20 Travel Tips

Patricia told me the first item here is her #1 travel piece of advice:

Buy distinctive looking luggage and put a unique marker on your suitcase (mala) so you can easily recognize it on the baggage claim (reguerimento de bagagem) carousel.

When choosing a seat (assento), ask the customer service agent where she or he would sit. - OR - Unless you are traveling children, always ask for an exit-row seat. You’ll get more legroom. web sites like SeatGuru help you find the best seat on airlines by plane type.

Men and women: Don’t wear thong underwear. It's called creeping agony.

While on the airplane (aviáo) for long international flights (vôo internacional) write letters (carta), keep a journal (diario), or jot down ideas or to-do lists.

Pack a bag of Goldfish or cookies in your carry-on — not for yourself or your kids to eat, but to quiet the screaming kid three rows back. Works every time and costs only pennies.

In some South American countries it's possible to bargain with a thief. Usually they don't want to hurt you, so just explain to them you really need your money but you're happy to give over a portion of your funds. Suggestion: $20

Always dress nice or classy yet try to remain comfortable. You will be treated better everywhere in the world if you don't look dirty and sloppy.

Wear slip-on/slip-off shoes (sapatos) to make your security entrances and exits easier.

Cross-pack. Put some everyday cloths into your carry-on in case the airline (linha aérea) looses your luggage (bagagem).

Eye masks.

Never unzip the zipper around the seam of your luggage and expand the bag -- once you've opened Pandora's box you'll never close it again.

Listen to an audio book. It takes up more time than the in-flight movie, and is better exercise for your mind.

Dab a little antibacterial ointment in your nose to help protect from the myriad airborne contaminants circulating in the cabin.

Never let a snake charmer convince you to put a snake around your neck. Especially if the self-identified snake charmer only has 4 fingers (total for both hands). Just because he wears the "garb" and calls himself a professional doesn't mean a thing.

Take sanitary wipes or wet towels with you. You will frequently need to clean or disinfect something onboard.

Always, wear shoes to the restroom (banheiro).

Never place any important document in the front seat pocket — especially not your passport!

Use saline spray. Colds and respiratory illness are common after a flight, but using a saline spray can prevent an illness after flying.

Carry extra zip-lock bags in your luggage, they are useful in collecting small items and sorted small items that get strewn all over in luggage and can serve to protect important and/or fragile documents.

Bring dollar bills, and if a kid starts kicking your seat from behind, bribe him with money. Tell him if he’s good for the remainder of the flight, he’ll get $5. Works like a charm.

Make photocopies of official documents or ID so that, if possible in public places, you can leave original documents in a safe place and carry the passport, ID and/or marriage certificates in the form of a copy. However, do not try to present photocopies at border crossings or to immigration officials - you're only asking for suspicion and trouble.

A Casa de Alice

As we head into the award season for film in America there is often speculation about films from other countries that are in contention for the Best Foreign Film categories of the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards.

This year Brazil has a contender and its not about the typical hot film subjects we see coming out of South America's largest country and economy - street gangs, violence, poverty, kidnapping and samba. More than any film in a long time, this new film cuts against expectations to give us a richer appreciation for Brazilian life. It is very easy for Americans to get all worked up and think the average life of Brazil is living in favelas but nothing could be further from the truth.

A Casa de Alice or Alice's House is a slice of life film that more greatly profiles an average working class Brazilian woman played by Carla Ribas who has been winning best actress awards around the world. Director Chico Teixeira was influenced by Dogma and documentary-style dramatic films, giving this film a slice-of-life intimacy and makes the emotional intensity of everyday life more realistic.

The films central character, Alice is a manicurist and has been married for the last 20 years to Lindomar a taxi driver. Alice works in a beauty parlour, parents three children, the eldest of whom is doing his military service, and has a mother Dona Jacira, who is slowly going blind and works as a maid in her house. Alice's three siblings pay little attention to their mother, and they treat their grandmother with lack of respect.

