Was it all a dream?
Today it's a beautiful sunny Friday morning in England and the garden is looking so green.

We left Florianopolis just after lunch on Wednesday, but on Wednesday morning I walked up the beach and back.

It already seems hardly real and I'm now even more glad to have all my photos, website and blog to remind me of the fantastic time we had.

More than friends
It's hard to imagine what we would have done without these people during our time in Brazil. They met us at the airport when we arrived and saw us off when we left and in between helped us in so many ways - for example with finding somewhere to live, buying and selling a car, introductions at the University, sorting out visas with the state police, finding our way around Florianopolis city, finding a travel agent and more. On top of all this they included us in their family and social events and always made us feel warmly welcome. We will miss them!

Last post from Florianopolis
Today has been a beautiful day. It seems that summer is coming at last to Florianopolis. Unfortunately the day has been taken up with packing and selling the car, so no time to walk on the beach or on this mosaic walkway.

However, we have managed to squeeze in a last plate of camarao a milanesa (prawns fried in breadcumbs) and caipirinha this evening!

I think I will probably make one more post to this blog after we get back to England and then that will be it.

The whole six months here has been fabulous - far surpassing my expectations.

The Gym
We didn't discover the gym until half way through our time here - more's the pity!

In the past I have always thought that a gym is just not for me. I have tried them twice in England and have not liked the impersonal, cold feel to the gyms I have been to and the fact that everyone appears to be half my age and intent on becoming a body builder!

I have really enjoyed going to the gym here. This is the girl who has always been there helping me, giving me appropriate exercises and ensuring that a visit to the gym is always a good laugh.

I have also met quite a few other people of all ages and sizes in the gym who have been warmly friendly. I'm hoping to find a similar gym in England as after our time here I can definitely see the benefits.

Another Special Person
This is John's personal trainer. What a fantastic guy - only 24 and so concerned with ensuring that he provides the right service, with the right exercises.

This is a very special person who we really hope that we will meet again so that we can help him as he has helped us.

Special Person
Here is just one of the 'special' people we have enjoyed meeting whilst being here. He works at Lucila's restaurant where we have been having lunch 2 or 3 times a week.

He is always smiling like this, is always very helpful and likes to chat when he is not too busy. John has had fun trying to explain 'cricket' to him!

Man's Eye View of Brazil
Whilst we have been here, I have been fascinated by other people's websites about Brazil - so different to my own.

The website from which this photo is taken is very entertaining, although you would certainly have to have specific interests in life to write it!

http://www.gringoguides.com/brazilguide.shtml

It is worth a visit, because - from my perspective - it presents a very accurate picture of how many people (particularly young people) will experience Brazil.

Another interesting website is: http://www.gringoes.com/default.asp

This site features interesting stories of foreigners who have settled in Brazil.

Black Brazil seeks a Better Future
When we are just about to leave we come across this BBC article on racism in Brazil, which has certainly set me thinking.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5357842.stm

For many years Brazil prided itself on its cultural diversity and harmony, but there is no doubt that black people remain socially disadvantaged in Brazil. According to the information I have read on some websites, over 70% of the people living in favelas are black. However, I have also heard that some of the poorest people living in the south of Brazil are immigrants from Poland. I have no means of knowing whether this information is true or not.

This photo shows the housing of a fishing community living on Beira Mar Norte in Florianopolis city centre. I did not see anyone coming or going so I don't know whether the inhabitants are black or not. I am doubtful that I can assume that this would count as a favela and that the people living here would consider themselves disadvantaged, even if it looks extremely poor - just as I don't know whether I can assume that the people living in this housing are subject to racism, even if they are disadvantaged.

It would appear that racism in Brazil might be more subtle than in other parts of the world. Is this better or worse than the overt racism that is evident elsewhere?

Feeling Strange
Only a day and a half to go and I am now feeling that it will be easier to be on the plane than it is to be here saying goodbye to people we have met and really like and to a life-style that is hard to beat.

Leaving England to come here was not so hard, because we knew that 6 months is not a long time and that we would be returning.

Leaving here is harder, because we are not sure if we will ever return and we have very strong connections with Brazil.

