Brazzil - Year 13 - Number 190 - January 2002

REJOICING AT ARGENTINA'S DISGRACE

MUSIC

NiSSIA ORR'S PREMATURE DEATH

NOW-TO:

BUYING REAL ESTATE IN BRA/II. 1

CARNAVAI: T'S MAGIC IN PERNAMBUCO

INSIGHT: !BRAM FOR BEGINNERS

"We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams" --- Jimmy Carter

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In the 16''' century this popular literature was already known in the Iberian Peninsula. It was called loose leaves or leaflets (pliegos sueltos in Spain, folhas soltas or volantes in Portugal). Under the name of cordel, however, this cultural manifestation—starting in the early 1900s flourished and gave a strong voice to the popular poets of Brazil's Northeast.

In a region with a high rate of illiteracy-46 percent of the Nordestinos are functionally illiterate—the cordel, which despite being printed is transmitted orally, works as newspaper, textbook and catechism. In rhymed verses these short poems tell stories about politicians, popular characters and folk myths. They might be only entertainment, but often they preach, instruct and draw moral conclusions.

As is so often the case, Brazilians only started valuing their own cordelistas after French daily Le Monde published in 1969 an article by Raymond Cantel celebrating the virtues of the Northeast popular poetry. Since then cordel has been the subject of a number of studies, articles and academic theses. Some of them talked about the death of this cultural expression. Luckily it didn't happen. Cordel is alive and well. The black and white brochures have become souvenirs for Brazilians tourists visiting the Northeast. And now have become the subject of Brazzil's cover story.

RM

Send mail to: P.O. Box 50536 - Los Angeles, CA 90050-0536 Ads/Editorial: (323) 255-8062 Info: (323) 255-8062 Fax: (323) 257-3487 Brazzil on line: http://www.brazzil.com E-mail: brazzil@brazzil.com Publisher and Editor: Rodney Mello Assistant Editor: Leda Bittencourt Art&Design Director: Marina Yoshie (marinayoshie@hotmail.corn) Entertainment Editors: Sam & Harriet Robbins Book Review: Bondo Wyszpolski Music Editor: Bruce Gilman Brazil Bureau Chief: Marta Alvim E-mail: mItdalvim@yahoo.corn

Cover Cordel Literature goes the Net way

11

Cover by Sonia TrYnane

Contelts BB

Music Cassia Eller - The death of rock's enfant terrible

01

Behavior Less marriages, more divorces

08

Economy No one can stop the CD pirates

01

Indians Pataxes celebrate court victory

22

International Rejoicing at Argentina's disgrace

23

Elections A referendum on President Cardoso

25

Opinion Brazil has to change

28

Business How to buy real estate in Brazil

28

Impressions A primer on Brazil

31

Short Story "Amadora" by Ana Ferreira

3/

Language English for Brazucas IV

38

Culture

41 44

The art and thoughts of Paulo Rama

Carnaval Music

52

He left his heart in Pernambuco

Imperatriz: escola de samba or opera troupe?

Theater

Gerald Thomas and Ze Celso

lepartmeNts

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49 Cultural Pulse 51 Classifieds 52 That's Brazilian

WWW. io11 .COM BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

5

ERNEST BARTELDES As 2001 approached its conclusion, Brazilian music faced another untimely loss: On December 29, Cassia Eller, a deep-voiced, no-non ;ense singer passed away in Rio de Janeiro of undisclosed causes. She was 39. Ms. Eller was one of the most versatile voices to appear in the Brazilian pop scene after the eighties rock b30111.

Her first big hit was "Por Enquanto"("Meanwhi le), a Renato Russo-penned song originally recorded by his band, the now-defunct Legiao Urbana. Her version, which hit the airwaves in the summer of 1990, featured Eller's unique vocal talents simply accanpanied by her own acoustic guitar with a inippet of The Beatles' "I've Got A Feeling"., That first song made us notice how different Cassia Eller sounded. Instead o the bland, poppish female voices that dominated the previous decade, music fans were introduced to a tough, no-frills contralto that came with a promise. Her first record, simply titled Cissia Eller, had several jewels, such as a remake of J imi Hendrix's "If Six Was Nine" and a reggae-spiced remake of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby."

Her second album, "0 Marginal", went quite unnoticed, but her rendtion Of Hendrix's "I Keep My Train A-Coming" was something out of the ordinary. The third one, however, would ultimately turn Cassia Eller into a household name. Simply titled Cassia Eller, the record was an indisputable success. Its biggest song, "Malandragem" ("Loafing"), penned

by Cazuza and Frejat, was an immediate hit, and Eller's wersatility ',vas finally noticed nationwide.

The album contained classic samba songs, remakes of rock hits (including Otis Redding' s "Try a Little Tenderness"), and some original material penned by composers such as Marisa Monte, Carlinhos Brown and Nando Reis. That album was ari unstoppable hit, which led to a sold-out national unplugged tour, in which she basically went through the songs on her own guitar, accompanied by two other mus icians. A CD of that tour was released in 1996.

Eller was considered by many the musical heiress of the late Cazuza (who died of AIDS eleven years ago) not only by her musicality but also by her brashness: 1 ke that singer, she was openly gay (she lived in a stable same-sex relationship for over ten years) and did not shun from controversy when onstage.

During shows, she would often grope herself or expose her breasts to the audience. Of course, Cazuza never did anything like that, buthe gota lot offlak from thepressby appearing visibly drained from the effects of AIDS, to the point of being on the verge of collapsing during shows as he ended what would turn out to be his final tour.

In 1997. she released Veneno Antimonotonia (Anti-Boredom Poison), which was dedicated to the works of Cazuza.

Earlier that year, she had guested in a number of shows bythe late composer's former band, Bark) Vennelho.

I saw one of those presentations when the band appeared at Biruta. a famous stage in Fortaleza, Brazil. Halfway through the band's set, she entered the stage and brilliantly performed "Malandragem" and other songs. She ended her pmticipation by sharing the lead with Roberto Frejat (the band's leadguitarist and vocalist) "Sid as Maes Sao Fell zes" (Only Mothers Are Happy), a bluesy Cazuza/Frejat tune that had been included in the band's most recent album then.

Her last studio album was 1999's Corn Voce... Mez. Mttndo Estarta Completo (With You, My World Would Be Complete), in which Eller sang more softly than in her previous works. At the time, she credited her newfound vocal softness to a request by her infant son, who complained that his mother "screamed too much", Cassia El ler went through a long-term treatment to k.ck 'ter cocaine habit. "I did it by my own will", she told the press a few months ago. She had recently released a new live album, MTV Unplugged, which has been ner biggest-selling tecord. She was getting ready for a national tour and for a New Year's-musical bash in Rio de Janeiro.

On the morning of Dec 29, she entered the Santa Maria Clinic in Ric de Janeiro

6

BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

in

stress-related symptoms. That afternoon, she was admitted to intensive care and died in the evening after three Cardiac arrests. The Brazilian press immediately assumed that Eller had had a drug overdose, but her family firmly denied that. ie results of her autopsy, as of this writing, have not yet been released. She is survived only son, Francisco, better known as Chican, who is currently eight years old. The sting memory I have ofCassia Eller was when I attended her show at Pirata, a famous Fortaleza, during her frst national tour in 1991, in which I was, for the first time, o her music and irreverence, the gig, I ventured to chat (those were the days...) with the musicians of her band ly her bass player, the late Otavio Fialho, who would later father Eller's only child).

Dund at the club with a couple of acquaintances , and one of them (let's call him was with a date. As Eller walked towards the bus, she shook hands with us and girl approached her, Eller held her hand, looked at her and simply led her away d's bus, which would take them to a nearby hotel. t time. Eller had not yet "come out" publicly, so we sort of looked at each other ace". who, like us, co _I Id not understand what was going on. Whatever happened never found out, for "Bruce" never told me. re on Cassia Eller, in 2, on to http://wvvvv.Cassiaeller.com.br larteldes is an ESL and Portuguese teacher. In addition to that, he is a freelance writer who has been weekly .; to the Greenwich /Wage Gaeette since September 1999. His work has also been published by Staten Island A dvci hc e, The Staten Island Register, The Si Muse, The ['Wager, Braze.; I magazine. GLSSire and wpm other publications. He lives on Staten Island, NY. He can be reached at ebarteldes r- ,nycny.net

Extraordinary Pussycats ae ano Ve oso 0 amor me pegou Love caught me E eu no descanso enquanto nan pegar And I won't rest before I ca c Aquela criatura That creature I get out at night searching Saio na noite a procura My heart's strong beat in the dark dancehall 0 batidAo do meu coracfto na pista escura If I catch, ahh, I surrender, it's over Sr pego, ui me entrego e fui Will she want, can she possibly want?

Sera, que ela querera, sera que ela quer Will my dream have any influence?

Sera que meu sonho influi Could my plan be good?

Sera que meu piano é born Sera que é no tom Is it in tune?

Sera que ele se conclui Will it get to an end?

And the extraordinary pussycats E as gatas extraordinarias que Walk in the ways she flows dam nos meios onde ela flui Will she evolve?

Sera que ela evolui Can she possibly evolve?

Sera que ela evolui And if she evolves, will that maybi E se ela eyotuir. sera que isso me inclui pegar, tenho que pegar I have to catch. I have to catch I have to catch this creature que pegar essa criatura I have to catch. I have to catch pegar, tenho que pegar Tenho que pegar I have to catch Caetano Veloso composed this song especially for Cassia Eller to sing. It was recorded in Cam Voce... kleu Aland° Ficaria Completo (Universal, 1999) ' I '

EiFtAZZIL -JANUARY

Wi h s

BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

I -Iv •

New legislation and a different outlook on life have contributed in recent searH to a sharp rise in divorces in Brazil as well as a decline in marria:2es Just-released data from then-36E Institwa Brasileiro de Geogratia e E.statistica---Brazilian Insti.E.tite of Geography and Statistics) show that between 1991 and I 998 ther, 1,-. a 32.5 percent increase in the number o fjudicial separations and divorces (which in Brazil may occur one year i on or two years after a -de facto" separation). after The r. crane increase in divorces for the whole country' was 29 7 percent in the period studied. This hike, however, was much hie., er in the Midwest (52.6 pen:ent) and the North (99 percent). Commenting on this pnenomenon, Antonio Tadeu Ribeiro dc Oliveira (tadeu4-iihge..-rm. br). manager of VAal Projects esrom IBGE's DPIS (Departamento de Populacao e Indicadores Sociais - Department of l .opolation and Social frid:cators',- told reoorters: "I believe that the implementation of the 1988 Constitution, which established clear rules for divorces, stimulated the increase of divorce petitions in the country."

In I 991. breach I 00 mania 'ges here were 21.2 break ups. Seven years later this nwnber had inc;easol to 28.2 separations foreve,-y I 00 marriages. In '94,763,000 couples married. In 1998 the number of new anions lad fallel to 699,000. sunk' also dispels the tryth that May, the traditional "fiancee's month- is the The Bt.; perod in which most couples maery. While May continues to be the favorite month for weddings, December is the month in which most marriages occur due to the fact that workers in Brazil receive their salaries in double at the end of the year. This mandatory year-end bonus is cane ,L;cimo fereeiro .,:alario (thirteenth saary). .Acording to Oliveira, there has been a change of attitude brought in by new perceptions in SOCiet:.:. Says he, "Our :Andy shows hat we are having a change of habits in Brazil. In the old days, that couple that decided to live together without marrying or that woman who tried to divorce were frowned Lpon."

Till Oivorce Bo

Apart

Sony Brazil %N.-rapped in secrecy, the recent release of Rohm:: Cario.s 1/T1. Year alter year. snec 1959, v eteran singer Roberto Cedcehas been one ofihe top-selling recard ing artists in Brazil. "Fypically, he prc7ares an album a year, which is released at year's end i.x) coincide with the gift-giving Christmas season. For his latest procioci ion. Sony did nor even send preview copies of the new CD for the media to prevent the album from falling in the Milos of the CD pirates tha: infest Brazil. All ths effort, however, was useless.

One day before the Cl) was put ft r sale following a massive ad campaign and article in tne media. the Roberto Carlos's Christmas's album was all aver the country being sold by street vendoes in counterfeited copies.

They were charging 10 rea is ( $4) for four CDs. In the stores the price for one CD was 28 reais (S 2).

At least half of all CDs sold in Bi azi I are piratee copies. Sotris action was a wake-up call, shoving that piracy' in Brazil is tn.-ire )eryasive than previously thought 'aid hinting that insiders from the recording company itself must he involved in me scheme.

For a lone time Brazil ranked sixth in the world in CD sales. In 1997 it fell though to 7th place.

But the real shocker came in 2000 when the country tumhled to 12' place, beh rid Australia, I,alv and Spain hhe country.' that sells mc,st CDs today is the US followed by Jan and the United Kingdom.

In Brazil the recording companies we losing their war against CD oirates. They have alrmdy conceded defeat to them in the cassette tape field. Today mesic tape cassettes are the almost exclusive domain of the counterfeiting Mafia.

In I 996. the ABPD(Asaociacao Bras; le ra dos Pmdwores de Discc----- Brazilian Association of Record Producers) created the AID! Ft Assoc iacao Protetora dos Dire nos Intelectuais e Fonograficos—Association to Protect Intellectual and Recording Rights Since then the recording conpanies have already spent more than SI5 million in anti-piracy campaigns.

Fr en though there are daily se zurcs of pirated material (in average. 20,000 CDs are seizedeviery day I the amount ofpirated CDs available to the public has been grow ing steadily.

For Marc io Goncalves„ABPD's general director, his association has done what it could torevent and stop piracy. "We've been fiehting pirLicy since 1995,- he says. -- rhe :prcblem is that our effort to stop this practice is isolated."

All the major recording companies in Brazil press their CDs ir Maaaus, capital ofthe state ufAmazonas, because that city offers special incentives and tax reductions up to 40 percent to several industries.. It's believed that some CDs are stolen during the transportation of the product to Site Paulo. Rio and other big cities.

Between 1996 and 1998 the pines industi-y acquired their prodacts ready from Southeast Asia. The advancement of technology and the reduced price o 10 D-dupl;catinn eqt ipment, though, have spawned a whcle industry of home-based CD copying dr ves can oroduce around 500 records in one hour. factories. Computers equipped •e2t. )c.ids from being seized by the polie hide most ofthe CDs in warehouses, showing Street, ce I phones ihey set a network through which they warn one another about police tor ale it t raid' A r.-,cim.ton eolF: a ne,ne e a) le ii te dea 's ti mat to da with the pirated CDs thtN. caught since, 1996.

1 Lc Procii , , : , •essettes. The material can onl:, be destroyed with a judicial orderthough. The , They acci , heeii requested. but the Brati ian iusi ice is in no hurry and in thf mear time the ABPD:'s looking for a second warehouse order to contini::.:' siockaig the undesred goods.

BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

With a tort', (ritual dance) around the tomb of Galdino Jesus dos Santos in Pau Brasil, southern Bahia, the PataxO HaOne for the Tribe Ha-Hae celebrated their victory in one of Brazil's most controversial trials in recent years. All sessions were packed with people during the four days of the trial. Outside the courtroom of the Jury Tribunal of Brasilia, dozens of people waited for an opportunity to watch the trial that condemned Max Rogerio Alves, Antonio Novely Cardoso de V ilanova, Tomas Oliveira de Almeida, and Eron Chaves Oliveira to 14 years in prison.

Inside the courtroom, most people watching the trial were law students who sympathized with the defendants. Of the 274 seats available in the courtroom, indigenous people occupied only 32. This majority could be clearly perceived in the boos that were heard when the PataxO Ha-Hä-Hde rose to applaud the jurors for their decision. It was the last humiliation they experienced during the trial.

The PataxO fla-Ha.-11fte did not question the rules. They simply accepted the instructions to take the seats reserved for them at the back of the auditorium and moved to the first rows when they were informed that, according to the rules of the court, they had this right. They were anxious to see, face to face, those who were responsible for the crime.

Miner, ma de Jesus, Galdino 's mother, cried when she saw the defendants and had a hard time dealing with reporters.

The PataxO Fla-ffa-Hae, like the Xukuru, Truka, Tupinamba, Tumbalala, Macuxi and Tembe who were with them to express their solidarity, went through painful moments during the trial. They cried when they heard insults against the memory. of Gald ino and when they saw the pictures of the forensic report showing his situation after being burned alive.

Galdino's sister, Marilene de Jesus, and the PataxO Anaia became very nervous after these episodes. As a precaution, Mrs. Minervina and other elderly indigenous women were taken out of the courtroom before the pictures were shown.

They held their emotions even when they were informed about the result of the trial by one of the prosecutors. They calmly agreed to wait until the sentence was read aloud. After all, they waited for four years and seven months and had to face many judicial battles before the jury trial was held.

•:' ;=, 4,-/A In the state of Bahia, a lot of people were eager to know the result of the trial and kept making lots of phone calls.

Those who stayed there ensured the resistance in reoccupied farms. Since October 22, the PataxO Hã-Hã-Hde reoccupied 66 farms that encroach upon the Caramuru-Catarina-Paraguassu indigenous area. They were expelled at gunpoint from two of them. The conflict led Funai to resume the survey of the area for the purpose of compensating the occupants of the land for improvements made therein in good faith.

The end of the trial of the murderers of Galdino Jesus dos Santos brought relief to Mrs. Minervina de Jesus, who has lost two of her older sons in the battle for the land. It was also a relief to the PataxO Hä-Ha-Hae, who have seen 13 of their leaders die in 20 years of struggle. However, while the murderers have indeed been convicted, the occupation of the indigenous land and the end of the conflicts in southern Bahia are still goals that depend on judicial decisions.

They are waiting for the justice ofthe Supreme Federal Court (STF), Nelson Jobim, to issue a decision on an Action to Nullify Title Deeds to farms that encroach upon their lands. A signed petition with over 18,000 signatures collected as part of an international campaign for the demarcation of the indigenous land has been delivered to the justice during the trial. It may be the end of a 19 ear struggle and the beginning of their dream to live in peace in their traditional land.

Indians

This material was originally published by News from Brazil, supplied by SEJUP (Servico Brasileiro de Justica ePaz Brazilian Service of Justice and Peace. Visit their home page at http://www.oneworld.org/sejupl

CAMPANHA INTElklACIONAL PELA REGULARIZA(A0 DO TERRITORIO PATAXO HA-HA-HAE

BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

9

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The cord& is rot dead.

Cordelistas are suffering the fate of all poets worldwide. A truly driven writer does not cease to write, but their work gets crowded out by noisier forms of entertainment.

KATHLEEN DE AZEVEDO

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13

0 Exemplo de um Ateu que atirou na Imagern de Silo Jose

,anapia" o F, lAill ek BONITA

At the Nordeste Fair in Rio de Janeiro, I almost missed the object ofmy search. At the Pay ilhao de Sao CristOvao, blue tarps were suspended like tents over booths selling everything from clothes and CDs, to slabs of waxy carne-de-sol, baskets of hot peppers and bottles of cachaca. A repentista began to tease us with his song, and we told him we'd stop by later (and we did, for a more thorough ribbing). Pulsatingforro music emanated from the boom boxes at the CD booths, and couples shuffling in the arrasta-pejostled together in the makeshift dance areas.

Finally, at a small booth, I found what I had been looking for: literatura de cordel.

Literatura de cordel is a form of ballad poetry from northeast Brazil with enticing titles like "Historia Da Moca Que Se Casou Corn 0 Diabo" (The Story Of The Young Woman Who Married The Devil), "0 Homem Que Virou Mulher" (The Man Who Turned Into A Woman), and "0 Lobisomem Encantado" (The Enchanted Werewolf). These ballads are printed on pamphlets called folhetos. The folheto is about the size of an 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 paper folded over, and may have anywhere from three to 30 pages. The cover page is illustrated either with a wood block stencil print called a xilogravura, or in the newerfolhetos, color illustrations resembling comic books. Folhetos are self-published by the author who produce a few hundred copies at a time.

In the past, cordel poets, or cordelistas, used mimeograph machines or other rudimentary printing presses. Today, some even use computer printers. Folhetos are sold at marketplaces arranged on a table, or in the more traditional manner, hanging on a string suspended by two stakes of a small booth; "corder' means "string," hence the name "string literature."

Literatura de cordel is one of the two types of oral poetry found in northeast Brazil. In the improvised poetry, or "obra feita", a singer or repentista creates stories on the spot, using action and people around him as inspiration. In literatura de cordel, though, the poetry is in written form and the cordelista may read all or part of his story in front of an audience to entice buyers. Although today's poet can't compete against the high volume sound systems in the marketplaces, the cordel is still written to be read aloud. Usually, the verses are written in stanzas of six or seven lines with an ABCBDB rhyme scheme.

For example, a stanza from "0 Monstro Do Rio Negro" by Jose Camelo de Melo Resende reads: Eu quisera ouvir um homem dizer-me que resistiu, ao monstro do Rio Negro e triunfando saiu para eu lhe dizer na cara: voce desta vez mentiu.

I'd like to hear a man say to me that he fought the monster of the Rio Negro and left in triumph.

To him, I'd say to his face, "This time you are really pulling my leg."

The stanza and rhyme schemes, along with the colloquialisms, the tongue-and cheek-humor, and the singsong sway of Nordestino speech, all stamp the poet's unique voice onto the page.

The seeds ofthe cordel originated in Europe around the 17th century when historical epochs, sweeping romances, conquests of the new worlds and local news were dispensed by troubadours. In Portugal, when the printing press was too unsophisticated to produce newspapers, current events and BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

adventure stori s were transcribed on pamphlets and sold in marketplaces c eaply as "folhas volantes" or "flying pages."

Folhasvolantes existed concurrently with the Spanish corridos, or ballads. The Iberian ballad tradition continued in colonial South America, but changed once it took hold in its new home.

While still a colony ofPortugal, Brazil was sectioned off into sesmarias, large tracts of land headed by coroneis who imposed their "law" on surrounding territories. Once Brazil became an independent nation in 1822, these land grants came to a halt and the sesmarias were split into smaller farms. These independent farms, run by poor subsistence farmers, needed marketplaces to sell their goods. As most people were illiterate, the storyteller became a fixture of these marketplaces, both as entertainment and as a dispenser of news. With the arrival ofthe printing press in the Northeast, poets were able to duplicate and sell their work.

The popularity of the cordel hit its peak in the first half of the 20th century, then as the population of Brazil grew, especially along the coast, many poor Northeasterners left for the city in search of better jobs, and the corder s popularity diminished.

Today the cordel is more likely to appear in a museum bookshop than a marketplace. Still, the cordel is a fascinating piece of Brazilian folklore and the flame has not died out completely.

Oral tradition is the foundation, not just of the cordel, but of all Northeastern culture. The most obvious reason for this, is widespread illiteracy among the general population. We see the strong oral culture in the narrative songs of Nordestino singers such as Luiz Gongaza and Ze Ramalho. Legends and colorful superstitions abound. The poetry of Recifense Joao Cabral de Mello Neto, are reminiscent of ballads, as in his poem "The Death of Severino," a dialog between a migrant worker and two men carrying a hammock with the dead body of "just another Severino" for burial. Jorge Amado re-creates the speech of Baianos in his novels of Salvador. Though oral culture is extremely interesting for those who are able to partake in its riches, it does make it harder for the culture to reach a wider audience. In general, the outside world know very little of Nordestino culture, especially their literature.

The definiticln of "literature"is often limited to works by members of the privileged class, which in Brazil, often meant being educated in Europe or the United States. The powerful control the information. Many years ago, I interviewed Dr. Maurice Bazin, c -creator ofthe science museum EspacoCiencia Viva in Sao Paul . Dr. Bazin told me that it was difficult to teach science to childr n in Brazil because many science books were written in Europe and U.S. and didn ' t reflect the natural environment of h is stude ts. Because books are targeted to the elite, the price ofbooks ar out of reach for many poor Brazilians. A book can cost upward f25 reais ($10). On the other hand, thefolheto is targeted to th working class and costs around one real.

These folhetos ar as well-loved as any book. Many people buy folhetos and ke p them in the family, rereading them until memorized.

Literature which comes from oral culture places an importance on skillful wordplay. This cleverness is found in the peleja, or a word duel. The peleja is considered to be one of the oldest forms ofthe cordel and is one ofthe most popular. Unlike the repentista who makes up duels on the spot, the peleja is a written-down author's reconstruction ofa famous "verse battle" between two troubadours. The duel takes place in a particular location—a house, a fazenda (farm). In the peleja, the poets open their sparring match by praising the host and the guests, in order to curry their support. Then each poet follows by regaling their own family heritage and personal virtues. The pelejas focus on particular subject, such as whether drinking cachaca is better than abstention, but the aim of the battle is to 11

overcome the other with a flurry of insults, boasting and artful turns of phrases.

Because cordelistas are public writers rather than reclusive literary types, they consider themselves spokespersons for their people.

Cordelistas are ofthe same social class as their audience, and a lot of their writing is done after a long day of hard labor. The poets live in the same mud or brick housing whether in the sertdo or in the coastal sugar cane country. The poet claims proudly to be a"matuto," which translated means "hillybilly" or "country hick." The word "matuto" is derogatory when used by the general public, but when other people of the same social class use it amongst each other, they reclaim the word and give it power. By making himself the story teller, the country-raised cordelista gives authority to the "matuto". The "matuto" is no longer the stereotype of the simple-minded "hillybilly" but is the one "in the know." The cordel ballad usually opens with the narrator claiming he has heard the story from somewhere, through the grapevine, from an old man, or he has seen in it a newspaper and needs to check out the truth himself. Rarely, has the speaker actually seen the event first hand. By making the narrator a "reporter," the poet gives himself, a "matuto," special status, as if only he was so privileged to get the "scoop." In the beginning of the narrative, he takes the role of the "expert," but as the story continues, the narrator becomes caught in the tumultuous action of his plot and invests his emotion as if he was a participant. Then everyone once in awhile, the narrator pulls out of the action with a side comment, so that the reader always know who is in charge.

Even ifthe speaker at some point in the cordel admits, "I'm only creating this verse in order to sell it," he may be referring to the fact that someone commissioned him to write a cordel. This is a common way for cordelistas to make extra money. But whatever the case, the poet is a savvy salesman, very clear about his own motives, but who can make fun of himself at the same time.

Like fables, the cordel presents lessons on how to behave morally. A poor society can't afford to be as freewheeling and individualistic as a rich society, because the poor have no infrastructure other than what they create themselves. Therefore, behavior must be more regulated. This regulated moral behavior is reflected in the plot of the cordel. Candace Slater, professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of California Berkeley, has written extensively on literatura de cordel, including one of the most comprehensive books written in English, Stories On a String: The Brazilian Literatura de Cordel. She has broken thefolheto plot into a sixstep pattern. In the beginning of the story, which she calls "the pact," the main character is fulfilling what is expected ofhim/her in society. The second step, the "test," introduces the antagonist who challenges the power of the main character and the nature of the "pact" itself. The character "responds," right or wrong, and this produces a "counter response." The choice triggers a sequence of absurd or dramatic events which climax to where a "judgment" is made, whereby good triumphs over evil. In closing, life goes back to normal, reaffirming the social expectations and thus, the "pact is reasserted."

