I first fell in love with all things Brazilian in 1978. My sister Kim worked for External Affairs and was sent on a posting to Brasilia the capital. I was living in Vancouver at the time and decided to go down for a visit. Our mother joined us from Ottawa. I flew via Los Angeles, Lima and San Paulo. It was a long flight – Braniff Airlines from LA – if anyone remembers them.
I was immediately impressed with Brasilia. It’s centre is shaped like a giant airplane pointed towards the Amazon region signifying development of the country. Completed in 1960, it is a masterpiece of modern urbanism and architecture thanks to the work of architects Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer. In 1978 there were no traffic lights in the city (well maybe 1 or 2) since roundabouts were used extensively. I found this amazing.
Kim lived in a 2 bedroom apartment complete with paid maid and drinking water service. A 19 litre jug of purified drinking water was always on tap on a dispenser stand. I had never seen this before. We toured around town and visited the Canadian Embassy. I loved the musical sound of a Brazilian’s speech. Everything has an “ee” on the end of it e.g. “Kingy Kongy plays pingy pongy in Hongy Kongy”. Sandwich is pronounced “sandweeshay”.
I then flew to Salvador, Bahia for a sightsee of 2 days. It is on the coast north east of Rio. It has a fascinating culture known for its food and music. The island of Itaparica is a short ferry ride away and offers a superb beach. It was so hot there! The lady in the photo below accosted me right after I took this picture. I had to pay for the photo or buy some of the stuff she was selling – no problem.
Language was a problem. I did not speak Portuguese nor were there any English speaking people around. Pointing and use of facial expressions works but it was confusing at times for sure. I bought some nice painted wood carvings at the artisan market. I sampled the spicy food from the local vendors.
Next it was a short flight to Rio de Janiero to meet up with Kim and her boyfriend Andrew who worked in the British consulate there. Andy was really a nice guy and made me feel at home. He had a lovely large apartment overlooking Pria do Flamengo (Flamengo beach). He showed us around and was fluent in Portuguese.
We toured Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, Sugar Loaf Mountain, Corcovado, a slew of bars and restaurants. What an incredible place.
But the best was attending the 1978 Rio Carnaval – one of the biggest cultural expressions on earth. Andy was able to get us good tickets in the Sambadrome – a permanent set of bleechers where the parade takes place every year. There are 10 or more Samba Schools who compete with costume, floats, music and dancing all night long to gain top honour for their community. It was an absolutely incredible show filled with colour, smiles, beautiful people and great music. It started at about 8 PM and ended around 6 AM!! There were thousands and thousands of dancers and singers. I think we saw Oscar Peterson sitting a few rows in front of us.
Exhausted we went home in the morning to recuperate. I bought a cassette tape of the music that year and still listen to it from time to time. This started my love of Brazilian music. The video below is of the 1978 Beija Flor samba school who won the contest for the second year in a row. There were alligations the results were fixed but it was truly a great show!
On the radio was this wonderful voice of Roberto Carlos, the King of Latin music. With over 120 million records sold globally, I doubt you have ever heard of him right? His album Amigo was all over the air waves in 1978. Here is a live version of the title track.
We also listened to Radio Nacional FM (Efee Emee) from Brasilia. In those days there were no commercials and a deep Brazilian voice would announce the time every so often. They played Brazilian pop music (Musica Populeira do Brazil), samba, boss nova, jazz and other regional genres. Of course it is still on the air, try it here.
OK this is getting to be a long post. It was time to head home. I stopped in Guetamala City and Mexico City on the way home. Guetemala City was eerie as many buildings were still visibly cracked from a major earthquake in 1976. In Mexico City I could hardly breath as the air was so polluted with car exhaust fumes.
That’s all for now folks. Thanks for travelling with me! Dave
For sometime now we have wanted to go back to Montreal and visit some old haunts. Well this was the year. We drove to Montreal stopping first at 6815 Sherbrooke Street W (near Cavendish) to see Dave’s grandmother’s apartment building. Nana as we called her, lived here from about 1954 to 84. Dave has fond memories of visiting her here as a child. I can still smell the clean soapy smell of her apartment and that particular musty smell of the lobby as you entered. To us Montreal was a big city then and now. I remember marvelling at the buses, the traffic and the excitement of it all. “Hatwatter” (with the accent on the last syllable) the bus drivers used to announce at Atwater Ave on our way downtown.
