Month: February 2011

A few more insights into the culture I’m exploring here. Feel free to direct my musings from the virtual armchair of the comments, but reports are coming in that the commenting here isn’t working well. I have created a Facebook app so so that comments made on Facebook appear here. Would be glad if someone would test that theory….

Driving. It’s a well-known fact that all men like talking about driving, and all men secretly think they can do it really well. I’m no exception. So let’s talk about driving for a bit. The Cariocas are definitely good drivers – if they weren’t you would walk past a recent accident on every street corner. But they are undisciplined. Even bus drivers ignore red lights and drive so fast that the bus leans (“rolls”, Andy) dramatically, even on gentle bends. They have a manual gearbox and resolutely stick to third (“best gear”, eh, David?). If there is a party crowd on the bus, everyone shouts and cheers, encouraging the driver to go faster. The buses stop a lot more abruptly than I’m used to, and for reasons I’m not used to, either. Like trying to miss the corner of a lorry that has pulled across with an idle thumb indication from the driver. All the cars are equipped with indicators but rarely are they used at useful times. Crossing the road is normally the better safety decision – the alternative is badly-lit subways where muggings are more common in the evenings. The thing that makes it interesting is that these roads have four lanes in each direction and no barriers ( just high curbs and trees). The drivers do not slow down, so you must play real-life frogger and learn to read the pattern of cars coming up to spot a crossing opportunity. If you like the person you’re crossing with, you might on occasion grab them by the wrist and either pull them out of, or into the road with you. I haven’t yet deduced the policy for dealing with the fallen, but I have no doubt that anyone on the ground would be hit within seconds, probably by a yellow Opal Meriva – the taxi vehicle of choice in these parts.

Road planning is just as exciting. In order to avoid a set of traffic lights at a complex sliproad/intersection combination (which might, heaven forbid, slow everyone down), the authorities do not hesitate to add an entire road where drivers stay to the left although they’d popped out of the Chunnel on the limey side. They do put up a non-standard design of sign explaining this, and I will admit that it saves tarmac footprint in the built up area in Botafogo, but if you happen to miss this sign or don’t have time to read it, your life immediately gets very strange indeed.

Road crossing deserves more analysis here. There are two kinds of crosser – those who slavishly wait at crossings for the green man, and those who cross like Londoners. Both techniques are used at the same crossing at the same time. Initially I took responsibility for my own safety and crossed as I would in London: plan ahead and walk across, and turn that walk into a jog when necessary. But that takes a lot of mental effort when the crossing is before an intersection where cars may be changing lane and speed quite erratically. It is even exhausting to save those few seconds or minutes when the road is relatively “normal”. So now I stand with the others more often than not, not bothering my heat-addled mind with more planning and analysis. When the green man chooses to arrive, I make my move. Then I feel like a Carioca.

Everything purposeful here goes more slowly. Everything. The ultramodern tube trains eshew the potential possible efficiency gains of running more services, and instead stand idle and announcement-free for minutes at a time at each stop. Actually, there are no announcements of any sort on the network – bus or tube. I quite like it: on the Tube, someone or something is always barking at you. In Rio, you take your time, running for nothing (except safety in certain situations I’ve not yet encountered?) unless you’re running for running’s sake of course. And physical exercise? It is part of the culture here. If you’re just about wealthy enough not to have to work continuously selling biscuits and acai on the beach, then you’ll dedicate at least some of your time to running or making use of the exercise stations around the promenade. They look like bus stops, but are more like multigyms with no moving parts, all in brushed steel. The muscular Cariocas do pull-ups and sit-ups in the glaring sun, taking turns with their friends.

More later on an amazing Samba experience I had last night. Off for a shower and into town now.

[Don’t know what happened to this post! It’s only two months late! Ended up on a temporary Posterous blog somehow but didn’t want to waste it.]

A rather different day, today. I spent more time around the hostel getting to know people. Got up oddly early for me (0730) though feeling it was much later. I went for a walk with Sima around Botafogo before she headed off to fly to Victoria then came back home to get some work done on the net. Slooowww. That’s when I realised how contended the connections here really are. I’m sure there are a number of heavy users in the hostel, and I think the upstream bandwidth is very limited. I also reckon that the contention ratio on ADSL here in Rio is high, so other local users have a bigger effect on the last mile than in the UK where no one has more than about 1:50 contention and many have better than 1:10. It will be interesting to see how weekend performance is. All I know at the moment is that low bandwidth is a way to go, making publishing by e-mail with Posterous an even better idea.

