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