The film has won big fans where it has shown in festivals in Sidney Australia, Chicago, Rio and is being hailed as a masterpiece. Definitely put this film on your lists to see for 2007.

Halloween and Thanksgiving for Brazilians

There are some rituals and events of American culture that need explaining to our friends and allies (if we still have any) around the world. Patricia has always been perplexed with two fall holidays we celebrate in Minnesota: Halloween and and Thanksgiving. She asked me to explain the rather strange events surrounding these two autumn rituals -- one month apart -- to our Brazilian family and friends

In my usual, without much forethought fashion, I'll jump right in and compare Halloween or "All-Hallows-Day" to the Latin American traditions Día de los Muertos or (in English) Day of the Dead when we Americans honor the dead by letting ancestors' ghosts revisit in the form of our children dressed as Hobos, Bear, Princesses, Ghosts, and Spiderman. [NOTE: I understand Brazil is not a "Latin-American" country]

Toward this end, we Americans send our kids, mostly under the age of 9, begging to neighbors and any stranger who will answer their door for treats that they will then put in their mouths. And, we tell our children if they don't get a sugary candy treat, they can do a nasty trick like TP (toilet paper) their houses, throw a stone threw a window, or take the "Welcome" matt and toss it in the gold fish pond. All I hear in response to this explanation from my amazing life-partner was: Huh? Wha...!

Okay, so Halloween with trick-or-treats, jack-o-lanterns, superhero costumes, and anti-social behavior doesn't do the best job of honoring the dead. Maybe she's right.

By way of explanation, I then provide this first-hand documentary that gets under the skin of our unique tradition called Halloween:



And then, one month later, along comes the harvest celebration of Thanksgiving and I found this short documentary essay featuring our best Hollywood actors and TV personalities to explain the touching story of Thanksgiving:



Happy Halloween and Thanksgiving to all the peoples of the world!

From Whence We Come :: Minneapolis

Just to let all our friends in Brazil, our Paolista brothers and sisters, know something about from where we come upon our landing in the largest city in South America. Patricia and I live in Minnesota, where the thermometer on the car read 17 degrees F (-8 C) at 8:15 this morning.

Being from this often cold place we are friendly, mostly because we are forced to be by the hostile weather. If we don't huddle together with strangers in doorways while waiting for a bus or taxi, we could DIE from exposure. At the time I met Patricia, I was living in Uptown and she was living in Linden Hills. The main retail, commercial and entertainment district of Uptown laid geographically in the middle between us, separated by Lake Calhoune, Lakewood Cemetery and Lake Harriett.

Here is a short film by Dan Dwyer about life in Uptown, Minneapolis:

Bicycle Ride on Sunday in São Paulo

Our new friend Toni Nogueira is taking us on a bicycle ride through São Paulo and the Big Worm Flyover, into the Republic Square and invites us to eat a traditional snack from Bahia called Acaraje and a fresh coconut milk to put out the fire. Then, further along on the trip Toni stops at a padaria for strong Brazilian coffee, grilled bread, and a strawberry tart. Obrigado Toni! Carb load dude!

Vila Madalena

One of the many sections of São Paulo is a district called Vila Madalena. Located on the west side of São Paulo, Vila Madalena offers visitors a vibrant nightlife, lively markets, unique craft stores where the owner might just be offering Cachaça in anticipation of the ample opportunities to hear authentic Brazilian music as night falls.

Entrada do Mercado Municipal

Toni Nogueira, a musician living in São Paulo, takes us on a walk through the cities famous Central food market. Not only is the municiple market a fabulous place for buying spices, fruits, vegetables, meat and fish - it is a great reflection of the Brazilian culture and history in its architecture, the diversity in wealth in the prices for Cachaça its national drink, Brazil's national dish Feijoada and the savory temptations of its street food from Brazil's special preparations of Norwegian cod fish to the famed Mortadela sanduiche. The Central Municipal Market in São Paulo, Brazil, is a microcosm of the country's ethnically and culturally diverse people and food.