I’ve discovered a new kind of hostel dweller – the ideological bore. This one is in his late 30s and is planning the demise of (I paraphrase badly) “Catholic control hierarchy politics of sex and family in Spain”. That wouldn’t be so bad if he weren’t planning to replace it with a sort of anaesthetic, soulless computer-driven technomeritocracy. Give me humanity, self-determinism, discovery and theology any time.

I left the hostel after this long discussion, met some Aussies from the same house in a local open-sided bar. They’d started on the beer (this was about 1400) and some delicious snacks. I ordered one of the least expensive plates: 27 Reais for some chicken. I thought that was a bit steep until it arrived and was clearly enough for four – the waiter even brought four plates! There are very good meat-in-potato-fried snacks for only 2 or 3 Reais almost wherever you go.

Returned to the hostel and met a German guy who is studying for a phD in optical computing – using photons instead of electrons in computer processors, but still using the Von Neumann model. It doesn’t work on the bench yet, but he reckons they’ll have it nailed in 20 years. I really love getting into someone’s subject area. It makes me feel like a stowaway and I like people to go into detail so that I can get involved intellectually. I find that most people like talking about their work or hobbies, but I always check that they’re still enjoying the conversation. After all, some people travel to escape their work.

This afternoon I played cards with a few others and really enjoyed the company of people who in most regards have completely different backgrounds to me but where we’re united in the huge distances we are from home. People are very chatty and supportive and the wealth of past travel experience is well worth remembering. I find myself storing away restaurant and hostel recommendations, but also more subtle things, like the order to visit things to get the most impact – I should climb up Sugar Loaf Mountain before going up to the Christ the Redeemer statue, for example. I must go to Lapa; I should not walk under the motorway in the tunnels in the evening as it is safer to run across eight lanes of fast traffic, etc.

I ate dinner in the hostel this evening. Not as good value as last night in my view, but local food. Chatted about business startups with a girl here (Rosie) who works for her parents’ delivery company but has some ideas of her own which we batted about for a while. I wish I could apply some of the things I think of to my own business, but it just doesn’t seem to benefit from the kind of things I was able to suggest to Rosie. More thinking and changing things needed, I think.

I turned down a trip to a samba club in Lapa this evening. Setting off at 2345 didn’t really appeal after an early start, and I would like to tour a favela tomorrow morning (how do I book it?). I’ve heard amazing things from some of the guys who have done it and it’s the only safe way to visit.

Over and out.

Things I have learned:
– browsing the mobile versions of websites takes less bandwidth, so try the m.facebook.com and m.google.com for example. If necessary, get a User Agent switcher, plug in the details of a mobile device (try
Apple-iPhone3C1/801.306 for example) and then pretend to be a mobile for the rest of the session.

– Rio is not the place to buy a Thermos, gourd and some Yerba Mate – I’m told if I wait until Argentina, I’ll get the lot for $3, so I’ll hold out and drink coffee instead.

– You’ve got to read the menu to work out whether what you’re buying is for one, two or four. Assume two if it doesn’t say and the price doesn’t look quite reasonable enough.

Things that are happening:
– I’m drinking a lot of water – far more than normal, and I feel good for it. Bottled water at the moment, but I’m introducing a little tap water and eating salad to hopefully build up some immunity to any unfamiliar nasties.

Things I’m planning
– Minibus transfer from the hostel to Ilha Grande when I come to leave Rio, which will save me going to Centro and getting a bus that takes me back past the hostel on my way south.

– favela tour.

– Barbecue and Lapa trip tomorrow night

For all the great birthday wishes! I had a good night out to celebrate
with lots of samba. They know how to party (and lay on great late
transport) round here. Sorry for short posts from my mobile.

0730 – is the wifi working today?

Sorry this is late, but the internet is disappointing here. I’m going to drop the “Day X moniker, as I don’t think I can manage to post every day, and a lot of what I would write if I did would bore you!