Defunct Blogs
As well as defunct websites - what happens to defunct blogs? By this time next week, I won't be adding to this blog any more ...... but I can feel another one coming on!

This time next week........

.......I won't be sitting in a small apartment writing up my blog having spent lunchtime eating a meal in a restaurant on the beach.

You can see from this photo though, that we had to brave the elements a bit today. John is trying to keep out of the cool south wind (hence the screen) - on top of which he is trying to take full advantage of this delicious meal whilst at the same time cope with toothache!

'Mad dogs and Englishmen' comes to mind once again!

My website: www.jennymackness.co.uk

Creating this website has been a worthwhile experience while we have been here.

This is the first time I have attempted anything like this and it has been quite a steep learning curve, especially in the beginning.

It has been good to have a definite focus and to know that there was a time span for this project. The site now has a lot of pages. If we were staying longer, I would be able to add more to it. I have tried to make it a site based on personal experience of the places we have visited and things I am interested in. However, I now think I have done as much to it as I want to.

What happens to defunct websites? There must be a graveyard full of them! A Brazilian friend suggested that the city government tourist agency might be interested in it, as there are very few sites about Florianopolis that are in English - but it would probably need a lot more work to get it to a level where it could be used in this way.

Now - if someone said come back to Florianopolis for a couple of months and go round taking photos and gathering further information for this site, that would be a very attractive offer :-)

Looking Forward
Since this is our last weekend in Florianopolis and who can say when, or if ever, we will visit Brazil again, it is inevitable to be thinking about what life will be like back in England again. Six months isn't a very long time to be away, so I can't imagine that it will be that different.

However, life here has been different and I hope to take some ideas back with me - for example

- exercise can be enjoyable!
- fresh fish is delicious!
- exploring your surroundings always reveals some hidden treasures
- blogging is a great way to 'mark' your thoughts and learning
- taking photos is a wonderful hobby
- work/life balance is achievable!

I'm sure I'll be adding to this as I think about it :-)

Passeio dos Namorados
If the tide is too high and we can't walk on the beach, this is where we walk. The path runs directly behind the beach and is 2 kms long. That is a lot of mosaic paving!

I think I have posted a photo of this before, but I thought another one wouldn't harm!

Birthday Party
Last night we were invited to a child's 6th birthday party (6.00-9.00 pm). Beforehand, I did wonder whether I would cope with a 3 hour children's birthday party, but it turned out to be fun!

Children's birthday parties here are as much an event for adults as they are for the children. This one was held in a venue which runs these parties. It was a large hall (like a sport's hall) full of trampolenes, rope walkways etc. on which the children were let loose but carefully supervised. Plenty of space for them to career around.

Alongside this hall were some rooms which could be booked for the party. This was used by the adults and the children came in and out as they wished. We were served with wine, maracuja cocktails (passion fruit), salgadinhos (small savoury eats) and docinhos (small sweet eats) - all delicious and all very bad for the figure!

The children came in for an excellent magic show and to see the cake being cut and sing 'Parabens para voce'.

The three hours flew by!

Eating In!
I shall not only miss eating out in restaurants, but will also miss having lunch on our veranda whenever the sun shines or simply when it is warm enough - which is very often.

This we did today. So easy to organise (about 3 metres from the kitchen!) and always a real treat, as the food here is so fresh.

Lunch is taken seriously here. It is not just a sandwich eaten whilst working at your computer. It is a social, family event, with a freshly prepared sit down meal and for some people (particularly in the hot weather) is followed by a siesta. Very civilized and much more healthy than a sandwich at a computer!

Floripa's Mangrove Swamp
Driving in the city centre it is easy to see that Florianopolis' development has depended on reclaiming land from the sea. One area that must have been affected are the mangrove swamps - Manguezal do Itacorubi, which are considered one of the largest urban mangrove swamps in the world.

The city has tried to preserve these swamps and develop an interest in them by building boardwalks over them and providing information about the flora and fauna - principally the wide variety of crabs that inhabit the swamps.

It is an interesting area to visit, but it is not a place to visit on your own and definitely not at night as we were told that it is frequented by addicts and ladroes (thieves). But it's fine during the day, and the light on the water and between the trees was fascinating.

