Ra Ra Mazputin: Job's Your Uncle

Since my arrival in Brazil, I have been trying to get various things done. After finding an apartment, buying a Brazilian phone and making several (necessary) trips to the beach, I thought I had better try and find a job. This is certainly easier said than done. I had been emailing, tweeting and irritating Brazilian companies for over a year before my arrival, with very little success. The rare replies would be ones explaining that they have no need for an unqualified English person who doesn’t speak Portuguese that well. Fair enough.

However, after persistent emails to one unfortunate man, I have now landed myself a job (I believe). Following on from a successful interview, I spent most of the weekend in the office. The job is rather perfect. It is with a sports newspaper, which reports almost entirely on football, seeing as that’s the only sport the public are interested in. There is a saying here: "Volleyball is the most popular sport in Brazil. Football is a religion." ‘Working’ is not so bad when you’re surrounded by televisions showing every game you can imagine and your job is to write down what is happening, especially as my first assignment was to give a report on Stoke’s marvellous victory over Arsenal. But the best part about the job? It’s all in Portuguese: the writing, the interviews, the office banter. So it ticks all the boxes: prevents boredom on my part, satisfies my University’s demands, whilst not impinging too heavily on my carioca lifestyle. Cracking.

Carnaval parade outside my window.

The one problem is that the Carnaval festivities have kicked off. I won’t be working this week, but did find myself in a couple of awkward situations over the weekend. I was casually getting the metro home, only to find the station absolutely rammed with people, all in fancy dress. Tarzans and Playboy bunnies surged past me, all scantily clad and in exceptionally high spirits. I felt rather out of place in a shirt and chinos, but joined the throngs heading for the exit. Above ground, I realised that there was a rather large street party going on and a parade that would end up going right past my flat. The pushing and shoving wasn’t over for me, so I threw caution to the winds, took my shirt of too and got stuck in. I wasn’t going to be left out.

The street parties are rather mental. During Carnaval, they kick off as early as 8am, meaning that you could quite easily dance, drink and divulge in whatever you fancy from dawn until dusk, as well as during the night when the mayhem continues. Thousands of people converge in fancy dress and just have a good time. It is a fantastic idea and one that I am looking forward to immensely, if also slightly apprehensively. My main concern is not the lack of sleep or the large consumption of alcohol; it is, as you should probably have guessed, that enormous, burning ball of gas that preys on fair maidens like me. No matter what anyone says, it is impossible to apply sun cream during a Rio Carnaval parade without the use of magic.

'More love please' - Santa Teresa

Before the Carnaval atmosphere became too intoxicating, however, I did embark on another touristic adventure. The highlight of Rio de Janeiro’s week has undoubtedly been the arrival of Surrey’s very own, Harry van Manen. Most of you will not have had the pleasure of meeting the man so I shall try to explain him. His phenomenal exuberance is such that a Brazilian man, dressed entirely in the feathers of several exotic birds and dancing samba that you can only dream of, would not succeed in stealing the limelight. Rio and Harry are a perfect match.

Anyway, we had a lovely walk through the arty, fashionable district of Santa Teresa. As you can imagine, I felt right at home… We chose to go at midday, which probably wasn’t the best idea as Santa Teresa is up a painfully steep hill. Having sought refreshments, however, we could sit back and take in the stunning views. I suppose that’s the benefit of building a city in between a load of hills and mountains: there are great to views to be had all over the place.