This structure is revealed in the classic cordel "0 Boi 12

Misterioso" (The Enchanted Ox), attributed to Jose Martins de Ataide or to Leandro Gomes de Barros. Colonel Sisenando is one of the most powerful fazendeiros in the region with his many heads of cattle. His need to be powerful is put to the "test," when a very large calf is born from a cow considered by the vaqueiros in the region to be "mysterious" as no one can catch it. The calf disappears and reappears years later as a full-grown ox, with the brand of an adjoining ranch. A vaqueiro who works for Sisenando recognizes the ox as belonging to his employer, attempts to rope it, only to have the ox disappear before his eyes. The characters must decide whether to let this ox run free or to capture it. The challenge proves irresistible for Sisenando and his vaqueiros. For years, they pursue the ox, following leads of others who have spotted it. Well-known vaqueiros from other parts of the country also try their hand at capturing the ox, only to walk away humiliated. Finally, a strange vaqueiro comes to the fazenda and accepts the challenge. The other men suspect the stranger is the devil, but by then, capturing the mysterious ox has become an obsession. The judgment is made to let the devil join them.

In the chase, the devil on horseback pursues the ox to where two cattle trails intersect. As the two possessed ones approach the intersection, the earth trembles, splits open and swallows the ox and the demonic horseman. Sisenando and the vaqueiros realize that for years they had been pursuing an evil spirit.

Sisenando sells his ranch and is never the same again. The pact is reasserted because the legitimacy of the fazendeiros power has been challenged.

The human condition of the Northeast reflect the cordel's politics and purpose. Since the time of the coroneis, the Northeast has been afflicted by social inequality. In modern Brazil, Nordestinos feel ignored by the central government, yet still suffer the government's harsh policies. In the cordel, the people are always struggling to resist the ruling class. Ronald Chi lcote, professor of economics at the University of California Riverside, in his essay "Politics of Conflict in Popular Poetry of the Northeast Brazil" defines resistance as people "react[ing] to unfavorable conditions [which] is accompanied by organization and mobilization of human resources" in order to improve their lives. The cordelista, through his work, creates a portrait of the Nordestino and his struggles. He mobilizes people through using the corder s literary conventions and wellknown plots. The conventions are created around the struggle for justice and though these stories took place "long ago," they still articulate present confrontations.

One can see this resistance in the cordel ofthecangago. The cangaco, a self-appointed populist "army," was a reaction to the iron clad power ofthe coroneLCangaceirosraidedfazendas under the pretense of distributing the wealth among the poor.

The leader of this cangago army, Lampiao, and his female companion Maria Bonita, are staple cordel heroes. Lampiao in real life was thought of as both a criminal and a god. My mother's maid in Juazeiro had an "L" branded on her cheek, yet worshiped the man because "at least he didn't kill her." Cordelistas also worship the man. In Rodolfo Coelho Cavalcante's "A Chegada BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

de Lamp/do no Ceu" (The Arrival of Lampiao into Heaven) Lampiao escapes from hell and tries to make his way to heaven.

Satan comes to heaven to reclaim Lampiao's soul. A trial in heaven ensues and Lampiao gets the best of lawyers—the Virgin Mary. A final compromise is made when Jesus presiding over the case, turns to his mother and says: , ....Minha Mde Vou Ihe dar a permissdo Pode expulsar Ferrabras Porem tern que Lamp/do Arrepender-se notorio Jr ate o "purgatorio" Akan car a salvacdo.

My Mother I'll give you permission to kick out Satan However, Lampiao has to repent for notoriety by going to purgatory to reach salvation.

Cangaceiros also relish in divulging heinous crimes, every detail of it. Antonio Silvino, another famous bandit though not as well-known as Lampiao, brags about his life of crime in the many tales celebrating his lawlessness. In Francisco das Chagas Batista's cordel "Historia De Antonio Silvino," Silvino brags that: "A policia perseguiu-me...

Eu abracei a ma sorte!

Hoje em dia me conhecem Pelo bravo heroi do norte!

"The police chased me...

I embraced bad luck!

Nowadays they know me as the bravo hero of the north!

In spite of his mayhem, Antonio Silvino is one with his people. Both Silvino and his audience have an animosity, or at least, mixed feelings about the police, who are perceived to be in cahoots with the ruling class. Bandits, like the people they rob, always seem to be running into misfortune, an everyday staple of life in the Northeast.

This rebellion against authority is seen in the cordel, which extols the messianic movements of the Northeast. Though Brazil is a Catholic country, many Nordestinos felt that the Vatican was just too far away to have an impact on their lives in the isolated backlands. The splendor of St. Peter's seemed too antithetical to poverty and day-to-day struggles. This combination of poverty, isolation, and spiritual despair attracted people to various holy men, or "messiahs" who embraced the plight of the poor and wandered the land like migrant workers.

Many of these messiahs preached a better life to come, giving followers hope that their suffering would not be in vain. Padre Cicero, a priest from Juazeiro became one of these backland messiahs. His stamina as he wandered the sert 'do inspired those who saw him. Though he was eventually defrocked by the Catholic Church, and prohibited from, ministering the sacraments, his followers pressed on, creating amulets and bronze and gold effigies, and endowing them with healing powers.

Whether considered a cult figure or a saint, Cicero's legendary status still inspires huge pilgrimages to Juazeiro. In the worship BFtAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

of Cicero, the p ple take away the power ofthe Pope and make their own decisi n to canonize whom they see fit. The Catholic Church, one c Id say, only wants to canonize those who followed the Va ican's "agenda." Defying the Catholic Church en masse can be ailed a triumph. At the same time, though, just as the poor wan to be accepted into the mainstream, Cicero's followers too, ant the blessings of the church, and they have been fighting to anonize him ever since. In Expedito Sebastiao da Silva's co del "A Opinido dos Romeiros Sobre A Canonizacdo D Pe. Cicero Pela Igrej a Bras ileira," his followers argue that Ci ero should join the official ranks ofthe blessed:

Como ĂŠ que cer os padres ndo conhecera dire/to o Padre Cicero de perto procuram com esrespeito canonizci-lo po conta?

Igreja uma onta ou um rebelde espeito?

How is it that c rtain priests not know Padre icero very well?

Do. they seek to be disrespectful by canonizing h with anger?

Is he an insult t the Church or a spiteful reb 1? the cordel teems with magic and fantastical ich seem to visit the most mundane lives. realism is a staple of the cordel for three s. First, the fantastic elevates the lives of the giving it importance. "0 Boi Misterioso" bm common ranch hands, to knights chasing riter Marcia Abreu in her book, Historia de Cordeis e Folh tos suggests that the ox represents the free spirit ofthe Braz lian settler, bolting from its European masters.

In magic realis the humble soul and his peculiar struggles represent them e complex world at large.

Second, mag c realism in the corder sfantastical world is in response to Br il's landscape, so large, and so uncontrolled, it is like a large slate for the poet imagination to embellish.

Furthermore, hi imagination has roots in African, Indigenous and Mediterrane cultures where spirits abound. The caipora, mentioned in so e cordel, is a spirit formed from the mix of Indian, African d Greek legends. The caipora roams the forest and confu es hunters by making them lost, or by bringing back to life a be t they thought to have killed. In many legends, the caipdra is 1 ge and hairy with a distinctive whistle, much like the North A erican Big Foot, while in other legends, the caipora appears more as a small mischievous pipe-smoking Indian. The mor traditional and older cordel resemble fairy tales of Europe pulated with good and evil kings, beneficent princesses and ovestruck commoners. In one such classic cordel, "Roman e Do Pavdo Misterioso" (The Story of The Enchanted Peac ck) a young man makes a mechanical peacock in orderto kidna the princess who has been locked up in a tower by her over-vigi ant father.

Third, in th Northeast culture, magic realism is really realism. Life is unpredictable, it seems as if Fate is always improvising. Mi fortune almost seems to be divinely mandated and seems espec ally ruthless in its high rate of infant mortality and large scale d aths from hunger and drought. How much of a leap is it then, t believe that afazendeiro's daughter is turned into a snake in Severino Goncalves' "A Mop Que Virou Cobra?" As Go is capricious in his decision making, woe on The world o twists of fate Therefore, mag important reaso Nordestino, thu turns vaqueiros the Holy Grail.

13

those who make God angry! The only thing poor mortals can do is strengthen their own faith. The characters in Minelvino Francisco Silva's "A Mae QueXingou 0 Filho No Ventre E Ele Nasceu Corn Chifi-e E Corn Rabo, Em Sdo Paulo" (The Mother Who Cursed The Child In Her Womb And Gave Birth To A Baby With Horns And A Tail, In Sao Paulo), must deal with a "birth defect" brought upon by the woman's excessive cursing during her uncomfortable pregnancy.

(How many pregnant women have had that experience!) The curse does not only affect the more simple-minded husband and wife, but the sophisticated medical staff in a sao Paulo hospital delivery room who can do nothing more than to lock the "baby" in a cage.

The cordel has a practical purpose, which is to distribute in-formation. Because of its rhyme, the cordel is easily memorized by those who cannot read. A Ida Maria Siqueira Campos, in her dissertation-turned-book Literatura de Cordel, e Difusao de Inovacdes reveals how in the 1960's and 1970' s,folhetos dispensed advice to farmers on issues such as new planting techniques, herd maintenance and how to safely operate agricultural heavy machinery.

The cordel also functions like newspapers, reporting on disasters such as floods, drought, and plagues of grasshoppers. News events in traditional media are reported objectively, and are emotionally disconnected from the problem. The cordel retells the story in the point of view of the people most afflicted.

We see how the horrors of a large scale drought, the cracked earth and dying cattle, affect the lives of citizens who live and breathe in the cordel itself. Citizens, overwhelmed by fate, appeal to God for mercy, or they press on, fighting incredible adversity. In 1979, 100 thousand workers from various sugar cane mills in Pernambuco mobilized and went on strike for better working conditions. Severino Dom ingos de Lima-Beija Flor, the union leader and a poet, wrote a cordel about the strike while sitting at a tab le in a bar. "A Historia Da Greve Dos Camponeses Em Sa-v Lourenco Da Mata E Paudalho" (The Story of The Rural Workers Strike in Sao Lourenco Da Mata E Paudalho) served as a record of events and a rallying cry for the strikers.

At the negotiating table, a 52-year-old woman with a "sour gut from eating too many sardines" (a common food of the poor), rises up and speaks. She is the collective voice for social change: Todos escutaram a velhinha apoiaram o resultado batendo palma e gritando, cada urn mais animado e quando foi no outro dia amanheceu o campo parado.

Everyone listened and supported the little old woman by clapping our hands and shouting each time more enthusiastically, and when dawn arrived the next day, the countryside had come to a halt.

14

The strike was *success. Workers were able to negotiate a 52 percent increase in salary and other fringe benefits including land for subsistence fanning. If it wasn't for such a wonderful cordel, this triumph would have been buried in an old history book and would have been just one of the many strikes in Brazil's history.

Is the cordel dying? This frequent question has been asked for many years in the face of the growing popularity of television, and in the diminishing importance of the marketplace due to better roads and availability of goods. On the one hand, the cordel has certainly diminished. When I went to Brazil with a small fellowship from the Center of Latin American Studies at Stanford University, the cordel was hard to come by. I even went to the feira at Caruaru, famous for its cordel booths, yet I didn't see any cordel the day I was there. That doesn't mean the cordel has disappeared, it just means perhaps that it is not as regular a fixture as it once was.

When I found the cordel on my journey, it was a wonderful but rare surprise. The xilogravura prints which decorate the cover of folhetos, are marketed as folk art, on t-shirts and on wall hangings, sans the poetry. Many cordelistas from the Northeast have moved to Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro for better economic opportunities. American pop culture threatens to homogenize world culture. Television can be found anywhere, even in small shacks tucked under the freeway exit ramp in Recife.

However, in s te of grim news, the cordel is not dead.

Cordelistas are su ring the fate of all poets worldwide. A truly driven writer does, not cease to write, but their work gets crowded out by noisier fortris of entertainment. Nordestinos are proud people and cordelistas regard their work as part of their regional identity. They will not give up such an important piece ofthemselves. But the cordel, like other poetry, is harder to find.

There is hope. Newer cordelistas are emerging, bringing innovative appromihes and a modern consciousness. Some young Nordestinosioday see the cordel as a way of reclaiming their roots, and they see reviving the cordel as a "mission," but on their own terms. One talented young cordelista, Jose HonOrio da Silva from Timb4Oba, Pernambuco, explores the materialistic obsession of today youth in his cordel "0 Menino Que Deu Na Mae Por Cause, Do Tomagoshi " (The Boy Who Hit His Mother Because of,A Tamagotchi). Tamagotchis as we might remember, are those small computerized virtual pets so popular with kids awhile back. In the modern world, cangaceiros don't raid fazendas, virtual pets invade the mind. What is also significant about the new voices is that the cordel is praising the contribution of blacks in Brazilian culture. There always has been cordeis written on the slave revolt by leader Zumbi and his settlement at Palmares, again, showing how the cordel is the literature of resistance. But in general, blacks in the cordel were usually at the losing end of the peleja, or were portrayed having lesser moral character. Da Silva speaks out against racism in many of his cordeie and praises the contributions of Africa in his word-fi-evo,"Enca Pernanmbuco!"

BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

No batuque na Mae Africa em noite de devoctio fez-se samba e lundu no banzo da solidão do cansaco, dos chicotes nas costas em punicao.

The drumming of Mother Africa during the night of devotion became the samba and lundu from the solitude, the longing for home, the fatigue, the punishing whips on their backs.

The dearth of women cordelistas has been a disappointment.

Traditionally, this is because the public marketplace was originally a "man's forum," and was not suitable for women. This is not the case today and women poets are just starting to emerge.

Maria Escolastica da Conceicao Nazareth writes of her Bahia, and like da Silva, infuses her cordel with the pride of African culture. Da Conceicao goes further and extends her subject matter to include women. This is a breath of fresh air, as so many women characters in the cordel appear silly, or are punished for being aggressive. In her cordel "Adeus Mile Menininha a Nossa lalorixti" (Farewell Mae Menininha, Our Ialorixa"), she elegizes a powerful mde de santo, and mourns along with other great Baianos: 0 escritor Jorge Amado E o pintor Caribe Caymmi o grande cantor Sabem dizer o que é A forgo' de Menininha Rainha do Candomble.

The writer Jorge Amado And the painter Caribe Caymmi the great singer All give credit to the force of Menininha Queen of the Candomble.

Though paper folhetos still exist today, cordelistas have found a new marketplace: the Internet. A search yields many web sites. The quality varies, just like the cordel bought in a traditional marketplace, but some pieces are quite good. The advantage ofthe Internet is that poets can put all their work onto one web site. They usually include their biography, and many also include links to other cordel sites. Reading virtual cordel may not be as exciting as finding a booth offolhetos, but then how many people have the opportunity to end up in a marketplace just as a repentista begins his song? The Internet illustrates the can-do-ness of the Brazilian. Sempre tern um jeito. If there is a will to preserve the cordel, there is away. And the world wide feira may be the "way."

Even with the Internet, the cordel still has the problem of reaching a larger audience because the cordel is difficult to translate. All literature loses some meaning in the translation, but with the cordel, this problem is exacerbated as the verse depends so much on oral form, cultural references and a challenging rhyme scheme. Those who read Portuguese are at an advantage in enjoying these vibrant stories. In fact, even those who understand Portuguese a little would appreciate how the stories seem to unfold so effortlessly.

Literature must struggle to survive. An increasingly impaBRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

tient world has l'ttle time for literature, because it takes longer to read and takes more effort than film and TV. In the cordel, ideas are not spelled out, but are hidden in the words, the metaphor, the nuance. However, to understand a culture, is to understand its individuals and to read literatura de cordel, is to understand the soul of the Nordestino.

SOURCES CONSULTED Abreu, Marcia. Historias de Cordeis e Folhetos. Campinas, Sao Paulo: Mercado de Letras; Associacao de Leitura do Brasil.

1999.

Azevedo, Carlos Albert, "0 Realismo Magic° na Literatura Popular da Zona dos Canaviais do Nordeste." Brasil Acucareiro 82,(1973)43-46 Batista, Sebastiao Nunes, ed. Antologia da Literatura de Cordel. Rio de Ianeiro: Fundacao Jose Augusto. 1977.

Benjamin, •' berto Camara. "Literatura de Cordel: Expressao Literaria Popul r." Brasil Acucareiro 76(1970): 101-12 Bishop, Eli abeth and Emanuel Brasil, ed. An Anthology of Twentieth-Cen ury Brazilian Poetry. Hanover and London: Wesleyan Univ rsity Press. 1972.

Campos, Al a Maria Siqueira. LiteraturadeCordeleDifusdo de Inovacaes. ' ecife: Fundacao Joaquim Nabuco.1998 Cascudo, C mara. Dicionario do Folclore Brasileiro. Sao Paulo and Rio • e Janeiro: Ediouro PublicacOes S.A. 1998.

Chilcote, R • nald H. "The Politics of Conflict in the Popular Poetry ofthe N $ rtheast Brazil." Journal of Lat in American Lore 5:2(1979)205-2g 1 Diegues Ju ior, Manual, Intro. "Literatura de Cordel".

Sebastiao Nun Batista, ed. A ntologia da Literatura de Cordel.

Rio de Janeiro: Fundacao Jose Augusto. 1977 da Silva, Jo é Honorio. Vida Viola. Recife: EdicOes Bagaco Ltda. 1992 Secretaria • e Cultura e Turismo. Antologia Baiana de Literatura de dordel. Salvador. 1997 Sigaud, Lg ia. Greve nos Engenhos. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra. 1980.

Slater, Ca dace. Stories On A String: The Brazilian Literatura de ordel. Berkeley: University of California Press.

1982.

"Joe Bump in in the Wilds of Rio de Janeiro." Journal of Latin America Lore 6:1 (1980), 5-53 RECOMMENDED WEBSITES (The status changes constantly) Jornal de Poesia: Banco do cordel www.secrel.com.bilipoesia/coede101.html Literatura de Cordel www.cenaOadne.brk-henry/cordel.htm I Cord& High-Tech www.literaturadecordel.hpg.com.br/ Jose HonOrio da Silva elogica.br.inter.net/honorio/index.html Nordeste Web www.nordesteweb.com/neliteratura.htm Kathleen de Azevedo's fiction and poetry has appeared in many publications. Recently, she received a Community College Fellowship from the Center for Latin American Studies at Stanford University to develop literatura de cordel for use in her classes. You can contact her at azevedoDacific.cnchost.com 15

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A VITORIA DO BODE THE VICTORY OF THE CHEIROSO STINKY GOAT ,I by Delarme Monteiro da Silva Corn esse aperto de vida o povo que nada pode pra se esquecer da fome leva tudo no pagode agora, naeleicao nas urnas de Jaboatao o povo votou num bode.

Nao é coisa de poeta nem 6 boato inventado o caso foi verdadeiro o radio tern divulgado se ha gente que nao ere no jornal tern o cliche do bode fotografado.

Nao e um bode qualquer que sirva de mangacao do contrario, é bem querido per toda a populacao de TijipiO, primeiro Sucupira, Cavaleiro finalmente Jaboatao.

Por quase 500 votes ele saiu vencedor seus correligionarios pra provarem seu valor votaram de coracao pra Camara de Jaboatao no bode vereador.

Ele se chama Cheiroso é urn bicho respeitavel apenas tern urn cheirinho que nao é muito agradavel apesar de seu mau cheiro tern ares de cavalheiro distinto e muito tratavel.

U I I .

I

I,

I

Quando a noticia correu aqui dentro da cidade que urn bode fora eleito eu Live a necessidade de ver tal vereador para contar ao leitor se era mesmo verdade.

Thisstory isnotthegoings-onotoets nor an invented rumor.

The case was true the radio reported it, and for those who don't believe it the newspaper has the scoop and a photo of the goat.

quando UM gate quer corner quern 6 que nA0 totnpreende?

'Deo iSto tern nocao quando a gente c4laina um cao ele corree nos atende.

It is not just some goat serving as an object of derision on the contrary, he is well loved by everyone in the towns of Tijipio, Sucupira, Cavaleiro and finally Jaboado, With just under 500 vo he emerged the victor.

His fellow party membe to prove their worth, voted with their heart, the goat as councilman ofJaboatao

When the news traveled here within the city that a goat had been electe I found it necessary to see this such town councilman to tell my readers if it indeed was true. mow take the liberty of telling you in detail the chat I had with the goat, his excellency who receiving well-wishers embraced the voting public in his official residence.

O leitor lendo esse verso diz logo por sua vez que isto tudo 6 mentira sem conforme nem talvez mas o poeta bem pode ouvindo a lingua do bode traduzi-la em portugues.

The reader reading this ve will soon say in turn that all this is a lie . and won't agree with me, perhaps, but the good poet can hear the language of the goat and translate it into Portuguese.

We think critters don't speak, but we understand each other.

atts

When a cat wants to eat don'tweunderstandwhatheissaying?

We have a notion that when we call a dog, he will run to our side.

Por isso nao foi dificil digo eu para o leitor entrevistar o eleito sem precisar tradutor muito calmo e maneiroso conversei corn o Cheiroso o bode vereador.

I say to the reader, It was not difficult to interview the elected one without a translator.

I had a very polite and calm conversation with Stinky, the town councilman goat.

Assirn que larui chegando notei gOnderomaria de velhos, moos, rapazes que pelarua "seguia" panhando o Cheiroso que corn ar vitorioso os votos "agradecia".

As I was arriving there I noted a grande procession ofoldpeople,youngmenandwoment thankful voters following the road accompanying St' with a victorious air.

Aproximei-me do grupo eusando inteligencia fin dizendo para o bode —mars parabens excelencia sua luta foi notoria alcancougrandevitoria pela sua Oompetencia.

Stinky, as he is called, is a respectable critter with a smell that isn't very pleasant.

But, in spite of his bad smell he has the airs of a gentleman distinct and very agreeable.

Tomo agora a liberadade de contar corn minudencia a palestra que mantive corn o bode sua excelencia que recebendo louvores abracava os eleitores la em sua residencia.

Porque os bichos nao falam mas a gente logo entende 16

When life is stressful people who can't forget their hunger make everything a joke and now, on elections in the voting booths in the town of Jaboattici the people voted for a goal

I approached the group

and using an intelligent manner, I said to the goat, "Mycongratulaticns,yourexcellency your fight notorious yet you reached your grand victory because of your competence."

Semdebraploagradecer eu disse logo no duro Cheiroso, eu sou poeta ando atraa de urn fiiro se quer fazer-me urn favor me diga vereador qual seu piano futuro?

Withoutgivinglimtirnetothank I said right afterwards and more earnestly, "Stinky, I am a writer going after a news scoop If you please, tell me, Councilman what are your future plans?"

eiroso deu 3 espirros fez urn bodejo sem fim cavou o chao corn as patas depois olhou pra mim corn temura e fixidez ' do em portugues ele quiz dizer assim:

Stinky gave 3 sneezes a long bleat, and dug his hooves into the ground. then looked at me firmly but with tenderness; (andwithmetranslatinginPortuguese) he said thus:

Poeta, a minha vitoria agoranestaeleicao prova que o eleitor perdeu toda animacao nas promessas mentirosas feitas por sujeitos prosas pm ganharem posicao.

'Poet, my victory in this election proves that the electorate has lost all hope in the false promises made by boasting candidates,. who do anything to win.

0 povo já nao tern fe em alguns politiqueiros que vivern de cambalachos

The people don't have faith

in their elected officials who livebytrickeryandscheming sao simples interesseiros and areonlyallertheirown interests ou santinhos de paus ocos or who are hypocrites - who live, luEkipalatls 12ylittle.

B RAZZ IL - JANUARY 2002

IMP MI, .. 11111

........ osangue dos brasileircis. ' tlie.hloziod oldie Brazilians , tambem trabalhei pouco a bem da minha cidade porque nao tinha recursos nem tic) pouco autoridade mas come vereador you mostrar o meu valor para a coletiYklade.

Uma vez que fin elato. ja elaborei meu piano e meus projetos na Camara vao eritrar a todo pano itAo quero ouvir lero-lero on farao tudo que quero on desta vez eu me dano. o meu primeiro projeto sera parada bem dura: abar corn a carrocinha que por sua desventura provoca muitos atritos ando cabras, cabritos font° da Prefeitura.

in the past I have done so good in my city but then, I didn't have and so little authority.

But now as a town courier I am going to Show my worth the commwüt pncewaselectedtothetowncouncil I elaborated my plans and rojects and have begun at full speed. rdon't want to hear any griping, everyone will do what I want or bearing that, I will do some real damage.

My first project will be very difficult and I'm sure will provoke much displeasure: will put an end to the c transports goats. kids to the ovens of City Hall.

Bode, cabra e cabritinhos .Goats, nannies and kids comigo podem contar along with me can count on erao plena liberdade ,having full freedom sem ninguem lhes abusar and will no longer be abused. que manda é Bode Cheiroso WhogivesordershereisStinlcyGoat vereador caprichos% „honest town councilman per sua classe a 'Mut ofthe fighting class.

Capim baixard de prey.° o meu projeto é baixa-lo desse capim bem verdinho eu como que me regalo aprecio muito isso e assumo o compromisso de fazer baratea-lo.

My project is to lower the price of the green era that I appreciate Much and is such a treat rm. me to eat. thave made the comm to lower the price.

Aqueles que sufragaram meu nome nas eleicaes podem ficar sossegados descansar seus coracoes comigo nao da impasse eu luto em favor da classe corn todas minhas acaes.

Those who backed y name during the elections have to rest at ease eir hearts and not prevent me from fighting for my people with all my deeds.

Tambem é do meu projeto já dentro de poucos dias de Jaboatao a Cavaleiro instalar perfumarias para aquele que no pode corn fino extrato de bode sem gastar grandes quantias.

Os correligionarios que me deram a preferencia terao 10 vidros de graca dessa fina e pura essencia do meu uso pessoal pois nao ha perfume igual para ftwer concorrencia. voce poeta, amigo mime muito estimado you lhe entregar 2 litres do meu perfume afamaclo BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

Another of my projects within a few days in Jaboatao and Cavaleiro, I will install perfume co With fine extract of goat for those not able to stint,.

I can do so without spen of money.

pegue na cortica e abra garanto que nao ha cabra que nab corra pra seu lado.

unplug the cork and open it.

I guarantee that there is no goat that won't rush to your side."

= Quando Cheiroso &don de fazer seu bodejado me despedi fui saindo urn pouco encabulado e coipigo disse eu —o Diabo dlue usa o teu rfume tA desgracado!

When Stinky was finished he gave a bleat and! said good-by. I left already a little scandalized and to myself! said, "Any Devil who uses your perfume will be sorry!"

eus leitores as especiais que compr vei a noticia publicada nos jomais sobre o tal Bode Cheiroso vereador catingoso porem de ande cartaz.

And it was this way, my readers this special way that I proved true the article published in the paper about this Stinky Goat a bad-smelling yet very popular town councilman.

Agora go ao leitor corn quem tenho rornisso que na pal stra do bode eu mesmo n creio nisso pois o pob e s6 berrava e eu en o calculava ue le dizia isso.

(Now I say to the reader with whom I have made a commitment in telling of my chat with the goat, even I don't believe it, butsince the poorfel low only bellowed I can only guess that he said what he did.)

ra a votacao editar leitor S e sessenta otos a favor teve a tat Bode Cheiroso hoje muito orgulhoso ja é urn vereador. vereador dos fortes s d lider da bancada obteve a maioria votes da "macacada" o prefeito se afastando Cheiroso yai ocupando acadeira bandonada.