Making Hay While the Sun Shines
Today has been hot and sunny so we took the opportunity to go out to lunch - again!

This is a restaurant on the water's edge and overlooking the bay to Florianopolis city. It is called Bate Ponto and is in Santo Antonio de Lisboa, just down the coast from us.

We have passed this restaurant a few times but this is the first time we have been in. The food was excellent and the waiter very entertaining as he wanted to practise his English, so that he can eventually get a job on a cruise ship!

Systems Failure
Today we experienced 3 lots of systems failure.

1. The local 24 hour bank hole-in-the-wall systems went down - so we were not able to get out any money.

2. Since we do not have a bank account here (you have to be resident for a year to get a bank account) we have to pay all our bills by going into the city with cash-in-hand to a 'loterica' (place where you pay bills and buy lottery tickets). We finally managed to get enough cash together only to find that the 'loterica' system was also down so we couldn't pay our bills there! Since today was the final day for payment, this meant having to find a bank where we could pay the bills to avoid being fined. Fortunately we were successful - finally - but it does seem a crazy system all round.

3. The lift in our apartment block failed - not easy when you are 5 floors up - but thankfully not double or more than this! Since we had to go out this morning, we were not able to return until the lift had been mended and we could get back up to our apartment!

This is only the second time that the lift has failed since we have been here, but the computer systems in the banks and lotericas often seem to fail. This must be extremely trying for the local people.

Confidence in the Government?
October will see the general elections here in Brazil and there is evidence everywhere of this in the State, with billboards promoting local candidates and flag waving supporters on city street corners. The Wikipedia site gives a good account of what is happening and who is running.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_General_Elections,_2006

However, today in the city centre, we travelled behind a car with the following sticker written in large English letters on the back:

Don't steal. The Government doesn't like competition.

30 years ago anyone daring to do this would have 'disappeared in the night', so I suppose that the fact that someone is able to freely travel around in a car with a sticker criticising the Government could be seen as progress/development!

Safety in Jurere
Early on in this blog, I commented that Jurere is a very safe place compared to some places in Florianopolis and indeed in Brazil. However in recent weeks there have been a spate of robberies of local shops, which has made the community a bit jittery. So, for example, the owner of our apartment block arranged for new automatic garage doors which are now no longer open grills, but closed so that no-one can see in - and the local community has arranged a petition asking for more police in Jurere.

However, it seems that not everyone wants an active response to these robberies. Our local gym has put up a notice asking everyone in Jurere to be security conscious and on the alert. This notice brought the police and the estate agents to their door, asking them to take down the notice, since it is not good at election time for an upmarket area like Jurere to be seen as unsafe and also this message will affect house prices!

As the trainer who works in the gym said - the police and the estate agents seem to be unbelievably short-sighted! I found myself wondering to what extent this kind of thing happens in England!

Must see places in Brazil
A friend has asked me what I would regard as a 'must see' place in Brazil. This is an extremely difficult question to answer, because the country is so vast, there are so many spectacular places to visit here and of course I have not personally visited a fraction of all that is possible in Brazil. However from the places I have been to the following would be top of my list.

• Manaus, Belem and the Amazon river - for the amazing geography
• Salvador and Bahia - for the culture and colour
• Rio de Janeiro - for the stunning scenery
• Brazilia - for the architecture
• Pantanal - for the flora and fauna
• Florianopolis - for the beaches
• Rio Grande do Sul - for the Gauchos and churrascos!

I'm afraid it's impossible to name just one place. But if I had to name just one place in South America, it would be Machu Picchu in Peru. This is on the basis of having travelled in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Bolivia and Peru in the past. Machu Picchu is a once in a lifetime experience - never to be forgotten.

Plants in Jurere
I am still taking photos of plants whenever I get the opportunity. In the end we didn't manage to get to the Botanical Garden in Rio, which I would have loved to have visited - all the flights were booked up for the weekend that we wanted to go, and now we have simply run out of time.

However, I have still managed to put some more photos of plants in my photo gallery.

The beach
I am definitely going to miss walking on the beach.

