Last day

Sunday marked our last full day in São Paulo. We kicked it off by participating in the Eco Run (I ran the 10k, Dave the 5k). It was a fitting way to bring closure to my time in Brazil, where I have probably run more than anywhere else: I trained for three marathons in the parks of São Paulo and I ran the Rio marathon last year. I had never run a race in São Paulo and it was fun to be able to run through the streets of the city I have come to call home. Also, it was my first time running a 10k race, and I enjoyed the distance much more than I thought I would.

The purpose of the race was to help raise awareness about the state of the environment. There were several information booths highlighting issues that are important in Brazil such as the trafficking of wild animals and the destruction of the Amazon. There was also a raffle that you could enter to win a bike (thus reducing your carbon footprint). At the end of the race, in addition to a medal, all participants were given a seedling to plant. And, my favorite touch: instead of a photo backdrop emblazoned with race sponsors’ logos, there were two huge nature scenes (one forest, one water) in front of which we could pose…

No run in São Paulo would be complete for me without my two favorite running mates who ran the entire 10k right behind me…

After the race I went home to prepare food for our going away party later that afternoon.

Eric was nice enough to offer his apartment for the party, which was very convenient as we lived in the same building (I’m still getting used to writing about our time in Brazil in the past tense). Most of our close friends and Dave’s closest co-workers were in attendance, and it was the best send off we could have hoped for.

In the end, tears were shed, but I take comfort in the fact that I know I have made some friendships that will last a lifetime. Tomorrow, our next adventure begins: we’re off to Alaska!

Leaving Brazil

Today, movers came to start packing up our things. Most of our larger furniture has been deconstructed and wrapped in cardboard and is waiting to be loaded onto a truck. It feels a little like a ghost town as I walk around and look into rooms that are now nearly empty or else crowded with stacks of boxes. Tomorrow, the movers will come to finish the packing and take away our things. Sunday is our going away party. Monday night we are on a plane to New York.

My time in Brazil has been filled with a wide rage of emotions. In the beginning I was not as happy as I thought I would be, and the transition was a rougher one than I had anticipated. But, once my Portuguese could be understood by others and I started to form friendships, I did truly begin to think of São Paulo as home. I will be sad to leave behind those with whom I have become close, but I know I will see them again, either in New York or on visits we will surely make back to Brazil (I have to return once every two years if I want to keep up my permanent visa).

Another thing I will really miss is the fruit. Fresh juice is readily (and cheaply) available everywhere you go, and now that I have been spoiled by bananas that are sweet yet still firm, and watermelon that is redder and juicier than anything you find back home, I find it difficult to palate either fruit when I am back in the US. I think Kuma agrees with me…

The first of the lasts

The lasts have begun.

Bri and Sabrina (photographed above with Dave) were our last visitors. They left Brazil on Monday evening. With them, we took our last trip to Rio (for now, that is, as we will for sure be back to visit some day). The two photos of Dave and me above were both taken atop Pão de Açúcar (or, Sugarloaf) in Rio. The first was taken during our first trip there together, right after we got engaged, in March of 2006. The second, darker one was taken last weekend. And, the saddest last of all: my last glass of juice at Polis Sucos, my favorite sandwich and juice stand, in Ipanema.

Swim meet

Last weekend, Bill, Braiden, Dave, and I drove to Campinas (a town two hours from Sao Paulo) so that I could compete in my first Brazilian swimming tournament. My coach recruited me to swim as he said the team from my gym needed more women entrants. Saturday morning was cold and I was not pleased to learn, upon arrival, that we would be swimming in an outdoor pool. I was entered in just one event, the 800m freestyle, along with 34 other female competitors. We were grouped in heats of eight based on previous race times. As I didn't have any previous 800m times on record, I was put in the slowest group and was the only person below the age of 60 in our heat which was the first swim of the morning.

