Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil
August 29th, 2015
Last Saturday, everyone from the conference woke up at dawn to load onto buses and finally see more of Sao Paulo. So far, I had only explored Vila Madalena and Pinheiros where the university is located; there are 35 districts that comprise Sao Paulo! If you attempted to sight-see this town on foot, you may literally cover 1% over the course of a day. That is how enormous it is.
Unfortunately, this tour was going to be a lame bus tour with a really boring and monotone tour guide. It’s the only affective way to cover any ground here. We went into center city and drove down Paulista Avenue, which is arguably the most important street in all of Brazil’s economy. This is where all the big corporations have their HQ’s, the upper echelon shopping stores, and Brazil’s stock exchange. It failed to impress. However, we did end up going to this really cool skyscraper that was built by a coffee baron in 1935. He built his home at the top, and at the time, it was the tallest building in Brazil. We took the elevator to the top floor and that’s when the sheer size of the town finally became comprehensible. In every direction… like literally all 360 degrees, there were sky scrapers beyond the horizon. As far as you could see, mammoth concrete buildings. As impressive as it was, it was a place I could never call home. It is just a jumbled mess of humanity… there is no nature anywhere. I now understood why so many Sampa residents kept claiming they had lived in this city their entire lives, and still had not seen the majority of it.
We left the skyscraper and toured some of the old centro district on foot. I felt sadness looking around this city. You could tell that it was absolutely stunning 100 years ago when it was built up. Gorgeous Gothic and Florentine architecture, lovely little parks, statues, fountains, and wide sweeping avenues. However, the city has been completely neglected for some time, and it is all falling apart. To make matters worse, the kids have covered all of these beautiful places in abrasive graffiti. It’s a shame to see such a beautiful town in disarray. I’m sure many residents of Sao Paulo will tell you they love it and they would never live anywhere else… and I am certain I am not giving it a fair chance, considering I saw so little of it, but this is definitely not a city for me.
We boarded the buses and headed off to the old Municipal Soccer Stadium, which is no longer used for matches, but contains an awesome museum dedicated to Brazilian soccer. It was a really cool museum, detailing the rich history of the sport all the way back to the 19th century. The best exhibits stared Pele. They had a highlight reel of his plays that had to have been over an hour long. I must admit I’ve never really seen much footage of him. Watching this video blew me away. The way he just straight schooled people, and the things he could do, were astonishing. He has to be considered one of the greatest athletes of all time. I wish I could have seen him play.
After the museum, all the YSP scientists strolled through an open-air market and had an interesting street food lunch. This fried pastry full of meat called “patel” and an awesome sugar cane drink with lime and strawberry. My diet continues to be ravaged.
We headed back to the university to finish out all the talks, and then headed back to the hotel. Everyone was exhausted, but it was our last night in Sampa and everyone wanted to party. I was invited back out by Nayara, a really sweet fashion student from the University that I had met earlier in the week. She said we should go back to Vila Madelena, but I was hesitant. I had been out there three times already, but she said it was totally different on Saturday nights. When we arrived, she couldn’t have been more correct. It had transformed into a five square-block street party! Young Sampa residents decked out in their best threads, dressed to the nines, getting blitzed in the streets. No open container laws! Love it! We tried to slip into the biggest clubs but they were packed. We ended up finding a really cool little bar with great beers and live music. It was a great way to round out my time in Sao Paulo.
Unfortunately, I had to call it an early night because my flight was in the morning. I rode the bus to the airport at 6 am with half of the YSP group to catch my 9 am flight. But somehow, my information had gotten mixed up and I was actually on the noon flight. So while everyone else departed, I had to waste several hours in the airport.
I headed over to a bar and decided on a beer (at 8 am obviously). I felt a tap on the shoulder and turned to see a grinning old man with white hair and a white beard. He inquired to my poster tube and asked if I was a scientist. We started chatting and he told me that he was a professor at Yale, and he was giving the opening talk. I told him he must be very excited, and he sarcastically replied “oh SOOOOO excited!” as he rolled his eyes facetiously. I liked this old man! I had no idea who he was, but the next day at the conference, I would later learn that this guy had attended Harvard, Oxford, and Yale, and had won a Nobel Prize for his work in crystallizing the ribosome, arguably some of the most important biochemistry research ever conducted. I was talking to one of the most famous scientists of all time, and I had no idea. I am such an idiot.