Here it is at about 5.00 pm today. There is still hardly anyone on it, but by the end of December it will probably not be possible to see the sand for all the people.

I discovered today that our apartment block has 25 flats, but at the moment only 8 of them are occupied. However, in December, January and February it is full. It must feel very different here in the summer.

Work and Play
Eating out with friends this weekend was fun! We arranged to meet so that we could combine the pleasure of meeting up and eating out, with a discussion about distance learning, with which our friend has a lot of experience.

Distance learning is an obvious choice for many Brazilians who live a long way away from a good education centre of any sort. Brazil has a lot of experience in delivering these courses and the resources they provide both in hard copy and online are impressive. It was very interesting to hear about their processes and procedures.

Box 32. Mercado Publico, Florianopolis

This is one of the best places to eat in Florianopolis. It is a bar in the public market in the city centre. It has a great atmosphere and serves wonderful food. Right opposite the bar there is a stall selling fruit, veg. etc. Although the bar looks quite quiet in these photos, this is only because they were taken shortly before closing time at 10.00 pm. During the day, it is packed.

We had a chat with the very successful owner just before we left, who told us he had visited England and likened it to drinking Campari - in other words an acquired taste. The first drink is not pleasant, but the second seems much better!

Familia Brasileira
I have always been impressed with the importance that Brazilians place on family life and the wider family. I know this to be a generalisation, but it has been my continuing experience over the years.

We have been very fortunate in getting to know not only Brazilian couples of our own age/generation, but the whole family - their parents, children and grandchildren. This week we have been to a family lunch which was held to celebrate the birthday of the son of some friends of ours, at which children, partners and grandchildren were present. We have also been out one evening with the children of some friends, i.e. a couple nearer the age of our own children.

I have always liked the fact that young and old mix and socialise very well here. I put this down to the fact that young children are always included in social events (they don't go to bed early here - too hot in the summer!) and from an early age are used to talking to people of all ages.

Colegio Catarinense
This week we had reason to visit the Colegio Catarinense in the city centre. I suppose this would be equivalent to one of our public schools.

I was very much impressed by what a beautiful building this was. Evidently the College is 100 years old and has 3000 students from the ages of 13 to 18 years. We only saw the main entrance to the College and the Chapel, but I was told that the grounds were extensive.

This is a Jesuit College and appeared from the immaculate condition of the buildings to be 'wealthy'. It is also considered to have high standards and provide a very good education, although evidently it has had it's share of problems with drugs etc. as many schools seem to have these days. This is according to some Brazilian friends of ours. I have put one or two more photos in my Flickr gallery.

Final comment about the weather
Yesterday at the University, one of the lecturers told us that within the past 7 days the temperature here had ranged between 3 and 36 degrees C.

I think that says it all!

The weather again!
Well I take it all back!

It's been really hot today - the kind of weather in which only 'mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun' - and although we are English, we are not yet mad and did not go out in the midday sun!

This is a photo of the evening sky taken from our veranda tonight.

The Weather
I'm going to be very English and complain about the weather. Dare I complain about the weather, whilst living in Brazil?

I feel as though for the past month the weather has been cool, if not cold, with only the occasional bursts of sunshine. However, our Brazilian friends tell me that I have forgotten just how bad the weather is in England! To be fair, it doesn't rain a lot here (or hasn't while we have been here) and our Brazilian friends have reminded us that it rains all the time in England!

Today at lunch time the temperature was about 30 degrees and I thought summer had arrived - or at least spring was definitely on its way - but it is now almost 6.00 pm and the fog is so thick that I can hardly see across the street. I am really hoping that we will have some good weather, i.e. hot and sunny, before we return to England in 2 weeks time :-)

Sand Patterns
I love the fact that whenever we walk on the beach, the sand looks different.

Usually the sand is smooth, but not on this day.

Buffet de Sopas e Massas
We have spent a lot of time in Lucila's Restaurant. Not only have we had cooking lessons there, but we have lunch there2 or 3 times a week (which is a buffet and you pay by the weight on your plate). The buffet lunch is delicious and usually costs us a maximum of £5 (both of us) with a drink and cafezinho.

