My last day in classy Curitiba before flying out tomorrow morning to Recife and Olinda...towards the heat and light that is sorely missing from Curitiba this time of year. Although none of that would have been a problem if I had timed my laundry a bit better. Yesterday I finally got my laundry back and it was glorious to put on long pants... Wow. Too bad it was three days later than would have been ideal so I didn't have to attend an entire frigid conference in the same sundress every single day.
Also, it was a relief to finally have my presentation, as part of the very well-done "Food Environments" session, yesterday morning that was well received, with good feedback, good energy and through which some interesting connections were made:
Today was my last day in Curitiba. For the morning, I decided to take refuge from the cold, hard conference center in the less cold, dark outdoors to do some touristing on the Curitiba Linha Tourismo, a little hop-on-hop-off tour bus situation:
I put on my freshly cleaned long pants and mom shoes which felt like a much needed and glorious body temperature improvement compared to the last few days in my sundress and sandals and went to find food to curb my hunger. Oh have I mentioned yet that I've just been hungry since I arrived in Curitiba? I'm certain I haven't talked enough about my ongoing hanger here in Curitiba. I found a panificadora right outside the Universidade Federal do Parana, an impressive structure that oozes domination and superiority:
And accidentally ordered myself a bologna and cheese sandwich for breakfast:
As I sat alone eating my breakfast of champions, I noticed I was alone again. After days of yip yapping and schmoozing, I was basking in the sweet respite of solitude once again and I began to greatly anticipate my retreat to Northern Brazil.
The hop-on-hop-off bus finally arrived and I was off to my first tourist sight, the Opera de Arame, or the Wire Opera House. We passed this weirdness, the Oscar Niemeyer Museum also known as "Neimeyer's eye", en route to the opera house:
Niemeyer was some famous Brazilian architect that contributed a lot to the field of modern architecture so I guess that is a good reason to have a museum about him. My sight seeing was meant to be a whirlwind tour as I needed to get back to the conference in the afternoon and therefore I just took these photos from the inside of a tourist bus and really learned nothing about this beloved Brazilian architect.
The wire opera house was recommended to me by Mr. Cookenboo (totally a real name!!), a man I met at the airport in Rio. It was built in 1992 out of what looks like metal pipes basically. But the coolest part about this opera house is that it is built on a reclaimed old quarry as part of Curitiba's efforts to be a green and sustainable city. And the trip was worth it. It was absolutely enchanting and interesting:
And it was freezing out and my long pants and mom shoes were barely taking the edge off the bitter chill. After a hot chocolate and a loooong wait for the bus that claimed to come every half hour (ppffft) I was off to Parque Tangua, another amazing reclamation project from a recycling waste dump or something like that:
And as much as I tried to keep to myself and continue in the basking of the solitude of solo sight seeing, I couldn't shake people wanting to talk to me....and wanting to talk to me in Portuguese which is: a) not something I do and b) an exhausting effort. But alas, I engaged with all of the jovial people and learned some more Portuguese and, more importantly, how to say pretty much the equivalent of "suuhh-weet" in Portuguese.
I ended my tour with a late lunch in the historic center in a place that might as well have been a Montana's in Red Deer and headed back to the conference for a last session in which my friend Lisa was "representin'" from Alberta, after which we had happy hour caipirinhas and caipafrutas plans before CANADA NIGHT!
Canada night was an event organised by some group or association or whatever in Canada that works on stuff around the Social Determinants of Health. They figured that we had enough of a contingent attending this conference that we could all get together for a little "Canadians in Curitiba" party. Apparently over 80 people RSVP'd so the little Brazilian restaurant in the historic center went and got us a party tent and gas heaters and created a romantic space for us. By the time Lisa and I arrived, with our new buddy we picked up at the conference (a professor from the U of S) who joined us for happy hour, we were a wee bit light headed from the cachaca and found a table in the back corner to contain ourselves.
It was a night of good food and drinks and a lot of backslappery which is always immensely boring when you're not the one getting slapped, if you know what I'm sayin' **wink wink nudge nudge**
I held myself together and cut myself off by 9:30 pm as I had to be headed to the airport by 6:30 in the morning. I left around 10:30 pm to walk home, at night, in the dark quiet windy centro Curitibana streets. And of course I got lost but I kept on keepin' on looking like I knew a thing or two. I found myself walking passed prostitutes (and I knew they were prostitutes because they were wearing incredibly revealing clothing..which some might say "well of course! It's Brazil!"...and to that I'd say, "uh, Curitibanas and Curitibanos, the whole time I have been here, have been garbed in winter boots, down coats, scarves and gloves because that is what 'normal' people wear in the fall/winter and what I wished I had brought with me to Brazil so I too could have experienced a modicum of warmth at some point during my stay here..so unless they were dumb, ill-prepared north Americans like me, then they were probably prostitutes). And I don't judge these women but I think, for me, walking in dark streets alone in the less desirable, seedy areas in any city is cause for alarm. I retraced my steps and, instead of immediately getting in a taxi, I tried another route cause, goddamnit, I know where the hell I am, for sure! And that also did not go well so I finally gave up and jumped in a cab to take me what ultimately was around six to eight blocks. I tried.