Determinado por lei Ele nao pode ocupar Lugar nenhum la na Camara A firn de se empossar Registrou-se e recusaram Mas todos iele votaram E ale vai trabalhar. *

However, dear reader the vote count, you can believe: Four hundred and seventy eight votes in favor made this Stinky Goat today a proud councilman.

A councilman of the strong now istheheadofthetowncouncil having obtained the majority of votes from the "gang" If the mayor resigns Stinky is going to take over the abandoned mayor's chair.

The law determines lathe can'treally hold any position in the council chambers In order to take office Beregisteredhirnselfandwasrejected.

But all voted for him, and he'll get down to work.

It is customary or a poet to create the last verse using the letters of his first name

My fellow party members who supported me will get 10 bottles free of this fine and pure essence that I use personally because there is no other perfume that can compete, And you, poet, fri for! hold you in high esteem I will give you 2 liters of my renowned perfume 17

A IvIAE QUE XINGOU 0 FILHO NO VENTRE E ELE NASCEU COM CHIFRE E COM RABO, EM SAO esi PAULO

THE MOTHER WHO CURSED HER BABY IN HER WOMB AND IT WAS BORN WITH HORNS AND A TAIL, IN SAO PAULO

by Mine!vino Francisco Silva

os a morte Dcn$vino Salvador Vamos pa ver na Igreja Corn senmento e amor sofreu r.

We are commemorating the death of the Divine Savior.

Let us go to church to show our devotion and love.

How much Good Jesus suffered to save the sinner!"

Co

A mae que xinga o seu filho E um pecado mortal, Porque atrai para ele 0 mais temeroso mal, E é sujeita a um castigo De Deus Pai Celestial,

A mother who curses her child commits a mortal sin because whoever attracts He The Most Fearful Evil, is subject to the punishment of God the Heavenly Father.

. d'om ponsso estapraza nosso Eu ass filh .ga ear t)o: Quando fiver este cao Que veio me atrapalhar E fuer condenacao.

She displayed her belly and gave this reason, "I can barely walk when I have this devil inside that came to screw me over and condemn me."

Existem muitas mulheres Que xingam os filhinhos seus Nome de tremer a terra, Faz pior do que os ateus, Sem temer ser atingidas Por urn castigo de Deus.

There exists many women who curse their little ones with that earth-shakingiamo:.

It's worse than the atheist who has no fear of being hit by the punishment of God.

0 homeni disse: miller Miss Mais horrorosal Nao$ vra penOsa, &to a Jesus Poderosa.

The man said, "Wife, what a horrible thing to say!

Don't call our child that injurious word!

Ask Jesus and our Powerful Mother their pardon."

Agora mesmo em Sao Paulo Sexta-feiradaPaixao Do ano setenta e cinco Assim diz a multidao.

Uma mulher teve urn filho Corn chifre, rabo e esporao.

DiZerfl as mas linguas que um homem Tinhatunamulher xingadeira Xingava ja por esporte Ou mesmo por brincacleira Nunca se viu outra igual Nesta terra brasileira.

Pois el a xingava o fogo, A panela e a bacia Xingava os pratos e a mesa, Corn a came que comia, Pols elaxingava ate Mesmo a agua que bebia.

Right now in Sao Paulo On Good Friday in the year of 75 (so the people say), a woman gave birth to a with horns, tail, and sp They say that a climes has more than one toni whether cursing for or even as a joke.

Never did anyone see like this case in this land of Brazil.

She cursed at fire, at pans and the sink, she cursed the plates on and the meat that she SA she even cursed e water she drank.

Elaxirigavaas cadeiras, Corn a carna e o colchao, A coberta e o lencol, A cozinha e o foga°, Xingava at a farinha Com o arroz e o feijao.

She cursed at the chairs at the bed and the mattress at the blanket and sheets at the kitchen and the stove.

She even cursed at the flour and at the rice and at the beans.

Quando o marido falava Que assim nao ia bem, Pols o nome do maldito Nao abencoa a ninguem, Eta inda mais se zangava E xingava e le tambem.

When the husband spoke that this would not go well, as the name of The Cursed On would not bless anyone,.

She got even more angry and cursed her husband as well

Certa vez essa mulher Em estado interessante Para ter o primeiro filho Pm todos muito importante Mas ela xingava ele Na barriga todo instante.

Ate que um certo dia Sexta-feiradaPaixao 0 homem disse: mulher Preste-me bem atencao Vamos hoje para a Igreja Assistir a explicacao.

At a certain time, that woman was in an interesting condition, for having a first child for anyone is very important but she cursed the one in her belly the whole time.

Then the special day came: Friday of Holy Week the man said, "Wife pay good attention to me.

We are going to church today, to attend a sermon.

)iss4le eujádisse She said, "I already said E agora von repetir: and now I will repeat S6 pode ser o diabo It can onlYe b the devil Que tenIto comigo aqui that I have inside of me Que boleanoite todinha that stirs the whole night through Quasenao dtixaeu clonnir and barely lets me sleep."

Quando ; a meia noite When it was midnight Essabmiher piorou that woman got worse.

Suabanigacresceu Her belly grew *aro coinecou and inside, such a furious tintronea4ronca danado snoring began, 0 lumaelli que assombrou. that the man was very amazed. pressa pgou um carro In a hurry he caught a cab .evou-a para o hospital and took her to the hospital.

Chegarido la o doutor Arriving there the doctor Fe4oexame legal made the required exam *Sse•• misericordia and said, "What a pity!

ParececoisainfernaL This seems like an infernal thing.

A col** nit° esti boa It is not a good idea Pm nastlereste fulano to give birth to this so-and-so, We must call on God °JeO iw nCos(* ell s*1181 H Pai SPob °rDeus erano Our Sovereign Father E apelttr no moniento and appeal to him right this Pm o parte* eezanano. moment for a Caesarian birth." sim mlesmo a_ i ele fez In any case E aSco Den .7 a operacan the doctor started the operation om Dente° tirou o moleque and in a le he pulled out a rascal preto d ili.win and spurred feet ca widitw ad w e e h t al , wings with a sP°11° m.=neeeeebe Coin dot's cht2sa on his o horns as black as al s ator de carvao. (lane ficar :pod ou-se The doctor said, "I'll be damned! can't keep thuissyou Cora este oleque vivo di scoundrel alive Vai tad° Sc itw.,, will complicate everytli winPlicar Ea you dar uma injecao 1 Ill give an injection in see if I c verse an kill it." se Posso o matax, and rra jecao an D Foaiqpe uegias angduocum in* HedPap icp klied ed the kind that upeth xteerL eedaltes e E aplicou Itenu eqUia it to the urchin mas Para de csortarmsuual sinuae to cut his fate disse: .

Butthneleb,o smiled and said, .°1T,ill.e Pam C vitamma. "For its y no More than vitamin., medico: está danado BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

Isto assim nao pode ser Foi gitando ao enfermeiro Por esta forma a dizer: Traga umajaula de ferro Pata este negro prender.

"This cannot be."

He shouted to the nurse, Talking this way: "Bring an iron cage ad lock this dark thing up!"

enfermeiroque ouviu Depressa coneu Ia dente E trouxe a jaula de ferro Disse o moleque: eu nao entro Disse o doutor: voce entra E vai ficar bem no centro.

e who heard came running into the room and brought with him a cage of iron.

The little scoundrel said, "I won't enter."

The doctor said, "You enter and stay well in the middle.

Em nome de Jesus Cristo Voce vai entrar agora 0 moleque disse: eu entro, Mas depois eu caio fora S6 vou ficar sete dias clisso eu you-me embora.

In the name of Jesus Christ you are going to enter now!"

The scoundrel said, "I'll enter and stay for seven days but afterwards I'll sneak and leave for good."

0 moleque deu urn pubo Depressa na jaula entrou 0 medico bateu a porta Ligeiramentetrancou negro deu uma dentada Man ferro, que o envergou.

Continua esse moleque ro durn quarto trancado Naquelajaula de ferro Pula mais do que veado Ronca mais do que banto rwn cachorro acuado.

Se isto nao for verdade Esta histOria que rimei Nao sou eu o mentiroso Pois nada presenciei Apenas estou vendendo Palo preco que comprei.

0 povo é que conta isto Que em Sao Paulo se deu Pois urn menino de chifre Naquele Estado nasceu Eamulherxingadeira Foi triste o castigo seu De qualquer forma 6 exemplo Ou uma grande HOD Para todas as mulheres pouca compreensao Que deixa o nome de Deus Para chamar pelo cao.

Por qualquer uma tolice Charm os filhos de diabo De outro nome mais feio E ainda muito mais brabo Deste jeito so terd E filho corn chifre e rabo.

Por isso mks de familias Tomem os conselhos meus Nao chamem nomes horriveis A nenhum dos filhos seus Nito devemos esquecer E o santo nome de Deus.. , Deus quem dá a saude E Deus quem nos da o pao BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

The boy gave a hop and hurried into the cage.

The doctor slammed the d and swiftly locked it.

The rascal bit the iron be ' and bent them.

That rascal still locked in a room in that cage of iron He jumps about more than a deer and grunts more than a wild boar Cornered by a dog. ,(If this story I told isn't true, I'm not the liar here, • For I witnessed nothing.

All I'm doing is selling for the price I paid.)

The people who told me this swore that in Sao Paulo the boy with horns was born in their fair state and the woman who cursed she had a sad punishment.

Whether really happened or not this is an example, a big lesson for all women who don't understand well.

Theymuststopusingthenameofriod in order to call the devil. any kind of foolishness, you call your kids the devil r another name even uglier or even bolder, you'll have a child with horns and a tail.

Deus d quem nos da a sorte Deus d que da-nos o perdao E Deus quern nos cid a vida ^ E ainda da a salvacao.

It is God who gives us luck It is God who gives us forgiveness It is God who gives us life and salvation,

Jesus disse aqui na terra Jesus said here on this earth, Nos ensinamentos seus in his teachings to us A todo povo gentio to all of the gentiles E a todos fariseus and to all of the Pharisees ue o mais dificil ao homem that what is most difficult for Man Facilmente é pare Deus. is easy for God Quern pedir an pai da terra Who aslcs the father of the earth Para que lhe de um pao for bread Ele nao dá uma pedra doesn't get a stone Por ser mau de coracao Eveniftheyarewickedintheirheart Deus que 6 um Pai de bondade God is a Father of giving Noouve a nossa oracao? Doesn't he hear our prayer?

Jesus disse que um inseto Por menor que seja ele Deus sabe que ele existe E esta cuidando dele, unto mais sendo um cristao!

Seja este ouseja aquele.

Jesus said God kno that even an insect exists and God takes care of him small as he is.

How much more is a Christian!

He cares no matter what we are.

erefore let us go t011im Portant° amos a Ere Sem sair fora dos trilhos , on our knees, scraping the ground Ralar no chao os joelhos and not stray from the path, Pedindo por nossos filhos, but plea on behalf of our children.

Que prontamente Elea He promptly gives Compreensao, saude e brillio. Understanding, Health and Se temos urn filho mau Que seja descompreendido Que luta contra os seus pals E far papel de bandido Corn o poder da °raga° Tudo sera resolvido.

If we have a bad child that is incomprehensible that fights with his father and acts like a bandit, with the power of prayer all will be resolved.

Pois Jesus disse na terra Em urn a bendita hora tie quern pede coisa a Deus Ele atende sem demora E qualquer que vai a Ele NAo sera "ogado fora.

Thus Jesus said on in the blessed hour that whoever asks of God God will respond without delay.

And whoever goes to Him Will not be cast asunder.

Portanto chameta por Den Que pode a todos salvar Deixam o nome do diabo Nao queira se condenar Deus nos da tudo de born Diabo nao tern o que dar.

Therefore call on God who can save us all.

Forget the name of the devil.

Youdon'twantrocondemnyourself God give us everything good.

The Devil gives us nothing.

Diabo e o pai de mentira Diabo não tern riqueza, 'abo e o ente mais pobre Que ficou por natureza, Perdeu a graca de Deus Ele 6 o autor da pobreza.

The Devil is the father of lies The Devil has no riches The Devil is the poorest being who stayed in his natural state and lost the grace of God. The Devil is the author of poverty.

For these mothers of familie take my advice.

Don't call children horrible names and never one of your own.

We oughtn't to forget thechildisblessedbythenameofGod. It is God who gives us health It is God who gives us bread 19

You are invited to participate in thisdtalogue Write to Letters to the Publisher P 0 Box 50536 Los Angeles, CA90050-0536 or send E-mail to brazzil@brazzil.com

SHAME ON YOU

IIou „ you ,se so in. as o,exp an w y your 18razilian magazine Is published in nglish?, Every

foreign magazine and newspapers in lhis city are published lather naive language. lam sp re, you. are aware of trgt...VVhy itthen that yourmag neiswntten in English'? Where is the Brazilian pride Marcia O'Reilly bra-usa-turismo@worldnetattnet NOT US? n response o ea ic e ' very !In-:razi Ian on your December 2001 ISSUQ I would like to add some comments. The author mentions many eventsthat have occurred around theworld forwhich hefelt sad or cried.

Strangely enough he fails to mention the serious problems plaguing the US. Many of these problems 'have the potential feo cause the US total' as a world leader.

Does he cry forthedeteriorating schools i n the US? Did he cry during the race nots in Ohio last year? Does hecry overthe Whopping number of drug addicts in the US?How about the millions of unemproyed? Has he noticed the legions of homeless in his own state of Calitomia?Howabouttheworking peoplethatcan't World basic health care? How about the daily violence against women in the US? Does he cry overthe continual bad race relations in the US'? Did he cry when the US submarine rammed aJapanese civilian boat killing most onboard?

My point is that I think that the author has cleverly pointed out problems around the world in orderto make the US seem betterthan it really is! Like Martin Luther King correctly pointed out... the US i5 a good country but not a great country. Greatness will come once the US addresses the problems listed above...

Brian Coff Via Internet THE REAL FOE ear o n'oscoe, a was an in eres mg a ice ("Sex? Of Course!" - December 2001). Actually you Should have separated it into two. I was, glad That somebody finally discussed the differences in lowsex is viewed in Brazzll Magazine. I also notice that in the US the young teenage generation is viewing sex differently. They are very casual about sex. I doubt that many will really be faithful to their mate once they are Tamed. They treat sex like my generation treated kissing!

I am sorry to hearhow you are struggli no. $450 per month just dAs • n't cut it!I know of several militaryfriends that have retired and five overseas. They have jobs like you do butthe retirement check that is Men around $2K per month is what keeps their lifestyle hipth overseas. I getpostcards and letters otthegreat IRethatlhey are living.

I have heard stories of people that like what Bin Laden did. I have even heard people joking in the US that Bin Laden kicked our butts! I lust smiledalono with them because like you I knowthafthe US will strike-back 20

in away to make them regretthe attacks on the USIMore than 50percent ofthe world population makes less than $2 perday. Therefore I don't expectthem toworship the wealthy US! Looking back I kind of wish that some of the money spent on rpilitary weapons had goneto help alleviateworld suffering. , When I was in the military we used to frichten countries into respecting us. Perhaps we should-ove provided more food andad. Perhaps we should have waged a war on the real enemy: ignorance.

Brian Coff Via Internet BLACK OF WORLD, UNITE Jomep acesin : azi remin• me° • .• rpenca lam a black man in America and this sounds like our roots revisited. The time is here forthe whole Diaspora to essentially wake and realize we all cometrom Africa and there is a connection. I want to do some business in Bahia and I know some of myassociates would love to bnng a little part of black Amenca to you. Please reply.

Blacklove black, peace, black unity. Write me at illins@blackseek.com Via Internet GETTING INTO FOCUS ear, rs I urp y, ivein e :ay rea, an • m Is° Brazilian-American I recently received a c y of azzilmagazine, and read your article," I heArl of being Brazilian. Well done. As an unlucky stranger to Brazilian culture, I'm in he process of trying to connect to my culture. Your article helped me a la in connecting aspects, of my personality as well as my own outlook on lite with Brazilian culture, It's tunny th at when I read your article, a lot of things became Clearer and more focused. I lookforward to reading more about Brazil from you, and by the way, I love Canada! Again, fabulous article!, Geraldo Wayne Sterling Via Internet LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT eemigran s ee nausea:: •,w en :razi mans go to another Oountry and then criticize us a lot. The Children of these pe ple will steal our Amazon. The children of these people will write messages in the Internet telling how Brazilian women,are easy to get, how Brazilians are lazy, how Belo Horizonte is ugly, how Hispanics are silly, etc. You may say that everybody has the right to have a better Oe, but I believe that everybody-has aduty to make their own country a better place to live. When you work in the USA you are helping then to grow; Maybe a lot of people are poor in F3iraziT, but nobody is hungry, except for some boys in the streets. Bufthey are fess then 3 percent ofthe population.

It you had money enough to buy a plane ticket you surely were nota resident Of a favela. l'iilaybe there is unemployment in Brazil, but there isunemployment in the whole world. The unemployment in Brazil is 7 percent, in the USA it is 4percenf, in the UK 5 percent, in France 9 percent, in Germany 9 percent Italy AO percent, Spain 14 percent. So, in /hat respect Brazil is one of the pest places in the world to live.

Maybe there is violence in Brazil, but you can move to the small cities where lite is peaceful. inay, the chance of being killed in acity as violent as RiodeJanero FOR MORE LETTERS AND ENTIRE LETTER SEE: httpliwww.brazzil.com

in a year is 1 in 2000,. I love Brazil, "Ewe my people.

I will never eyer emigrate to the USA or any other country. Brazil, love For leave it and if you don't love it then go to het!

Gustavo de Carvalho Lana Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil SERENDIPITY appen- • upon • orn o 5, an a c e iy 5on Velloso on a search engine while I was researching Portuguese linguistics Tne artclewas brilliant and that's comingtromatorrnerjoumaIrst. I didn't even know your maga2ine existed. I'm moving to Brazil in about two ars, with my job, and I want to be up on all things razilian by tne time I get there. I would love to haye a e copy ot your nia,gazine. Thank you so much. It just goes to show thatgiving free access to magazi ne artides On-line doesn't mearfthat a company will necessanly lose business. It's nice to have free access to your articles on-line butthat just makes mewant to have my own copy of grazzil p my hands each month, I'm a consurfirt ate magazine saver. I'm sure lull subscribe to yours and collect them for years to come.

H. M. Burton Bloomington, Indiana TV INFERIORITY COMPLEX nce e se e o ep 'sprigging, s a pu in my two bits. I he M-1•, automatic rite, is the most recognizable personal military weapon in the world.

According to the "World Almanac", Washington gave money, weapons, military trani ng or assistance to 114 foreign governments last year. The Freedom House Website states that an Amencan 'might con sicier 20 of these countnes as tree.

When the populaceoftheother94foreicn countries sees their government's mrlitary carryi n_g hose black rifles, they-know who supplied whom. 1-hat's a lot of potential enemies made in a single year. And I thought hey were tust 'ealous of my big screen TV. In 1989 Secretary of State Madeline Albright announced, If we have to use force, it is because we areArnerica. We are the indispensable nation. We stand tall. We see farther into the futu re". Wouldn't it be lovely if those other countries just admitted how dispens3ble they are? Well they'rejustjealous °tour big screen TV's.

In responseto Mr. Bnn kman's letter On his obvious personal campaign aga nst tasteless lowbrow media I say, "I'm with you 100%. Let's start with Hollywood'.

David Harada Via Internet

Fre

e o bruce, my name is Jason Urisell, I am a filmmaker and DJ froth, Los Angeles.) have plans to film a documentary on the of lfe Suba. This ofcoursehinges on the accessibility of information, the ability to license the music, and the availability of persons whowould be willing to be interviewed to bring the story to life. Your article is a wonderful source of informatipn for all who were moved and inspired by Suba and his music.! am not sure where you live, but I would love to talk to,you aboutthis project, and gamer yourthoughts andopinions on it, Jason Grisell Los Angeles, California Can't you find Brazzil at your Brazilian consulate?

Don't ask us why, ask the consulate.

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Agony and Joy The chaos in Argentina has made many Brazilians extremely happy.

Brazilians think the Argentineans are arrogant upstarts who regard themselves as sophisticated European exiles stranded in South America instead of what they really are—the descendants of dirt-poor Italians.

JOHN FITZPATRICK

22

Argentina's long goodbye has finally arrived and the agony is over—for a brief moment. The end was predictable and theatrical with the tiny Plaza de Mayo, where Evita Perk used to address adoring crowds, serving once again as a stage for national drama. It was the same old story. Bare-chested machos fought black-leathered riot police, the besieged president was whisked off by helicopter from the Casa Rosada palace, cars were set ablaze, shopkeepers opened fire on rioters and, in a bizarre twist, a Korean couple actually committed suicide after their shop was ransacked.

During the Second World War the Japanese employed Koreans as their prison guards because of their toughness and brutality. Remember Oddjob?Obviously facing an Argentinean mob on the rampage was a greater test of Korean national stamina than anyone might have been imagined. So much for the Brazilian cliché that the Argentinean—a Spanish-speaking Italian who yearns to be an Englishman—has gentlemanly intentions.

The sight of anarchy and mayhem on the elegant avenues of Buenos Aires has made many Brazilians extremely happy.

The Brazilians think the Argentineans are arrogant upstarts who regard themselves as sophisticated European exiles

stranded in South America instead of what they really are—the descendants of dirt-poor Italians who worked in slaughterhouses on the banks of the River Plate owned by the real aristocrats of Argentina who were the British.

The fact that Argentina currently has top place in the world football ranking is particularly galling to Brazilians whose current team is pitiful. Whoever becomes the new Argentinean president must be praying that the country wins the World Cup because this will defuse a lot of tension. (Readers from nonsoccer playing countries may find this difficult to believe but it is true.)

Brazilians, on the other hand, think the whole world loves them and whenever they are criticized become hurt and angry, especially when the criticism comes from Argentina. For example, earlier this week a demonstration by Argentineans against the import of cheaper Brazilian shoes was splashed across the front pages of the papers here. The fact that only a couple of hundred people were involved was ignored by the outraged Brazilian in the street.

Had the Argentineans really be on an anti-Brazil campaign an easy target would have been Banco Rail's huge city center headquarters measuring 50,000 square meters. Brazil has an estimated US$ 8 billion in investments in Argentina yet none BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

were specifically targeted by rioters or looters. For the average Brazilian, Argentina should be grateful to Brazil, which imports more than it exports and has even been allowed Argentina to opt out of some of the Mercosul's free trade rules.

Officially Brazil has reacted calmly to events in its southern neighbor but one can detect a lingering nervousness. There has been no official gloating, obviously, and President Fernando Henrique Cardoso was quick to offer "unlimited support" whatever that means. He also said he would be prepared to intercede with George Bush to try and resolve Argentina's problems. Fat chance of that happening. However, Cardoso was even quicker in saying that Brazil has distanced itself from Argentina in the eyes of foreign investors and contagion has been limited. Factually, he appears to be right. In recent months Brazil has uncoupled itself from the drawn-out agonies which the ex-economy minister, Domingo Cavallo, inflicted on his country. The Real has shot up against the dollar, exports have soared while imports have fallen and foreign investment has risen much more than had been expected. On Friday, the day when De la Rua resigned, the Sdo Paulo stock exchange rose by over 3 percent, the Real lost only a minuscule 0.25 percent to the dollar and interest rates futures actually fell.

At the same time Brazil lives in the same world as Argentina. Brazil is also a country which is used to sudden ups and downs. For example, the energy crisis which led to rationing in June arose completely out ofthe blue and strangled hopes of GDP growth of 4 percent to 5 percent for 2001. Although a few voices had been crying in the wilderness about the need for an overhaul of the energy policy almost every individual and company was taken by the surprise.

When the Real was devalued three years ago it was not a controlled thought-out operation but a final admission that the previous system was no longer tenable. The Real Plan was abandoned in haste. That particular decision was, in hindsight, a good one and compares with Argentina's inflexible currency board linking the peso to the dollar. The Asian and Russian crises also flared up from nowhere and damaged Brazil. In corporate terms you just need to look at Enron, which, incidentally, had huge investments in Brazil.

Of course Brazil's economicsteam is not so neve as to think that the danger has passed. This week the Central Bank maintained interest rates at an extremely high 19 percent and even if they fall within the next few months, the reduction will be academic. Few companies or individuals can afford to borrow at such rates.

One of the lingering dangers is that there is now a power vacuum in Argentina. An interim president from the (formerly) opposition Peronist movement, Rodriguez Saa, held power for only one week. He had no popular legitimacy or room to negotiate with any outside body or country. The Peronists, thanks to former president Carlos Menem, were responsible for introducing the currency board and have little credibility. As the daily newspaper 0 Estado de S. Paulo pointed out, the rioting in Buenos Aires was spontaneously and the protesters were nor supporters of any political party. Thankfully the Argentinean armed forces have kept their heads down, but it is difficult, at this moment, to see any political breakthrough and the emergence of a strong future president. Argentina will be a loose cannon for a long time to come.

This brings us to next October's presidential election in Brazil. Cardoso cannot seek another term and so we cannot count on continuity. The main opposition (PT— Workers' Party) has a strong potential candidate in Lula who still heads BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

opinion polls. ereas Cardoso's comments on Argentina were made by a Ming experienced president, Lula could only resort to his usu I crassness. The looting of supermarkets was similar to the lo ting which the IMF had committed in Argentina over the las 10 years was his verdict.

Lula dented his credentials once again this month by visiting Cuba an his old mate Fidel Castro followed by a trip to Venezuela t meet that country's erratic undemocratic president Hugo havez. IfLulahas any sense he will learn from what happened i Argentina. He can gain by pointing out how the IMF' s polici shave failed and how the people are suffering at the hands of onymous global forces. At the same time he should see that he Brazilian people are looking across the border at the res Its of rigidity and doctrine. Lula's left-wing doctrine will be s unpalatable to the Brazilians as Cavallo' s economic doctr e was to the Argentineans.

Whoever is e official government-backed candidate— whether the PFL s Roseana Sarney or the PSDB' s Jose Serra— will also have le ed from Argentina. Steady as she goes will be the charted c urse.

Grading Cardoso Although Jose Serra is acknowledged to have done a good job as health minister he is not well known and, ass balding, middle-aged man, cannot compare with the glamorous Roseana Sarney.

JOHN FITZPATRICK

Politics in Br4ziI this year will be dominated by October's presidential elec on when voters will give their verdict on Fernando Henriq e Cardoso's terms of office. The chances are they will vote for continuity rather than radical change.

The stage is b ing set for a choice between a continuation ofthe market-frie dly social democratic policies ofthe Cardoso 23

era, which have opened the economy and reduced state intervention, and a more radical approach which would strengthen the role of the state and be less welcoming to foreign investors or institutions like the International Monetary Fund.

President Fernando Henrique Cardoso is constitutionally unable to run again and neither his PSDB party (Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira—Brazilian Social Democracy Party) nor the other two main parties in the governing coalition, the PMDB (Partido do Movimento Democratico Brasileiro—Brazilian Democratic Movement Party) and the PFL (Partido da Frente Liberal— Party ofthe Liberal Front), is strong enough to field a candidate on its own. This means that the governing parties will have to reach some kind of agreement on who will be the presidential and vice presidential candidates. The next few month s will see much da Silva. Lula faces no credible opposition and will probably be maneuvering as the parties jostle for influence and power. the PT's candidate. At the moment he has rating of around 30 Currently the PFL is in a strong position as its potential percent and has been on top for months. He has national candidate, Roseana Sarney, is soaring high in the opinion polls, recognition, a well-organized party across the country and, well ahead of the presumed PSDB candidate, health minister most importantly, a political agenda.

