Monthly Archives: May 2009

Octavio Frias de Oliveira bridge – SP

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After seeing that one of the most popular posts on my site is in reference to the JK Bridge in Brasilia, I thought I’d post another nice-looking bridge. This time, it’s located in São Paulo’s Zona Sul district (more specifically the Brooklin neighborhood) which was completed last year (although last time I was in SP, it looked like this).

The Octavio Frias de Oliveira bridge is a cable-stayed bridge in São Paulo, Brazil over the Pinheiros River, which opened in May 2008. The bridge is 450 ft tall, and connects Marginal Pinheiros to Jornalista Roberto Marinho Avenue. If you are wondering about the name of the bridge, it references the late-Brazilian executive who started Grupo Folha, of Folha de São Paulo newspaper fame. The originally proposed name for the bridge was the Journalist Roberto Marinho Cable-Stayed Bridge, but at some point in the year prior to its completion, the name was changed. Perhaps there was an outcry from die-hard Paulistanos about the proposed name due to the fact that Marinho owned the newspaper O Globo and was a Carioca.

The bridge deck is unusual due to its form, which is similar to an “X”, crossing at the tower. Height-wise, if you were standing on the 46th floor of a building, you would be level with its highest point. It is also the only bridge in the world that has two curved tracks supported by a single concrete mast.

The construction began in 2003 after the Bahian contruction company OAS won the bid to build it.

“Of the 420 construction workers that helped build the bridge, 84 were born in the Northern state of Piauí and 126 arrived from the Northeastern state of Bahia. They have similar stories and many of them still plan on returning home. “Those who don’t study anything, who don’t have anything, must take any opportunity that appears,” says Jaílton Antunes da Silva, 47 years old, a Bahian from the Paulo Afonso municipality. “And the chance that I had happened to be in civil construction.” The workers on the bridge earn on average between $500 and $1,000 USD per month.” – Source (in PT)

Since the inauguration, a fully computerized system of LED lights changing colors and patterns, developed by Philips, illuminates the bridge at night.

North/Northeast gets flooded

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O Globo is saying upwards of 180,000 people have had to leave their homes in 190 Northern and Northeastern municipalities throughout 8 different states. The situation is somewhat reminiscent of the downpours in Santa Catarina late last year.

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“Tens of thousands have been left homeless by the flooding and mudslides, the worst in more than 20 years. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is due to visit some of the worst affected areas later in the day. Brazil’s normally arid north-east has been battered by a month of rains.

The governor of one of the hardest-hit states, Piaui, has declared an emergency in 19 towns and cities and asked for military assistance to help those stranded by the flooding. In the state of Maranhao, six people have been killed and two are missing, while several major roads have been flooded, civil defence officials say. Torrential downpours have also caused rivers to break their banks in the Amazon region. Forecasters say heavy rains are expected to continue in the north and north-east of Brazil until the middle of the month.” – Source (and video)

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Domínio Público – Free literature & music

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Domínio Público (PT only) is a Brazilian site put up by the Minister of Education to allow free access to famous literary works and various other media which they found important to highlight. It is all searchable and the literary sections are available in PDF and HTML format. I don’t have a habit of reading larger works on the computer but if you do, this is a great site for you to check out.

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If you are into Machado de Assis, this public domain site holds lots of his writings and includes a video on his life.

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Estante Virtual – Virtual 2nd-hand bookstore

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Strange…in November, I wrote about a Brazilian site here on Eyes On Brazil, yet when I needed to reference the post, it’s nowhere to be found. Oh well, here we go again…

Estante Virtual is a site that allows for the searching of close to 1,500 sebos (secondhand bookstores) throughout Brazil. They currently offer up 20 million new and used books in a searchable database that reaches 5,000 Brazilian cities. In only 245 of these cities, one can find traditional brick and mortar bookstores, yet thanks to the efforts of their ‘virtual bookstore’, individuals can offer up their own collections. Here’s what they have to say in their own words…

“Virtually reuniting the stockpiles of 1,417 secondhand bookstores in 245 cities, Estante Virtual is your chance to find the very book you are searching for. And for a price that you can pay! Stop hitting the pavement in search of books you never find, stop taking home a book that wasn’t exactly what you really wanted. And that’s not all! Every registered reader has at their fingertips their own virtual bookshelf, to sell books from their own collections to a community of millions of readers throughout Brazil and in various other countries.”

