Palmas is a small world

We recently went out to a bar – a fairly typical event where we bumped into the usual amount of friends. Here is who we bumped into:

Friend #1 is Sonia’s longstanding friend. Her boyfriend, friend #2 is my drinking buddy. He works with friend #3, who attended me when I needed medical help when I was here in 2010, and helped me when I was admitted at the start of this year. Friend #3’s brother, friend #4, graduated with Sonia and is also the guitarist in the band that was playing that night in the bar. Friend #4’s girlfriend, friend #5, works with Sonia. We bumped into friends #6 and #7. The last time we were at this bar, friend #6’s father was playing in the band. Friend #6 studied in Portugal with Sonia and is married to friend #7 who, separately, has been a friend of Sonia’s for a long time and is a friend of friend #1’s sister. Friend # 8 works with Sonia and also in the same department as me at the university.

When we go out for lunch we bump into numerous friends and acquaintances and it is often a prolongued process to shoehorn Sonia out of the restaurant as the conversation flows.

My students quite often know me or of me before they meet me, through a mutual acquaintance, and they often know each other somehow. There is always a link to connect people here.

For a city with a population of over 250 000 people, Palmas feels incredibly small. Part of that can be explained by the fact that many ties remain strong amongst the small community that was here when Palmas was created in 1989. Also, society here is strongly divided by social strata – the majority survive on the minimum salary of around £150 per month. The smaller section who are socially mobile and active are the ones likely to be seen at social events. Here, so much depends on who you know. If networking is not in your skills set, you will struggle. If you know the right people your career, social life and health will prosper. As a doctor student of mine told me in their first class: the best thing to do in Palmas is to be friends with a doctor.

There is also the fact that Brazilians are naturally a social people, they generally love to chat. People often have few interests outside of the family and the community. In most neighbourhoods you can see people sat out on the streets every evening with nothing to do but chat to neighbours and passers-by. As a result everyone knows each other and the city often has the feel of a village community.

If anonymity is your thing, Palmas is not for you!

It's getting warm

A rare peaceful beach

Since I have been back from the UK we have been to a few beaches on the lake and on the river.  Finally we have found one that doesn’t have ridiculously loud music at every turn. There is always at least one sound system, usually more, polluting the space, meaning you have to scream to be heard.

We have also been to friends’ swimming pools when the opportunity arises – anything to escape the incredible heat. Official temperatures record 39, 40 degrees, but the real temperature can reach the high 40s. If you thought the English like to talk about the weather, come to Palmas – everyone complains about the “infernal heat”. I have avoided complaining about the heat since I have been here. Partly because complaining won’t make it any cooler but it will make me focus on the heat, and partly as I have been saving my complaint credits for August and September, when the real heat hits, in case I needed them. So far I haven’t, but I’m not far off.

A single pesky cloud ruining the view

It’s a dangerous business just getting in the car if it’s been in the sun. I burnt my hand on the metal seat belt buckle the other day. It’s impossible to touch the windows or car doors and the car seats feel like they are scolding your back. At least clothes dry quickly though. I pity those without a car, and those who have to work outside in the sun.

Fire in front of our building

The other day the unoccupied plot of land in front of our flat caught fire. Roughly 1000 square metres of dry grass, turned black and burnt within 30 minutes. Possibly caused by a stray cigarette, a piece of glass or metal, land here is so dry fires start so easily. I often drive past small fires within the city. Apparently, the fire brigade have no duty to attend fires on land where no-one lives, so the fires just burn, each one adding a little to the urban heat. 

Greener grass?

Following any observation I make about living in Palmas, people here usually tell me that other major cities are much worse than Palmas – the traffic, the distances from place to place, the violence, the cost of living.

Congress as seen from the Ministry of External Relations

For the first time since living here I had the chance to spend a few days in another city. It gave me some perspective on living in Palmas as a Brazilian city, rather than referring back to the UK. To my surprise, Palmas came out of the experience rather favourably.

After a relatively quick, 13 hour flight from London (arriving for the first time ever on the same day as I had left England) I spent three days in Brasilia with some friends we’d made in England. Brazilian woman with a gringo husband, we have many experiences in common. Over the three days he shared some of his experiences of living in Brasilia, which would require at least an entire post on their own just to summarise the main highlights.

A hummingbird at the Botanical Gardens

We visited quite a few of the tourist spots, took a tour of the Congress, the Ministry of External Relations, Botanical Gardens, Brasilia Cathedral with its whispering wall, one or two pleasant parks. We took in expansive views of the city from the TV tower.

While Brasilia has more to offer in terms of things to do, I was left agreeing with many of the things people had said of Palmas. Here, although we have to drive everywhere, most things are 10 minutes away; the rush hour is minimal and over quickly; the traffic is less intense, less savage. Cost of living is considerably less. There is so much money in Brasilia that most places cater for those with money – the humble espetinho bar was difficult to find. The per kilo buffet restaurants for lunch are almost twice the price per kilo.

So who’d have thought it – Palmas is not all that bad. One thing that did enchant me about Brasilia, however, was its much more agreeable climate. It was winter there, averaging low 20s during the day and most pleasant of an evening. I took the one hour flight to Palmas which is entering it’s “summer”, to be welcomed by 40 degree heat. You know that blast of heat on your face when you open a hot oven? That will now be my life for the next few months.

Sculpture at the Ministry of External Relations