I finally caught my flight to Foz do Iguacu and was floored all over again when I saw Sampa from the air. Each skyscraper looked like a tiny Lego block, but hundreds of them covering the earth. After about 30 minutes, we finally cleared Sampa and approached the jungles and forests that cover this region of Brazil. Out of my window, I saw dozens of fires billowing smoke into the atmosphere. Local farmers who were burning down the trees to clear more land for their farms and pastures.
After about two hours, we approached Foz which is on the border of Paraguay and Argentina. If Rio is Miami, and Sampa is New York, then Foz do Iguaca is Nebraska. It’s in the middle of nowhere on a huge river delta. The land is a lush and vibrant green, and red in places wherever the soil is exposed. The earth here is a fertile red clay, likely deposited by the rivers that have crisscrossed this land for millions of years.
We departed the plane and loaded onto our bus to head to the hotel. This place is quite a difference from the metropolitan Rio and Sampa. Apparently, this entire city exists for two reasons: the world-famous waterfalls and a dam up the river that produces all of the electricity for Paraguay. The city had seen explosive growth in the 80’s to accommodate the flow of tourists and engineers, which is evident in all of the architecture around town. All the buildings have that cheesy early 90’s look that incorporates geometric shapes like circles and triangles… extremely dated. Unfortunately, the town seems past its prime, and is quite run down. Our hotel was even more bizarre; the Falls Galli Hotel, a mix between The Shining and Miami Vice. All of the YSP participants walked around this odd hotel wondering why the organizing committee would put us here. It is sandwiched on either side by dilapidated sex motels, and is painted blue and pink. The bar is located right next to the day care, and the Internet café consisted of monitors and keyboards plugged into nonexistent computers. Nevertheless, it was free!
I joined Paulo and Luciana (two wonderful Brazilians who are also in the YSP) along with their labmates for lunch at Raffain Chopp, one of the most popular bars in Foz. The food was great, but the beers were better. Here in Brazil, any microbrew is referred to as “artesianal” and they had two that I loved: a white wheat and a ridiculous ale made from a wine extract. It tastes a lot like a framboise, but with way more alcohol. We pounded a half dozen of them.
We left the restaurant and hit up a grocery store to get beer, the first time I had stepped foot in one in Brazil. They are awesome! They have dried meat hanging everywhere, and the beer is CHEAP!
I bought a dozen, and we cabbed back to get ready for the big cocktail party they were having at the Raffain Palace hotel, the location of the IUBMB conference. We bussed to the convention center and watched the keynote speaker… that aforementioned bad ass scientist I met in the airport. Man did I feel like a stupid jerkoff now.
The cocktail party started off pretty weak… we were all given two free drink cards, but the food was fairly awful.
The Chilean guys opted to head to the bar at the pool outside, and soon everyone from the YSP followed.
The caipirinhas were flowing heavy, and the Brazilian girls proposed we all head back inside to dance to the live band that was playing on stage. What ensued was a complete shit show. I’ve never had so much fun with a group of scientists before. Everyone let loose and had a blast for hours on the dance floor. The good times continued right onto the bus when the Carioca girls were going OFF in the aisles! Singing and dancing to all their favorite Brazilian songs while I just looked and laughed in amazement.
The next few days were a repeating whirlwind of education and mass intoxication. Pretty much every day consisted of the following: wake up with raging hangover, take bus to convention center, sit in as many seminars and talks as possible, bus back to the hotel, party… HARD. One night we broke into the bar in the basement of the hotel and ransacked the entire supply of limes to make a hundred caipirinhas (not kidding, we went through four or five bottles of cachaça at one point). Another night saw us get hit with a massive storm, packing hurricane force winds while taking shelter in a German beirgarten.
Our second to last night was a shit show at the best bar in town, Zeppelin, to celebrate Joao’s birthday. All of the university students descended upon this bar for classic cocktails and amazing live music. The band was really good! The first two hours were nothing but Brazilian rock songs, none of which I knew. But the Brazilians knew every word of every song, and they were screaming the lyrics. We danced and rocked out until 4 in the morning.
