‘Please look this way ma’am, and tell which letter do you see’, the doctor asks me in a friendly way. A flash of light blinds me for a few seconds. ‘Uuhmm, a F.’ ‘Very good, senhora. And know please squeeze this.’ He points to a rusted device with a handle and weights. I squeeze the handle, and the weights move up a little. The doctor says nothing while he scrambles some things on a piece of paper. ‘Did I pass?’ I ask him nervously. ‘Yes, you did, now you only still have to do the psychological test.’ Continue reading
Brazil
Beating bureaucracy: Brazil vs. the Netherlands
Thinking about emigrating to Brazil, a lot of people probably imagine relaxing on a tropical beach with a caipirinha in their hand. Dream on. In reality it is a lot less relaxing unfortunately. ‘Cause if you want to live here you’ll have to spent many hours in many queues, fill out dozens of documents and wait, wait and wait a bit more. Continue reading
‘Champions’ in 45 minutes
It’s the weirdest soccer match I’ve ever watched. And it will probably stay so for a while. São Paulo FC against the Argentinian club Tigre, the final of the Copa Sudamericana, the second most important club tournament in Latin America. São Paulo won: in 45 minutes… Continue reading
Party with the dead
The ground is covered with plastic bottles, empty soda cans and candy wrappers. The crowd is slowly passing by, the brightly colored bins are overflowing and there are composting toilets on the sidewalk. If I didn’t know better I would think I was at a festival site. Continue reading
Opera in the jungle
‘Bravo, bravo!’ The conductor laughs and wipes away the sweat on his bald head. The standing ovation from the audience continues and the musicians return to their seats. While the audience turns silent, the sounds of the Polovtsian Dances by Borodin fill one more time the magnificent hall of the opera house. Continue reading
Colorful election campaign in Uberlândia – in pictures
It was the battle between Beckenbauer, Batman and the transsexual schoolteacher Sayonara. On October 7th they competed, together with 638 other candidates, for one of the 26 spots in the municipal council of the Brazilian city Uberlândia. They campaigned for months, because it’s not easy to stand out between hundreds of rivals. Continue reading
That’s what friends are for
‘Boa tarde, we are here to see Flávia.’ The man nods understandingly. ‘Ah, of course. Flávia is not here yet, but I think Igor can help you as well.’
Flávia and Igor of the Federal Police, Elisabeth and André from the tax office, Jonathan and Camila from the phone shop and Marcos from the bank. Marc and I made quite some ‘friends’ in our short time in Uberlândia. Continue reading
