Hi all,
Despite the fact that last week, the drug lords shot up a city bus, I took a city bus out to Ipanema (of “Tall and tan and young and lovely…” fame) and walked back as far as Copacabana. It was a rainy day, so it wasn’t crowded on the beach. And it didn’t rain constantly, and it was about 28 degrees Celsius, so it wasn’t cold.
I also took a tour of the H.Stern jewelry factory, where they developed that style called ‘pave’. Brazilian diamonds are found in rivers, not mines, and many of them are very small. So they decided to cover the ring or earring or necklace with all those tiny diamonds, each of which has been cut to 57 or 58 facets (though they are only the size of a comma or period), covered so closely that you cannot see the metal at all. It seems like a lot of work for not much, if you ask me. They also make jewelry from aquamarines, amethyst, citrine and once they discovered a source of emeralds (in the 20th century only), emeralds. I tried on a $5000 ring, but I didn’t bother with the $45,000 watch. I had enough trouble keeping a straight face, with the ring.
In other kinds of paving, I watched some men create part of the typical sidewalks here. They use chunks of granite, about the size of eggs, but with square corners. They put down a layer of sand, pack it down, then set out the pavers, like a jigsaw puzzle, and then brush sand over it all, to fill in the spaces. No, it is not very smooth. There are many sad-faced children wandering around carrying skateboards. Many of the streets are also made with pavers, though those are brick sized, and still very rough. The occasional patch of asphalt is highly prized by those children.
I have been to the zoo. Their cat collection does not compare with the one in Aylesford, but the birds far outnumber anything I have seen anywhere else. There must have been two dozen kinds of parrots, and parakeets, and conurres, and toucans. Plus, hawks and eagles and pheasants and guinea fowl and birds I’d never heard of. Wow.
Near the zoo is the National Museum, which was somebody’s palace at some point. It is pretty sad, undergoing ‘restoration’; with no climate control, the Inuit clothing and the stuffed animals are not doing too well. The museum had preserved many interesting items in bottles, including human embryos from 1 month old to 9 months. I had to stop looking at the insects, when they started showing what happened to people who had been bitten by such an insect. I did like the whale skeleton, and the native outfits from all over the country, along with their indigenous tools and the like.
Finally I stopped in at the palace that once belonged to the mistress of whoever lived in the main palace. There is a tunnel running from one palace to the other, so the neighbours wouldn’t know what was going on. I thought you just had to park your car in the next block, but not here, not in the early 1800’s.
Don and I have been experimenting with the dessert cart, pushed by a boy who comes past in the evening, blowing a very noisy bicycle horn. Everything seems to be quite sweet. The first thing was a sort of cookie that tasted like soggy peanut brittle. Then we tried a coconut cookie like a macaroon that melted into plain old white sugar fudge. Last night we tried cake; it was like pineapple upside down cake, Don said. I had already brushed my teeth, and forgot to eat it this morning. I hope it is still in the fridge when I get home!
Don’s cold is nearly gone, and I (thanks to eating raw garlic cloves most nights) have not caught it yet. It’s certainly interesting here, and I am starting to recognize people in the neighbourhood here in Santa Teresa. Especially the dessert cart boy!
Love, to all of you (I’m becoming more Brazilian, I guess.)
Corinne.
