Dia 2 in Rio: Fruit vehicles, selfies, and eradicable borders

After my double red-eye extravaganza the nights before, my body happily awoke at 10am today.    I did a few sun salutations, then headed down the hill towards the beach for my morning run.  About halfway down, I saw a massive school bus parked in a cul-de-sac.  Lined up against the bus were crates of produce: sweet potatoes, pineapples, passion fruits, papayas.  And in case the customers weren't satisfied with the selection outside, the whole bus was full of produce as well.  I waved to the bananas in the dashboard and continued down to my beloved Copacabana beach.

Post run I savored some yerba mate and a papaya smoothie, then headed out towards Ipanema to see my Brazilian bestie Paula.  Paula and met in the aura reading course in Piracanga back in 2016.  I love her and her magical spirit so dearly!  After a 2 minute hug, we looked up at the cloudy sky and laughed.
"You always bring in the crappy weather, Jen!"  It was true!  Whenever I arrive in Rio, it's sunny and hot for about 24 hours.  After that,  the clouds crawl out from their cages and the city turns Rio-frigid (70 degrees).

Since it was way to cold to go swimming, we decided to wander along the beach before lunch.  About 1 km in, Paula pointed at the Ipanema Ocean View hotel.  "Do you love beautiful views?"  She asked.  What do you think?!

Paula asked that we speak English on the way in to seem like tourists who were actually staying there.  Claro!  I don't think the man dozing at front desk would prohibited our entry entering even if we were speaking Klingon.  But it never hurts to play it safe.  Whatever that means in this context.  The elevator took us to the 10th floor where there was a restaurant and a balcony revealing the most beautiful views of Ipanema Beach I have ever seen.  We took a 10 minute selfie session. The way people who stay in 400$ a night hotels usually do.


We headed for lunch at my favorite type of restaurant: comida a quilo (food by the pound).  Unlike buffets in America whose abundant food tastes like plastic, at best, buffets in Brazil are the bomb!  I always sample about 1 bite of each of the 100 dishes until my plate looks like a mosaic.  In addition to the usual salads I love, today I sampled a quiche made with hearts of palm, some sushi, and a Portuguese onion soufflé.  Not exactly vegan but so tasty.

To digest after lunch, Paula and I headed off to the Lagoa de Freitas, a Lake Merritt style lake right in the center of town.  We found a climbable tree and indulged in another selfie binge.  Before dropping Paula off at her house where she was going to teach an English class, we had went to "Cafeina" cafe where they serve, you guessed it, delicious coffee.   We shared a carrot cake frosted with brigadeiro (Brazilian truffle).  Also not vegan but even tastier!

On the way back up to my AirBnb on the hill, I started craving a banana. Lucky for me, 50 meters from my place a few guys had set up a huge van packed with crates of fruit.  I asked the mustachioed man how much the bananas were and he said, "4 Reais ($1.50) for the dozen."  When I asked if I could buy just two, he squinted his eyes and asked, "Where are you from?"

I'm proud to say that my Portuguese has gotten good enough that I usually pass for Brazilian until I DO something American.  If bananas are 4R for a dozen, you buy a dozen, silly American you!

When I told Rafael I was from the U.S , his eyes lit up like the hot peppers he was selling by the kilo. What part?  From California.  "Not New York?"  he asked.  "That's where I want to go.  Be honest with me, the United States is WAY better than Brazil, right?"

"Well, no." I smiled.  "That's why I'm here, not there.  The only thing I miss over there are my loved ones.  I love Brazil!"

"But for working, I mean, isn't it easier to make money over there?  How much is the minimum wage."

As I translated our minimum wage in Brazilian reais, I realized that Rafael had a point.  As much as I complain about the high prices in the Bay Area, the wage/cost of living ration is still better there than Brazil.  My delicious mosaic lunch cost me 29R, about 9$.  9$ for a delicious meal is cheap, sure, but for Brazilians that's equivalent to 29$ for a plate a food.  Here, I pay $1.50 for a metro ticket.  For Brazilians, it's 4.50R  Pretty expensive, especially when the minimum wage is 800R a month, around 300$.

When I told Rafael how much I had earned as a teacher, he asked me, in theory, if a Brazilian like him could get a green card by marrying an American like me.  Haha, certainly not in practice!   "I'm just joking!" He laughed.  I'm married of course, and showed me his wedding ring.  But then he looked down at a pile of orange peels and asked, "No but seriously, what do I have to do to get a visa to go to New York?"

I apologized for my xenophobic government and told him that it would be tough.  He'd have to ask as many of his friends and relatives as possible put their money into a bank account for him.  That way he could prove to the American embassy that he wouldn't be going to America to do exactly what he wanted to do: stay and work under the table.

Que injusticia.  Traveling abroad always slaps me on the face with my privilege.   With my American passport, I  can come and go to Brazil as I please.  Rafael will probably never see any apple bigger than the ones hanging from his side-view mirror.   I declare that when I am President of the world I'm eradicating all borders.   Let's let Rafael go to New York and freeze for a winter or two if he wants.  Maybe he can purchase a helicopter to sell pineapples from when he returns.

*****************************************************************************
So para te falar... (Inspired by Wallace Stevens' "This is Just to Say")

--For Rafael


I have eaten
both bananas
you sold me
from your fruitvan.

And which
you hoped I would exchange
for my American passport.

Forgive me--
I bought them
with money.  
Come November
I must go home.

But oh were they delicious.
You tried to sell me 12,
I should have at least
bought 4.