the lady with the hole in her stocking ([info]steph99) wrote,
@ 2008-03-31 18:23:00
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Entry tags:brasil, brazil, ennui, escapism, saudade, travel, voce e paulista?

When localvore-ism wears thin
And in a desperate fit of escapism, they found themselves in the critiquable position of being nauseated at the idea of eating local for even one more meal. Localvores turn into loco-vores when their passports haven't been stamped in a while, and at that moment, there was nothing in North America that could slake their thirst for the smell of that smoggy, tropical air that drapes over the shoulders, heavy with humidity, diesel particulates, and sticky papaya sweetness, outside metro stations in central Sao Paulo. In headphones, Tom Ze crooned a love-lorn yarn about the stops around Ave. Paulista: "Augusta, between you and Angelica, thank god I found Consolation." The corrosive saudade tasted a little bit wonderful in their mouths, but mostly it just made things worse. Barreling through just didn't seem possible that day.

Most likely, what happened next was that hours passed, and they went to the park--maybe the farmer's market was on that day. Maybe they got some baked goods from Amish country and ate, and maybe drank, and certainly slept, and the smell of spring in their natural habitat created enough instant nostalgia that they could get through another season. But while that was a perfectly reasonable response, reason seemed awfully tragic, and at least one of them surely googled recipes for aipim and vegan feijoada.



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[info]tagonist
2008-03-31 11:28 pm UTC (link)
1) I have almost no idea what you're talking about.

2) But I did find myself cursing today (carpentry, y'know, involves hitting oneself with a hammer) about how I didn't want any more rich people telling me how the food they ate was so exclusive, authentic or ethical. I mean shit, I've got a huge garden and all, but c'mon, go sell "eat local" to the part of Vietnam that's getting hit by grassy stunt virus, or the part of Mali that can't grow wheat because of drought. Seriously, sometimes intercontinental shipping is a good thing.

3) But I wouldn't feel this pissy about it if my fingers weren't sore.

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[info]steph99
2008-04-01 12:10 am UTC (link)
I'm gonna give you more detail than you care about because I know some parts will interest you and some won't, but I'm not sure which is which.

The theme, which you probably figured out, is that feeling of having too much to do for the time you have to do it, and wanting nothing more than to take the hell off, realizing the impulse is narcissistic and wasteful and privileged, and not caring and wanting it anyway. To me, the essence of being somewhere else is the not-quite-tangible stuff, like quality of light the feel of the air.

Tom Ze is a Brazilian weirdo who, in his 20s, made instruments out of doorbells and vacuum cleaners and hung out with Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa and all them. But was way weirder, so he fell into obscurity until David Byrne stumbled on an old record and immediately tracked him down and offered him a deal on Luaka Bop, where he's put out a comp of old stuff and several newer albums. He has this great samba which sounds like it's about 3 lovers, Augusta, Angelica, and Consolacao, but they turn out to be 3 metro stops in Sao Paulo. I grinned and grinned when I figured that out...in Sao Paulo. I'm a little obsessed with subway systems. I know, I know, bus rapid transit is way less resource-intensive! But I just love subways.

Saudade is hard to explain, but it's kind of like bittersweet nostalgia, happy and sad at the same time. It's possible to feel it for things you've never experienced.

Aipim is dish made of yucca/manioc, and it's like very, very smooth, kinda gooey mashed potatoes. It's yummy. Feijoada is a very tasty, meaty stew.

I'm sorry for your fingers. I empathize. The recent renovations I did rubbed my hands raw, but the upswing was that I made a new hand lotion that works great.

I'm kind of freaking out over ethanol and the rice disaster. On the other hand, my own chicken little-ism is exhausting me, and I'm playing with turning it on its head. If capitalists can be so good at exploiting bad situations for self-interest, can't people who are just as smart exploit them for the common good? That's about as far as I've gotten, but as soon as I have a business plan for Everything's Gonna Be Ok, I'll post it to you post-haste!

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