After a solid warm up, I got increasingly nervous as the time came for me to step up onto the block. When the signal to start swimming - a loud beep - finally went off, I dove into the heated pool, only to have my worst fear realized: my goggles came off my face. I managed to keep swimming and adjusted them back into place, my eyes stinging as I gasped for breath in an effort to not slow down. Despite my inauspicious start I managed to keep a steady pace and finish with a time of 14:26:02 (a number I didn't find out until I showed up to swim at the gym on Monday). Cold and eager to not stand around for the rest of the morning watching strangers, we left soon after I showered and changed; one of the later heats of my event was still in progress.

Monday morning I arrived at the gym and started my workout like usual. After my 45 minute swim, I got out of the pool and my coach showed me a sheet with the results: I had come in third! I was a little sad that we hadn't stuck around, but at least Braiden, Bill, and I had posed for a joke photo on the podium, so I did get to stand on it. And, yesterday after swimming, I finally got my bronze medal.

One turtle's struggle

Taken at Projeto Tamar the turtle sanctuarty in Pria do Forte.

Afro-Brazil

Bill, Braiden, and I were just in Bahia. We spent a day in Salvador, taking in the historic center, and then headed for the beach at Praia do Forte where we visited a turtle sanctuary and saw some amazing capoeira. It was nice to finally be able to go somewhere new (not that I have anything against Rio).

Click to see the full albums from Salvador and Praia do Forte.

Felt last night

There was an earthquake here last night. Until this morning, I had no idea that Brazil had them. Dave and I were watching TV and the apartment started to rattle a little, Dave's water glass was trembling. While I have been in scarier quakes in Tokyo, last night was still unsettling as I have never been in one and been on the eighth floor of a building (my grandmother's house in Tokyo is two stories).

Reunion HCHS

Yesterday marked the end of a visit from three of my high school girlfriends. We had an amazing week together, including a trip to Rio where the above photos were taken. I miss them already.

Wedding, Brazilian style

This past weekend, Dave and I attended the nuptials of one of his co-workers. We arrived at the church -- Nossa Senhora do Brasil, the "it" Sao Paulo church in which to get married, rumor has it you have to book two years in advance -- at 5:15pm, 15 minutes before the wedding was scheduled to start, only to catch the bride of the preceding wedding just entering the church.

After standing outside for about 45 minutes, with an ever-expanding crowd, during which time the bride arrived in her car and was sent away to drive around the block again, we were ushered inside in order to clear the steps for the grand exit of the wedding in progress. Clumped together at the back of the church with all the others waiting for the next wedding, we were, in essence, crashing the wedding in progress, en masse. After the bride and groom and all of their family members recessed, followed by their guests who left from side doors of the church, we were finally able to take our seats. A mere five minutes later -- just enough time to smooth out the aisle runner and have a new batch of photographers and videographers take their places -- the wedding we were there for began, at around 6:15pm.

The church itself is quite grandiose, throwing together multiple elements that would, each on their own, be quite beautiful, but all together make for a gaudy mess. It's Sistine Chapel ceiling meets blue and white tiled walls, with numerous dark skinned Virgin Mary statutes thrown in for good measure. The ceremony itself was quite standard (though perhaps not the part when the song "Beauty and the Beast" was played after the vows), and fairly short, I guess they had to make way for the next bride and groom.

Note: the above photos were taken by a co-worker of Dave's, not me.

Rio, it gets better every time

This time around I was there with Sonya, and we had a delightful time. I rarely take photos when I am in Rio and so this time I decided to go full-out tourist-style so that I could have some photos to post. These are taken from atop Pão de Açúcar ("Sugarloaf" mountain), a lookout point to which you take a cable car. The beach you see in the second photo is Copacabana. If you look very closely in the upper left-hand corner of the third photo, you might just see Jesus.

Noronha, part two

Here is a link to more photos of our trip. We had an incredible time swimming, snorkeling, hiking, and beach walking. We had been told that Fernando de Noronha was a must-visit while living in Brasil and I whole-heartedly agree.

Back from Paradise

Dave and I just returned from a trip, with Dave's parents, to Fernando de Noronha, an island off the northeast coast of Brasil. I can safely say that it is the most beautiful part of the country that I have seen, to date. Above are photos of beaches that have been dubbed the "most beautiful" and "second-most beautiful" in Brasil. More later, for now I am exhausted and off to bed.

