 4 abreast in the inside lane, happily taking up an entire lane of traffic. 

On the left, a guy cycling towards us, wobbling of course. The reason for his wobbling was that (as I found out at the last second) he was balancing a 2.5 metre pole on his handlebars, width-ways, thus taking up the entire outside lane (the fast lane). I managed to squeeze through between them in the middle lane and drive off into the sunset and nobody thought twice about it.

Knowing how many bad drivers, drunk drivers and Whatsapping drivers there are, pedestrians seem as reckless with their lives as the drivers.

Shortly before that I had been overtaken by a motorbike, driving with a large backpack on his lap and a phone in his hand. His passenger had a very young baby in his arms.

Another day I spotted a cyclist cycling happily along, with a toddler sat on his shoulders and grabbing hold of his ears for safety.

I recently saw a young mother driving a motorbike with a 5 year old child in the front of her. Who had control of the bike? The kid, speeding up and down and driving recklessly down the street. Another day, I woman in high heels riding a motorbike with handlebars full of shopping, the woman wobbling as she clearly struggled to control the bike.

It's common here to carry four people on a motorbike, typically the driver, his wife and two kids. Alternatively, a couple of cases of beer, as I saw not long ago.

Another strategically placed phone box

It’s a challenge driving here, but it would be an even bigger challenge to not have a car. Reliance on public transport or lifts is not an option when punctuality is important in your daily routine and not important in anyone elses. As a result, while our car was being repaired following the accidents previously mentioned, I had to take a couple of taxis. Both nice, chatty drivers, we discussed drink driving versus taking a taxi. Their opinion is that in other cities, taxis are more common, but drink driving is still very common here in Palmas. It remains a provincial town.

Both drivers got confused at 2 different points in the city (one driving the wrong way down a one way road) – if local taxi drivers don’t understand the system then it makes me feel better when I don’t. Neither used seat belts. One of them had a screen on his dashboard showing live TV – why should a driving job mean you should be away from your soap operas? One of them gave me a discount, rounding the trip down to the nearest $10RS. Getting around in Palmas is full of surprises, but this was the only welcome surprise I have experienced so far.

Jalapão Adventure!

Hanging on to the pick up

I have wanted to visit Jalapão since I first heard of it in 2006, and I finally had the opportunity recently. Jalapão is a remote but beautiful part of the state of Tocantins, accessible only by 4WD. It is also expensive to get there as part of a tour or hiring a 4WD. We managed to grab a lift with friends who had space in their 4WD.

I had seen many photos and heard much about the region, so had a rough idea of what to expect. But to experience it myself was amazing.

Entrance to the Cachoeira do Formiga waterfall

Cachoeira do Formiga

The journey is part of that experience. We left early on the first morning in a troupe of three 4WDs, packed full of camping gear and food. We soon hit the dirt track that covers most of the road to Jalapão. The road was ours, a real pleasure after the daily trauma and stress of driving in Palmas. The views were stunning, through savannah and forest, through the “serra” (the high plateau that characterises the area). We spotted deer, owls, and a variety of colourful bird species and butterflies.

After driving all day, we arrived after sundown in Mumbuca, a small community well located in the region for access to the main attractions, and the base for our visit.

By 8.30am the next morning we were swimming in the striking Cachoeira do Formiga, a beautiful waterall with crystal clear water, a perfect place to spend the morning swimming in its various swimming holes.

Fervedouro - where man is unsinkable

Following a barbeque lunch at the waterfall we moved on to a Fervedoro. One of several natural swimming holes in the area, in which it is impossible to go underwater. A freaky experience, one moment there is the sensation of sinking in quicksand, the next you’re sprung back up to the surface. Any part of your body more than half a metre under the water seems to be submerged in sand.

Perhaps equally as enchanting as the Fervedor and the Cachoeira do Formiga was the cool weather. Being out of Palmas, spending the day in cool waters, and the occasional shower resulted in splendidly pleasant temperatures.

The famous sand dunes of Jalapão

On our last day we packed up and headed home, stopping off at some small communities and visiting some friends of our friends in their simple adobe huts with traditional wood-burning stoves. The highlight of the day was the dunes – in striking contrast to the lush green savannah around, seemingly out of nowhere, appears a vast sand dune. The cool temperatures from the previous day had disappeared, and we climbed the dune in the afternoon heat. The top afforded spectacular views of the area, the rich greens plateau and the arid sandy hills. At the bottom of the main dune was a steadily flowing river – I lay on my side and rolled all the way down until falling into the river to cool down.

All that was left was a long and bumpy journey home, arriving in Palmas at night. We were exhausted but thoroughly enthralled by the adventure. 

The Rains are Coming!

It rained the other day, while I was driving. It hadn't rained for so long I literally forgot how to resolve the blurred windscreen. It took me a while to remember that's what wipers are for, and how to turn them on.

Not long ago I posted about the rather warm weather Palmas had been experiencing during it's "summer". Well, the rains are on their way and the temperatures will soon be dropping to the low 30s. 

Not even 11am on an average day. "Feels like 50 degrees".

On the good side, this means the following:

- the temperatures won't soar into the 40s as they have been for the last few months

- you can spend more than a minute outside without burning

- instead of dust everywhere, the city becomes green and lush again, making it a much more pleasant place to be in.
- no more forest fires in and around the city, no acrid stench and black bogeys

(No-one seems to be certain if the fires, which occur every year for several months, are caused on purpose for some greater agricultural good; by accidental dropping of a cigarette or an abandoned barbeque; or a product of nature due to the incredibly dry and hostile environment). 

Smoke from forest fires that covers the city

On the down side, it means:

- you can't spend more than a minute outside without getting soaked (our electric car key was destroyed once, and we had to drive around with the alarm blaring until we could get to a garage)

- you can't leave your windows open. Even when it's sunny you can't leave your flat without the possibility of two of each of the earth's animals seeking refuge in your living room

- it's pothole season - the streets become full of potholes, hidden by rainwater. Serious damage can be done to your car

- traffic is even more erratic and the roads are frequently flooded.

But on the whole, the lower temperatures make it worthwhile, so now I've found my wipers again, bring on the rains!