Virada Cultural

Time is going so so quickly here, this weekend I will already be half way through working at ACER. I absolutely love the work I am doing, so interesting and I am learning so much. This week I have been mainly working on presentations to give to companies that we hope to get funding from and also another fundraising proposal.

The volunteer house has been busier than usual as we are hosting three football coaches, who are running a course on using football for social impact. I took part in their training session on Monday which was good fun, In the evening there has been lots of cake baking - I made brownies from the office which disappeared in record time!

As usual I rushed into São Paulo after work on Friday and this time met Fellipe and his friend Pepe. We then drove back to his home on the outskirts of the city and had a delicious supper, before heading to 2 of my favourite clubs. As is to be expected when Fellipe is involved, we had a great night! The next morning I got up early and Fellipe's mother gave me a lift to the centre on the way to her Hungarian class! I was determined to do pack as much culture and general São Paulo appreciation into my day, even if I was feeling a little worse for wear.

I started by a much needed Starbucks before heading into Jardins for a bit of window shopping. I spent the day revisiting all my favourite places and just managed to make myself feel very nostalgic. From brilliant art exhibitions, to vintage shopping on Rua Augusta, to açai at my favourite ice cream shop, I was reminded of just how much São Paulo has offer.

However the main event to report back is the Virada Cultural that took place all over São Paulo last weekend. The Virada Cultural is 24 hrs of nonstop live music, hosted annually by the city government. Choosing which shows to go to was hard enough as there were 1500 in total - We spent Saturday night at the Monobloco show and then on Sunday went to Emicida and the closing show given by Caetano Veloso. They were all brilliant and the fact the shows were free meant there was such a mixed audience which was so great to see and is certainly not normally the case at paid concerts in São Paulo. I headed back to Eldorado exhausted but happy that I had another productive weekend!

After another busy working week, I am finishing off some last minute tasks, and then will pack a bag and head into SP once again. Tonight I am taking part in a friend's Masterchef competition so need to decide what to cook!

Funk Carioca

On Saturday night I went out for Thais', a friend from work, birthday. We started the evening in a Catalan themed bar called "Gràcia". 

Thais had bought a table and when we arrived there was vodka and lychee juice laid out for us, great combo! Like usual, I arrived too early, will I ever learn?! However by around 10, the place was heaving and there was a great party atmosphere. No wonder it is considered one of the best in São Paulo. Thais' friends were all so sweet and very patient with my Portuguese; I did feel it improved during the night though, I wonder why?!

After the obligatory queue to pay we left the bar and drove to what we thought was a PUC University party. We arrived at around 1:30 and were met with the customary huge queue. It moved quickly though and after being thoroughly frisked for drugs, we headed inside! It was one of the weirdest clubs I have ever been to. It was more like a warehouse than a club with no decoration and it had obviously been taken over by non PUC students as Thais and her friends didn't know many people there. We were determined to have a good time though and the fact it was an open bar made it a little easier!!

When we first arrived the DJ was playing standard house music which I could just about cope with. However after a while a women and a man took to the stage and gave out lots of free alcohol including packets of pre-made caipiroska which landed by my foot(we chucked it back!). Then the funk began! Yeah favela funk was new to me too... it's hard to explain so I've uploaded some videos below. 

Funk Carioca or just funk(pronounced funk-y!)began in the favelas of Rio in the 1980s and is now popular all over Brazil. It's normally an electric drum loop with a man and a woman rapping to each other using some pretty explicit lyrics. All I can say is that it was insanely difficult to dance to; some of Thais' friends were so good at it and tried to teach me but it just didn't work! It was a lot of fun as an experience but i'm afraid it's not going to be my music of choice any time soon!

 

Although it isn't funk Anita was also played a lot, again not my favourite, but fun to dance to and made a change from David Guetta!

At around 4 most of us called it a night and took a taxi home, Thais and her friends partied on until the end! I had a great night, even if I hadn't realised that dancing to favela funk was on my to-do list! 

On Sunday morning, after a solid 10 hour sleep, I woke up to this...

...Much more my cup of tea!!!

All part of life's rich experiences! Thanks so much Thais, I had an awesome time!