Eighth place, so much sweeter than first

Before I left São Paulo for my travels, I had - at the urging of my swim coach, Valeria - entered into a mail-in swimming competition hosted by the Associação Brasileira de Masters de Nataçao. This involved me swimming 1000m freestyle as fast as I could while Valeria timed me. She then mailed in a form with my time (plus my $10 fee) to the Association, and I promptly forgot about it.

Last week, after I had already finished my work out and was in the locker room, Valeria came running in after me and handed me an envelope saying it was my certificate from the mail-in competition. Inside the envelope was a certificate with my name, time (19'04"35), and place: 8th! I later went to the Association website and found that my name also appears there (click on the link; Under "LIVRE" click on "V. Camp Brasileiro por Correio"; In the window that opens, click on "1.000M Nado Livre Feminino"; Scroll down, I'm under "Faixa 25"). I also discovered that I was 8th out of 11 people. But, that didn't snap me out of my elation.

Sure, I didn't win anything, and, yeah, my time is nothing to write home about, but, for me, this marks my first medal for participating in a sport other than running. The medal is just a little something to symbolize all the hard work I have put in to swimming since I started going twice a week to the coached sessions at the gym last march.

Ilhabela

Dave surprised me with a long weekend getaway to Ilhabela, an island off the coast about three hours northeast of Sao Paulo. Ilhabela has lived up to its name which translates to "beautiful island." Now if we could just do something about the mosquitoes.

Reunion, at last

Kuma and Dave met me at the airport this morning. Kuma was so excited to see me and it made for the best homecoming. I took these photos in the car ride home. (Kuma, as you perhaps can tell, is not a very cooperative model. As soon as you pull out the camera, he wants to get real close and sniff it, ruining many a potential photo.)

Jogos Pan Americanos

Rio is currently playing host to the fifteenth annual Pan American Games. The Games, which are held every four years during the year preceding the summer Olympics, feature athletes representing countries in North, Central, and South America. Everyone here is abuzz with talk of the various events, though if you are reading this from the US you probably have no idea that they are even going on, despite the fact that the US is leading the Games with 62 gold medals (Cuba is second with 31, and Brazil a close third with 29). I for one had never heard of them until I moved down here, though they have been held in the US twice: in Chicago in 1959 and in Indianapolis in 1987. Rio has been hyping the Games since last year, selling mascot-emblazoned merchandise as well as posting banners in airports and tourist-heavy locations. One of the major complaints by Brazilians is that the games are not getting coverage in the US (rumor has it they are hoping to parlay hosting these Games as well as the 2014 World Cup into a strong bid for a future Olympics, thus any publicity they can get is to their advantage).

I was in Rio with Christina last week and the "Pan," as they call it here, has taken over the city. There are venues set up stretching from beach volleyball courts on Copacabana to a huge new soccer stadium in Recreio (where the Rio marathon started) named after Zico, a legendary midfielder who played for Brazil in the '78, '82, and '86 World Cups, and coached the Japanese team in the most recent Cup in 2006. Right outside our hotel, on Ipanema, there was a huge movie screen on the beach that showed a different film each night (our second night there it was An Inconvenient Truth and we could hear Al Gore's voice as we sat in our room after dinner). I also noticed that the demographics of the people staying in our regular Rio hotel were vastly different this trip. Usually it is filled with Brazilians and Americas, last week, however, Spanish seemed to be the dominant language of guests, spectators from all over South America there to cheer for their countries, though we did see some Americans and Canadians as well.

We didn't have tickets to any of the events, but one event that could be seen for free was the rowing, due to the fact that there were various locations around the lake - besides the one with bleachers for which you had to pay - from which the boats could be seen. We stood for a while, catching the end of one race followed by some medal ceremonies and kayakers and canoers warming up. As we were getting out of our car at the lake, I looked over and saw a man I thought I recognized. Then, I realized that he was Diogo Silva, the first gold medal winner of the Games for Brazil (in taekwodo). We rushed over and asked if we could take a photo with him, and he smiled a big smile and put his arm around Christina.

