Saudades. July 15th, 2009

Today Rose, Ana Carolina and a friend of the family - Teresa, took me to the very center of the city. Rose and Teresa are both lawyers are very well informed with it comes to the history of this city. Our first stop was the HUGE catholic cathedral. Its construction began in 1912 and wasn't finished until the late 50's. One of my favorite things to do when traveling abroad is to visit the churches and cathedrals - there is always something so magical and almost eerie about them. Inside this massive cathedral, there was life size figure of Jesus in a see-through casket. He was bloody and in anguish (post-crucifixion) and there was a woman with her hand on the casket near his head bawling and praying out loud. I wish I could have filmed it, because it was a pretty accurate representation of how devoted the Catholics are in this country.

Out in front of the Cathedral is Praca do Sé - which is technically the very very center of the city geographically. There is a little monument with a bronze map that shows which city you would reach if you were to head out in various directions from that point.


We continued walking to a building which is now a museum, however was once the grounds where much of the "Catholic conversion of the Indians" took place...I tried not to think too much about that and moved on to the "Mark of Peace" a big bronze bell that is to be rung in the name of peace... yeah, that's more my style :) The inscription reads: Mark of Peace - This landmark symbolizes the ideal of all people in the search of peace, fraternity and solidarity. I gave it a good ring.





On to the Palace of Justice. This was historically really interesting... the names and photos of the judges since its founding were all hanging on the walls and Teresa's father was one of them, so she had more than a few stories and historical facts to share. As historic and beautiful as this building is, it is still used to try most of the big cases for the city of São Paulo.

Marble Staircase in the Palacio de Justica.


We hit up a MacDonalds (Brazilians love their McD's) - I'm not sure how we got to talking about my past but some how I said that I used to live with my boyfriend. . .Of course, Ana Carolina wanted to know what had happened and since there is no easy answer for my love lost and Portuguese is such a challenge, especially when I get flustered, I started to get really upset. Then, of course, being a group of strong women they began to say things like "Oh well, he didn't love you, it happens, it's over, move on" or something to that affect. I wish I could just let these comments go, but I always feel the need to defend a love that I consider to be really special, even if it is over. So I tried to explain, and my Portuguese turned to mush, and I couldn't think in any language, and my emotions kept escalating and escalating until finally I just started bawling and said (In English) "I really don't want to talk about it anymore please" - At which point in time these three generations of Brazilian woman, looked at me, totally confused and concerned and said in their most sympathetic voices (In Portuguese) "We have no idea what you just said." It was hilarious and tragic at the same time. I really don't like appearing that vulnerable in front of people who don't know me and know nothing of my character or past. My saving grace was that Teresa has seen her fair share of heartache to say the least (her first husband left her one day with no warning after 17 years and her second husband left her for another woman and then used her name and status as a lawyer to illegally win cases and make ridiculous sums of money without her knowledge) She speaks a few words of English, so she just leaned over and put her head on my shoulder and said... I know something about that and we don't have to talk about it anymore.

Of course after the floodgates had been opened it was hard to pull it together but I did my best. What's funny is that sometimes I remember that not that long ago I was living a completely different life and as exciting as traveling the world is, I'm pretty sure that I would give it all up to cuddle on the couch, eat Thai take out and watch Family Guy. Call me a hopeless romantic, but having once known true love and partnership, I also know how rich it can be to share your life with someone. That being said, unless it's the right time with the right person... totally not worth it and WAY more fun to travel the world :: Chuckle ::

So, tomorrow Rose is going to contact her friend who works in tourism to help me plan my trip to Bahia - I'm going to look into some sort of week long package and see what I can come up with, I'll keep you posted.

Até Mais.