Also, it was a relief to finally have my presentation, as part of the very well-done "Food Environments" session, yesterday morning that was well received, with good feedback, good energy and through which some interesting connections were made:
Today was my last day in Curitiba. For the morning, I decided to take refuge from the cold, hard conference center in the less cold, dark outdoors to do some touristing on the Curitiba Linha Tourismo, a little hop-on-hop-off tour bus situation:
I put on my freshly cleaned long pants and mom shoes which felt like a much needed and glorious body temperature improvement compared to the last few days in my sundress and sandals and went to find food to curb my hunger. Oh have I mentioned yet that I've just been hungry since I arrived in Curitiba? I'm certain I haven't talked enough about my ongoing hanger here in Curitiba. I found a panificadora right outside the Universidade Federal do Parana, an impressive structure that oozes domination and superiority:
And accidentally ordered myself a bologna and cheese sandwich for breakfast:
As I sat alone eating my breakfast of champions, I noticed I was alone again. After days of yip yapping and schmoozing, I was basking in the sweet respite of solitude once again and I began to greatly anticipate my retreat to Northern Brazil.
The hop-on-hop-off bus finally arrived and I was off to my first tourist sight, the Opera de Arame, or the Wire Opera House. We passed this weirdness, the Oscar Niemeyer Museum also known as "Neimeyer's eye", en route to the opera house:
Niemeyer was some famous Brazilian architect that contributed a lot to the field of modern architecture so I guess that is a good reason to have a museum about him. My sight seeing was meant to be a whirlwind tour as I needed to get back to the conference in the afternoon and therefore I just took these photos from the inside of a tourist bus and really learned nothing about this beloved Brazilian architect.
The wire opera house was recommended to me by Mr. Cookenboo (totally a real name!!), a man I met at the airport in Rio. It was built in 1992 out of what looks like metal pipes basically. But the coolest part about this opera house is that it is built on a reclaimed old quarry as part of Curitiba's efforts to be a green and sustainable city. And the trip was worth it. It was absolutely enchanting and interesting:
And it was freezing out and my long pants and mom shoes were barely taking the edge off the bitter chill. After a hot chocolate and a loooong wait for the bus that claimed to come every half hour (ppffft) I was off to Parque Tangua, another amazing reclamation project from a recycling waste dump or something like that:
And as much as I tried to keep to myself and continue in the basking of the solitude of solo sight seeing, I couldn't shake people wanting to talk to me....and wanting to talk to me in Portuguese which is: a) not something I do and b) an exhausting effort. But alas, I engaged with all of the jovial people and learned some more Portuguese and, more importantly, how to say pretty much the equivalent of "suuhh-weet" in Portuguese.
I ended my tour with a late lunch in the historic center in a place that might as well have been a Montana's in Red Deer and headed back to the conference for a last session in which my friend Lisa was "representin'" from Alberta, after which we had happy hour caipirinhas and caipafrutas plans before CANADA NIGHT!
Canada night was an event organised by some group or association or whatever in Canada that works on stuff around the Social Determinants of Health. They figured that we had enough of a contingent attending this conference that we could all get together for a little "Canadians in Curitiba" party. Apparently over 80 people RSVP'd so the little Brazilian restaurant in the historic center went and got us a party tent and gas heaters and created a romantic space for us. By the time Lisa and I arrived, with our new buddy we picked up at the conference (a professor from the U of S) who joined us for happy hour, we were a wee bit light headed from the cachaca and found a table in the back corner to contain ourselves.
It was a night of good food and drinks and a lot of backslappery which is always immensely boring when you're not the one getting slapped, if you know what I'm sayin' **wink wink nudge nudge**
I held myself together and cut myself off by 9:30 pm as I had to be headed to the airport by 6:30 in the morning. I left around 10:30 pm to walk home, at night, in the dark quiet windy centro Curitibana streets. And of course I got lost but I kept on keepin' on looking like I knew a thing or two. I found myself walking passed prostitutes (and I knew they were prostitutes because they were wearing incredibly revealing clothing..which some might say "well of course! It's Brazil!"...and to that I'd say, "uh, Curitibanas and Curitibanos, the whole time I have been here, have been garbed in winter boots, down coats, scarves and gloves because that is what 'normal' people wear in the fall/winter and what I wished I had brought with me to Brazil so I too could have experienced a modicum of warmth at some point during my stay here..so unless they were dumb, ill-prepared north Americans like me, then they were probably prostitutes). And I don't judge these women but I think, for me, walking in dark streets alone in the less desirable, seedy areas in any city is cause for alarm. I retraced my steps and, instead of immediately getting in a taxi, I tried another route cause, goddamnit, I know where the hell I am, for sure! And that also did not go well so I finally gave up and jumped in a cab to take me what ultimately was around six to eight blocks. I tried.
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