Check out the availability based on price below (which you can divide in half to get the US price)…

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First Brazilian bar to open in Miami

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“Miami, the most latin city in the States, is going to have its first genuinely Brazilian botequim (pub/tavern). It will probably be the first legitimate boteco (pub/tavern) to be brought to the US.

Or almost.

Almost because, obviously, it won’t be a typical pé-sujo (casual dining environment) like you, dear traditional bar-going reader, and I would love to see flourish throughout the land of Uncle Sam…but it would be Utopian to imagine such a scene. The “Botequim Carioca Brazilian Bar & Grill”, which would operate in downtown Miami, in front of the badalado (well-liked) American Airlines Arena, will be a nice place full of professionalism, in the style of the best of the São Paulo chains that now are proliferating in Rio and in other capitals.

The undertaking is thanks to the entrepreneurs Andrei Quintan and Júlio Queiroz, the latter one being responsible for bringing the churrascaria Porcão to the US.

It is certain that the new bar in Miami will borrow in the least some direct inspiration from Brazil: the famous counter-top delicacies, where the client can choose which they want and pay by weight.

The inauguration of the Botequim Carioca in Miami is slated for the 5th of June.”

- Source (in PT)

My Take

Now, I can’t quite see a truly Brazilian-style bar existing in the US as Brazilian bars carry with them a slice of culture that can’t be replicated with similar architecture and cuisine of Brazilian-American fare. Bring the petiscos (bar food, snacks) and larger beer bottles (with really cold beer), the yellow or red plastic tables and chairs and you’ll be on your way to enjoying the real Brazilian experience. That being said, next time I’m in Miami, I’ll be stopping by to check out the joint.

The two sides of the city

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Over at The Lion’s Den, which I link to on my (in-progress) Links page, Leo wrote a great post showcasing the two sides of Salvador. I’ll borrow the first two sentences from each perspective…

Side 1

“Look. Salvador, it’s a beautiful place. From the emerald sway of the palm trees that line the All Saints Bay, to the soft pastel colored churches that fill the Pelourinho—Salvador is a city of light, a place infused with the energy of a Northeastern sun.”

Side 2

“Look. Salvador, it’s an ugly place. From the dark stains of sewage that line the All Saint’s Bay, to the prostitutes, thieves, and wicked intentions that fill the Pelourinho—Salvador is a city of darkness, a place dried and cracked by a Northeastern sun.”

One of the people commenting on the original post, made a great observation on being a foreigner in Brazil. She said that it’s nescesary to be able to come back to Side 1 after seeing/living in Side 2. I think that’s very true as it’s easy to just stay with your illusions of what Brazil is depending on your social circles and stomping grounds. What is also interesting is that one can’t say Side 2 is the real Brazil, while Side 1 isn’t. They are both the real Brazil, you just have to make the choice as to which Side sits well with you.

Two Brazilian documentaries at Tribeca

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“Two documentaries set in Brazil that premiered last week at New York’s Tribeca film festival take a raw look at how destitute Brazilian families grapple with hardships including the clearest symptom of poverty — hunger.

“Garapa,” by award-winning Brazilian director Jose Padilha, follows three families and their malnourished children who drink garapa — a Brazilian-Portuguese term for a mix of water and sugar that eases hunger pangs.

Shot on grainy black and white film and with no effects, not even music, the film shows families stripped of bare essentials, Padilha said in an interview with Reuters.”

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“Another documentary screened at Tribeca, “Only When I Dance,” centers on two black teenagers living in a Rio de Janeiro shantytown and their struggle to make it as ballet dancers on the world stage.” – Source