However we don't usually go there at night, when it is possible to have an A la Carte menu, but also possible on Thursdays to Saturdays to have a buffet of soups and pastas. We tried this for the first time last night.

We could have as much soup and pasta as we wanted for £3.50 each. The soups were very good, as were the pasta dishes, but I have to say that I found the whole notion of having a variety of bowls of soup strange. The restaurant was really crowded though, because it was a cool evening and evidently everyone here likes soup to warm them up.

Usually we go to Cris' Bar (to the left of Lucila's in the photo) in the evening, where the food is even cheaper and we either eat steak, salad and chips, or camarao (prawns) all washed down with caipirinha of course!

We are very lucky to have this row of restaurants, bars and cafes, which serve such good food at a fraction of the price you would pay in England, just 2 minutes walking distance from the apartment. We will miss them!

7 de Setembro: Dia da Independência
Today is a 'feriado' (national holiday) to commemorate Brazil's independence from Portuguese rule in 1822.

Evidently this involves military parades in the city centre, which we didn't get to see (no car!). However, we did see the local school parading in the streets of Jurere yesterday (see photo). The children were carrying banners saying 'Make peace, not war' or the equivalent. This intrigued me. Brazil has had its share of wars in its history, but not in recent times. I wondered what lessons had preceded this parade in the local school.

This prompted me to research Brazil's history a little and I found this very accessible article: Brief History of Brazil at http://www.brazilbrazil.com/historia.html, which I found fascinating.

Never a dull moment!
Every time we go out it seems that something happens. Is this the same in England? Perhaps it is but I have never noticed.

Today the car broke down - clouds of steam etc. etc. This was then followed by a whole load of wrangling with the people who sold us the car, who claimed it was no longer under warranty (not true and we have the documentation to prove it), but they had not reckoned with John at his most forceful. They certainly received a piece of his mind. However, despite this, the car is still in the garage and nothing has yet been resolved, although they do know in no uncertain terms that at least one of us does not consider them customer friendly!

Thank goodness for good Brazilian friends who have ferried us about and added their 'pieces of mind' to ours when speaking to the garage. I have mentioned before what good friends we have here! What would we do without them.

So, for now, we are without transport - but with the beach and everything else we need just five minutes away, things are not too bad. However, we will now need to go out for camarao (prawns) and caipirinha to drown our sorrows! :-)

Another Exhibition Opening
Last night we were invited to another exhibition opening in the City centre. This proved to be interesting on a number of counts.

1. It was held in the old custom house in the market area of down town Florianopolis in exactly the same building where I exhibited some work nearly 30 years ago. This time it looked more run down than I remember it, but I'm wondering if I'm remembering through rose coloured specs. I'll have to dig out the old photos when I get back to England and see.

2. This exhibition was by a group of local artists who were clearly trying to promote collaboration between artists and art in Florianopolis.

3. The event was 'interrupted' by a very loud, very poor, very hungry and very angry young woman, who walked in off the street, gobbled down a whole load of food and drink, pulled the cloths of the table and swore at everyone in sight. Needless to say the whole place came to a standstill, but people quickly recovered. However, it did serve to highlight the fact that there was a whole group of people drinking wine, eating small eats and looking at pictures in an area where outside there were people with clearly not enough to eat. A bit sobering really.

The Duke of Caxias
Last weekend we had a really good lunch out with friends at a local fish restaurant. Not only was the food very good and the restaurant very pleasant, but the conversation was very stimulating as we spent a lot of time discussing the history of Rio Grande do Sul and the daring and brave exploits of the Gauchos who fought the Spanish and Portuguese to keep control of their lands, despite being hugely outnumbered.

In fact Rio Grande do Sul was the site of many battles in the 1800s and a key figure in this history was the Duke of Caxias, a renowned Brazilian military leader, who is particularly remembered for his leadership in the War of The Triple Alliance, in which Paraguay took on the might of the triple alliance of Brazil, Uraguay and Argentina. According to the Wikipedia site, 1 million died in this war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luís_Alves_de_Lima_e_Silva

The interesting thing about this site is that The Duke of Caxias is written up in glowing terms, whereas according to our friends he was a brutal leader and the story goes that he poisoned the dead and threw them into the rivers, so that his enemies would have a poisoned water supply. Whether this is true or not, who can say, but as always, the history 'books' are written by the 'glorious' conquerors!