Jose Serra. Until recently it was assumed that Serra would be the Whereas the other parties are part of the government and government candidate but Sarney' s sudden meteoric rise has cannot distance themselves too much from Cardoso, Lula has cast doubts on this. carte blanche. He is beholden to no-one and his message is While Sarney has been receiving ratings of 20 percent to 30 simple—the government should act to end the disgraceful percent in opinion polls Serra has been languishing in the 5 social divide between the rich and poor, the educated and percent range. Although he is acknowledged to have done a uneducated. good job as health minister Serra is not well known and, as a The problem is that voters have heard all this before and•on balding, middle-aged man, cannot compare with the glamorous three previous occasions have voted against Lula. This will be Roseana Sarney. She is governor of the state of Maranhao and his fourth time as a presidential candidate and he shows few has a high name recognition. (Her father Senator Jose Sarney is signs of having learned from his previous defeats. a former President.)

He still clings to the outdated socialist methods and ideas While the PFL has been pushing Roseana Sarney, the PSDB which have failed. He makes regular trips to Cuba and attacks is split over who its candidate should be. Serra's main rival is the IMF and globalization. He recently appeared to condone the Tasso Jereissati, the governor of Ceara, who recently said he looting in Argentina by saying the looters were just copying the would not be a candidate. However, Jereissati is believed to be IMF which had been looting the country for 10 years. hankering for the presidency and would be ready to step in Lula's party is also not particularly democratic. The only should Serra falter. prominent PT politician to challenge Lula as a possible candiAnother possible PSDB candidate is the leader ofthe House date, Senator Eduardo Suplicy, has been thwarted in his efforts of Representatives, Melo Neves, who has done a good job in to have primary elections to choose the candidate. just one year and overseen the passing of several groundbreaking Lula's chances will improve ifthe Brazilian economy suffers laws. Neves also comes from a prom inent political family and his setbacks in the coming year and he can persuade voters that his grandfather, Tancredo Neves, was the first civilian president policies will be better. However, Brazilians are not natural aftermilitary rule. He died before taking office and it was his vice radicals and the Cardoso years have definitely improved the lot president, none other than Jose Sarney, who took over. of most people. The main success was the Real Plan which Aecio Neves is probably a bit young to be a candidate this ended years of hyperinflation and brought in price stability. time round but he is a standby.

The collapse ofArgentina, where in two weeks we have seen Despite all this, the undisputed leader in the opinion polls two presidents resign, could also benefit the government is the left-wing Workers Party's veteran leader, Luiz 'nazi° Lula candidate.

The political and economic chaos Brazilians have witnessed in their southern neighbor must make them feel relieved that, for once, they are out of the action. This was not always the case and it is only in recent months that Brazil has managed to uncouple itself from Argentina in the eyes of foreign investors.

Argentina cou ld still pose a threat but the Brazilian economy has sound fundamentals and is in a strong position to resist further pressure. A steady hand on the wheel by the new captain rather than a radical change of course is probably what most Brazilians want and, barring exceptional circumstances, the government candidate will be assuming office in a year's time.

John Fitzpatrick is a Scottish journalist who first visited Brazil in 1987 and has lived in SAo Paulo since 1995. He writes on politics and finance and runs his own company, Celtic ComunicacOes, which specializes in editorial and translation services for Brazilian and foreign clients. You can reach him at Johnfitzgosite.com.br 24

BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

let's Stop forgetting To improve Brazil's image abroad, we need to make changes at home and, inspired by the freeing of the slaves, carry out a second abolition: th abolition of poverty.

CRISTOVAM BUARQUE When John Lennon was assassinated in New York, no one bla ed the United States. The death of the greatest music idol of that time was seen as exclusively the act of a crazy fa atic. Now, after assailants murdered hero Peter Blake, the New Zealander, in Macapd, the entire world is outraged y a Brazilian crime. Because that crime forms part of a negative image that Brazil has nowadays.

The death of the yachtsman from New Zealand was not the act • f crazy fanatics but, rather, of assailants; and it was not an isolated incident in a country troubled by violence o all kinds: street killings; frequent lynchings; slaughters. It is not the first time that this has occurred.

In the 19th century, when a Brazilian went to Europe, he or she as seen as a slave owner. Today, guilty or not, each Brazilian is seen as a burner of the Amazon Rainforest, a mur erer of the street children sleeping in front of the Candelaria Church and of prisoners in Carandiru, as a represe tative of a country with major urban violence and major income concentration.

In some European nations, Brazil is seen as a country of sexual tourism, well known for its abuse of children.

Just as today the world is asking itself why we are so violent that we ave gone to the extreme of killing a yachtsman, people are also asking themselves how it is possible that, week er week, the country receives planeloads of tourists who treat Brazil as if it were a red light district for minors.

All this is the fruit of a mistaken model of development, whic , over the decades, defined material wealth as the central objective of society, which promoted the so-called Ger on's Law of "Looking out for Number One," which concentrated income, which abandoned social investments which indebted the country and its people, which tolerated contravention and corruption, which broke with tr ditional values, which instituted urbanization before creating the necessary conditions in the cities. It is the fruit •f a country that chose a road where only part of the population was incorporated into society and the rest remain d excluded, marginalized from the wealth, so infused with t e evil of the model as to do evil of their own.

Each time t at we hear about acts that make us ashamed— like that of thi week—we are indignant for a few days, and then we forget That is what happened when the children at Candelaria an the prisoners in Carandiru (Sdo Paulo) were killed, when p tients died from contaminated hemodialysis in Caruaru (state • f Pernambuco), when a boy lost first one eye and then the •ther working in the sisal, when a man hired someone to att ck him and mutilate his arm so that he could receive insura ce money, when a youth named Sandro hijacked a city b s in Rio de Janeiro, when we hear about each lynching or sla ghter. For a day or so we remember the event, but, so accust med are we to these tragedies, they have become part o the routine of banality, and we forget them.

The rest o the world, however, does not forget.

Recently, t e President of the Republic addressed the French Parlia ent and considered this a great accomplishment. That co ntry's deputies listened attentively. They may have even sy pathized with the ideas articulated in the speech, but, in heir hearts, they remembered that this gentleman represents a country that kills children and denies good schools to the survivors, a gentleman whose country is marked by v olence and child prostitution. That image will not be abolished through speeches.

To improve Brazil's image abroad, we need to make changes at ome and, inspired by the freeing of the slaves, achieve a second abolition: the abolition of poverty. We must guara tee that no one in this country will lose access to the essential goods and services—the necessary food, a quail school, an efficient health system, public transportation, and a dwelling with potable water, garbage collecti n, and plumbing.

This is possible.

It would be enough, in the first place, if the sense of indignation oused by the murder of an international hero, yachtsman and ecologist were to last the amount of time necessary o make these changes if it were to expand to also include our indignation about the social inequality in our country. And, above all, if each of us were to assume his or her share of the blame for the type of country that we are building. It was a group of bandits that assaulted and killed Peter Black in Amapa, but each of us is responsible for tle crimes of each Brazilian and, above all, for the events that are degrading our image in our own eyes and in th eyes of the world's other peoples.

It is we who, year after year, have accustomed ourselves to a s cial model that creates bandits. It is we who, election after election, choose the same type of leaders who are i sensitive to the nation's problems and to its mistakes and who think that pretty speeches change reality.

There is nothing we can do to redeem ourselves before Peter Bl e and the many other victims of the visible urban violence and the silent social evil, but we can offer them an lomage, so that their deaths and suffering will not have been in vain. We can awaken to the need to change the re 4l Brazil so that its image will also change. In the world and within each of us.

Cristovam Buarque (cbuarque@brnet.com.br), a professoi at the University of Brasilia, is the author of Admirdvel Mundo Atual [Brave Real World].

Originally published by Correio Braziliense as "A imagem do razil" on December 12, 2001. Translated by Linda Jerome (Linferome(cs.com) BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

25

Brazil is a fantastic country that can offer some outstanding life-style opportunities for the right person.

Unfortunately, there is not much information available for people looking into something more than a brief tourist adventure. Property purchase requires detailed understanding of the requirements of the law and the dynamics of the search, negotiation and buying processes.

This article is not intended to serve as an authoritative source of information related to dealing with a variety of situations in Brazil. Instead, it serves the purpose ofanswering some of the most common questions pertaining to a number of areas as well as orienting you in respect to the possibilities ofsituation assessment, requirements and, of course, action.

I am a strong believer in pre-emptive approach to solving problems.

It is much easier and a lot less expensive to take some evasive and precautionary actions than to deal with full-blown unanticipated problem.

It is even truer in any country where you have numerous disadvantages of unfamiliarity with judicial process and law, language and culture.

Here are some ofthe terms and requirements ofconducting Real Estate transactions in Brazil: Can foreigners buy or rent Real Estate Property in Brazil?

Yes, we can. Foreigners are permitted to buy, own and rent Real Estate Property. By law Brazilians and foreigners are on almost equal footing when it comes to property ownership and tenant rights. Non-Brazilians are subject to certain limitations dictated by national and security interests.

Foreign Governments can't own Real Estate Property except buildings and properties used for consulate or embassy sites.

Sources and further information: Constitution of Federal Republic of Brazil Article 5, Item XXII. Any local Cartorio Office What documents do I need to buy or rent property in Brazil?

Your travel passport is usually enough in order to sign a rent lease agreement. To buy a property CPF (Cadastro das Pessoas Fisicas) is also required. CPF is easily obtainable by foreigners.

Who can I use as a rental/real estate agent?

There are numerous business establishments and licensed individuals who can offer your services of apartment rental brokers or for sale property listings.

Administradoras — Business specializing in administering RE properties for individual owners or condominiums.

Imobilicirias — Essentially Real Estate Agencies Procuradores—( Real Estate Brokers) Businesses specializing in locating desired properties.

All these businesses can be found in local Yellow Pages under Administraccio de Bens, Administraca de Condom inios, and Imobiliarias.

Needless to say, references and direct referrals can save you from unscrupulous operators. In case of untried and unknown agent you might wantto verify that the individual or business you are dealing with are members ofCRECI What is CRECI (Conselho Regional de Corretores lmobilidrios) or Regional Council of Property Managers?

CRECI is the Professional Organization regulating career Property Managers and Real Estate brokers. Only registered members are legally allowed to work as Corretores (Property Managers). While CRECI membership is not a guarantee against dishonest actions by certain individuals or companies, it provides you with at least additional leverage and official complaint organ.

Do I need a local lawyer to conduct Real Estate transactions in Brazil?

It is not mandatory, but recommended.

Can I lose the rights to my property?

There is an expression "Who Yes, under certain circumstances you can.

What is a Registro lmobilidrio? doesn't register is not the owner."

Registro Imobiliario is the statute of Real Estate Property. In order to Your contracts and agreements claim possession ofa Real Estate Property you haveto register the transaction of property ownership transfer at Registro Imobiliario. Usually takes place are not valid until they are at Cartorio do Registro de Imoveis located in the same jurisdiction as the property, but can also be conducted at any location by an authorized official. registered in Cartorio.

There is an expression "quem nelo registra nao é dono" (Who doesn't register is not the owner). Your contracts and agreements are not valid until BORIS GOLDSHMIT they are registered in Cartorio.

What is the extent of the degree of publicity about ownership of property in Brazil?

It literally means that anybody can have access to property ownership information without any reason or authorization.

What is Matricula?

Gelling a Piece of Brazil

26

BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

Matricula is the passport of a Real Estate Property; the only legal relationship between the property and its Matricula is one-to-one. Besides uniquely identifying a property, Matricula contains detailed description and historical records of all legal, judicial and financial transactions pertaining to the property and full information, such as description of the property, its precise address and location, past and present owner information, mortgages etc.

Do all Real Estate Properties have Matricula?

No, not all ofthem do. Only properties that were constructed or involved in some type of legal or financial transactions since December 31, 1973 have one.

What happens if the property was altered through construction or natural causes and doesn't correspond to the description contained in Matricula any more?

Property description needs to be changed through a judicial process called Processo de Retificaccio. Unless you are willing to plunge into legal quagmire, verify that the property description contained in Matricula corresponds exactly to reality. To be specific, you buy what is on the paper, not the RE property itself.

What documents do I need to request from property seller before considering buying a property?

At a minimum the documents you should ask for are: A copy of C ertiddo de registro da Incorporacdo no Cartorio de Registro de Imoveis.

A copy of Convenecio de Condominio.

A copy of License of Construction (Alvarci).

A Copy of Architectural Plan of the construction approved by the Mayor's Office.

What do! need to do when I find a property that I'd like to purchase?

Check for Matricula of the real estate property. Matricula is a document that contains information about all transactions directly related to the property since its construction. IPTU values, owner information, ownership transfers... It takes about R$ 10 and three days to obtain a Matricula through a local Cartorio de Registro de ',novels.

Verify that the property is debt and lien free. In order to verify I PTU payment complacency check with Prefeitura by submitting o mimero do contribuinte (registration number) indicated in Matricula do imOvel Verify that the Condominio fees are paid off.

Any debts on the property can and should be taken into consideration during the negotiation.

How much should I give for a Sinai?

Sinai (down payment) can range anywhere from 5 percent to 20 percent of the agreed value of the property.

Can I pay for my property in currency other then Real?

No, always pay in local currency.

What is an acceptable commission paid to the Real Estate agent for sale or exchange of a property?

The standard fee is 6 percent of the value of the deal (property). In case of property exchange, commission is usually split up between the parties involved. In sale, the seller pays.

What is CPF? CPF (Cadastro das Pessoas Fisicas) is an identification number that is used for documentation, registration and identification of individuals during and for financial transactions.

Why do I need CPF? CPF is required for identification and registration purposes, to conduct financial transactions, such as opening up a bank account.

What is Cart6rio?

Cartorio is a Notary Office.

DOMESTIC HELP How much should I pay domestic help?

Check the local market. Talk to people who have domestic help. Determine whether how much service you need and BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

number of days per week that you may require it. If you can limit work hours to 6-8 hours up to three times per week, you can hire help as prestador de servico and pay only agreed hourly or daily wage. Based on the availability and quality ofdomestic help and the amount of work daily rates can be as low as R$ 35 (US$ 15) and as high as R$ 80 (US$ 34). Full time help should get paid at least 11/2 m in im dm wage plus transportation and other expenses.

What Payroll taxes should I pay if I employ workers in Brazil?

Social Security ax: 20 percent Other Fees: 2.0 percent to 6.0 percent Labor Accident Insurance: 1.0 percent to 3.0 percent Severance Pay Indemnity Fund (FGTS): 8 percent (deposited monthly to emp; 4: oyee's escrow account).

How much o I tip Porteiro?

Tipping is n t big in Brazil. Though some places that deal almost exclusiv ly with foreigners became tip oriented, the majority of esta lishments are not. Restaurants add 10 percent service fee to th check (BTW, it doesn't necessarily mean that the waiter gets it), hotel bell boys (men) would appreciate a Real or two, the taxist are mostly getting by on rounding up the fare.

But what do we 10 with porteiros (doormen)?

Porteiros are sometimes tipped small amounts (R$1-R$2)40 to 80 cents when they provide occasional assistance services, such asl helping with shopping bags or other courtesy gestures. It is no required and oftentimes a smile and obrigado suffice, but a small tip can go a long way.

What are basic rights granted to workers in Brazil?

Brazilian Lator and Employment Laws are extremely worker friendly. Here aife just a few of the guaranteed rights: 1.Wages: Minimal salary is constitutionally guaranteed and is currently set at R$ 136,00 (approximately US$ 55.00) a month.

2. 13th Salary: The 13th salary is equivalent to an additional month's salary laid annually or proportionally to number of months worked n the year.

3. Vacation: mployees are entitled to at least thirty (30) fully paid vacation da s after working one year for the same employer if not absent fro work for more than five unjustified times during this same period.

4.

Maxim m Workweek is set at 44 hours with overtime pay required for dditional time worked. Overtime pay shall be at least 50 perce t more then regular hourly rate 5. Prior noti • e in case of dismissal: In case the employer wishes to dismi s an employee, he is obliged to give a prior notice of at least thirty days to the worker.

6. Guarante Fund for Time of Service (FGTS): The government se erance employment Fund (FGTS) is the equivalent to 8 percent of the employee's salary, deposited every month by the employer in a blocked FGTS bank account in the name of the employee. In case of dismissal without cause the employer has to pay a 40 percent penalty of the FGTS over the entire amount deposited in the FGTS bank account.

Withdrawals, are however, authorized only under circumstances established by law.

What about Christmas presents, bonuses and tips for your building and domestic help?

They are completely at your discretion, with the exception of the Thirteenth Salary.

Boris Goldshmit, the author, is an American, residing part-time in Rio de Janeiro Brazil. After undertaking a highly challenging step of buying his apartment in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, he wrote a book—in which this article was based—about buying and renting Real Estate in Brazil in order to fill the void of Legal and practical information Available to foreigners interested in property ownership and long-term leasing in Brazil. You can reach him at boris_goldshmit@yahoo.com 27

Let's talk Brazilian Culture! Why not start with the basics? eaten slowly and plates are not piled high with food. People Food. Everybody loves to eat, right? Well, don't plan on getting take very small servings of each of the different foods. Then, a big breakfast in Brazil. The typical Brazilian breakfast is bread— if they are still hungry, they go for seconds.

Brazilians take a lot of pride in the way they dress. Jeans fresh from the bakery (padaria), butter or jam, cheese, crackers, and last but not least, the famous cafezinho (strong, black coffee are always ironed. In the United States that went out in the in a little cup). But, if you like milk, you can have café corn leite 1980's, but in Brazil walking around in wrinkled jeans is considered sloppy. Not only do they iron jeans, they iron (scalded milk with coffee).

Most restaurants don't serve breakfast, including everything! Sheets, pillowcases, towels, pajamas, even unMcDonald's. It seems to be the smallest meal ofthe day, and some derwear (which is ironed in little squares). Most Americans own dryers, and therefore do very little people don't even eat, they just ironing. For Brazilian people, a dryer is a drink coffee. luxury, as it cost about $1,000 reais (BraLunch is usually a family affair. zilian currency), which is about $400 An enormous amount of food is American dollars. served, and most people get an Men and women usually wear their hour or two off for the afternoon shirts tucked in, and top off their jeans break. A lot of people have maids with a nice leather belt. Sneakers are never who start making almoco (lunch), worn dirty; this is a big etiquette no-no! around nine o'clock in the morning.

About once or twice a month, sneakers, It is not a simple dish to prepare, as (especially if they are white)are scrubbed there are sometimes five or six dishes with a brush and very strong soap. to make. The two most common What's the hottest fashion in Brazil everyday foods are black beans right now, for the ladies? At the moment, and rice. There is almost always a People practice this kissing ritual very tight hip-hugger jeans with teeny salad on the table, along with the little pockets on the derriere. You'll need main course and several other fares. everyday without even thinking about butter to slip into a pair of these. Halters Farofa is just one ofthe delectables and midriff tops are all the rage. Turyou may have the pleasure of eatit. They wake up in the morning and quoise is the color of choice right now. ing. It consists of butter, manioc kiss each family member, while Pair your snug-fitting jeans and halter meal, eggs, onion, garlic and raiwith big, fat, clunky sandals, a lot of silver sins—but the ingredients in farofa saying born dia (good morning). A jewelry (especially bulky, hoop earrings) differ from familyto family. and you're good to go.

Now, after all that delicious food, lot of people will even greet their coAlso girls, don't forget to remove they'll serve sobremesa (dessert). workers with a kiss. your cuticles, and paint your nails, any The various confections may inlight color or clear coat will do. Lightpink clude pudim de leite (pudding, and peach are the "in" colors right now. made of cream, in a caramel sauce), LYNN LYRA Dark shades are regarded as gaudy. Pretty torta de lima.° (lemon pie), goiaba nails are definitely a fashion statement. e queijo (guava and cheese) better If you want to do some great shopknown as Romeu e Julieta, doce de banana (cooked bananas in a brown sugar sauce), carrot cake ping, go to a big city such as Sao Paulo, Recife, or Rio de with chocolate frosting, or bolo de laranja (orange cake). If you Janeiro. Downtown in any large Brazilian city is where you'll are really lucky, you'll get to try pave (a cold dessert made with find the best buys and the most variety. The downtown areas cookies, cream, fruit and a little chocolate)—it's absolutely sinful! are a lot like New York City—taxis, buses, and people everywhere. You'll find a few What's for dinner (Janbig department stores, tar)? Dinner is a very light but for the most part, meal, usually served no shops are small. That's earlier than 7:00 P. M. Genthe fun part; there are erally it includes fresh so many places to shop. bread, cheese cold cuts, After all that walking crackers, fruit and coffee. you're bound to get In the North ofBrazil, some hungry, which is no favorites are Dog Bread problem, as there are (fried, buttered bread), and food vendors on every fried cheese (made by meltcorner. Take your ing chunks of cheese in a pick—cachorro quente frying pan). The fried (hot dog), pastel (fried cheese is eaten with a knife pastry shell with meat, and fork, and sometimes cheese or vegetable fillserved over crushed cracking), pipoca (popers with sugar on top. There corn—sweet or salty), is definitely no better way and doces (little sweets to eat cheese! or handmade candies).

Here's a handy etiA little shopping quette tip. Use your knife and fork for just about everything you eat. Brazilians use utensils advice, stick to Brazilian products, anything American-made for pizza, French fries, fried chicken, and on occasion, sandwiches in Brazil is jacked up three to four times the normal price.

There are very few automatic cars over there, so if you are and burgers. If sandwiches aren't eaten with a knife and fork, people usually wrap napkins around the bottom of them to keep planning to rent a car it is best to learn stick-shift before you leave. But ifyou don't—no problem, there are driving schools from getting their hands messy.

Another interesting pointer about Brazilian manners is that on just about every corner in Brazil.

Everyone drives on the right side of the road, but unforthe fork is held in the left hand and the knife in the right. Meals are

J st the Si

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tunately two cars drive in a lane only big enough for one. You have to drive defensively, as the country's drivers show no mercy on the road. If you don't get out of the way fast enough there will be plenty of people laying on the horn, and screaming out their windows. Good luck to you in your driving endeavors!

There are many beautiful things to see in Brazil, but there are some sights not so pretty to the eye. As you drive along major highways, you will encounter little shantytowns calledfavelas.

In English this means slums. The shacks are built with old wood, plastic, tar paper, or basically anything that will hold it together.

The poor people build their homes along the highway, because they know it is government owned and they won't be forced to move.

Passing the favelas you are bound to see women washing clothes by hand (tiing washboards), and lots of outhouses.

Most of these places have no running water or electricity.

Amazingly enough, the residents of the favelas are usually smiling. For the most part they are happy people. Being poor doesn't get them down, they just live one day at a time.

On the subject of fami lies, Brazilians are knitted very closely to one another. For these loving, down-to-earth people, there is nothing more important thanfamilia (family). Women don't usually leave their father's house until they marry, although that is changing little by little with the times. In most family units the woman of the house stays home with the children, if financially possible.

Relatives gather often on weekends for churrascos (barbecues). Also, any holiday is a good reason to get together with lots of food, music and dancing. Along with Carnaval (a weeklong party in the streets—including parades, singing, dancing, drinking, and beautiful half-naked women)and AnoNovo (New Year), Christmas is one of the biggest celebrations of the year.

Staying up late on Christmas Eve, with plenty of conversation, overindulgence, and waiting for Papai Noel (Santa Claus).

Santa Claus conjures up the image of children, who, for the

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Brazilian people are so cherished. Little ones are looked upon as babies longer than is considered normal in the US. Children are not pushed to be potty-trained, or taken off the bottle or pacifier at any specific time. Even some kindergarten-age children are given bottles at bedtime. Also, a majority of women breastfeed their babies in public without covering their breasts.

It is considered natural and beautiful. Breastfeeding without shame is definitely a practice Americans should emulate. The United States sometimes comes off as too rigid in such matters of the heart.

Once you make a few acquaintances in Brazil you'll be greeted by a kiss on the cheek. This goes for men and women, and yes, men kiss men—but it's no big deal! People practice this ritual everyday without even thinking about it. They wake up in the morning and kiss each family member, while saying born dia (good morning). A lot of people will even greet their coworkers with a kiss. Of course you still have the traditional handshake. But people will only use that until they get to know you. After awhile you'll receive only kisses from your acquaintances and friends.

Brazilians are probably the friendliest people on the face of the earth. They will go out of their way to help others. So, if you're lost or in need in any kind of help, don't hesitate to ask a passerby for assistance. Even if you don't know Portuguese, someone will take the time to try and understand you. Foreigners are received very well by the people of Brazil. There is no discrimination in this personable, enchanting, land. Its people welcome the rest of the world with open arms.

Lynn Lyra is a freelance writer who spent eight months in Curitiba, Brazil, teaching English. She is married to a Brazilian citizen, has two children, and currently resides in Saint Petersburg, Florida. You can write her at lynnlyra@cs.com

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Amateur Lover He always used to bring a rose stolen from his mother's vase, from the company... I never asked where the roses came from, but I know they were stolen.. Before sex always a remarkable walking, he wished to be remarkable and he was, is, will be, would be...

ANA FERRE IRA

BRAZZIL -JANUARY 2002

—Nicole Kidman ou Demi Moore?

—0 que?

—Qual das duas voce escolheria?

—Pm? —Pra uma noite de amor... ou manha, tarde...

—As duas me querem...?

—Estao loucas por voce.

—E eu ten4o que escolher uma...

—Quern vcfce prefere?

—Nicole Nidman ou Demi Moore?

—Qual delks?

—Nicole Kidman.

—Certo. Juliette Binoche ou Winona Ryder?

—Hum... Juliette Binoche.

—Mira Sorvino ou Julia Roberts?

—Mira Sorvino.

—Madonna ou Sharon Stone?

—Madonna.

—Kate Moss ou Gisele Biindchen?

—Kate Moss.

—Sou muito mais a Gisele Bundchen.

—Prefiro a Kate Moss.

—A Laura parece um pouco corn ela...

—Voce acha?!

—Ela acha,..

—Nada a Ner. Tom Cruise ou Keanu Reeves?

—Voce reSponde!

—Mao, ag ra é sua vez... Tom Cruise ou Keanu Reeves?

—Eucom ei...

—Vai, Torh Cruise ou Keanu Reeves?

—Keanu Reeves.

—Brad Pitt ou Johnny Depp?

—Johnny Depp.

—Bruce Willis ou Antonio Banderas?

—Bruce Willis!

—Lenny Kravitz ou Maxwell?

—Os dois —Um s6.

—Kravitz.

—Rai ou Euller?

—Nao sei quem ' Euller...

—0 Filho do V nto!

—Que filho de uem?

—0 Euller do P lmeiras, o Filho do Vento, ele corre muito...

—Fecho no Rai —Mike Tyson • Hollyfield?

—Mike Tyson.

—Woody Allen ou Steven Spielberg?

—Woody Alle .

—Bob Dylan o Bob Marley?

