Catching Up: Brasilia

The days are whizzing by, each one a lifetime in itself, so trying to play a little catch-up here. My one-day course in Brasilia for another 50 teachers was in an echoey church basement. No Orff instruments, a small bag of dubious percussion instruments and a very funky keyboard. No matter.  I always say all I need is a circle of people with a beating heart, open mind, receptive body and a working voice and indeed, it was enough. The closing spiral song especially evocative in that acoustic cathedral-like space. Taken to El Paso Mexican restaurant by my translator and her husband, two lovely people who helped me pass a memorable evening. This part of the city reminded me a bit of Singapore and in terms of modernity, the parallels apply. 

 

The next day, the course organizer and his 17-year-old niece who learned English by watching TV took me on a tour of this interesting city. Using yesterday’s outline, my comments. 

·      Government tour — Brasilia is an interesting place. It is a city that was built intentionally to become the new Brazilian capital and as such, is quite modern. I went on a tour of the Government Buildings and was struck by many details of Brazilian history that I want to investigate more. The relatively recent decades of dictatorship, the copycat January 8^th, 2023 invasion of the building so similar to our January 6^th, the time-line of human rights progress. So interesting how the latter seems to follow a universal pattern of what differences people are willing to finally accept as “normal” and when. It seems to go from religion to race to women’s right to children’s rights to disabilities to gay rights to trans rights. Of course, WAY too many people who didn’t get these memos and are still determined to target some or all of these groups. 

 

·      Capybara —Name the world’s largest rodent in 5 seconds—GO! Well, I could because I used to draw this animal, the capybara, as a kid. But I had never seen one live. So when my hosts mentioned that there were many in Brasilia, it became the sole focus of the city tour. We went to a riverside where they said sometimes as many as 50 would be roaming around. But there wasn’t one in sight. Until there was. One. But it was enough. They’re big! And apparently this one was still growing. The next time my wife complains about a mouse in our house, I’ll remind her to be grateful that we don’t have a capybara infestation. 

 

·      Climbing the Banyan Tree—There was a large Banyan Tree with some ropes and chains to help you climb it. I climbed trees all the time as a kid and once as an adult (after which I wrote a poem about it). So sure, why not? (That photo is not me, but I’m waiting for my host to send on.)

 

·      Three Wishes— There were two “handles” on the tree and you’re supposed to hold on to them and make three wishes. Of course, I’m not supposed to reveal the details, but I can say that following the airline advice of putting on my own oxygen mask before assisting others, the first wish was a personal one that would allow me to keep working as I both must do and love to do, the second one for the happiness of my daughters and the third one for the awakening of intelligence and caring in my country. 

 

        • Portuguese—… is a language I wish I could speak while in Brazil. As I 

           always tell myself in Italy, it’s close enough to Spanish but as I always 

           forget once I’m there, not really. Oddly enough, the airport folks I need to 

          speak with briefly spoke neither English nor Spanish and it was like the old 

         days of traveling, lots of gesturing, pointing and probably raised voices. 

         But I managed to get on the plane and arrived in Rio around 9:30.