Your House Your Life

One of the cliché images we have from Brazil is the favelas, the shanty towns filled with poor people. Indeed Brazil is struggling with a huge number of its population that is not able to access decent housing, and ends up living either in slums or on the streets. About 6% of the country's population lives in favelas, or about 11.4 million people reports the IBGE in their 2010 census. Homeownership is unaffordable for more than 60% of the Brazilian population says the IDB.
However living in Brasilia keeps our eyes away from the issue: there is not really any slums to see. There are various reasons for this, one of the main is that Brasilia was never designed to include lower segments of the population. In fact Brasilia has rather been described as a city of exclusion, you can read some more about the topic here.
In one of my driving afternoon to shoot Emmanuel to sleep I ended up in São Sebastião. It is a small community of about 100,000 souls a few kilometers from where we live. It is a typical low income suburb of Brasilia, far from the city center. Very different from Brasilia, it is unplanned, with one main street along which small concrete buildings line up their garage-door storefront, and with people hanging out and socializing in front of them. The area looks less manicured, more densely occupied, more vibrant, more real Brazil, and yet probably more rough and tough. Before reaching the town center, at the intersection from the main road and the highway, this housing complex was under construction. The vision of these aligned small concrete structures with empty openings on several hundred of square meters of land initially pleased me; it looked like a mini Chinese housing development (I admit to be nostalgic in strange ways). These are part of the social housing program the country is currently developing.

Indeed, during his presidency, Lula put in place a program addressing the housing problem of lower segments of the population. It is called "Minha Casa Minha Vida", My House My Life. Launched in 2009, the public housing program initially had for objective the creation of one million housing units; since a much larger number have been developed.
The mechanisms are similar for all of them: banks finances the development of the units and provides mortgages to the eligible families. The developers make the initial investments in land acquisition and developments. The government provides a number of guidelines regarding the units and the complexes, but does not directly oversees the projects. Upon completion, the government provides its approval while the banks give the financial structure to provide the mortgages to the participating families. In practice it means that the low income segments of the population have access to this type of housing, but not the poorest. As there is a mortgage involved the families beneficiaries of the programs are usually earning an income, even if very limited.

This photo shows an other development we passed on our way to Val Paraiso. From the looks you can tell right away that architects are not part of the design process. However, I am curious to know more about this program and its mechanisms. I will return with more details later.
Until then I will keep on driving around with Emmanuel sleeping in the back.

Counting our Blessings

When I got here, it was really difficult for me to adapt. There is no doubt that many things are still challenging. I am not going to list them here, it is not my point. Rather I just paused this weekend, while we hosting a few of our friends, and realized that we are blessed in so many ways here.
We have this beautiful weather, most of the year. It is sunny and warm.
Nature here is just stunning. And pristine. And there is no absolutely no pollution like we had in Beijing.
We made so many good friends, so many good people are surrounding us now. So many interesting and special individuals.
And we are very blessed to have landed in the house we have now. 

Coloring our Present

Expat wife lives is often colored by their daily coffees, tennis lessons and house decorations, right? I guess I fit the bill...

Exploring Brasilia North

There is a lot of blogging that does not get done when I am trying to write something serious. I am currently writing a piece for an Italian magazine, something about Brasilia and transformation. So I open my eyes a little more these days when I drive around.
Today I was in Asa Norte, and somewhat got a better feeling about the city, about the planning and its general intentions. It would be this idea of common areas where people share public equipments and time, I guess. Yet I am still unconvinced by the scale of all this. Parking takes over most of the center of the housing blocs. And that green without really any landscaping ends up looking like a no-mans-land rather than a place.

I Can't Sleep Tonight

Today, I just received another note about security in my mailbox. This whole issue will certainly deserve more than one post - it is a real issue here - more than a simple table discussion. So the note goes about telling where to park or not to park around certain well known spots in the city, and the rise of various types of violences. We have been living in a pretty sheltered place, in China. Harmonious society, repressed or suppressed or controlled or brainwashed or simply harmonious, for you to say, but certainly most safe. The contrast is sharp. Here in Brazil at all times security is a consideration. It was hard to know exactly what to expect before we moved here, yet we knew it was going to be drastically different from our asian bliss.

First there are fences and gates everywhere. It makes for a less friendly street, I tell you. Only my friend Fiona has a full "no-gate" situation, but she lives in a "condominium", an large compound of houses surrounded by full walls, topped with barbwire. Even then, Fiona's house is the only one in her street that has not gated herself further. When we were planning our arrival in Brasilia, we met with my husband's colleague and his wife, who lived here for four years. Despite their fences, they got robbed. At gun point. Because they forgot to close that gate. Not very reassuring.
Alarm systems are installed everywhere. I guess that part is nothing new for us, when installed in public spaces. But here it is for different reasons, no more about the control of people, but about the safety of the users, therefore more in the private sphere. Our own security people were here today, installing and adjusting our own alarm system. Furthermore, we have a door upstairs that locks us up at night, so if someone ever comes in at night they would have more trouble getting to us. And in addition, someone will be watching our house when we travel.