A rather different day, today. I spent more time around the hostel getting to know people. Got up oddly early for me (0730) though feeling it was much later. I went for a walk with Sima around Botafogo before she headed off to fly to Victoria then came back home to get some work done on the net. Slooowww. That’s when I realised how contended the connections here really are. I’m sure there are a number of heavy users in the hostel, and I think the upstream bandwidth is very limited. I also reckon that the contention ratio on ADSL here in Rio is high, so other local users have a bigger effect on the last mile than in the UK where no one has more than about 1:50 contention and many have better than 1:10. It will be interesting to see how weekend performance is. All I know at the moment is that low bandwidth is a way to go, making publishing by e-mail with Posterous an even better idea.

I’ve discovered a new kind of hostel dweller – the ideological bore. This one is in his late 30s and is planning the demise of (I paraphrase badly) “Catholic control hierarchy politics of sex and family in Spain”. That wouldn’t be so bad if he weren’t planning to replace it with a sort of anaesthetic, soulless computer-driven technomeritocracy. Give me humanity, self-determinism, discovery and theology any time.

I left the hostel after this long discussion, met some Aussies from the same house in a local open-sided bar. They’d started on the beer (this was about 1400) and some delicious snacks. I ordered one of the least expensive plates: 27 Reais for some chicken. I thought that was a bit steep until it arrived and was clearly enough for four – the waiter even brought four plates! There are very good meat-in-potato-fried snacks for only 2 or 3 Reais almost wherever you go.

Returned to the hostel and met a German guy (Janik) who is studying for a phD in optical computing – using photons instead of electrons in computer processors, but still using the Von Neumann model. It doesn’t work on the bench yet, but he reckons they’ll have it nailed in 20 years. I really love getting into someone’s subject area. It makes me feel like a stowaway and I like people to go into detail so that I can get involved intellectually. I find that most people like talking about their work or hobbies, but I always check that they’re still enjoying the conversation. After all, some people travel to escape their work.

This afternoon I played cards with a few others and really enjoyed the company of people who in most regards have completely different backgrounds to me but where we’re united in the huge distances we are from home. People are very chatty and supportive and the wealth of past travel experience is well worth remembering. I find myself storing away restaurant and hostel recommendations, but also more subtle things, like the order to visit things to get the most impact – I should climb up Sugar Loaf Mountain before going up to the Christ the Redeemer statue, for example. I must go to Lapa; I should not walk under the motorway in the tunnels in the evening as it is safer to run across eight lanes of fast traffic, etc.

I ate dinner in the hostel this evening. Not as good value as last night in my view, but local food. Chatted about business startups with a girl here (Rosie) who works for her parents’ delivery company but has some ideas of her own which we batted about for a while. I wish I could apply some of the things I think of to my own business, but it just doesn’t seem to benefit from the kind of things I was able to suggest to Rosie. More thinking and changing things needed, I think.

I turned down a trip to a samba club in Lapa this evening. Setting off at 2345 didn’t really appeal after an early start, and I would like to tour a favela tomorrow morning (how do I book it?). I’ve heard amazing things from some of the guys who have done it and it’s the only safe way to visit.

Over and out.

Things I have learned:
– browsing the mobile versions of websites takes less bandwidth, so try the m.facebook.com and m.google.com for example. If necessary, get a User Agent switcher, plug in the details of a mobile device (try
Apple-iPhone3C1/801.306 for example) and then pretend to be a mobile for the rest of the session.

– Rio is not the place to buy a Thermos, gourd and some Yerba Mate – I’m told if I wait until Argentina, I’ll get the lot for $3, so I’ll hold out and drink coffee instead.

– You’ve got to read the menu to work out whether what you’re buying is for one, two or four. Assume two if it doesn’t say and the price doesn’t look quite reasonable enough.

Things that are happening:
– I’m drinking a lot of water – far more than normal, and I feel good for it. Bottled water at the moment, but I’m introducing a little tap water and eating salad to hopefully build up some immunity to any unfamiliar nasties.

Things I’m planning
– Minibus transfer from the hostel to Ilha Grande when I come to leave Rio, which will save me going to Centro and getting a bus that takes me back past the hostel on my way south.

