Steve

Monday 5th December 

Once again this newsletter is a bit later than originally planned but here it is now.

Yesterday was my birthday so on Saturday evening we had a small party here in our apartment. We invited family and friends. The picture to the right is some of my classmates from the Portuguese classes which are now unfortunately over until February. The people are left to right (standing) Eneida, Talia and me, (sitting) Tamara, Catalina, Lynge and Inge. Apologies if I’ve spelt names wrong. See bottom of email for some other pictures from our party. 

The federal university largely shuts down (apart from exams) from December until after Carnival is over which this year is 28 February. However I believe my classes will start again at some point before this. Sadly it is very likely that most of the class will go separate ways and next semester there will only be a few of us continuing. The party is probably the last time most of us will be together as a group. 

Following advice from others who also had to learn Portuguese, I am going to start watching one of the many novelas on TV. The novelas are a kind of Brazilian soap opera that are televised 5 or 6 nights a week that most people watch. Apart from perhaps football, they are the most popular past time in Brazil so are also good from a cultural perspective as well. Not sure if I will like them, but guess I could get hooked and it’s an excuse to watch TV.

Although the Portuguese classes are over, I am hoping to be able to continue getting some tuition. Fatima, one of Eneida’s friends that teaches English in Belo Horizonte, has offered to ‘exchange’ some Portuguese tuition if I help her with some English teaching. To me it sounds like a very fair deal particularly as I find it hard to sit at home studying.

To the right and below are a few of pictures of Fatima’s sitio. A sitio is a basically a small home built on a piece of land outside the city. These shots were taken a few months ago so are not really current news. However I thought they were worth showing to give an idea of the countryside and life here in Minas Gerais. In fairness to Fatima, I should also say that the photos of the sitio were taken whilst it was in the finishing stages of construction.

Having started this newsletter with the recent news, I’ll now go back to where I left off previously.

My trip to the UK to get my permanent visa and to ship my belongings to Belo Horizonte went smoothly. I am hoping to have my boxes before Christmas but this will depend on the port authorities in Santos, Sau Paulo and those in the UK. I’m looking forward to finally having my books, CD’s and other personal items with me.

I am also now well on the way to getting all the documentation and identity cards etc that I need to live and work here. I have my temporary ID and a document allowing me to drive for the next 6 months. I now have to wait for probably around another month or two for my actual permanent RNE (identity card) to be processed. This in turn will then allow me to apply for a provisional driving license that lasts 1 year. There are a couple of other things I need, but they are also only available once I have my permanent RNE. However thankfully the temporary ID was enough, after much discussion, to allow me to open a bank account. I will be very pleased when all this is over, but although things are getting easier, it will be at least another year before I have a full and permanent everything.

On returning to Brazil I was asked to get involved in a small press conference in Sao Paulo by a former colleague but after a similar event in London where no guests turned up, the production company who was organising the event in Brazil decided to pull out. However I contacted the production company that was taking over responsibility and was asked to continue in my role of overseeing the technical aspects here. However after another change of date, struggling to find a company that could build the set (or at least get one to quote in under a week!), the event was eventually cancelled a week before it was due to happen. I’m hoping that it will happen at some point in the future. It could still end up being my first job here. 

Now that I have the required documents, I am starting to look to for work. I expect this to be varied for quite a while. Unfortunately, since I arrived in Brazil, the exchange rate has dropped by about 30% so am now finding it tough to live off the rent I am getting in the UK. In terms of work, I would like to become a local contact for European or American production companies working in Brazil. Given that it will take time to build up contacts, last week I also applied to a language school to teach English. In the short term I think teaching English is perhaps the most likely way to earn some money. Once my Portuguese has improved, I intend to start looking for work as a lighting designer here in Belo Horizonte but I expect this mainly to be architectural rather than event based projects.

We have decided to spend Christmas in Rio de Janeiro with some family and friends. We haven’t decided our plans yet for New Years but may stay in Rio if the weather is good or chose to travel elsewhere. At some point in mid-January we also plan to have a week away relaxing before Eneida goes back to work in February. 

Although it will not be the first time I have spent Christmas on the beach, I am looking forward to getting some sun and a tan. Contrary to what you may think, the weather in Brazil is not always nice. Since returning from the UK 5 weeks ago, we have probably only had 5 nice sunny days. Lots and lots of cloud, many thunder storms and rain most days. Not much different from what it is like in the UK apart from being around 10-15ºC warmer. The rainy season apparently usually starts in late December or January and not November so I am hoping it will end early this year as well. 