Calling all women runners

The results are in, and I am disappointed. Not at my time, a respectable 4:42:19, but rather at the very small number of women who participated in the Rio marathon. A mere 237 women completed the full marathon as compared to 1360 men (a ratio of 1:5.74). Just for kicks I checked the ratio for the Sao Paulo marathon and it's even more pathetic: 192 women to 2180 men (1:11.35). Compare this to the NYC Marathon (12321 women to 25558 men, 1:2.07) or the Boston Marathon (7974 women to 12364 men, 1:1.55) and it becomes clear that here in Brazil there is a severe shortage of female marathon runners. The fact that I finished 11th in my age group (females 25-29) is further evidence of the fact that we need more young women out there to join in; there were only 24 women aged 25-29 in the race!

So, if you're female and you're reading this and you run marathons (so, I guess, Jenn), the next time you want to run one, think about coming down South.

The Moustache goes to Rio

One week from tomorrow I will board a plane and fly the 50 minutes it takes to arrive at Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro. I will likely stop by the marathon expo on my way to the hotel to pick up my race number, chip, etc. Then, I will check in to the hotel and relax for the rest of the day. Dave arrives the following morning, and we're going to have lunch at an Italian place I like with a friend of mine from Williams who is currently living in Rio. After a carb-heavy lunch, I'll head back to the hotel and sit on the couch some more, maybe go for a dip in the pool.

Sunday is race day. I'm excited, and, I must say, more nervous than usual for the upcoming 42km. But, no matter what happens, I know that there will always be at least one familiar face running not-so-far behind me. Yes, the Moustache is coming to Rio. He and my other shadow, let's call him Flat-top, will drive the five hours between Sao Paulo and Rio on Friday afternoon. I don't know why they can't just fly there with me, I don't know where they're staying, heck, I don't even know if they're actually registered for the marathon. What I do know, however, is that when I get in line at the start of the race the Moustache and another man (a Rio-based runner who has been hired to run the entire race with me) will be standing close by. They will run near me until the 21km mark where Flat-top will take over for the Moustache. I have heard a rumor though, that the Moustache plans to run the entire race. Maybe once he is liberated from running with me he will take off and finish well before me, or maybe he will fall behind and I will be able to see him cross the finish line shortly after I do.

Up and running

So, the Sao Paulo Blog on HotelsByCity is officially up and running. I guess the word got out as I now share the blog with four other writers which is a little disappointing and leads to a not-so-unified end product. If you want to just read what I've written, I'm saopauloblogger03. If you click on my name at the bottom of the right hand menu bar you will be taken to a page that lists only my posts. Happy reading.

Maratona Internacional de Sao Paulo

Yesterday marked the 13th annual Sao Paulo Marathon. Jacquiline Jerotich Chebor and Reuben Chepkwek, both Kenyan, were the winners. More exciting though, was the 33rd woman to cross the finish line: Erin Sprague. You may remember her name from a previous post, she is trying to become the youngest woman to have run a marathon on all seven continents and she started In the Running to raise money along the way. Well, I found her on Facebook and emailed her and we wound up exchanging several emails which led to her coming to dinner at our apartment the night before the race. We ate pasta and talked about the various marathons we've run and plan to run, and she also talked about In the Running with which I hope to get involved. Then on Sunday Dave, Kuma, and I accompanied Erin's boyfriend Dana to the finish where we all cheered her on. I am excited to get involved with the organization which raises money for grassroots-level non-profits on each continent and is currently trying to get more athletes with various challenges (not just running on every continent) involved. Erin and I will be running in the same race next year in Australia, but between then and now I will have more updates on In the Running, my involvement, and, of course, how you can get involved as well.

(Above are some photos from the marathon. Running in a sunga (like a Speedo, what the male bathing suits here are called), how very Brazilian, I just had to share. The other crazy thing we noticed - of which I don't have any photos - several people running the race barefoot!)