—Eu no lembr a cara... Bob Dylan, acho...

—Bill Clinton o Bill Gates?

—Clinton.

—Principe Ch les ou Fidel Castro?

—Nenhum.

—Tern que escolher um, se no escolher vai ser estuprada pelos dois.

—Fidel, entao...

—Maluf ou Suplicy?

—Suplicy, mil vezes.

—Toni Ramos ou Vera Fischer?

—Vera Fischer.

—Angela!!

—Voce perguntou, eu respondi...

—Ulisses ou o Flavio?

—Amigo nao vale.

31

—Vale sim. Ulisses ou Flavio?

—Da entao pra escolher uns melhores?

—Uns melhores?! Alexandre...?

—Nunca! Chega de vinho.

— E o Andre?

—Cansei dessa brincadeira...

—Iddia sua. Alexandre ou Andre?

—Voce.

Ele finge que tido ouviu. Desenha uma estrela no canto do bloquinho da —Fora a Laura, quem mais voce amou?

—Por que...?

—Curiosidade!

—SO amei voce.

—Mentiroso. Fala do seu prim eiro amor...

—Jáfalei.

—Entao o segundo...

—Nao lembro.

—Uma que voce so comeu...

—De jeito nenhum.

—Adoro historias de seducao.

—Entao le urn romance, assiste a um filme...

—Eu te falo cada cara que eu tive...

Ele olha pra porta, cruza os bracos.

4t. sei o suficiente, tido quero saber mais nada. Isso no me excita.

—Nao parece, pelo volume na sua calca...

—E o meu pau.

—Tive um namorado que s6 me dava presentes que alimentavam a minha fantasia...

—Olha sO que interessante!

—E eu morria de tesao imaginando outras mulheres corn ele...

—Me poupe, eu nao quero saber.

—Adoro voce!

—Adoro voce...

—0 ultimo antes de voce foi o major de todos as meus grandes enganos, foi muito engracado... nomes ou codinomes!?

—Fica a seu criterio.

— Eu nao tenho criterio. —Isso me irrita.

Anda em direcao a porta. Recua. Segura o meu rosto e me beija infinito corn a certeza de que dali para a cama é so alguns passos... Avanco.

—Eu adoraria saber cada segundo da sua existencia.

— Prefiro as possibilidades desse momento, tanta coisa pra descobrir...

Ele me arrebata num amasso sem saida e se esfrega em mim de um jeito que nao tern mais como parar.

—Codinomes, é melhor.

—Nomes, eu prefiro, me sinto menos otario. Quem foi o ultimo babaca que te comeu...? Manda...

—Voce conhece.

—Fala logo.

—Andre.

—Caralho! Voce deu pro Andre!?

—Foi antes de voce. Foi muito engracado...

—Engracado!?

—E, e foi antes...

—Tudo bem, desculpa.

Ele levanta e se olha no espelho.

—Quanto antes?

—Umas duas semanas...

—Caralho!!

Mete as maos nos bolsos da calca.

—Tudo bem... Quem mais?!

—Ninguem, esquece.

—Nao, fala! E manda logo de cara a mais hard que é pra eu ja ficar bem conformado.

32

—Amores passam... bobagem.

—Amores?! Foi urn amor o Andre?

—Amores, paixOes, acidentes de percurso...

—Chega.

Ele sentanacamae tira a minhablusa, lambe as meus mamilos...

—Tern uns caras que eu lembro tudo, outros mais ou menos, acho que confundo alguns...

—Nao quero saber.

—Tern gente que eu lembro o cheiro, o gosto...

—Para.

Ele tira a minha calcinha.

DON JUAN SO sei falar de amor.

Acordei corn uma masica que eu no conhecia. Na verdade nao sei se acordei corn a masica ou se era a trilha do meu sonho. Nao lembro o sonho, mas acordei amando... era umamusica de amor e ele surge no branco do teto do meu quarto. E ele tocando pra mim. Don Juan em busca da mulher ideal, e ela era eu.

Existe uma grande diferenca entre sedutores e galinhas, tenho umateoria e pretendo fazer uma tese a respeito. 0 galinha quer comer todas, o sedutor quer encontrar a amada. 0 galinha busca quantidade; o sedutor, qualidade. 0 sedutor é romantico, o galinha é sacaninha. 0 sedutor é verdadeiro, profundo... Don Juan é um sedutor. Vou chama-lo de Don Juan. Ele sempretrazia uma rosa roubada do vaso da casa da mae, da empresa... nunca perguntei de onde vinham as rosas, mas sei que eram roubadas.

Antes do sexo sempre um passeio marcante, ele queria ser marcante e era, é, sera, seria... No nosso primeiro encontro intimo, eu usava umacalcinhaazul, nada intencional, se soubesse que ia darpra ele naque le diateria optadopor uma preta, branca...

Era uma calcinha azul basica de algodao meio velha que eu roubei da Veronica e ele adorou.

—Voce é linda so corn essa calcinha azul...

—Tenho outras cores...

—Prefiro sem.

—Vem...

Tirei a azul e ele me degustou. Me torturava de prazer ate eu implorar uma penetracao.

— Eu quero...

—Calma...

—Por favor!

—Espera urn pouco...

—Eu quero agora!

Eu ficava num estado de agonia e euforia que se ele nao fizesse logo, acho que eu entrava em surto. Al ele me penetrava calmamente, ate o fim, preenchiatudo, inteiro. E se desenrolava a nossa sinfonia er6tica... Andante tranqtrilo, allegro moderato, galope infernal... Sempre acho que falei demais.

Nao lembro exatamente quando nos vimos pela prim eira vez, ele me diria que foi numa Sexta-feira da Paixao, no restaurante perto da radio. Eu trabalhava numa radio, era diretora de urn programa de variedades e bolava quase tudo; tinha dicas de beleza, moda, horOscopo, e tinha urn espaco onde eram lidas historias de amor que as ouvintes mandavam. A gente dava urn trato na narrativa, floreava um pouco a trama e uma moça estranherrima, mas de vozmuito sensual, ha as historias meladas corn uma interpretacao gelida e envolvente. Era o maximo esse programa, "Sol a Pino" era o nome, de segunda a sexta, de meiodia as duas da tarde. Salado razoavel.

Eu preferia almocar depois do programa, sem preocupacdes, sem solicitaciaes... Muito aconchegante o restaurante perto da radio, uma mistura de frances corn italiano e tinha otimas saladas. Quando eu chegava, ele estava saindo, pelo menos umas duas vezes por semana a gente se topava, eu na entrada, BRAZZIL -JANUARY 2002

ele na sobremesa. Sozinho ou corn uma morena de cabelo curto ou corn uma loura chanel ou corn um cara de cavanhaque. Eu tambem variava a companhia, Lurdinha, Andre, Eugenia, Vicente... sempre tinha um faminto ou urn louco por conversa fiada nos corredores da radio, mas nao naquele dia. Ele tambem so, no lugar do prato, urn grande livro aberto.

Sento na minha mesa proxima a janela, ele levanta os olhos e pede a conta pro mesmo garcom que anotou o meu pedido, depois volta para o livro, undo... eu achava, Lurdinha achavaum horror e falava que ele tinha jeito de ser um puta galinha... Eu sabia que era um sedutor. Don Juan. Ele olhavapara as mulheres, gostava das mulheres, mascomigo era diferente, eu era especial.

Calor tropical. 0 restaurante nao tinha ar condicionado. Os ventiladores levantavam a toalha de duas mesas, a dele era uma das premiadas e pude ver que ele usava uma bermuda. Que joelhos! Enlouqueci corn os joelhos daquele homem... nunca imaginei que urn par de joelhos pudesse alterar a minha pressao sangiiineadaquele jeito. Mudei o foco: o livro. Tentei ver o titulo e nesse momento ele o fechou sem marcar a pagina. Fiquei sem graca, mas pude ler "A Divina Comedia". Eu tinha esse livro em casa, e pela capa poderia ser a mesmaedicao. Chega o meuprato e a conta dele. Preenche o cheque e nab se levanta. Comeco a comer, ele no levanta. Quero olhar pra ele, mas me limito ao quadro na parede, uma cOpia; que falha seria esquecer de mencionar o quase-beijo de Paolo e Francesca, ela corn urn livro aberto e os olhos baixos, a meio segundo de ser beijada por seu amado e proibido cunhado Paolo... Todos os dias, quando eu via esse quadro, pelo menos por uma fracao de segundo, eu lembrava dos dois irmaosque amei.Nicolau eNicodemos. Mais o Nicodemos. Ele nao se levanta.

Na "Divina Comedia", Dante encontra-se corn Francesca no inferno, claro. E isso! Ele quer urn gancho pra se aproximar, vai comentar o quadro, o livro...Aplico umavisao lateral, parece que ele me olha, fico esperta corn o passeio dos meus olhos pelas paredes, pessoas, mesas, cadeiras, porta, pratos, joelhos, ele.

Desvio. Meu Deus! Ele contemplava o meu almoco como se fosse um quadro. Francesca da Rimini —by William Dyce — a minha direita. Cada mastigada era urn suplicio corn aquele homem me observando... V irei a Coca-Cola e veio a iddia que me deixaria corn uma fantastica acao paralela: o roteiro do programa.

Pego o calhamaco, finjo que leio, faco umas anotacties totalmente sem sentido e ele nao se levanta. Me encorajo e encaro. Ele me olhava corn meio-sorriso... Ele levanta. Eu suspiro.

—Posso sentar?

—Pode, se antes disser por que ficou me olhando assim...

—Vontade de te conhecer, desculpe.

— Pensei que estivesse me confundindo corn alguem.

—De jeito nenhum, voce é inconfundivel.

Inconfundivel era aquele par de joelhos. Eu deixo uma lacuna, ele segue seguro...

—Te vejo sempre aqui. Já sei que voce trabalhana radio, almoco ouvindo o seu programa, todos aqui ouvem: — E, eu sei, ouvintes fidis.

—E muito divertido. Inteligente, bem-humorado... you mandar uma historia de amor.

—Pode entregar diretamente pra mim.

—Nao, mando pelo correio, urn dia...

Formal. Ele levanta e me estende a mao.

—Foi um grande prazer conhecer voce.

—Prazer.

Dou uma ultima olhada nos joelhos, ele pega o livro e vai.

"A Divina Comedia". Procurei, urn por um, umas tres ou quatro vezes enao encontrei. Eu tinha a certeza de ter aquele livro em casa. Quantas vezes o folheei, revirando os trechos do inferno... o encontro de Dante corn Francesca, condenadapelo amor...Nicolau eNicodemos. SentiaBRAZZIL -JANUARY 2002

me meio Francesca quando namorei os irmaos. Urn dia eu conto pra Don Juan, tudo eu contaria pra ele... eu pensava enquanto procurava olivro. Amei os dois. Nicolau foi o trafdo. Nicodemos era o Paolo. Eu ja.tive urn Romeu, urn James Bond, Che Guevara, Kung-fu, Don Juan... "A Divina Comedia". Na casa da minha mae tambem nao estava, nem corn meus irmaos. Pensei emligar para alguns amigos que teriam livros meus, mas é urn sacrificio tao grande cobrar livros emprestados... Quem pegou que tenha a iniciativa de devolver. Sei que humanos est7ao sujeitos a falhas, os Nefilim tambem, ate os anjos erram... Notei varios volumes alheios em minhas prateleiras... e um par de joelhos é so urn par de joelhos.

Don Juan passou a fazer parte da minha historia corn muita sutileza. Moco cauteloso, certos seres nao agem na pressa.

Banho-maria. Foi impecavel corn os meus colegas de trabalho, comentava o programa, dava uns palpites redondos pra me impressionar e nunca mais apareceu corn a morena de cabelos curtos, nem corn a loira chanel. Lurdinha mudou de opiniao a respeito dele que de galinha passou a bem interessante... Eu estava encantada, especialmente depois da canja que ele deu no piano do restaurante. Umamirsica de amor... Meu imaginado foi a mil e ele sumiu. Desapareceu. Urn mes. Pergunto ao garcom.

—Ele sempre viaja...—Explicado o sumico.—Ele esqueceu urn livro ern cima do piano. —0 garcom ainda informa. 0 elo. Quern sabe se entre as paginas ele nab teria deixado um contato, uma pista... Claro! Pe di o livro ao garcom amigo. Pois lido_ 0 meu livro! 0 meu iivro da minha mae!

Minhas pern s bambeiam. Sento. Logo na contracapa, a estrela de cinco Pontas que minha mae desenhava ern todos os volumes como marca registrada. Virei as paginas. Na 119 tinha urn marcador lila e na pagina 357, um cartao de empresa corn o nome do pai dele Miguel Fonseca -presidente. Como ele teria o meu livro? Quem era aquele cara? Segurei o brag° do garcom, disse que era urn livromuito importante e que estariamais seguro em casa. Ele concordou imediatamente. Ouvinte fiel.

Passei o dia supondo... Ele provavelmente me seguiu e invadiu o meu apartamento....nunca confiei no sistema de seguranca do predio... pode ter entrado como entregador de pizza, encanador, eletricista, qualquer coisa... Ficou escondido me observando entre frestas, babaca. Me ouviufalando sozinha, observoumeu sono... sempre durmonua... Ou ele pode ter vindo a alguma festaemcasa... impossivel, euo terianotado... Emprestei esse livro e emprestaram a ele... nao... esqueci em algum lugar, alguem achoue vendeupra urn sebo e ele comprou... Tanta coisa poderia ser... Fiquei muitointrigada, isso me consumiuhoras em elucubracOes. Acabei recuperandoalguns volumes emprestados ha seculos, no entanto nao localizei "A Divina Comedia" corn nenhum dos meus amigos. So poderia ser o meu livro. Da minha mae, na verdade. Fiquei na espera. Don Juan apareceria e desvendaria o misted°. Ele era familiar, Sc parecia Com alguem... tinha um ar de celebridade, de mito... e eu precisava rever os joelhos.

Duas assistentes me ajudavam na selecao das historias de amor. Cerca de cento e cinquenta cartas diariamente, as histOrias mais absurdas da face da terra. As de caligrafia ' inteligfvel e as pornograficas cram as primeiras serem descartadas por minhas assistentes, as eu fazia questa° de conferir umapor uma... eus anos decifrando os sonhos que a minha 'de escrevia no escuro me deixaram apta a ntender ate receita medica, e aconteceu de mas vezes elas deixarem passar algumas drolas.

Olho para os dois montes de cartas sobre ininha mesa. Opto por conferir primeiro as descartadas. En ontro algumas histOrias razoaveis e outras duas que charnam a minhaatencao porterem a mesma caligrafia 33

—Quer urn suco, urn cafe? e mesmo inicio.

Eles se conheciam de alguma outra vida, se outra vida — Quero voce. existiu. E tinham um pacto, se reconheceriam. Ele a encontraria Ele me beijou corn urgencia, nao dava mais pra segurar. numa Sexta-feira da Paixao. Quando ela entrou naquele pequeno — A gente vai ter que transar... restaurante, ele sentiu que ganhava o major —Assim...?! presente de sua vida: a amada... " —Se a gente nao transar isso nao vai passar e vai Entre as selecionadas, encontro umaterceira ficar cada vez pior. carta corn a mesma tetra e exatamente o mesmo Ele tinhatoda razao. Da cozinha diretamente para inicio das que minhas assistentes consideraram o quarto. Ele tirou a roupa dele e eu tirei a minha e eu lixo. Obviamente aquelas tres histOrias foram usava a calcinha azul. Virilidade encarnada. 0 pau escritas e enviadas pelamesmapessoa. 0 primeiro ereto, vibrante, meu, na minha mao, born de segurar... paragrafo era igual nastres, depois tudo mudava.

A penetracao era um momento muito delicado e Resumindo: explorado e ficavamos na mesma posicao ate Na primeira, eles se apaixonam, se casam e esgotarmos todas as possibilidades que cada uma passam a vida juntos numa casa cor-de-rosa. proporcionava. Geralmente a gente comecava de Na segunda versa°, eles apenas se olham, frente, olhos nos olhos... 0 rosto dele me penetrando passam a vida se olhando e so na velhice se dao era singular; a boca entreaberta, palpebras conta que a caravana passou... semicerradas... em nenhumaoutra situacao ele teria Na terceira, saem do restaurante, passam aquela expressao. Suspiro. Ele gostava quando eu uma intensa noite juntos e nunca mais se ficava por cima e cavalgava... Andante tranquil°, encontram. allegro moderato, galope infernal... Eu adorava ficar Era ele o autor. Don Juan. Certeza. de quatro e ele mordendo a minha nuca. Era quase sempre essa Minhas assistentes selecionaram a terceira versao a nossa posicao final, triunfal, a posicao animal, e os dentes dele deduzindo que as duas descartadas fossem copias. Alguns cravados no meu cangote! Eu me sentia meio lobaou leoa... mas participantes mandavam a mesma histOria em duas ou tres vias. ja fui anta uma vez e logo na seqUencia ele disse que ficaria dois Ficou claro que elas leram somente o inicio das cartas. Eu so meses fora do pals. Ele tocava os negOcios do pai em Miami, e poderia escolher a primeira versa°. vivia dividido, muito mais la. Nos 6Itimos tempos, ficava no Entrei no restaurante esbaforida e ele estava na minha mesa. maxim° uma semanae ia embora... Mas me ligava todos os dias, Lindo. Sorri e me sentei. Ele me deu urna rosa (ate hoje guardo de onde estivesse ele me ligava e era sO amor. Nao me interessava as petalas). Conversamos a vida e ele no desvendou o misted° mudar pra Miami, mas achei que era hora de passar uns tempos do livro, disse que o pegou na biblioteca da casa do pai dele e com ele e pedi umas ferias na radio. no deu a minima pra coincidencia do desenho da estrela de — Pedi ferias na radio... cinco pontas na contracapa, —Todo mundo desenha estrela.

—Cansada?

—foi o breve comentario estrela, coracCio, quadrado, —Nao é cansaco, eu queria passar uns tempos corn voce em florzinha... —complementou. Porra. Nao era uma simples Miami. coincidencia... Que decepeao. Eu esperava um relato herOico, — Voce disse que nao gosta de Miami. uma descried° minuciosa da estrategia pra obter o meu livro...

—Mas eu gosto de voce...

Nada. Tambem pensei que ele fosse comentar o quadro do —LA eu nao tenho tempo pra te dar ateneao, ainda mais restaurante e o encontro de Dante corn Francesca no inferno da agora...

"Divina Comedia"... Nada. Talvez ele ainda nem tivesse chegado —Abre o jogo, voce esta corn alguem por IA. nesse setor do inferno, talvez nem soubesse quern era o casal —Nao é bem assim... do quadro. Sou uma tonta que conecta .tudo, sempre acabo — Fala! encontrando uma relacao para os fatos... E que o panorama me —Eu tenho a minha vida. fez crer que ele estava jogando comigo; tudo planejado, cartas —E essa sua vida envolve mais alguem. do destino cuidadosamente estudadas e embaralhadas por ele; Ele tido respondeu A minha afirmativa. Nem precisou.

O quadro, o livro, o silencio... Nada. Sera que ele conhece o Levantei, falei que ia ao toalete e sal do restaurante pela lateral.

Nicolau? E Nicodemos? 0 mundo é pequeno e nele so existem Nab olhei para tras. Parei urn taxi e fui pra casa. Quando entrei, dezessete pessoas... Nada. Nada importava, nao fazia a menor o telefone tocava insistente, deixei a secretaria atender... Era diferenea, eu queria ve-lo e ele estava Eu queria tanto... Nao Don Juan e eu nao era a mulher ideal. Baixei o volume pra nao fizemos amor naquela noite, mas nos beijamos e nos abracamos ouvir o recado, peguei chave do carro e me enfurnei no sitio de de todas as maneiras cabiveis dentro de um carro. Na manha uma am iga a 50 km da cidade, ate a hora do embarque dele. seguinte Don Juan liga pedindo o livro e eu engasgo quando ele 0 pedido de ferias pegou mal na radio e a chefia decidiu diz que esta na portaria do meu predio. acabar corn o programa. Acho que foi melhor. Aproveitei a deixa — Sobe. e peitei uma reviravolta na vida. Mudei pro oeste da cidade, Engasgada, abri a porta. Ele nao entendeu. Eu estava sem pintei o cabelo de loiro dourado, comprei uma cama novae me folego e as lagrimasescorriam, mas nao era choro. Ele entendeu. matriculei num curso de fotografia e num de street dance. Mao Bateu nas minhas costas, levantou minha cabeca e meus bracos, apareci mais no restaurante, Quase morn de amor. Passei meses tudo fez pra me salvar do acesso provocado pelo pedaco de bolo chorando de saudade. Doeu. engolido errado. Fui aos poucos me recuperando e bebi urn copo Don Juan sO conseguiu me localizar uns tres anos depois. d' agua.

Viu meu nome nos creditos da revista onde eu estava trabalhando — Passou? e ligou. E claro que tive um enorme desejo de ir correndo ao seu — Passou. encontro. Eu ainda nem intuia o porque, mas segurei o impulso — Tábem mesmo? e disse que estava casada e quem sabe um dia... Nao consegui — Passou... pensei que fosse morrer... Engasguei corn o encontrar nenhum motivo terreno pra justificar minha atitude; bolo... quer urn pedaco? eu ja tinha vivido todo tipo de situacao... fui traida, trai, sofri — Nao, obrigado... calada, del vexame, ganhei e perdi batalhas amorosas, mas corn — Desculpa... Que recepeao...

Don Juan, optei por simplesmente me retirar. Pressenti que n6s —Mao agtientei, eu precisava te ver. dois nao podiamos... E ainda nao sei tudo sobre "A Divina 34

BRAZZIL -JANUARY 2002

Comedia", que voltou para a minha biblioteca.

A PASTA AMARELA Nao me resumo a uma dama do erotismo, uma oradora sexual, nab, eu sou romantica, sentimental, amadora... Descobri que a minha missao neste mundo é mar, mirrhagrande experiencia de vida é o amor e o amoré mais que tudo, é a bencao major, divino, portanto minha existenciaja vale algumacoisa. Alem de filha de Deus, tambem sou neta Dele, legitima. Nao gosto dessa historia de justificar a personalidade de alguem se apoiando no meio ambiente ou nagenetica, mas no meucaso é diferente, para me entender e imprescindivel conhecer minha origem.

Cresci corn velas derretendo pela casa e lagrimas encharcando o rosto da minha mae. Eta me abracava forte como nos filmes, me beijava e olhava no fundo dos meus olhos como se pudesse de alguma forma resgatar os olhos do meu pai, seu eterno amado.

Raramente a historia que nos contam é a real, segredos de familia sempre existiram e vao existir em todo lugar. Voce pode jamais saber, mas seus genitores seguramente escondem alguma coisa a sete mil chaves.

Sempre soube que meus irmaos e eu nao eramos filhos do mesmo pai. Mamae contava que meu pai era muito, muito diferente... Ele é urn anjo. Na minha certiddo de nascimento, no lugar do nome do pai, tern uma inscricao, escrita angelica, composta por: traco, xis, traco, xis, tram

Como todos os Nefilim, fui gestada em apenas tress meses, era o que minha mae me dizia, e dizia isso pra quem ousasse perguntar quern era o pai da menina...

"Anjos tern sexo sim, e o que eu amei era muito mais homem do que qualquer outro... Os Nefilim sac, os filhos dos anjos corn humanos, a gestacao é mais rapida mesmo... Deus me deu este presente. A Biblia fala dos Nefilim... " As mas linguas diziam que mamde tanto apertou a barriga que conseguiu esconder a gravidez ate o sexto mes. Linguas malditas... E rid() pensa que eu falo essas Foisas sO pra dar uma mitificada na sacanagem, longe disso. E a minha histOria, e inventada ou nao, e o que me foi passado: meu pai é urn anjo.

Dediquei urn tempo da minha vida pesquisando os Nefilim.

Consultei livros, filmes, entrevistei padres, pastores, ate corn um cardeal eu falei. Na verdade ninguem sabia muita coisa sobre os supostos gigantes que habitaram, dominaram e corromperam a Terra antes do dilavio. "Os filhos de Deus viram que as filhas dos horn ens eram be/as e tomaram como mulheres todas as que lhes agradaram." Os espertos se encantaram corn as lindas, elas gostaram do sexo dos anjos e geraram uma nova.raca: os Nefilim. Libidinosos, temidos, poderosos, frutos do amor entre os filhos dos Cdr.'s e as beldades terrenas.

Sou mais alta que minhamde, mas estou longe de ser gigante, a nao ser na coragem e no apetite sexual.

Talvez... Segundo minhas pesquisas, mamae nao tinhanocao do que seria ter urn Nefilim em casa, mas tinha resposta pra tudo e disse que eu era de um tipo refinado, evoluido... ela enchia a minha bola. E s6 quando as minhas amigas comecaram a me chamar de mentirosa, mamae revela que meu pai morrera num acidente, pouco antes do meu nascimento. Era anjo, Deus chamou. Eu nunca o conheci, mas sei de cada detalhe da curta e louca histOria deles. Prato cheio pros romanticos, psicologos... Ate os teologos se interessariam.

Mamae era linda! Já tinhameus dois meio-inndos e o marido a havia trocado pela secretaria sO porque ela ndo gostava de BRAZZIL -JANUARY 2002

sexo anal. Foi o fim, mamde chorou muito, perdeu a fome, mas depois de duas semanas de separacao já agradecia a Deus por ter tirado da vida dela aquele tarado traidor. Etc tentou voltar algumas dezenas de vezes, pediu desculpas, implorou, mandou for, deu and, disse que sO faria sexo convencional... mas eland() quis, estava corn "o coracilo fechado para reforma e o corpo travado para qualquer toque". Li tudo isso numa longa carta que ela nunca mandou pro meu pai, ficava junto corn outras cartas e urn caderno de anotacifies, numa pasta amarela, em cima do armario, sob urnamala cheia de roupas de inverno. Eu achava excitante saber a intimidade da minhamae, divagavaolhando pra eta. Imaginava a cenas relatadas, os sonhos que ela escrevia na madrugada... Ela nao gostava quando eu a olhava daquele jeito. Daquele jelto era lembrando da pasta amarela. Ate hoje ainda sei muitos trechos de cor... "Eu me sentia tab longe do amor e voce me tocou, senti meu corpo febriL. me beijou e me arrebatou, e as spas mobs deslizaram... seios, ventre, sexo... " Quando ache' a pasta, nao acreditei. Minha mae escreveu seios, ventre, sex... 0 ventre tudo bem, mas seios e sexo... Sexo!

Eu tinha medo e falar sexo, a palavra sexo soava estranha, proibida... Sexo. A leitura interessou. Muitas coisas sobre ela e o meu pai, a historia deles. Sexo.

Tudo comecou no cinema. Chovia torrentes e o bairro ficou sem luz. 0 filme parou quase no fim. Minha mae tinha uma lanterninha de leitura e ajudou a iluminar o caminho dapequena plateia, que em poucos minutos cansou do blecaute.