– favela tour.

– Barbecue and Lapa trip tomorrow night.

Wow. I’ve been in Rio nearly 12 hours. My life has already slowed to a fulfilled crawl – just what the doctor ordered.

Firstly, I don’t understand why people have a problem with budget flight options, in the main. The food service on the plane was friendly and rapid, as had been the boarding – I arrived at Heathrow T1 not long before the gate opened and walked straight on. We left on time , too, and my baggage arrived at the other end eventually. I don’t mean to be a pariah, but I’m a large man and I had no problems with the TAM Economy seats. Even when the one in front was reclined fully, neither my knees or shins were even close. Yeah, if you slouch badly you could possibly end up quite uncomfortable, but my Alexander Technique puts paid to that. So the seats are fine, but I soon realised I had a seat advantage over most of the Economy punters: I had four of them – an entire central row to myself. That’s more room than business class by a long way – I stretched out to full length after watching a movie and checking our location. Three pillows and two blankets later and I was fast asleep.

Even at 0630 the heat was dramatic. I walked out of Arrivals, looking for my name on a card – saw El Misti Hostel and a girl called Lucy’s name instead. Hedged my bets and went with that taxi driver, crushed in with Lucy and a couple of seasoned Aussie backpackers who had been on the road for five months already. By then I was very hot: I had on jeans and a brown, long-sleeved shirt. Never again!

The taxi seemed to be headed for the other El Misti House in Copacabana but he diverted for me and walked me to the door. Everyone has been wonderful so far – got chatting to some lads then to a Dutch-Iranian girl (Sima) who also had no plans for the morning. I have now “done” the beach with her, and dispensed my first plaster for her poor heel. Flamengo is a stunning beach, and not too busy during the week. Amazed at the ages of people exercising, and sobered by the old age of some of the street sellers – for the poor there is no retirement here. This hostelling malarky seems to be a case of taking recommendations, marrying places to names, linking directions to descriptions and taking almost nothing with you when you explore. Doing more talking than listening makes a big difference, too. The hostel seems secure, with lockers big enough for my bags under the beds. Many people seem to take a reassuringly casual approach to security of their personal property here.

I reckon I have three clear hours each afternoon to clear up e-mail, write for the blog, manage the guys back at home. I think I can spend a few hours a day programming, too, but I need to find somewhere quiet enough.

As the focus of the blog is meant to be how to travel as a technology consultant, I will turn the focus on that direction. I have specific work goals which I intend to complete whilst I’m away, just give me a chance to settle in!

Things I have ticked off today:
– endured and survived Rio traffic. Pedestrians in the dual carriageway, people running across four-lane carriageways (yes, it’s like a motorway with no barriers)
– beach walk (Flamengo)
– eaten Brazilian fast food
– drunk Acai slushy – great, and supposedly very healthful.
– suncream, SPF 50
– mended the hostel Wi-Fi – hardly brisk, but usable.
– drunk bottled water, but a small swig of tap water, too. I’ll have a little every day and try to build up immunity.

Things I have learned today:
– pick your seat at check-in, as late as possible. Make sure to get as many empty seats next to you as possible. I did this by accident. It’s more important than the location of the seat.
– Pack even less – I don’t think jeans are a good choice, but then again, I might need them on the glacier in Argentina, so we’ll see.
– Brazilian Google is faster than .co.uk Google. Figures: I’m halfway round the world, but it does bear mentioning.

Things that came to mind:
– I should track down the most local Rotary club – maybe someone will lend me a desk in their office?
– If they let me pay for Tripit Pro, I’ll get a Regus Gold Card which would let me use their business lounges.

Now I’m going to respond to some Kohera e-mail enquiries. I think I might do that in the morning from now on, as being three hours behind means that if I work in the afternoon, it is after close of business in the UK. I’ll work it out. Although I would normally do some work on weeknight evenings, the party atmostphere in Rio will probably prevent that – I mean, an entire nation on JV time! It’s just not real.

Over and out.

That was all quite slick thanks to brother Andy. Perfectly on time.
Feeling better now I’ve realised that Anna can come out with anything
I’ve forgotten :grins:.