However, once you start reading some of the information on the internet it becomes very clear that southern Brazil has a very rich and fascinating history.

The Sea, Jurere
Today the tide was very high and my walk to Fortaleza de São José da Ponta Grossa meant a long walk through the waves.

The sea is quite a sight though, isn't it!

Jurere Beach
Getting to the Fortaleza de São José da Ponta Grossa involved walking the length of this beach and back again - not that I'm complaining.

It's beautiful and looks different every time you walk on it.

A really great way to do a 4-mile walk and get exercise (and a sun-tan!) without really thinking about it.

This has to be one of the best beaches in Florianopolis and we happen to be lucky enough to have lived here for 6 months!

Nearly missed this!
This wonderful fort has been on our doorstep all these months and I have only just realised that it is there. This is the Fortaleza (fort) de São José da Ponta Grossa, which is one of three forts that were built to protect the northern bay of Florianopolis. This one was built in around 1740 above Praia do Forte.

Given that our favourite restaurant is at Praia do Forte, I don't know how we nearly missed this. I think the problem is that 30 years later everything looks so different.

We did visit this fort when we lived here all those years ago, but in those days it was a ruin. In fact I have a photo at home (in Burton) which is almost identical to one they now have in the museum which is in the renovated fort. They have made a wonderful job of the renovation and there were quite a few people visiting the fort today. I have put more photos on my flickr site (photo gallery).

Attacked by Quero-queros
This evening, on a walk by the beach, we came across a very angry pair of quero-queros (southern lapwings).

We discovered that they were so cross, making a lot of screeching noises and diving at us threateningly, because they were protecting 6 very small chicks.

According to the information I have read, they usually only have about 3 chicks, which both parents protect and they are known for their aggressive behaviour if they think their chicks are in danger.

This photo comes from the following website, which shows a number of birds with which we are now familiar. http://www.cantodasaves.hpg.ig.com.br/classificacao.htm

I tried to take my own photo, but ended up protecting myself from their attacks, i.e. putting quite a bit if distance between me and them! As soon as I did this, the 6 chicks who had been lying as if they were dead, all got up and started running about. Evidently they are very active from the minute they hatch, so I think these tiny chicks must have only just hatched from the eggs, which are laid in the soil in these beach areas.

Quero-queros are very common around here and despite their aggressive behaviour are very attractive birds.

Tirade against the Government
I bumped into our landlady on the way out of the apartment today and was cornered for at least 10 minutes with a complete tirade against everything to do with the government. (Landlady makes her sound old. In fact she must be half my age if not more).

She was sure that no other country had to put up with such heavy taxes, interest rates and long waiting lists for medical treatment like they do here in Brazil.

In fact we are taxed more heavily in England than they are here in Brazil - but the difference is that our taxes go to what they are supposed to be for, whereas, according to my landlady the taxes here go into the pockets of corrupt government officials or are used for political 'games' - so nothing improves.

She said that she thought it a disgrace that a city the size of Florianopolis doesn't have a proper sewage system (evidently it works on the basis of septic tanks or equivalent) and that it was an equal disgrace that the state could run out of vaccines so that for the past two months young children have not received the vaccinations they should have.

In her opinion the problem lies in the fact that people are not sufficiently educated or informed and are unwilling to be informed. This is a generalisation of course, but her illustration was that even though there are news broadcasts on the TV, people only watch 'novelas' (soaps) and aren't interested in the news. At one point, in her exasperation, she even suggested that democracy doesn't work in Brazil, although she didn't go so far as saying that she would like the military dictatorship back. She might be too young to remember how terrible the situation was here in the days of the dictatorship.

From our perspective, it does seem that corruption is endemic in the political culture of Brazil and that people seem to think that because government has always been corrupt it always will be and that's just the way things are. If this is true, the sheer size of Brazil makes you wonder whether there is a solution to this problem.