"A grande sala parecia vazia, percorri todo o espaco corn a luz pouca da lanterna e ele surgiu no breu, eu o via sempre, a cada novo fl/me... Nilo tinhamos nenhum tipo de relacionamento, mas nos viamos corn certa freqiiencia, nos olhavamos... passamos a nos cumprimentar e, depois de um tempo, conversamos algumas vezes na porta do cinema, cornentando oroteiro, o desfecho, as truques defilmagem... Ele segurava minhas milos enquanto falava comigo. Fora do cinema s6 nos viamos em sonhos... Naquele dia ele veio decidido a enfrentar afaria dos deuses. Era a primeiravez que estavamos s6 nos dois naquela imensa sala de projecilo! Ele segurou a minha mil°. Tentamos adivinhar ofinal dofilme e eu, sem mais nem menos, comecei a chorar. Chorei muito e inexplicavelmente. Como pode, num primeiro encontro romcintico alguem chorar daquele jeito...? Lancei a cu/pa na lua cheia e chorei por todos as amores impossiveis ou ameacados."

Era so o trailler...

"Saimos do cinema e andamos abracados pelo centro velho da cidade..."

A cada quarta-feira um novo flume de amor. Eles se viam as quartas-feiras.

"Qua/ seria o nosso destino? Perguntas e descobertas desfilavam na minha cabeca... Amor sem pressa, no entanto urgente, nenhum dos dois entendia o porque de tantos suspiros, eu so sentia que ha muito tempo te conhecia e que juntos para sempre nos iriamos ficar, em algum lugar..."

Diz a carta que eles foram pro Caribe. Minha mae nunca conheceu o Caribe. Desconfio que seja o nome de algum hotel, motel, pousada... "...efomos para o Caribe. Poderiamos gritar de alegria! E ele me amou como nenhum homem nunca tinha feito... e passamos a noite inteira descobrindo o mundo em cada sensacdo...0/has abertos, olhos nos olhos so para ter certeza, o tempo todo, que eramos nos dois au. Meu anjo e eu. Voce e eu... Amor. " Isso nunca tinha acontecido e jamais se repetiria. " ... tirou a minha roupa e disse que eu era exatamente como voc'e imaginava... Minha calcinha na altura dos joelhos nil° 35

me deixava abrir as pernas dire/to e eu terminei de tirci-la usando o calcanhar. Me beijou inteira, e seus dedos firmes tocaram a minha int imidade ate me inundar de desejo...

Mergulhou nos meus olhos e entrou em mim... Fizemos urn amor intenso como so os deuses sao cap azes. Alinhamos os planetas...

Movimentos precisos, umidade, unidade, orgasmos... E uma zinicavezvaleria mais que toda uma eternidade sem provar o seu amor... " Tudo isso ela escreveu, tá tudo guardado na pasta amarela. A minha mae!

Um detalhe: ela descreve os acontecimentos se referindo ao seu amado, tanto na segunda quanto na terceira pessoa, "voce" e "ele" sao o mesmo: meu pai. 0 homem e o anjo.

Passei a vida imaginando aquelanoite intensa, aquele amor anico que poucos no mundo tern a bencao de experimentar...

"Nunca mais! Como pode meu Deus!? Meu grande amor ir embora ass/m... Como epossivel o Deus que é amor acabar corn uma historia t 'do :Mica? Como pode fazer isso corn a gente?

Nunca mais o seu olhar, o seu rosto, a sua mdo na minha meio, nossas longas conversas, suas palavras. Como viver sem seus beijos, seu sorriso, nosso sexo... A cabou Quarta-feira, voce nunca mais, saiu de cartaz. " Era urn filme de amor que nao cabia, nao podia neste cinema.

0 mais incrivel é que os protagonistas nAo pararam por al, continuaram se encontrando nos sonhos de minha mae. Alguns ela escreveu meio dormindo e no escuro, pela caligrafia torta como as linhas de Deus, noutros parece bem acordada; boa tetra, paragrafos, parenteses, datados, corn horario, observacoes, relacOes corn fatos cotidianos e o escambau. Muitos sonhos.

Erotismo, medo, prazeres, culpas, desculpas e descobertas, descricoes completas do que eles viveram entre o Ceti e a Terra.

"Acordeifeliz e molhada, sonhei corn o meu anjo... Era uma festa, numafazenda. Eu sat da casa, fiquei olhando as estrelas e surge ele, falando que as abelhas tinham descoberto urn novo jeito de fazer me!. Alguem se aproximava, aproveitamos o escuro e nos refugiamos numa especie de estabulo. Ouvimos vozes por perto, muitas vozes, cada vez mais, como se a festa estivesse se deslocando... Falavam mu/to e alto e n6s fizemos tudo silenciosamente, golpeando o escuro e adivinhando cada pedaco de nos... Ele levantou a minha saia, afastou a minha calcinha (como no sonho do aviclo) e me fincou sua espada gloriosa. Em todos os sonhos, no momento que ele me pen etra, eu sinto fisicamente... " Tern muitos sonhos anotados, aos poucos eu you citando... Coisas incriveis. Depois do meu pai, nunca mais teve outro homem. Verdade. Surgiram varios pretendentes, mas ela nao se interessou por mais ninguem, dizia ja ter conhecido o seu grande amor e é bem provavel que as cenas vividas nos sonhos a satisfizessem muito mais que o simples contato fisico corn um reles mortal. Fica claro numa das anotacties que na vida acordada elatambem tinhatesao, seu corpo continuavasentindo desejos, ela cita alguns homens que chamaram a sua atencao, mas era tao forte a determinacao ern nao ser de mais ninguem, que esses desejos carnais eram logo dissipados e recompensados quando ela deitava a cabeca no travesseiro.

Seria muito triste se Deus nao existisse.

This text was excerpted from the initial pages of Amadora, a bestselling book released in September 2001, in Brazil, by Geracao Editorial (http://www.geracaobooks.com.br). Amadora is Ana Ferreira's, 36, first book. The author studied architecture and drama and in 1996 received an awart for writing the play As Priscillas de Elvis (Elvis' Priscillas)

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BRA7_ZIL - JANUARY 2002

English for Brazucas Inflammable = flammable?

What Brazucas call bife is actually uma posta de came and may be prepared with all sorts of meats. So never ask for a beef of fish or beef of pork. The waiter will have to suppress his laughter. Instead, enjoy a broiled salmon steak.

WILSON VELLOSO A very nice reader, C.P., asked which is the right form of the word in the title. Well, dear Claudia, like in many cases when we deal with language, any language, the answer is both. We could simplify things saying that flammable is ,preferred in the U.S. while inflammable is the British choice. Yes, it would be simpler but not 100% true. What is true is that inflammable (inflamcivel) is several centuries older, as it comes directly from Latin. There isn't in Portuguese a form

flamavel—not yet, por enquanto.

Written either way, the term means "capable of catching. fire" (que pode pegar fogo). Then, why two different versions for it? Apparently, for reasons of safety, specially to warn people that a substance—such as alcohol, gasoline, paper, cloth—can ignite and burn, thus becoming a hazard for humans, a few men in control deleted the prefix in, which usually changes a word.

Since this is a negativeyrefix, its use is to show the contrary of another word. Thus possible becomes impossible (posstvel-impossivel). Note that it can be im or in, depending on the letter that follows it. It's the same in Portuguese: im before b and p, in when it precedes any other letter.

To complicate matters, English has another negative suffix un that works the same way: unable is the contrary of able (incapaz-capaz). All this song and dance (cantilena) serves to emphasize that inflammable does NOT mean "non-flammable."

As a person advances in the study of grammar, he/she learns that the meaning of prefixes— and suffixes, the little end words that also change the significance of a term when added to its tail—may vary quite widely. Actually, there is nothing strange in different meanings for a word as we already know, with or without the prefixes and suffixes. We have already seen some examples of that, but there are thousands of examples and it is good to learn a few more different meanings.

Let's take an innocent word such as hand. We know it means mao. But it also describes a hand of bananas (penca de bananas), a measure of four inches (um palmo de 10 centimetros), the hands of a clock (ponteiros de um relogio), help (miio, miiozinha) as in give me a hand (me dá uma mciozinha), a hand of cards (mclo de cartas de baralho), a factory hand, a deck hand, a field hand (operario de fabrica, taifeiro, marinheiro de navio mercante, peel° de fazenda); hand meaning skill (pericia, esmero no trabalho) this piece of furniture shows the hand of a cabinetmaker

= este 'novel revela a pericia do marceneiro.

As is the case with most English nouns (substantivos) hand is also a verb. It means to deliver (entregar), to help, to assist, to direct (ajudar, assistir, dirigir). I handed the package to the postal clerk = entreguei o pacote àfuncionária do correio.

Used with prepositions (preposic5es) hand acquires many more meanings. Hands up (ma-os ao alto!), hands off! (nao tocar, tirar a mdo), hands down (ganhar facil, sem problema— the Blues beat the Reds hands down = os Azuis derrotaram os Vermelhos na maciota), hand in (entregar um objeto, encomenda, preso, dar entrada em documento). The teenagers handed in the pickpocket to the police, The mailman handed me a letter, Olga handed in her paper to the teacher, Tomorrow I will hand in our petition at the County Office

— Amanita' you

a

reparticao da comarca dar entrada em nosso requerimento.

About two months ago, I mentioned the difficulty Brazucas may have to identify birds and other animals, trees, flowers, fruits. Some suggested that I compiled a short list of such words, to be added to as requests come in.

Everybody knows that dog is cachorro — or more correctly ceio, because cachorro is more like filhote — and cat is gato, but do you know any synonyms (sinonimos)? For instance, pup, puppy for cliezinhos, cachorrinhos? What about canine and K-9, dogs employed to follow a trail, sniff and identify narcotics, etc? They are simply ccles policiais.

The diminutive of cat is a kitty and several types of cats are called pussycats, pusses, and pussies. Usually cats are referred to in the feminine. Thus: my pussy hates her anti-flea treatments. I trust that all of you are familiar with another meaning of pussy. If you don't, you will find out pretty soon.

A horse is a cavalo and a mare is egua. A potro might be colt, foal, as a potra and or potranca is called a filly. A boi is a steer, and a touro is a bull. A bezerro is a calf (which also means barriga-da-perna) sometimes called a bullock A fairly well-grown bezerra.ou vaquilhona is a heifer. When she mates (acasala) with a bull and produces a calf she becomes a cow. A milk cow is a vaca leiteira.

The word beef means came bovina. What Brazucas call bife (an ancient linguistic confusion) is actually uma posta de came and may be prepared with all sorts of meats, including chicken breast (peito de frango), liver (figado), pork (came de porco), mutton ( came de carneiro), veal (vitela),or even certain fish (peixe grande como atum, bacalhau, cavala). So never ask for a beef of fish or beef of pork The waiter will have to suppress his laughter. Instead, enjoy a broiled salmon steak.

Fruit trees have simple names. Usually it is the same name of the fruit followed by word tree, such as orange, apple, pear, persimmon, apricot, peach, banana, loquat respectively laranjeira,

macieira, pereira, pi de cagui, pe de damasco, pessegueiro, bananeira, nespereira.

Grapes (uvas) grow on vines (parreiras), while strawberries (morangos) grow on the ground.

Some other time we will deal with the great variety of berries, collectively known in Portuguese as amoras.

A few trees to close the road (trancar a estrada). Palm tree, palmeira; elm tree, olmo; pine tree, pinheiro; fir, abeto; maple, bordo; laurel, loureiro or louro; California laurel, fouro amarelo; plane tree, platano.

440>

Any questions, doubts, challenges? Put them on a postcard and mail to Brazzil P.O. Box 50536, Los Angeles CA 90050. If you are wired, mail it to vewilson(&,3oaks.com.

BRAZZIL -JANUARY 2002

37

Last summer I had the opportunity of traveling throughout the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. The last two weeks of my trip were spent in the capital city ofRecife. Having already been to Recife several times, I strived this time to discover interesting places that! had never seen previously. Some of the fascinating places that! visited for the first time include the Casa de Gilberto Freyre, the Museu do Homen do Nordeste, and the Museu da Abolicao. There are two other places which impressed me the most while I was in Recife. Although these places are quite different, they both have in common the expression of art.

The first belongs to one of Brazil's most renowned artists, and the second is home to some of Recife' s most talented, yet undiscovered artists.

This article examines both these places, the Olaria de Brennand and the Mercado Pobre, and juxtaposes elitist and popular art in Brazil. To make an insightful comparison! enlistedthe help ofa gifted Afro-Brazilian artist by the name ofPaulo Rama, whom I interviewed for this report.

On the 26th ofJuly I visited the Olaria de Brennand.

Francisco Brennand is one of Brazil's most accomplished ceramic artists. The Brennands have not always been a family of nobility. In fact, the Brennand family immigrated from Ireland to Brazil in 1823 to work as peasant farmers. With the luck of the Irish, Francisco's father inherited an estate and an immense wealth from the daughter of a sugarcane baron. Thus, literally overnight Brennand Senior became one of Recife' s nouveau riche. Later he used his newfound wealth to invest in the founding of a brickworks in 1917. The business remained operational until 1945.

In the same year that the brickworks closed, Francisco Brennand traveled abroad to study art in France. Francisco remained in France until 1971.

Upon returning to Recife, he set about restoring Paulo Rama is his father's property, which had been abandoned. presented a double He also began a colossal project ofcreating a permanent exhibition ofhis own ceramic sculptures. Some challenge. Not only 25 years of compulsive labor bore fruit to what stands today, a tile factory and a gallery containing does he belong to a a collection ofapproxim ate ly 2,000 Brennand sculplower middle class tures.

Francisco Brennand has been called the "Dream family, but he is Master." Indeed, a trip from downtown Recife to the also black. He gallery of Francisco Brennand is a surreal journey into another world. The gallery is divided into outrepresents a culture door and indoor sections. The former contains a that is stigmatized long pathway bordered by a Romanesque arcade, which leads into a courtyard of sculptures. Towards and denigrated in the end of this area there is a temple like structure with a domed ceiling. mainstream art.

Along the perimeter of the courtyard there are walls adorned with quotations from personages JEAN PINNER such as Ariano Suassuna and Ludwig Wittgenstein.

The indoor gallery is just as impressive and illusive in description. It is aligned neatly with rows of sculptures placed upon white pedestals. Each piece in the gallery of Brennand shows a remarkable uniqueness. From reptiles in mid-birth crashing out of egg shells, to sensual poses of round buttocks, to busts of heroic figures; each sculpture captures the imagination.

The Finest Art

38

BRAZZIL -JANUARY 2002

Three days after visiting the Olaria de Brennand, I encountered the incredible work ofanother artist in Recife, Paulo Rama.

I met Paulo on a Sunday evening at a place called the Mercado Pobre. It is located directly adjacent to Ponto Zero in Recife Antigo. According to history, Ponto Zero marks the exact location where Recife was founded around 1548. Coincidentally, an enormous sculpture by Francisco Brennand illuminates the night sky on a reef across from the Ponto Zero. On the evening that I went to the Mercado Pobre there was a commotion of people selling a wide variety of clothing, jewelry, and other goods.

Initially, nothing in the marketplace perked my attention.

Then later.! went onto the second floor and saw a young man with several T-shirts for sale. Each shirt was painted with lifesized portraits of Afro-Brazilian figures. I was immediately astonished by the work of the artist. I have never seen similar art displayed on a shirt. Instantly,! had a desire to buy one. But which one? They were all so beautiful. I spent a long time studying the details of each painting before purchasing one.

When I paid for my shirt, the artist gave me his business card.

Before leaving I asked if! could take a picture of him together with his art. Afterwards, I thanked him and continued on my way.

After leaving the Mercado Pobre, I accompanied a friend to the Alto da Serra in Olinda. The tapioca made there is famous, and rightfully so. It's delicious! When! arrived home later that night, I took out the T-shirt I had bought earlier and began to look at it curiously. For a long time I sat on the edge of my bed and studied the figure. The colors were so brilliant that the face appeared alive. The man looked like he wanted to whisper a deep secret into my ear. I was mesmerized by the figure and wanted to learn more about the painting. It was already 11:30 at night, but! decided to give the artist a call. Paulo Rama seemed excited about my interest. Later! learned that I had been the first to call and inquire about his work.

I was mainly curious about the technical aspects of his artwork. Paulo explained to me how he makes his T-shirts.

According to Paulo, the process is quite simple. After sketching an outline of the figure he wants to produce, he applies a type of acrylic base. Once this is done he begins to paint on the Tshirt, as ifhe were working with a canvas. Paulo could not really state how long he spends on the average shirt, because each work he does involves a unique idea and demands a different amount oftime. However, he estimated that he spent about forty minutes on the last shirt he painted. His estimate oftime amazed me, because it looks like hours ofwork are involved in producing all of his pieces. Paulo and I talked for about twenty minutes.

During our conversation I remarked about how impressed! was with all the handicrafts I had seen in Recife.

Having recently visited the Olaria de Brennand, I mentioned the experience to him. Paulo had been to the Olaria and agreed with me that it is spectacular. By the tone of his voice though, I felt as if maybe I had broached a sensitive topic. In his opinion Brennand is a great artist. However, he felt it necessary to remind me that Brennand was a descendant of a wealthy family, and had studied art in France for almost thirty years. Suddenly I was intrigued.

I thought that maybe Paulo was downplaying the success of Brennand because of his affluence.

Examining Paulo's shirt, and listening to him on the phone, I could hear his envy. I could hear him thinking that if he had only been born into a wealthy family, his art could have been discovered as well. My conversation with Paulo ended with a stale sense of injustice looming heavily in the air. I began to feel it was unfair that Paulo's artistic talents had not been exposed to the world. Art is BRAZZIL-JANUARY2002

very much a pers nal experience, and each person has their own taste. However, I felt that anyone having seen Paulo's artwork would agree that e is extremely gifted.

Then what is preventing Paulo from making a name for himself? Ifhe had e financial resources ofa Francisco Brennand, this process woul • be easier. However, there are other barriers, more complicate than socio-economics, preventing his success. To investig te these barriers in depth I contacted Paulo the following ev ning with a set of prepared questions. What follows is a resu t of that interview, integrated with my own thoughts.

Paulo Rama, native of Recife, is 35 and is married. Although he has been prod cing art almost all of his life, he only began painting T-shirts bout ten years ago. Paulo considers himself a student of art, nd spends a lot of time invested in research.

In the world of he admires the work of Van Gogh and JeanMichel Basquiat, among others. Paulo's own work is inspired

by Afro-Brazili culture. Paulo considers h imself Afro-Brazi Iian, and in almost all ofhis workhe tries to represent some aspect ofthat culture. Al-hough Paulo is not affiliated with any African based religion, he believes his artwork is very spiritual.

Paulo works mainly with Afro-Brazilian figures because he feels a necessity to propagate more knowledge about his people, and to open a path against the "veiled racism" that permeates Brazil Paulo has been painting T-shirts for many years, but in financial terms, he has not been rewarded. He admits that he has made many mistakes along the way, and is still trying to perfect the business aspect of his trade. In reality, Paulo would like to concentrate on producing more profound and enduring works of art, but trying to survive and put food on the table has forced him to commercialize his paintings into T-shirts. Paulo does see a positive aspect ofthis commercialization. In his opinion, art in Recife has become very exclusive and elitist. He believes, however, that art should be for everyone's enjoyment. As a professional, Paulo is constantly attempting to liberate art from the confines of soc ial boundaries, and increase its accessibility.

At one point I asked Paulo if he feels frustration as an artist.

He responded that he is frustrated not only as an artist but as a human being, because of the disrespect that exists in Brazil.

He described Brazilian society as a "boiling caldron," in which everyday life is a d irty struggle. Brazil has a very vulgar side that remains invisible :o tourists and many affluent Brazilians, but it is all too real form llions ofpeople like Paulo. For Paulo the worst thing that he has to face from day to day is being made felt less than human.

One day Paulo was walking in apart ofBoa Viagem in Recife, and was verbally harassed by a policeman. As he passed by the officer, he heard the man shout, "Cut your hair, you black sonof-a-bitch." Paulo, who used dreadlocks at the time, was indig-

39

nant at the remark. Thus he confronted the officer and began to cite his civil rights. Irritated by the testimony,the officer arrested Paulo and took him to a poi ice station. Paulo remained in custody for more than an hour, until a friend of his who practices law arrived at the station, and was able to get him released.

Paulo confronts racism in every aspect of his life, including his art. In Paulo's opinion, Afro-Brazilian art is inhibited in the marketplace because of prejudice. He accuses the Brazilian media of being mainly responsible forthis prejudice. He believes that the lack of knowledge and misinformation about AfroBrazilian art stems from the absence of fair media coverage. In his view the media restricts and defines the Afro-Brazilian culture that is appropriate for mainstream consumption. The culture that the media deems appropriate for the public is not authentic, but instead a censured, cheapened, and commercialized imitation.

Paulo is offended by the media that pretends that Carnaval is the sole merit of Afro-Brazilian culture. Carnaval is a veneer, a minuscule facet of the rich culture of the Afro-Brazilian.

There are very few prestigious painters in Recife of African descent for Paulo to admire. According to him, in terms of recognition, there is not a black Francisco Brennand in his city.

In Brazil in general, there is a lack offamous Afro-Brazilian artists.

When I asked Paulo to name some of the greatest figures in the history of Afro-Brazilian art, he first mentioned Heitor dos Prazeres (1898-1966). The painting ofthissambista from Rio de Janeiro focused primarily on aspects of Carnaval. He also mentioned the work of Carybe (1911-97), who was a native of Argentina, but lived in Salvador da Bahia.

The concept of the starving artist is universal. Most artists throughout the world struggle for years to become famous, with no avail. Yet there are exceptions to this pattern. Artists belonging to the elite class of society can advertise their natural abilities more effectively, because of the financial resources at their

disposal. For these lucky few, like Francisco Brennand, the transformation into a great artist demands hard work, but is much easier. The masses of artists with potential, like Paulo Rama, are constrained by their socio-economic background. In Paulo's case, he is presented a double challenge.

Not only does he belong to a lower middle class family, but he is also black. Afro-Brazilian artists and black artists throughout the African Diaspora have the additional obstacle of representing a culture that is stigmatized and denigrated in mainstream art. When it is not denigrated, it is relegated to the realm of popular art, where it is consumed by the masses for virtually nothing. In contrast, the art that is preferred and consumed by the elite in Brazil is not only expensive, but imported from Europe.

Paulo Rama is a talented artist. He is an intelligent person who uses his art as a weapon. In search of liberty and equality, he "explodes with art" all of his frustration in an attempt to transcend the inhumane conditions that he confronts in his everyday life. Paulo has many goals in life. He is currently applying to study history at the federal university in Recife.

Next month he will begin teaching his artwork through a project sponsored by the Organizacao de Malcolm X in Sao Paulo. In the meantime Paulo is continuing to do what he does best. He is painting and expressing his creativeness, while maintaining his integrity as an Afro-Brazilian artist.

Jean Marinho da Silva Pinner, 22, is a native of Rio de Janeiro who grew up in the US. Jean holds a BA Degree in International Studies and Portuguese from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is currently pursuing a career as a Foreign Service Officer with the US Department of State. He may be contacted via email at ronaldocaesar(&hotmail.com

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The Winds of Delight Recife Antigo seemed kind of like the French Quarter in New Orleans. They were playing MPB with an emphasis on locals. This was great. There was no Americano rock within at least a few thousand miles.

DARRELL WESTMORELAND

BRAZZIL -JANUARY 2002

I am hooked on Brazilian music. Though keeping one foot firmly planted in Americano sound, I'm absorbing more and more of the lovely sounds emanating from Brazil. I normally spend an hour or two a day, hooked up to my earphones with a hot MPB (M6sica Popular Brasileira—Brazilian Popular Music) CD blaring away. 1 have been following MPB vicariously, here in the U.S., for awhile. I had wanted to experience Brasileiro music firsthand for a long time. I reasoned that the essence of Brasileiro music could be found at Camaval. I decided to take the plunge and make reservations for Camaval. It would be a pilgrimage.

My first choice, for this pilgrimage, was Salvador, Bahia, because axe blows me away—I even admit to owning a couple of E o Tchan CDs, though this is considered "bubblegum" music to most Brazilians. My choice to visit Salvador was thwarted, however. I called to reserve a room in early November, 2000 for the upcoming February, 2001 Carnaval. My travel agent told me "nothing was available." I didn't want to go to Rio de Janeiro where a hot .l stay, tickets to the sambadrome and transportation were a I placed together into package deals— just a little too touris for my tastes. I vaguely had a Plan B

41

formulating in my head, though. I asked the agent about Recife.

"How about a room in Boa Viagem?" "Do you want an ocean view with your hotel room?" was her response. Bingo—axe be damned this year!

I began reading about Carnaval in Olinda and Recife. I soon found web sites with colorful pictures dedicated to the Carnaval of Pernambuco. From what I read, Recife was popular with Brazilian vacationers—that must count for something, I thought.

I remembered! had a couple offorro CDs. I had always cherished those CDs but now I listened to them more closely. My exploration of the land of the Nordestinos had begun.

I have a thing for music, being a quasi-professional player.

I've gone on musical pilgrimages before (one such pilgrimage resulted in my living in New Orleans for seven years). As far as traveling to Brazil was concerned, I was a novice.! needed to get past the language barrier. Where would I eat? I could forget about going with anyone—my friends know nothing about the Brasileiro beat, Americana women I know could care less about Brazil—besides, why bring sand to the beach?! began listening to conversational language tapes. Not too hard, but then, these were only elementary level tapes. I soon found that there were a number of sources for Brazilian colloquialisms on the intemet and also in book stores. My language texts identified how the rules of Portuguese grammar had many exceptions—especially in Brazil. Things started to get complicated in the language department.

Carnaval season arrived soon enough and my Portuguese was pretty sketchy. What the hell, my reservations were a dead cert and I was now determined to become a seasoned, Arrzericano carncrvalista in one trip. Though I read what I could about Recife and Olinda, I could not imagine what was in store. The travel books said that the Nordestinos of Pernambuco spoke in a h igh, fast dialect—hmm, not good for my poor language skills.

These books also said that the people in Pernambuco were some ofthe friendliest in Brazil—hmm, that may just balance itself out.

I was working on one last detail, prior to my trip. I e-mailed a note to a young lady who lived in Recife. She had posted her picture on the internet. I told the young lady where I would be staying. My sketchy Portuguese was put to the test in the note.

I threw in a little colloquial speak (as best! could muster). What the heck, she looked very good. I've been attracted to Brasileiras since the first time I set eyes on Sonia Braga in the cinema. I had no way of knowing if this lady was interested in me. I was just hours away from my flight to Brazil.

Boa Viagem Upon arriving at Guararapes Airport, I noticed the heat. It was full summer in Recife and I was coming from mid-winter in the States. The weather was warm, but not uncomfortable. I'm from the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I know a little bit about uncomfortable heat. The DFW area has recently become a hellish extreme with constant ozone alerts and deadly hot summers (the local news programs tally the body count during the full blaze ofsummer). This heat in the airport was reassuring.

It had an organic, primordial warmth to it. The little sweat that formed on my brow was there to demonstrate that the mighty sera) was a few, scant kilometers away from where I stood.

My first language test came early. I requested a cab for "Boa Via-gem." The receptionist looked puzzled, thought a second, 42

and retorted, "ah, Boa Vee-ah jee." The only thing was, she said it so fast that I didn't hear any of the accents, at the time.

Bewildered, I boarded my cab.

