Brasília

Davi and his mum Cintia

Nara, Aaron, Priscila

Livia's dad

Me outside fancy looking cathedral

My friend Livia (in Sydney) has been kind enough to organise for me to stay at her family's place while I'm here in Brasília. They are really nice. Her dad is very friendly and seems quite funny from what I can make out. Her mom is a fantastic cook. She makes some great meals - especially for lunch - which seems to be the main meal of the day here. Her brother Célio isn't working at the moment due to a futebol (soccer) injury and has been kind enough to show me around the city during the week. Likewise her sister Priscila gave me a tour when I first arrived and has introduced me to some of her friends. Priscila seems to have a good knack for picking up when I'm pretending to understand what someone is saying but don't really get it… Priscila's friend Nara also lives with the family and likewise has been very friendly.

The family doesn't speak English which has forced me to practise what Portuguese I've learnt so far. They do know a few English words, but more than not I feel that those words are ones I already know in Portuguese - a first for me!

One can't really expect a family to take a stranger into their home and treat them so extremely well. But they have done just that. Something I feel blessed for and am very grateful for. In fact on my second day here, they took me on a two hour drive to another city called Goiânia where Livia's other sister lives with her husband and two year old son Davi - when I first met him he was quick two inform me that his age is dois (two) :) We stayed there overnight.

I initially planned to be with this family for my whole 17 day stay in Brasilia. But there has been a slight changed of plans whereby Livia's parents had go back to Goiânia this week. So I'm staying with the family of another friend - Priscilla (different from the Priscila with one "l" mentioned above). Her family is just as nice and generous - more on that next time.

Its been nice to have warm showers nice I arrived in Brasília - especially as the weather is a little cooler here. Actually I really like the weather here. Its warm enough during the day that I can walk around in shorts and a tshirt - without breaking into a sweat. In the evening there's generally a gentle breeze. Brasília is a nice city. Perhaps a bit like Canberra in that it was built to be the capital (Rio used to be the capital). Brasilia was built in 1960. It has some quite impressive buildings. It all seems quite well designed, the roads are nice and wide with multiple lanes which minimises traffic jams - quite refreshing having been to Rio and Sao Paulo!

With over two million people, Brasília was the largest city (by population) in the world at the close of the 20th century that didn't exist at the beginning of the century. lt is the only city in the world built in the 20th century to be awarded (in 1987) the status of Historical and Cultural Heritage. I was warned before I came here that its not a great touristy place. Being inland there's no beaches - although there is an artificial lake which is very nice. While it may not be the best place for tourism, I think overall the city is quite impressive and strikes mean as being a good sort of place to live.

Here I've even observed cars stop at pedestrian crossings without the pedestrian having to take a "step of faith" onto the road first - all quite civilised really. I don't believe I've previously observed this sort of behaviour outside of Australia!