Our last day in Foz consisted of me and the Chileans finally going to a churrascaria and eating meat until we were comatose. They just kept walking out with more and more perfectly grilled animal parts, some so tender the meat just melted in your mouth. Dessert consisted of sugar and cinnamon coated grilled pineapple drizzled with a caramel sauce. Heaven.
The four us walked to the grocery store after and loaded up on yummy German and Belgian ales to celebrate our last night together. We headed out to the pool and relaxed with the girls until sunset. Then as a group, we partied until sunrise. No one wanted it to end….
The only deviation from this madness was my day trip to the world-famous waterfalls of Foz do Iguacu. I was supposed to have gone earlier in the week, but it was pouring and I didn’t want to go with the tour group. The weather on Wednesday was wonderful, so I headed off alone in typical solo backpacker fashion. When I finally saw the falls, I was blown away. It is comprised of 275 individual waterfalls that straddles the borders of two different countries: Brazil and Argentina (with Paraguay right down the river). Standing over 80 meters high, these falls are wider than Victoria, higher than Niagara, and more beautiful than both. I was slack-jawed when I descended down the walkway into “Devil’s Throat” and felt the full force of this roaring waterfall as it soaked me. Easily the most beautiful and impressive display of nature I have ever encountered. After the falls, I explored the adjoining Bird Park and enjoyed it way more than I thought I would.
Foz do Iguaçu was a major success! As great as the biochemistry, partying, and tourist stuff has been, by far the best part of this experience has been meeting these other researchers from around the world. Not only have I learned so much from them in terms of their scientific endeavors, but many of them are from cultures I have never really encountered before. Cesar, Matias, Natalia, Fernando, and Ricardo from Chile. Luciana and Isabel from Sao Paulo. Carol, Juliana, Filipa, Maria, and Michelle from Rio. The Brazilians Paulo and Raphael, who are currently studying in the Netherlands and Scotland, respectively. Peter from Chicago. Pearl from Australia. Leonardo and Mica from Argentina. Andrea from Sicily. Nikos from Greece.
When we all arrived at the Young Scientist Program last week, we were 50 random researchers who had been lucky enough to receive a fellowship to present our research at this prestigious conference. Everyone kind of hung out in cliques of their own countrymen, unsure of the others. But by the time we got to Foz, everyone had become one huge group of friends. We began to do everything together, and shared anecdotes from our respective cultures and nations. It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know them, and understand these people from places in which I have little understanding.
One night at the bar, Matias even admitted to me that I was his favorite American that he had ever met because of my “thirst for life.” He appreciated my desire to understand all of the people at this event, yet at the same time, have as much fun as possible. Ricardo followed this up with “Matt you are just like the Americans you see in Hollywood movies! You are crazy man! I shall call you ‘Gringo Loco!” Of course, I was honored.
That brings me to today… My last day in Brazil. This morning was incredibly difficult and gut-wrenching. I had gotten used to saying goodbye to people on my backpacking trips, but this was somehow different. Giving hugs to Luciana, Cesar, Matias, Ricardo, Maria, Carol, Mica, Peter… I was really emotional. I had unbelievably high expectations for this trip, and Brazil exceeded all of them. But it wasn’t just because this country is absolutely amazing. It was because of the people I met here… from the backpackers on the trail, to my couchsurfing hosts, and all of the YSP participants. The best feeling in the world is leaving your home on a solo journey abroad, and coming back with 50 new friends from all over the world. So for now, I’m all alone again in my hotel in Sao Paulo. I catch my flight back to the states early tomorrow morning. But I now carry with me some of the most amazing memories I’ve ever made, and am thankful for having made this trek to South America. I’m due back in the lab on Monday, and it’s time to lock the fuck up and finish my PhD this semester. But my next epic journey is only five months away… The Asia planning has begun! China, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Japan, Malaysia, Cambodia, and more! I think I can say with certitude it will be well deserved.
Thanks again to everyone I met down here!!! Nothing but love for all of you!!! Brazil… I’ll see you again someday…
-Batty