The cabby was a pleasant man. He began to loose his cool when we crossed over the canal into Boa Viagem, though. This was the Sunday of the week prior to Carnaval. We encountered a Boa Viagem bloco who had held their parade/street party that very afternoon. Thousands of people were on the streets. The bloco 's tee-shirts were orange, blue and yellow, I think. The streets were covered in empty half-liter water bottles. Little street kids were carrying massive sacks full of aluminum beer cans. These kids were working like ants, scouring the avenues and alley ways for the precious metal cans.

My cabby was gettin' crabby. We were making no progress.

When we got within a few blocks of my hotel, he was practically begging me to get out and make my own way to the hotel. I thought"what the hell?" The streets were buzzing. No one cared about a gringo carrying luggage along the avenue. This suited me just fine. Come to find out later, the street outside Hotel Lucism, where! stayed initially, is on the route for the neighborhood blocos of Boa Viagem. Cool.

When I came through the doors of the hotel, I must have looked more than a little disheveled. The cabby let me off a little further than I thought and I was tired from the 14 hours of overnight and midday plane riding. The receptionist was a little frosty when she was giving me my keys, explaining the in-room safe and so on. My sketchy Portuguese was not serving me well, while listening to her. If! didn't know better, I'd have thought she had an attitude. Then, she handed me a phone message from Rosana. This was definitely cool.

Forro Rosana knew absolutely no ingles, whatsoever. Our phone conversation was painful, but we met. I'll keep most of the romantic prose to myself, but the sight of Rosana was intense.

Her cinnamon color was something new to me. She had an exotic smell. We began a conversation that has not ended. If! have any luck whatsoever, for the rest of my life, may that conversation never end.

We didn't have a plan for the evening. Only after entering the cab did I mention that some food and forro would be nice.

Rosana looked at me strangely—like I had said something either stupid or profound. She thought for a moment and began an interesting exchange with the cabbie. She gave the fellow instructions to head towards Recife Antigo, then she went into the Recifense practice ofpechinchar, or haggling, over the cab fare. Cool. This meant she liked me.

When we arrived, it was all noise. Recife Antigo seemed kind of like the French Quarter in New Orleans. A cover band was playing in the street. They were playing MPB with an emphasis on locals like Alceu Valenca and Geraldo Azevedo. This was great. There was no Americano rock within at least a few thousand miles (I'm to the point where rock cover bands induce projectile vomiting). Later, there was an acoustic impromptu band in the middle of a narrow avenue, with bandolins and cavaquinhos. Everyone was singing along and dancingfrevo.

This seemed to me to be Recife's version ofpagode. My head swam the entire evening.

Rosana explained a few rules about the Recifense class system, that evening. I admired her candor. She considered herself "raca negra," though she looked like she could belong BRAZZIL -JANUARY 2002

to a tribe that makes its home along the Amazon. Sometimes now, she speaks of her desire to experience the Amazon and the jungle and I think, perhaps, there is credence in the theory of racial memory.

By the way, we didn't experience any forro that night.

Wrong season. This was Carnaval!

Frevo

is the root from whence Olodum, lIe Aiye, Muzenza, etc. came. Thinking back, I heard more live music in Recife, but the maracatus of Olinda left an impression. I don't recall hearing the maracatus in Recife having so many drums.

Now that my language skills are increasing, there are many musical idioms which need investigating. I found that Pernambucanos are fiercely loyal to their musical traditions.

New musical id as must stand tall to find place in their established Car aval repertoire. Pernambucanos are keenly aware that the "pop" axe sounds currently in favor in Bahia have been borro ed from Nordeste musical traditions. There is an undeclared ompetition between Bahia and Recife over whose music is petter. Brazzil itself recently published an interview with ai Olodum member who couldn't resist making a dig at Pernajnibuco. I say let the competition heat up and continue, while ve the listeners benefit.

During the week before Carnaval, Recife Antigo is like the mid-Atlantic during hurricane season. Small funnels of Carnaval frenzy merge into larger gale force currents. The Carnaval frenzy gathers considerable force each week night to subside in the small hours. With each passing night, the force intensifies. By Friday night, the energy is unstoppable.

All the elements are in place. On Friday night, there are dozens of trios eletricos, small and large stages replete with performers, marching brass bands, you name it. The frevo Carnavalista or Not? dancers act like cheerleaders. They are limber and lithe.

Whenever a strolling brass band starts up a jazzy march, I had first-hand experience with thievery in Recife; Rosana costumedfrevistas follow. There is no basic frevo step. The experienced it in Olinda. Mine was the near theft of my cheap object is to defy gravity through sheer mirth. The more air- digital watch in Recife the morning of Gab o da Madrugada. time, the better. I believe that the frevo dancers provide the The thief attempted to tear the watch from my arm. The Velcro final push, the remaining catalyst whose role is to ignite the strap prevented the thief making off with my watch. I shoved storm. Their whirling and jumping is the signal that Carnaval the fellow and he made out like it was some other perpetrator. has commenced.

Rosana had her strap-on carrying bag rifled in Olinda. She I was now absorbing Portuguese language and Brasileiro was wearing it across her belly. All they got was lipstick and culture in tiny droplets and mighty torrents at once. Rosana, her identity papers. I remember that she was cooler and more a friend of hers, and I met late Friday. We all danced. It seemed philosophical about the incidences than I was (desculpe, sou like minutes, but turned into hours. I learned that a proper Americano).

Carnavalista stops every 15 or 20 minutes to have a beverThe thieves work the heaviest areas of congestion during age or a snack from the street vendors. The object is to pace Carnaval. When you're in one of those conga lines, which one's self, in order to keep up with the frenzy. One doesn't people use to push through the congestion, beware. The two slam down a dozen brews and act crazy, like in New Orleans. instances we were accosted occurred while in the conga The hurricane was now at critical mass and would sweep lines. The thieves work high (my arm was raised) and low through Recife tomorrow with the Gab o da Madrugada. Per- (Rosana' s belly pack). They also work by distractions. My sons of firm or even shaky religious resolve would do well to biggest problem with the petty thieves is that they can kill avoid this natural force looming on the horizon, lest he be your party buzz. Nobody wants to be brought down from a swept into the maelstrom of paganism. good time by common petty thievery.

I definitely enjoyed meu tempo napraia (my beach time).

Maracatu I burned badly my first day out, though I was sitting under one of those big rented umbrellas. The intense, near equatoIn Recife, I heard one fellow, who was playing with a rial sunlight reflects off the sand. Informed Recifense go to marching brass band, rip into a clarinet solo which was the the beach early. Beach activity starts at day break. The sun old slap tongue technique used by early jazz pioneers here doesn't really begin to cook till after 10:00 am. The beach is in the U.S. He jumped up on a platform which had a toilet also fun after sundown. There are huge flood lights which go bolted to it (I still haven't figured out its significance). The down to the water front. The coco gelado stands are open all platform had four handles which a mischievous group of night. guys tilted ever which way they could. The clarinetist had to I admire the Pernambucanos. They are friendly and fun maintain his sense of balance while soloing. I know that this to be around. I found that, to most Pernambucanos, Carnaval raggedy looking Recifense clarinetist had never dug into was just so many party days which occur during their music from 1920s America, but here it was. He was playing summer. Life there is one long mellow party that continues like a latter day Wilbur Sweatman or Wilton Crawley, only in long after Carnaval. Several Recifenses I conversed with felt frevo tempo. Talk about music as a universal language. cheated that the Brazilian school system hadn't offered more Did I forget to mention that a similar hurricane was English classes. To know English in Recife is to have access blowing in nearby Olinda. Some of the texts I read went on to better paying jobs. I think that knowledge of English also about how much more lively Carnaval was in Olinda than fits into that Recife class system I mentioned. Some of the Recife. I wish to go on record as stating that the Carnaval in English speaking Recifense have loftier senses of self worth.

Olinda is definitely crazier. I don't know about better. I think It's as if, speaking English makes them more worldly and the object, in Olinda, is to slam down a dozen brews and get better informed. crazy. There is an abundance ofboom boxes and a frat crowd, I didn't run into one fellow Americano during my whole there. Some people may not like that. two-week stay. This was the epitome of "cool." I survived Though the streets in Olinda are so crowded that march- two weeks in the raucous world that is Carnaval. My broken ing bands have little room to maneuver, the maracatus clear Portuguese was enough. I have to give Rosana credit for thy themselves a path with the thunder of primal drums. The happy stay, however. She provided me with insights I would dancers practice a deliberate, swingy dance which, unlike not have had. I might still be lost on the bus system without frevo, conserves energy. Maracatu is hypnotic. Maracatu her. Her and my story continues.

BRAZZIL -JANUARY 2002

43

Carnaval is an infectious madness that takes over Rio de as a magnificent spectacle.

An astounding sense of discipline and technique sets Janeiro's entire population and is more celebratory for Brazilians than Christmas, New Year's Eve, and Easter rolled into one. I mperatriz off from other escolas. And in terms ofopulence and Impetuous and impulsive it may be, but the culminating parade fantasy, the school's concept of Carnaval as opera, with specof the "Group A" samba schools is also a serious competition. tacular costumes, scenery, and floats, has unfailingly impressed Under the watchful eye ofthe international media's scrutinizing the judges. Furthermore, Imperatrizwas the first escolato create attention, each samba school presents a choreographed story a cultural department that drew its Carnaval themes from literathat is performed by thousands of dancers, singers, and musi- ture and modern Brazilian art. For Carnaval 2002, their theme will cians, all propelled, and curiously anchored, by the rhythmic pay homage to the spirit of Brazil's radical Modern Art movethrust of their percussion section. It is the ultimate street theater, ment duringthe 1920's, its metaphor ofcultural cannibalism, and and on Saturday, February 9, 2002, it's coming to Southern the movement's brief but tremendously influential resurgence California when Brazilian Nites Productions brings the mesmer- in the 1960' s—Tropicalia.

In an intense and ephemeral reverie called Carnaval, when izing and intricate nucleus of Escola de Samba Imperatriz anonymous people transform themselves into kings and queens, Leopoldinense to the Hollywood Palladium.

Founded in 1959 to fill the void left by the Carnaval bloco when music, dance, and fantasy reach levels of animation Recreio de Ramos (Joy of Ramos), which had boasted a mem- encountered at no other time and in no other place, Imperatriz bership that included extraordinary musicians like Armando Leopoldinense invokes its own special atmosphere. This year, Southern California revelers can plunge Marcal, Pixinguinha, Villa Lobos, and into that swarming immensity of color Heitor dos Prazeres; Imperatriz Leopoland reel in its bright happiness when dinense has revived the glory of its preImperatriz presents the beauty and decessor not only by seizing eight energizing mayhem ofthe greatest show Carnaval championships (including 1999, on earth at Brazilian Carnaval 2002. I 2000, and 2001) and attaining the highest spoke with Wagner Tavares Araftjo, ranking in the League of Independent who, as the president of Gremio Samba Schools (LIESA) but also by mainRecreativo Escola de Samba Imperatriz taining an "Ala das Baianas" (hundreds Leopoldinense, has created a new viofolder women parading in the traditional sion for the school's future flowing dresses of Bahia) that has been awarded TV G lobo' s Estandarte de Ouro Brazzil—Imperatriz is a relatively in seven of the last eleven Carnavals.

What to be, or not to be, will small school, and I'm wondering what Imperatriz was also among the first escolas be the question when the rhythm you're doing to recruit new members. to bring in professional artists with acaAratijo—First of all, people belong demic backgrounds to conceive and coand beauty of Imperatriz to the school that's located in their ordinate the visual aspects of their padistrict. If you were born in Madureira, transforms Brazilian Carnaval rade, who, in turn, were responsible for for example, you might choose either creating a visual revolution that changed 2002.

Portela or Imperio Serrano, but the the parades all together, marking Carnaval

Perchance to Dream

BRUCE GILMAN

44

BRAZZIL -JANUARY 2002

samba school for the entire Leopoldina area— Ramos, Penha, Olaria, Bonsucesso—is Imperatriz Leopoldinense. Ifyou are from any of the small towns in the area, if you are from Leopoldina, you are Imperatriz. You can always parade with another school, but in your heart you are Imperatriz.

Many famous musicians are Imperatriz. Baden Powell was Imperatriz.

Paulo Moura, Elymar Santos, and Grupo Fun- do de Quintal are Imperatriz. Still, we hope our efforts to become Carnaval champions for the fourth consecutive year will bring more members to our school.

Brazzil—Is Imperatriz as popular in Rio as it is in Ramos and surrounding neighborhoods?

Aradjo—There's no doubt about it, Portela, Mangueira, Salgueiro, and Beija-Flor have more fans and are generally more popular schools. But they have been the big schools for many, many years, and people tend to side with the winners. We are now ranked among the traditional winners, so our popularity is growing rapidly . Today the winnercannot be determined before Imperatriz parades. We always convey a distinctive air of precision, and execute a performance that is thoroughly professional. The champion can only be decided after we parade, never before.

Brazzil—What changes have you initiated as the school's president?

Araujo—When I came in as president in 1988, the school was ranked among the lowest in the League of Independent Samba Schools. Carnaval was very disorganized, more fashion than organization. What moved people to participate in the school was a passion forth e ir community and for the samba, the same kind ofpassion Brazilians have for women and their soccer teams. But to survive in a world of global finance and international communication networks, to be successful, we needed a professional administration. So I initiated the idea of organizing the school as a corporation. I used to work in the financial market, and I brought that administrative style with me to the presidency.

I've tried to keep Imperatriz from getting lost in unimportant events that consume our time and energy and bring us little in return. If people in administrative positions don't have this standard, this corporate concept, the structure will weaken and die. Our philosophy is that if every individual does his part and ifwe respect the small contributions ofeach member, the payoff will be an overwhelming victory. Fusing the best with the bestprepared is the philosophy I brought to the school. This is how Imperatriz has become a modern institution, inspiring others and giving birth to the enormous administrative changes taking place within all the major schools. We have been big winners because of the kind of admin istration we have adopted.

Brazzll—Aside from staging the Carnaval parade, how is Imperatrizserving the community?

BRAZZIL -JANUARY 2002

Arailjo--The area of Leopoldina is surrounded by favelas, and like the other samba schools, Imperatriz is involved with helping these communities. We are in the process ofbuilding an Olympic village, a sports complex with special facilities forthe neighborhood children. We have initiated a recycling project in which empty beer and soda cans can be exchanged for a"cesta bcisica," a bag of basic necessjties like rice, beans, flour, and milk— six or seven items that will help neighb rhood families make ends meet. In addition, any event the sc ool promotes in our quadra (warehouse-like space where the amba school rehearses), benefits the whole community. We ct as a medium between the community, the state, and the inte ational companies who work in conjunction with world healt organizations.

Brazzil—Ho is the profile of Carnaval different today from when the s hool was founded forty years ago?

Araajo--Th entire personality of Carnaval has changed over the past fo years, not just for Imperatriz. Up until ten years ago, each chool paid the costs of their parades themselves by whate er means they could muster. But today, we receive residuals from the records and CD's we sell, from our ticket sales at the ambodromo, from broadcasting and imaging rights, even from the government. This funding dictated that the I whole structure ICarnaval had to change and become professional, efficient, p-to-date. And Imperatriz has been a pioneer in this because e manage our school like a corporation.

Carnaval used to ave three ingredients: the street Carnaval, the masked balls, an the parade. But today, the Carnaval of Rio is almost exclusive the parade in the Sambodromo. It is a megaevent that is mar ted to countries all around the world and puts a lot of money in o our treasury, so we must be organized; we must be professi nals.

Brazzil—W at differences do you see with regard to the bateria and pux dares?

AraCijo—In e old days, the character of each school's bateria, the dru s and the way the drums were played, was pretty much atta hed to the Afro-Brazilian religions, to the candomble and mbarda saints, to the macumba. The samba had very compli ated themes and very long stories, but the world started ch ging, started growing, and to attend to the new customers a d new demands, we opened up the character of the bateria. T e samba became shorter and had to be very catchy. We also started looking fora differentkind of singer, one who was more energetic and fit with the "new touch."

All this has come about because of modernization and the globalization unleashed by multi-national capitalism. The samba schools are only reflecting the values of a new generation, which are not very connected to the culture or to Afro-Brazilian religion. It wasn't very long ago that you could hear different shades, distinctive nuances, between Mangueira's bateria and Salgueiro's, 45

between Imperio's and Portela's. Once, each had their own sound, a signature, but that doesn't happen anymore.

Now the goal, the first objective, is to delight, to generate enthusiasm among the fans and bring them to your side.

Carnaval today is totally commercial and only cultural in a capitalistic sense. We have guidelines telling us how much, and when, and to what extent we can address the community and religion. And because of this, the expression of the singers as well as the sound of each bateria has become pretty much the same.

Brazzil—How is it that every member of Imperatriz sings during the parade?

Aratijo—After we choose the samba in October, we start technical rehearsals every week in the quadra. We ask that every ala, every section, be there and learn the samba by heart; that way, by Carnaval it is ingrained. Each member practices the samba by listening to the radio or buying the recording and listening at home, and the 300,000 albums and CD's we sell each year helps this process. Nonetheless, everyone is required to attend the technical rehearsals because during the parade, a bateria of 300 men will play the samba in a way that is slightly different from the recording. You know, it's not very easy to put 300 guys with drums into a recording studio. But this is how we manage to have everyone singing during the parade, and this, of course, scores many points.

Brazzil—Discipline and technique is whatsets Imperatrizofffrom other escolas. Would you comment on this?

Arafq o—The idea that everything happens at the right time and in the right place is part of the philosophy that I brought to the school and which the board of directors and each member has adopted.

In any event organized by Imperatriz, whether it's traveling somewhere, community work, or performing in the Carnaval parade, each member has in mind the concept that if everyone takes charge and does his part, Imperatriz will be on the same level as schools with a lot more media appeal and greater popularity. The only way that Imperatriz can get there and stay there is through this concept.

Brazzil—Do many people complain that Imperatriz's parade is cold or too technical?

Aratijo Of course, but Imperatriz is a school for results.

Some people think that we lack soul and enthusiasm. But we're programming our work to be number one. First of all, we want to win. And that's okay because it's a part of our culture. In Brazil, if you win, you celebrate; if you come in second, you might as well have been last because everyone grumbles. It's not like the United States where you have a champion and a second and third place winner. In Brazil, you win or you're the loser. We work to be winners. We work technically and specifically to be champions.

Brazzil—W hat about taking risks?

Aratijo—The only risk we are willing to take is in the synchronization between the floats and the alas (various wings).

You know, to be precise, the mestre-sala (master of ceremonies) 46

and the porta-bandeira (flag bearer) must be very well rehearsed. The bateria must be very well rehearsed, and the comisseio de frente (front commission) must be very well rehearsed. Synchronizing each of these units, so there is an organic unity, a natural flow, is where the risk lies because everything is subject to human error. Even the floats are maneuvered by hand, which is why, as I've mentioned, we drill into every member's head, even those who are pushing the floats, the idea that his work is absolutely fundamental. If each member embraces and conveys this concept, this idea of taking pride in the little things they contribute, we'll get where we want to be. I don't believe that other groups have the same concept.

But this is the secret of Imperatriz Leopoldinense; this mind-set has resulted in and been confirmed by our success.

Brazzil—Can you explain the concept of Carnaval as Opera?

Aratijo—This is an expression coined by JoAozinho Trinta, who arguing that people go for luxury, conceived Carnaval, with its themes, music, interpreters, choreography, costumes, scenery, props, and division into acts, as an opera moving down the street. In the case of Imperatriz, we have thirty-two alas divided into six sections, each complementing a specific float and representing one act.

When everything comes together, visually, musically, and symbolically, the similarities are unmistakable.

Brazzil— What prompted Fernando Pamplona, Joaozinho Trinta, Arlindo Rodrigues, and Rosa Magalhaes to change Carnaval from a musical into a visual performance?

Araujo—What motivated the change in Carnaval's visual dimension was a change in the schools' membership— their sponsors and fans.

Originally, samba was seen as something from thefavelas, from Afro-Brazilian religion, from black people and gangsters. Then the middle and upper classes, sensing something exotic, started coming to the samba schools, which caused the schools and Carnaval, in turn, to change. All of these parade designers you just mentioned, these carnavalescos, used to work together in the 1960's in Salgueiro, but after awhile each went his own way.

Jodozinho went to Beija-Flor in the seventies and he started his visual revolution. Then Arlindo Rodrigues came to Imperatriz where he made a sensation with his ideas. But samba, no longer for the poor people from the favelas, became a big productionconsumption business that involved the media and people from every level of society, all classes.

Brazzil—What does a production of that size cost?

Aratijo—Usually, we budget at around one million dollars, but ifthe organization brings in more money, if we are profitable in one of our ventures, we spend everything. We may budget for two million dollars, but make four that year, so we spend it all. We want to do the best that we can.

Brazzil—It's been rumored that the money Imperatriz uses to finance its parades comes from Luizinho Drummond, the owner of an illegal, but very popular, lottery called jogo do Nam.' Would you commenton that?

BRAZZIL -JANUARY 2002

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Araiijo--Luizinho Drummond is from ten years ago. Many people will argue that jogo do bicho is the only honorable institution in Brazil. But the days when the "bicheiros"(animal bankers) had an army of numbers runners—one on every corner—are over. The times when "godfathers" financed the parades and controlled the escolas are gone. Now each school raises its own money. And LIESA, together with Riotur (the city tourism board), coordinates and supervises the collection of revenue—from recordings, ticket sales, television broadcasting rights, and the many events that we organize—then distributes the income, with interest, among the schools. Because we have our own source of income, there is no longer a need for money from gangsters. They are still in the schools because they want to be close to the community and in touch with what's going on and because they love the ambience and the atmosphere, but not because they are controlling them.

Brazzil—How will the twelve members who arecoming to Los Angeles be able to evoke the illusion, the fantasy, and the atmosphere ofCarnaval?

Aranjo—1 know it's a tall order, and we would have preferred to send a least forty members from the bateria, but the costs of lodging and cartage were prohibitive. Nevertheless, we are sending the strongest members, one musical ambassador from each wing ofthe bateria, as well as two of our best dancers, who incidentally, dance on the television variety program "Domingo do FaustAo." We'll be performing not only an explosive Carnaval style batucada but also some funky marchinhas and, of course, some mean pagode. I'm also sending extra costumes for the TropiDanza troupe from Los Angeles, who will augment our group on stage at the Palladium, and also for the stronger players who attend our workshops at

the Remo Percussion Center. We may be few in number, but small vials hold the deadliest poison.

Web Sites of Interest: Brazilian Nites Productions http://www.braziliannites.com Official Site—Imperatriz Leopold inense http://www.imperatrizleopoldinense.com.br Empress of Carnival http://www.empressofcarnival.com Brazilian Literature http://www.cce.ufsc.be—nupill/literatura/abertura.html Study of Macunaima http://www.angelfire.com/mn/macunaima * Many thanks to Sonia Santos of Yellow Green Productions for her invaluable technical support.

Bruce Gilman, music editor for Brazzil magazine, received his Masters degree in music from California Institute of the Arts. He is the recipient of three government grants that have allowed him to research traditional music in China, India, and Brazil.

His articles on Brazilian music have been translated and published in Spanish, German, Serbian, and Portuguese. You can reach him through his e-mail: cuica@interworld.net

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BRAZZIL -JANUARY 2002

enfant terrible Gerald Thomas. With flabiana Guglielmetti, Amadeo Lamouni r, and Marcos Azevedo.

A Descoberta do Mundo (The Discove y of the World)-Based on Clarice Lispector's (1920-1977) book of same name. After firing the maid a lonely woman, GH, decides to clean the house and reflect about her own life and the world. All the actresses play simultaneously the same character. Directed by Marco Antonio Rodrigues, with Cip Magalhaes, Fernanda Castello, Julia Ianina, Lilian Damasceno, Paula Weinfeld, Talita Ortiz and Thais de Medeiros.

Novas Diretrizes em Tempos de P az (New Directions in Times of Peace)During the Second War, a Polish refugee tries to get his Visa to stay legally in Brazil. Written by Bosco Brasil, directed

by Ariela Goldmann, with Jairo Mattos and Dan Stulbach.

Se Correr o Bicho Pega, Se Ficar o Bicho Come(If You Run the Beast Will Get You, If You Stay the Beast Will Eat You)-A new mise-en-scene for Oduvaldo Vianna and Ferreira Gullar's play from 1966.

Mocinha, a flirtatious daughter of a political boss fall in love with Roque, a scoundrel who unwillingly ends up becoming a hero.

Directed by Antonio Pedro, with Leandra Leal and Murilo Rosa.

Fim do Jogo (Endgame)-Classical Samuel Beckett's text in which two men, a blind and a cripple take discuss the human condition in a tragic-comic manner. Directed by Francisco Medeiros. Actors Edson Celulari and Caca Carvalho take turns-every week it changes-interpreting the two characters.

Um Porto para Elizabeth Bishop (A Haven for Elizabeth Bishop)-A monologue in which American poet Elizabeth Bishop, who lived in Brazil between 1952 and 1967, talks about the Brazilian people and her convoluted love affair with woman architect Lota Macedo Soares. Regina Braga is Bishop.

Cocegas (Tickling)-Several women provoke laughs and compassion while talking about their stressed life. Ingrid Guimardes and Heloisa Perisse wrote and interpret all the different characters.

IA-I PAIN 0 Homem do Sobretudo Escuro (The Man with the Dark Overcoat)-Based on Agatha Christie's short stories. A young couple who owns a boarding house in England is visited unexpectedly by a police inspector.

Directed by Silvio Tadeu and Ina Carvalho, with the troupe Cia. Target de Teatro.

Deus Ex-Machina e os Super Ex-Herdis na Terra do Impotente Viagra Falls (Deus Ex-Machina and the Super Ex"-Heroes in the Land of the Impotent Viagra Fall)-Despite the title, this is a drama about an Indian who is expelled from his tribe after being seduced by deconstructionism and post-modernism. Written and directed by BRAZZIL -JANUARY 2002

Just-released or re-released Americ n movies: Behind Enemy Lines (Atras das Linh,s Inimigas),The Straight Story (HistOria Re'.), The Princess Diaries (0 Diarioda Princes..), Promises (Promessas de um Novo Mund ), American Pie 2 (American Pie 2 - A Segun a Vez E Ainda Melhor), From Hell (Do ferno), Harry Potter and the Sorcere 's Stone (Harry Potter e a Pedra Filosofa ), Storytelling (Historias Proibidas), Jaso X (Jason X), Monsters Inc (Monstros S.A ), Lord of the Rings (0 Senhor dos An& ), Riding in Cars with Boys (Os Garotos a Minha Vida), The Others (Os Outros), Sh k (Shrek), Rat Race (7'ciTodo Mundo Louco 9, Small Time Crooks (Trapaceiros), Bandls (Vida Bandida) Lavoura Arcaica (Archaic Tillage) leased in English as To the Left oft e Father-Brazi1/2001-The story of a Lebanese family in Brazil. One of the so s feeling oppressed by father, smother d by mother and sexually attracted by sis er leaves home. Based on Raduan Nassa 's novel Lavoura Arcaica. Directed by L iz Fernando Carvalho, with Selton Mel o, Raul Cortez, Simone Spolidore, and Julia a Carneiro.

Bicho de Sete Cabecas (Seven-Head Be St or Enigma)-Brazi1/2000-Pow r struggle between son and father ends w'th the young man being sent to a men al institution when the father finds out t at he is smoking pot. Based on Austreges lo Carrano Bueno's autobiographical bo s k Canto dos Malditos (Corner of t e Damned). Directed by Lais Bodans y, with Rodrigo Santoro, Othon Bastos, a d Cassia Kiss.