That about wraps up my news. I’ll write again after New Year’s depending on our plans. Have a great Christmas and New Year.

Abraço 

Steve 

Tuesday 11 October, 2005

Well it has taken a bit longer than intended for me to get around to writing my second newsletter, but here it is.

In truth one reason for not writing sooner is that not much new has happened since I returned from my last trip back to the UK. However I am about to embark on another trip to the autumnal UK. I found out last week that my visa application has been approved and is ready for me to collect at the Brazilian consul in London. Now that I have arranged the shipping of personal belongings to Brazil, I have been able to book a flight ‘home’.

‘Home’ is a bit of a mixed concept for me. In one sense the UK is my home and I think I always will have a feeling that this is where I am from, but I now live in Belo Horizonte with Eneida so this is also ‘home’. I think once I have the visa in my passport, have a job and, most importantly, feel that I am able to communicate in Portuguese with the Brazilians then this will feel increasingly like my only home.

Since I last wrote here, I have been attending Portuguese lessons 4 times a week at the local public university UFMG. It is in a neighborhood called Pampulha which is about 30 minutes drive from where we live in the area called Gutierrez. Having attended various other Portuguese lessons and also having tried to study at home, I am pleased to say that I am finding these classes very helpful. The pace is good, but what I think is the most important thing is that I have classes 4 times a week for an hour each. It gives me many chances to practice and of course it helps living being surrounded by people who mainly don’t speak any English.

The size of the class varies quite a lot. Since I joined I reckon there have been over 20 different students attending, but the average daily class size is around 10. There backgrounds and nationalities varies greatly. There are people from as diverse a selection of countries as USA, Australia, Mexico, Holland, Germany and Indonesia! There is in fact only one other British student.

Last week I also registered my presence here in Belo Horizonte with the local British consulate. The official we spoke to said that there are about 80 British families living in the Belo Horizonte area mainly associated with the mining industry. this is the main industry of Minas Gerais the state we live in. He also said this number is declining as the British involvement with the various local mining companies diminishes.

I am also pleased to say that spring is now showing signs of arriving. Although ‘winter’ here is very mild by our standards, there have been days when it has felt chilly but unlike the locals I have not needed to wear a jacket or sweater. In fact t-shirts are the order of the day. The last few days have been glorious sunshine with hardly a cloud in the sky and temperatures into the mid 20’s Celsius (low 80’s Fahrenheit). I am led to believe that the temperatures are now set to gradually increase until Christmas time but also that the wet season is also about to start and believe me when it rains here it rains. Because the altitude of Belo Horizonte is roughly 950m (3100ft), the temperatures are lower than would be typical in other areas at a similar latitude (20º S). In fact I would describe the climate here as more mediterranean which is also quite similar to what I experienced when I lived in southern California. However I have not really been here long enough to judge these things properly.

The area we live in is very hilly as is most of Belo Horizonte. When it rains the local roads become like raging torrents with rivers running down them. One day I hope to take a picture to include in one of these newsletters to show you, but so far the heavy rains have always been at night.

Belo Horizonte is a ‘planned’ city established by the Brazilian government just over 100 years ago. 

Why they chose to create the city and not one of the flatter areas close by remains a mystery. The other remarkable feature of the planning of the original city is its road layout. The main avenues run roughly NE-SW and NW-SE with the minor roads running at 45ºs to them in a north-south or east-west direction. It leads to some interesting traffic junctions and confusion until you come to understand the principle.

I the photos give a good idea as to the feel of the city. It is a mixture of the quiet middle class suburbs and the less well off areas including a number of favela’s or favelinha’s (small favela).

Last weekend we drove to a city about 330km away called Governador Valadares to visit some of Eneida’s family who live there. The main reason for going however was to see her brother Luiz Fernando be awarded the title of ‘honorary citizen’ (translated) an honor similar to being given ‘the keys to’ or ‘freedom of’ a city in England. He was given this in honor of the work has done for the city and its leaders both as an individual and a director of a local firm that produces various dairy products.

Governador Valadares (Valadares as most people call it) sits on the edge of the River Doce which is very big by UK standards. The climate there is much hotter, about 5-8ºC average, due to the fact that it is much closer to sea level than Belo and although I liked the city, the temperatures make it unpleasant. 

Tomorrow we have been invited to a Golden wedding anniversary. There will be a service in a church (a catholic service will be a first for me!) followed by a party in the venue where we got married and had our wedding party. It will no doubt feel a little strange returning.