Xuxa e os Duendes (Xuxa and the Elves Brazil/2001-TV host Xuxa is an herb list imbued with magic powers who nee s to save an elf entrapped inside a w II. Directed by Paulo Sergio de Almeida a d Rogerio Gomes. With Xuxa, Gu u Liberato, Angelica, Guilherme Karan, a d Emiliano Queiroz.

0 Xange de Baker Street (Baker Stree 's Xango)-Brazi1/1999-Sherlock Ho es and his sidekick Watson travel to 10

during the Brazilian Empire to help solve a crime that occurred in Rio de Janeiro. Based on JO Soares's book of same name. Directed

by Miguel Faria Jr., Joaquim de Almeida, Anthony O'Donnell, Maria de Medeiros and Marco Nan ini.

La Lengua de las Mariposas (A Lingua das Mariposas)-Spain/1999-The start of Spain's civil war profoundly alters the relationship between a teacher and a boy student. Directed by Jose Luis Cuerda, with Fernando Fernan-Gomes, Manuel Lozano, and Uxia Blanco.

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(Record) Spencer Johnson 6. Boa Forma em 90 Dias (Globo) Matt Roberts 7. Friends, Guia de Episodios (Frente) Cristhiane Ruiz 8. A Onda Que Se Ergueu no Mar (Companhia das Letras) Ruy Castro 9. A Vida Sexual de Catherine M. (Ediouro) Catherine Millet 10. 0 Programa das Dez Semanas (Manole) Turibio Barros 1. Os 100 Segredos das Pessoas Felizes (Sextante) David Niven 2. Histarias para Aquecer o Coracao (Sextante) J,ack Canfield 3. Quando E Preciso Voltar (Caminheiros) Zibia Gasparetto 4. Voce: A Alma do Neg6cio (Gente) Roberto Shinyashiki 5. Ah, Se Eu Soubesse (Negocio) Richard Edler 6. Pelo Amor ou pela Dor (Caminheiros) Ricky Medeiros 7. Limites sem Trauma (Record) Tania Zagury 8. Enquanto o Amor Nao Vern (Sextante) Iyania Vanzant 9. Mensagens dos Mestres (Sextante) Brian Weiss 10. Pflulas para Prolongar a Juventude (L&PM) Fernando Lucchesi According to Jornal do Brasil, http://www.jb.com.br 49

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Ze Celso 41,4,

Continued from our last issue This is the fourth of a four-part article on Brazilian theater.

Gerald Thomas—The Dry Opera Company

Born in 1954, Gerald Thomas has spent his life between England, Brazil, Germany, and the United States, graduating as a reader of philosophy and beginning his life in the theater at New York's La MaMa Experimental Theater. There, Thomas adapted and directed 19 world premieres of Samuel Beckett (1906-1989) prose and dramatic pieces. In the early eighties, Thomas began working with Beckett in Paris, adapting new fiction by the author. Of these, the more notorious were All Strange Away and That Time starring the legendary Living Theater founder, Julian Beck, in his only stage-acting role outside of his own company. In the mid eighties, Thomas became involved with German author Heiner Muller, directing his works in the US and Brazil, and began a long-term partnership with American composer, Philip Glass.

In 1985, Thomas formed and established his Dry Opera Company in Sdo Paulo.

It has since performed in 15 countries with yearly returns. With the Dry Opera Company, Thomas has written and directed Eletra Corn Creta, The Kafka Trilogy, Carmem Corn Filtro, Mattogrosso, The Flash and Crash Days, The Trilogy of the B. E.A . S. T. and M. 0. R. T. E, performed worldwide at several prestigious venues, such as Lincoln Center in New York, The Munich State Theater, Vienna's Wiener Festwochen, The Taormina Festival, and others.

In 1987, Thomas directed his first opera, Wagner's Flying Dutchman at Rio's Opera House. Brazil had never seen such an effervescent uproar. Public and critics alike were divided into profound love and hatred over Thomas' unconventional staging. Discussions over Thomas' placement of the story at the Berlin Wall occupied entire pages of newspapers and hour-long television debates, for months Gerald Thomas is the recipient ofthree Moliere Prizes and eighteen other awards and writes regularly for Rio's newspaper 0 Globo while continuing his stage productions.

Jose Celso Martinez Correa—genius or madman?

Luiz Carlos Maciel says in his book Geraceio em Transe, Generation in Crisis: "The historical importance of Jose Celso, in any context, cannot be denied by anybody. He is duly respected as a fundamental pioneer by the new directors and the current absolutists of the business, starting with Gerald Thomas himself. His productions show that, in addition to conviction, he has style, intuition, audacity, and intimacy with the stage. Short lived as all live theater, but powerful, they will always be in the memory of the generation."

From an article in Estado de Sao Paulo—by Beth Nespoli:

54

Stage Struck IV Geniuses and Lunatics "The historical importance of Jose Celso, in any context, cannot be denied by anybody. He is duly respected as a fundamental pioneer by the new directors and the current absolutists of the business, starting with Gerald Thomas himself."

KIRSTEN VVEINOLDT

BFtAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

At 64 years, director Jose Celso Martinez Correa promises yet again to surprise and inflame in his production of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, which premieres on Friday at Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (July 20,2001), in Rio. In the cast are Selton Mello and Otavio Muller, interpreting the tramps, Estragon and Wladimir, X ando Graca and Fernando Alves Pinto as Pozzo and Lucky, and still the boy Darlan as the kid who brings messages from Godot.

The invitation came from producer Monique Gardenberg and caught the director of Teatro Oficina in the middle of rehearsals for the play Os Sert5es, The Dry-lands. At first, nothing seems further from Ze Celso than this play by Beckett, the central characters of which put their trust in a single thread of hope in their lives, namely the coming of the mysterious Godot, a corruption of God?—who never appears.

Ze Celso treated this play in a very special manner of his conception of the award winning play Cacilda!, about Cacilda Becker, who collapsed—later dying—during a performance of Waitingfor Godot, in 1969. Produced for the stage 30 years after her death, Cacilda! was conceived as a ritual of resurrection of the actress and the Brazilian theater.

However, revived on the stage of Oficina, Cacilda, metaphorically, opts not to wait for Godot any longer. Instead, she unites with the cast of Oficina in the production ofA Gaivota, The Seagull, by Chekhov, a play, which significantly puts two theatrical styles in opposition.

"Really, I never had any interest in producing that play. I never waited for Godot in my life. I accepted the invitation because I like Monique, although my heart has been a bit wounded for having to be away from Oficina at that moment." Invitation accepted, Ze Celso decided to imprint his reading on Beckett's play."! sought a path different from the existentialist and Judeo-Christian view, which dominate all the productions ofthis play. The dominant view, to which he refers, was brilliantly defined by critic Decio de Almeida Prado, in an article published in Estado in 1955, on the occasion of the first production of the text in Brazil, under the direction of Alfredo Mesquita. According to the critic, God is the theme of the play. "If there is a God, everything is clear, everything is simplified, life acquires a superior, metaphysical feeling, providing a

BRAZZIL - JANUARY 2002

divine thought and proposal," he wrot; "And if God doesn't exist?," conti ues the critic. "The first to pose th. question—for two or three centuries did not perceive the enormity of wh. they were thinking. They were optimis because they believed blindly in m. and because they intended to sacrific God—observed Sartre—without sacri ficing the belief in absolute values, ete nal and universal, as if one thing wer not connected with the other. God disap peared, but, for all practical and theo retical effects, it was as ifhe continued t exist. Our era, on the contrary, is that o sad atheism, the atheism which is no proud of its lack of faith because i perceives that there is nothing particu larly happy and comforting in the idea o man abandoned, alone, in the presenc, of a universe equally absurd and emp of any meaning."

Half a century after the creation o the play, Ze Celso proposes an improve ment. And he bets on man reconcile. with his condition. Therefore, the stag will be covered in bull manure, in . reference to the minotaur, half man half bull—symbol for Ze Celso, of a m who knows how to bring with him th: vile and the sublime, everything that w. • formerly transferred to the gods.

"Nothing to do," is the first line writ ten by Beckett. "Everything to do,' counters Ze Celso. "Godot doesn't come you can't expect nothing and still live You can discover, with those characters that there is no essence, life is pur flow," says the director, who transforme the theater of the Italian stage of CCV into a kind of replica of the Teatr • Oficina.

"Brasil lives in a situation of expec tation and, meanwhile, everything will be dismantled, left going right, then comes the crisis, and extinction. Bu Godot does not come in any way," comments Ze. "And Brazil is crazy for failing to hope. With absolute fidelity to Beckett, my Godot is set in the tropics."

In the play there is still Pozzo, who brings his servant Lucky tied with a rope. "Lucky is happy because he has employment," Ze says ironically.

The characters are not waiting for Godot, standing still. "Beckett revisits the whole theatrical tradition ofthe west; he takes the world to the stage. He goes from minimalism to tragedy, going through the cosmic silences. I, too, do this. And I respect Beckett bringing the

universal of the tropics to the stage."

Teatro Oficina.

While the actors Renato Borghi and itala Nandi cried, embracing, on the curb un-reconciled with the fire that devoured the Teatro Oficina on that night of 31 of May, 1966, the director, Jose Celso Martinez Correa (who, even beside Fernando Peixoto, completed the quartet of symbols of Oficina) was not discouraged with the total destruction and already worried about the work of reconstruction.

Such incessant energy (and apparently unbeatable) was always one of the principal marks of Ofic ina, theater which was a landmark for the Paulistano stage, as much for its revolutionary architecture integrated into the environment, as for its historic productions. Founded in a small shed on Rua Santo Ant6nio, in Bela Vista, in October of 1958, Oficina initiated its professional run two years later, inaugurating its headquarters with A Vida Impressa em Dolar.

Fernando Peixoto and itala Nandi joined the group in 1962—he as narrator, she as narrator and later actress.

Two years later, the play Pequenos Burgueses, The Middle Class, is suspended by the censors after the military coup. Ze Celso, Borghi, and Peixoto were forced to hide and subsequently take a trip abroad.

The fire in 1966 was followed by the most outstanding years of Oficina. The following year, Ze Celso reopened the theater with 0 Rei da Vela, The King of the Candle, a spectacle, which would travel to Europe and be prohibited in Brazil. In April of 1974, Oficina is invaded by the police. Imprisoned and tortured, Ze Celso decided to go into exile in Portugal. He would return in 1979, and two years later created Oficina Uzyna-Uzona.

"In addition to the importance of its historic productions, the theater is notable also for its architectonic concept, a project of Lina Bo Bardi," Comments Ze Celso.

Serroni, pointing out the format of the passageway of his stage and part of the glazed roof, which permits natural light to come in, as the principal characteristics. Ze Celso is planning to transform the base of the theater into a great arena and is negotiating with the group Silvio Santos, proprietor of the land, about the possibility of construction.

55

behind. But there is a side of my love for Folha de Sao Paulo conducted an Brazil, for Villa-Lobos, for Getillio interview with Ze Celso, in which he (Vargas, ex-president). For populism, answered questions about himself. for (ex-governor Leonel) Brizola, my Q: How is it that a shy boy from confessed, declared, total love for Araraquara became Ze Celso, in Sao Brizola. All those sins (laughs). The Paulo? other day I wrote about a commentary, A: Ah, always because I was in love, which (columnist Arnaldo) labor made and because I am in love.... I went to about the theater. I was answered orally. work for Arena. because I didn't know He said that I was. like Glauber (Rocha, how to do anything. And Boal (director filmmaker) in the last years of his life, Augusto Boal) worked with great free- crazy. He gave me this praise. And suddom. Boal gave freedom, but he also had denly comes this book, which reveals a dogmatic side, from the Seminario de Glauber's intuition. I like it because Giba Dramaturgia. The parameter of the Bra- sees in Glauber a reading of Brazil. zilian author as seen by the head of the There's an artist there, but also a Padre theater was, for me, settled. I felt that Vieira. I say Glauber, but we were formed wasn't me. by another, Helio Rocha, a great orator Q: And what was that, then? who traversed Brazil in conferences at A: I already had a past, in Araraquara, cultural centers, We had that same forin the attempt of the fascists to create a mation, which later went to the left. And new generation. I had a friend called Glauber foresaw that. At the traditional, Plinio in homage to Plinio Salgado Paulista left, that which is now in power, (1895-1975), writer and Brazilian poli- today at the right, lacked the sentiment tician, who founded the AO° Integralista of the new people, of the specificity of Brasileira (1932), political party of fas- this civilization. Glauber arrived and cist orientation. It was a family that I said, "Those people hate you." liked a lot, that I visited, to have more liberty. They said: "Read Os Sertoes and Jose Celso Martinez Correa— this and that," and they had conferences, Chronology and I heard Plinio Salgado speak. He spoke well. I have the impression that I 1937 - Ze is born March 30 in acquired a certain quality of speaking Araraquara, state of Sao Paulo from hearing him speak, as well as the 1956- Enters the law school at Largo gestures of theater.

Sao Francisco, in Sao Paulo.

Q: You participated in the Centro 1958 - Initiates a partnership with Cultural Alberto Torres, a fascist cen- actor Renato Borghi. Participates in the ter. creation of Oficina with Borghi, Amir A: Alberto Torres was in a collection Haddad, Jorge da Cunha Lima, and othin my father's library. He was a student ers. Vento Forte para Papagaio Subir, of Brazil, thought Brazil. He had and has Strong Wind for the Parrot to Rise, which an enormous importance in my life. And he wrote, debuted on October 28. today I meet this thought again in 1959 - Debuts at Teatro de Arena Principe da Moeda, Prince of Coin, by with A Ineubadeira, The Incubator, Giba (Gilberto Vasconcelos, sociolo- which he wrote, directed by Haddad. gist), who places great importance in 1960- Translated and adapted, with Alberto Torres. Now, in the Centro Cul- Augusto Boal, A Engrenagem, The Gear, tural we were children, a group of friends. by Jean Paul Sartre, which Boal directed.

We reunited around 1961 - Dithat which appeared. rected A Vida Q: There were sevImpressa em eral centers.

Dolar by Clifford A: That's true, scatOdets, at the tered all over Brazil. In opening ofTeatro each place, a name Oficina, on AuEuclides da Cunha- and gust 16. others. They called us 1962 - DiAguias Brancas, White rected TodoAnjo Eagles, (laughs). We E Terrivel, Every didn't have the slightAngel is Terrible, est idea of what was Ze Celso's Godot a play adapted

from Thomas Wolfe.

1963-70 - Directed Pequenos Burgueses, The Middle Class by Gorky.

It stayed seven years running without interruptions.

1964- Directed Andorra by Max Frisch.

1965- A year of studies in Europe (Paris, Prague, and Warsaw) and in the United States.

1966 - Directed Os Inimigos, The Enemies, at TBC (Teatro Brasileiro de Comedia—Brazilian Theater of Comedy. After the fire at Oficina he did a retrospective at TBC at the invitation of Cacilda Becker.

1967 - Directed Quatro em Quatro.

Olicina reopened on September 29, redesigned by Flavio Imperio, directing 0 Ref da Vela, The King of Candles by Oswald de Andrade. Stage design was

by Hello Eichbauer, music by Rogerio Duprat. With Borghi, itala Nandi, Etty Frazer, Otavio Augusto and others.

Sometimes these were substituted by Dina Sfat, Jose Wilker and others.

1968 - Directed Roda Viva, by Chico Buarque. It starred Marieta Severo, Samuca, and others. It was at a performance of this play, in Sa"o Paulo. that "communist hunters," representatives of the military dictatorship, disrupted the performance and beat up on the actors, causing one actress to miscarry her baby.

This year, he also directed Galileu Galilei, which debuted on the day when the notorious AI-5 (a crackdown on freedom of speech) was enacted.

1969 - Worked on Na Selva das Cidades, In the City Jungles, by Brecht.

Stage direction by Lina Bo Bardi.

1972 - Directed Gracias Senor, Thank you Sir, a collective creation, and Three Sisters by Chekhov. Borghi at this time broke with Oficina.

1974 - Ze was imprisoned and tortured for connection to ALN, Acdo Libertadora Nacional, a group opposed to the military junta. Freed, he left for a life in exile.

1975 - Directed and interpreted Galileu in Portugal. With Celso Lucas, he brought to the big screen 0 Parto, The Birth, and 25 about Mozambique.

1978 - Returned to Brazil in June.

1979 - Reopens Oficina with 25 and 0 Parto.

1982 - Launches the film 0 Rei da Vela. Oficina, until then rented, was razed and under the leadership of Lina Bo Bardi and Edson Elito, reconstruc-

tion began.

1982-91 - Ze was busy with new productions. Some of these were As Bacantes, Acords, and Cacilda!

1986 - The partnership with actor Marcelo Drummond was initiated.

1987 - Director Luiz Antonio Martinez Correa, brother of Ze, is assassinated.

1991 - Directed As Boas, by Jean Genet, in the Centro Cultural in Sao Paulo. It starred Raul Cortez and others.

1993 - Reopens Oficina on October 1st, directing Hamlet by Shakespeare. It starred Marcelo Drummond, Alleyona Cavali, Alexandre Borges, and others.

1994 - Produced Misterio Gozoso, Enjoyable Mystery, by Oswald de Andrade. Following the performance in Araraquara, his birthplace, he was charged with reviling religious symbols.

1996 - Directed As Bacantes by Euripides, Pra Dar um Fim no Juizo de Deus, To Put an End to the Judgment of God, by Artaud.

1997 - Directed and played the title role in Ela by Genet.

1999 - Re-produced Cacilda! At the same time, he was awarded the Premio Multicultural Estaddo, promoted by Sao Paulo newspaper, 0 Estado de S. Paulo.

He was said to have been 'overjoyed' when he received the news because as he said: "The prize recognizes and validates a controversial work, which has had a great degree of rejection. I think that the fact that I was chosen shows that, although the work wasn't popular, it also has acceptance. I have always worked like a warrior, trying new concepts on the stage, however with extreme financial difficulty, without ever getting this kind of recognition. My work has a greater potential, and a prize like this opens other possibilities for financial support and gives me hope for artistic growth."

In the past couple of years, Ze has been involved in interesting, and always, controversial projects. Jean Genet's As Criadas, The Maids, has for many years caused controversy in those countries where it has been shown. The play was written in 1947 by a man, known for his crimes and homosexuality. He spent much time in jail, and in the 60's, he was in peril of being locked up for the rest of his life, when intellectuals and artists put great pressure on the French government to have him released based on the fact that he was a great artists and his

imprisonment would constitute a grea disservice to the world. His plays are n less controversial, however. This play which is based on a true story, is abou. two maids who kill their mistress. Th roles of the three women are tradition ally played by men. When Ze Cels directed the play, the mistress, Madam, was played by the great actor Raul Cortez.

In the newest production, Ricardo Torres has taken the reins of direction. In the play, Madam is the symbol of the dominant's power, while the maids (in the new production played by Deo Garces and Marco Rocha) represent the impossibility of social ascension, one of Jean Genet's social criticisms.

One of the most famous and controversial plays that Ze Celso has directed on several occasions, is Oswald de Andrade's 0 Rei da Vela, The King of Candles, which has also been directed by a variety of other directors, who were not afraid of the comparison to Ze Celso.

Prohibited for 34 years, The play, which served as inspiration for the Tropicalismo movement of the late 1960's, returned to Sao Paulo after a long absence, to the TBC. The first production was directed by Ze and will always be the one to which the others will be compared. Combining social criticism with elements of popular culture, the text demonstrates the power of capital along the times, outlining a portrait of the trajectory of the country and of capitalism.

Divided into three acts, the text tells the story of the moneylender, manufacturer of candles, and opportunist Abelardo I and his assistant, Abelardo II, who exploit and enslave the miserable population with their greed for profit in the name of foreign investment. In the era of a bourgeoisie, still very much in its infancy, Abelardo I is going to marry Heloisa de Lesbos, of an aristocratic family, decadent and perverted. That marriage reflects hypocrisy so common in a society of appearances. The text demonstrates also how an individual dies and the system continues, with all its corruption and promiscuity. And all the while, the people starve and die in the streets.

The play, in 1967, raised the question of passing on the indignation with the capitalist system in an aggressive and dramatic language. The new version is presented in a softer and more pleasurable format by directors Enrique Diaz

and Emilio Mello. While in Ze Celso' production the public was accused of being "an immense, gangrenous cadaver," the current play dispenses with that treatment. Faced with a reality in which the Utopias are of another kind, the play continues profoundly critical and extremely current.

The movie of the same name, directed by Ze, is a mix of the 1971 footage of the stage production and three additional years of shooting from 1979 to 1982, the whole put together in a series of somewhat arbitrary images. Although the story behind this bewildering film is based on a man who sells candles and gets involved both with the rural aristocracy and the Americans, Ze has modified the basic plot. He has combined a history of his own fight for freedom of expression with the original story. (from a Blockbuster synopsis of the film).

Ze Celso is not finished challenging the Brazilian people. A recent production of Waiting for Godot in Rio, received mixed reactions from critics and public. A recent photo in the magazine /sto E shows him in a passionate embrace and kiss with Caetano Veloso, who is also known for his controversial public statements.

Not always easy to understand, Ze Celso always has something interesting and thought provoking to say. With the help ofthree Brazilian friends, VerOnica, Ana, and Flavio, I took a quote by Ze from www.artes.com/reflexoes/ ref12.htm (The three Brazilians, I'm happy to say, had as hard a time as I did with the translation).

"Theater, as says aunt* Oscar Wilk_ is possible in noble societies. That is, it is the son of a dramaturgy of society, which places the importance on being alive and mortal at the center of 'It's only today, tomorrow there's no more.' Thus, it was in the century of Pericles that we got the Greek tragedy, in the Elizabethan, Shakespeare, in the will of the decolonizing' lieutenants or varguists**(who knows what to call this, which today is the curse of liberal

to gave Stalinism), anthrophagi, Villa-Lobos, Bidu Said°, Oswald. In the `developmentism,' JK [Juscelino Kubitschek ex-president of Brazil] gave Nelson [Rodrigues], Cacilda, Bossa, Cinema Novo [Brazilian movie direction] in the here and now from the time of multitudes of youths of the 60's, which gushed Tropicalism, music, cinema, theater, politics, plastic arts, Plinio Marcos and Cacilda Becker of the new Antigone Chanel at the theater of political agitation of '68. Our epoch of appearance, I repeat appearance, little noble and much poor, where in order to be able to do anything, such as survive, for example and be always mathematically "cut," we are invited to live sniffing out [the verb used means like pigs for truffles], licking, and dribbling the speculative capital, employed by the 'economistic' abstraction. We have to chatter on TV and in columns to guarantee the social misery and give life to it, the coin, a reality which refuses itself from becoming concrete raw material, productive investment, devourable food, manure."

Praca Santos Dumont, 116— Gavea Tel: 239-3511

Rua Princesa Isabel, 440— Copacabana Tel: 275-6695

Teatro Casa Grande Av. Afranio de Melo Franco, 290 Tel: 239-4046

Teatro Villa-Lobos II Rua Princesa Isabel, 440Copacabana Tel: 275-6695

Teatro I do CCBB Rua Primeiro de Marco, 66— Centro Tel: 216-0626

Teatro Ziembiensky Rua Urbano Duarte, 30- Tijuca Tel: 228-3071

* aunt. Refers to Oscar Wilde's homosexuality ** lieutenants: refers to an uprising, primarily by lieutempts, which had great importance. Varguistas were followers ofPresident Gettilio Vargas (1983-1954).

Teatro da Praia Rua Francisco Sá, 88 Tel: 287-7794

A List of Brazilian Theaters RIO DE JANEIRO: Teatro Candido Mendes Rua Joana Angelica, 63 Tel: 021-267-7295 Teatro Carlos Gomes Praca Tiradentes, 19—Centro Tel: 232-8701 Casa da Gavea

58

Teatro II do CCBB Rua Primeiro de Marco, 66— Centro Tel: 216-0237

SALVADOR (BAHIA) Teatro Castro Alves (TCA) Campo Grande Tel: 532-2323

Teatro Gloria Rua do Russel, 632—Gloria Tel: 245-5527

Teatro ACBEU Tel: 345-5888

Teatro dos Grandes Atores Avenida das Americas, 3555 Tel: 325-1645

Teatro Gregorio de Mattos Tel: Praca Castro Alves Tel: 322-2646

Teatro Ipanema Rua Prudente de Moraes, 824 Tel: 247-9794

Espaco Xis Tel: 328-2484

Teatro Joao Caetano Praca Tiradentes—Centro Tel 242-0623 Teatro Leblon Rua Conde de Bernadotte, 26 Tel: 294-0347 Teatro do Planetario Padre Leonel Franca, 240— Gavea Tel: 239-5948

Teatro Sesi Tel: 335-0836 Teatro Salesiano Tel: 327-0166 Teatro Gamboa Tel: 329-2418 Theatro XVIII Pelourinho Tel: 332-0018 SAO PAULO

Teatro Princesa Isabel Rua Princesa Isabel, 186 Tel: 275-3346 Teatro dos Quatro Shopping da Gavea, piso 2 Tel: 274-9895 http://plutao.mvirtual.com.br/ teatro4 Teatro Sesc/Copacabana Rua Domingos Ferreira, 160Copacabana Tel: 255-1088 Teatro do Sesc/Tijuca Rua Barao de Mesquita, 539— Tijuca Teatro Villa-Lobos

One way to check on what's playing in Sao Paulo is to log on to www.mandic.com.br/guiaspentretlteatro.htm CURITIBA When visiting Curitiba, state of Parana, where you can see lots of productions of national theater, check www.beatonline.com/ festival.html BELO HORIZONTE Located in Minas Gerais, BH offers good options of theater.

Check with www.horizontes.com.br RECIFE Recife has amazing nature, music, and beautiful beaches.

Log on to www.cr-pe.rnp.br/ turismo/programasheatro.httn1

Credits.

The research for this article was a mammoth undertaking, and many people, without knowing it, have contributed with their articles, sometimes anonymous, on the Internet. I am deeply in their debt. Some of them, however, put their names to the knowledge they shared with me.

Larry Rohter, "Reawakening the Giant of Brazilian Theater," College Times, NY Times about Nelson Rodrigues.

An interesting article about Nelson Rodrigues was available on www revistasubmarino com 0 Estado de S. Paulo is a great source of information for a multitude of topics and has a great tradition for cultural coverage: http:// www.estado.estadao com br/ The website www.teatrobrasileiro.com.br contains a richness of information and provided the interview with Jose Celso Martinez Correa as well as the chronology of his work. www interlog com provided the information on Jean Genet's play The Maids. www.terra.com.br provided much of the material about Cacilda Becker.

The story of Maria Clara Machado was found on vvwvv.multarte.com.br Alice Lovelace's fine material about Augusto Boal was found on www.inmotionmagazine.com Other wonderful websites providing the source for this article were: www.adusp.org.br - www.usp.br www aferventus.hpg.corn.br www.encena com br vvww.orbita.starmedia.com www.geraldthomas.com www.bixiga.com.br www atarde com br Kirsten Weinoldt was born in Denmark and came to the U.S. in 1969.

She fell in love with Brazil after seeing Black Orpheus many years ago and has lived immersed in Brazilian culture ever since.

Her e-mail: Icwracing(&erols.com

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