I think that is all our news for the moment. I expect I will write again once I am back from the UK with my visa. I must then start the process of acquiring all the things that one really needs for living in Brazil (eg ID card, bank account, drivers license). This will no doubt involve waiting in many queues, take lots of time and cause much exasperation. However it will be worth it. Brazil is a lovely country with lovely people well worth a visit.

Please don’t forget to write me.

Steve

Welcome to my first newsletter about my move and life in Brazil. I am writing this whilst back in the UK during a trip to apply for a visa. From now on I will try to write a newsletter every 4-6 weeks so please check back. 

Having left my longtime job at Imagination in the UK at the end of March 2005, I then packed up my stuff, sold my car and other bits and I left for Brazil in early May. I am not regretting this decision at all as life in Brazil with Eneida is great. 

Life in Brazil is needless to say very different to that of London. The pace of life is much more relaxed specially for me as I am not able to work there for the near future or until I get a visa. In fact I am in essence a long term tourist until my I have a permanent visa. 

After arriving and settling in, Eneida and I set about sorting out things for the wedding as well as the various documents that were required for the wedding and for me stay. This organisation seemed at times to take up most of our time, but some how we did make time to eat out and have a few Caipirinha’s! 

The food in Brazil is very very good, particularly the steak. As someone who had largely given up eating steak in Europe, I can not recommend it enough. It is also remarkably inexpensive. A meal for 4 people with drinks, desert and coffee at a nice restaurant is about £30 -£40 total.

The Brazilian people are also very welcoming and hospitable. They have all made me feel extremely welcome including virtually all of the numerous officials I have had dealings with since my arrival there. A welcome change to the typical attitude you find in the UK. It makes me sad to think why the police shot Jean Charles de Menezes on the tube. I am sure they had there reasons at the time even though it now looks like they were very flawed. 

Of course there was also the small fact of the language. I took some Portuguese lessons and tried to study in the evenings when Eneida was working. Although I am making progress, it is very slow. I had hoped by now to be able to hold a simple conversation, but unfortunately no! When I return to Brazil I will enroll on a course at the local Federal University designed to teach Portuguese to foreigners. I also hope that I will be able to use these classes to make a few friends.

There was also the small issue of our wedding of course. I am very pleased to say that everything went very well and according to plans. Many thanks to Julian and Eneida’s Swedish friends for making the trip all the way across the Atlantic to give us their support. 

The experience itself was more than a little strange but I hasten to add very enjoyable. To start with, it was the first Brazilian wedding I had been to and they do differ considerably from those in the UK. Then there was the question of language and hardly being able to say more than a few words to most of our guests. Finally it was also the first civil wedding I had been to in any country.

I would like to thank Eneida’s mother, Maria Helena, for all her help in organising the wedding both before and after my arrival in Brazil. 

The wedding itself was a small informal affair held at the same venue as the reception. It was followed by cocktails and then a buffet style dinner as per Brazilian customs. We then partied until the small hours before going to our hotel leaving a few family and friends to carry on until 4am. I think everyone had a good night. You can see some photos elsewhere on the site. 

The Friday night before the wedding we had a family and friends meal at a local favorite restaurant. Finally to finish the weekends festivities there was a lunch the next day at the wedding venue. After 2 nights of partying, there were a few sore heads there. After this Eneida and I then went home and opened the remaining wedding gifts. Thanks to all those who bought us something. And then it was a quick pack ready to leave for our honeymoon to Aruba and Curacao the next morning.

We had a great time and a very relaxing one whilst away. First we went to Aruba which has many fine beaches to be recommend along with the Buciti hotel where we stayed. The emphasis on this island is to cater to the American tourists that make up around 90% of the visitors. On the other hand Curacao has a more European feel. Curacao however was a strange place. A much more industrial island that also relies heavily on tourists. We were there in low season and most shops shut early unless a cruise ship was docked. This was a bit sad, but our hotel was however excellent.

After getting back from our honeymoon I had a few short days at home before flying to the UK to apply for my visa. The visa application appears to have gone ok and I just have to wait now for a few more weeks to hear back as to whether it has been accepted. I fly back to Brazil shortly to await the news on my visa. It has been a strange trip back to the UK being separated from Eneida for so long so soon after our wedding. I am looking forward to seeing here again.

So that concludes my news so fay. Please get in touch if you want to know more. I’d like to hear from you. 

Steve