Then there is the various legal measures to prevent child kidnappings. On our first hour in Brazil, once out of the plane in Rio's airport, I left the boys go to the toilet on their own. A lady, well intended, told me to never do this again. Never loose sight of your kids. Makes for less pleasant grocery shopping trips with them. Another consequence to this fear of kidnapping is that Brazilian children traveling with one parent need to have a note legalized by a judge allowing them to travel without their other parent. On the same line of thinking, prior hiring of any staff, a security check is needed with the registry of the federal and national polices to ensure no past criminal record or activities.
Then there is the constant treat that comes from moving around the city. Drive with windows rolled up. Do not stop at red lights or stop signs at night. Avoid certain areas of town. The most perilous action we can do is to stay inside a parked car in a parking lot.  Sounds banal, right? Well, that is what a bad guy here awaits for. He would walk to your car, point a gun at you, get in and get you to drive him to the nearest bankomat, and helps you retrieve all your cash. It is called express kidnaping. Pretty sure our banks do not cover for this one - at the opposite of stollen credit cards... In fear of this probability, I have taken out of my wallet some of my credit cards. They are valid, but I really have no idea of their PIN numbers, as I use them mostly for direct purchases and never for any withdrawal. It would be stupid to die because some crazy guy thinks I am playing dumb with my PIN number on a card.
Other consequences to these various security threats, most house staff finishes early to get home before dark, in fear of being attacked on their way home. Specially if they live in poorer areas.
Then there is the risk of fake road accidents, aiming at your car, and forcing you to get out of the car to check things out, and followed by express kidnapping. If an old beaten up car hits you, just drive away.
And there is also the risk of express stealing of car parts - specially if you are owner of VW Gol - a small model that is very popular here, making resale a guarantee. Usually they can do it in about 5 minutes. Take all your wheels. off. Pretty efficient, which is surprising considering the general lack of efficiency here!

That said, all this could sound pretty theoretical. Yet last week, various sources - including friends - informed us that an European Union diplomat was kidnapped and later released. The ordeal happened just a few blocks from where we lived, in Asa Sul. The poor italian guy is fine now, thanks G_d.
A few days later I learned about a trio of young foreigners being assaulted at gun point on the commercial street of quadra 304, just up our block, at the end of an afternoon. I walked there with the kids in a few occasions. It also gave me some shivers.
Upon knowing this I could not shake the feeling that despite all what we pretend is normal life here, lies a real threat, not one just on paper. And that we must be really really careful. Really really careful.
Here is a picture of this evening, upon learning about the EU diplomat. All looked normal, having dinner with new friends, in the quadra 408, near where the event took place. What looked more normal than a few kids having a good time together??  As a Canadian, I really have some difficulty to imagine the worst all the time.  I can't shake the feeling that there is something wrong in trying to foresee evil in each possible encounter. Maybe if you are raised in a gun culture, like our neighbors from the south it is easier? I still need to check.

In any cases, it makes me more nervous here when Paul is traveling. And tonight, while doing my little thing upstairs, all doors open downstairs to catch the breeze, I realized the gate had been left open. I am certain we waited with the car to see it close fully behind us. But then the kids played with my keys and remotes in my bag, while I was cooking, I remembered. My hearth sank. I walked downstairs, half in panic. Would/could there be someone there already? The gate must have been open for 2 hours already. I toured the house. The immediate surroundings of the house. Locked up the kids upstairs while doing that. Everything was there, ready to be taken - my handbag, the TV and new DVD player, the keys, the car. All was still untouched, all fine. But in the process I lost my interest for a solo swim in the night. I am calmer now. All is fine. Our little dead-ended street only has limited traffic with only 4 houses, and us being the one before the last. Yet, I feel I will need to sedate myself with some good old indian chants. Hopefully the night will appease me further.
Note to self: Hide keys and gate remotes from the kids. Tell Noam to pay attention to the gate, and notify me if open. 

Flypath

Now there is always a hidden clause when you sign a contract, some small print that will make things complicated. Well our house has one big hidden clause. In fact, it a very not discreet problem: we are on a flypath.
For those who do not know, it means that planes almost land in our neighbor's yard. It means noise. Loud jet noises.
We should have heard it when we visited, right? Well, we did not. We did not even ear anything for the first four days in the house. Then one evening, it was loud and roaring every five or ten minutes. I wondered how I did not hear this before. How did I missed this? Was I enjoying the house so much that I did not hear the planes until four days in??  We did hear some planes when we came to sign the lease - but we were probably too fed up with the rental unit, and too excited by the house features to notice the noise.
So our first Friday night, while trying to watch a movie, and having to pause it every ten minutes, Paul and I could only wonder on how to deal with this - now and for the next three to five years. How to sustain our sanity with such annoying noises? The following day was pretty relax, yet I felt we were a bit robbed of our peace of mind with all these planes going. Lying by the pool under roaring jet noises is not relaxing. Albeit it is not constant, it is not pleasant.
I swear I must have wondered hundreds of time how we could we not have heard something when we first visited?!
Then, on Sunday morning, after one more plane at 6 AM, the first of the day, that was it. There was not really any other loud planes later that day. Of course we could hear planes passing over the next neighborhood, but it was normal plane noise - distant - and at this point I qualified it as pleasant.
So tonight when the planes started to go low again, I did not really get phased up as much. It will be passing. Only temporary. Not all the time. Only when the weather is like this or the wind like that (which I still need to figure out). But I am feeling much better that we are not in a full fledge flypath. Because that would be much more difficult to bear.
And later, when the kids were heading to bed, Noam told me that he did not like the noises, that it was a bit annoying to have this again and again, that maybe we should not have rented the house. I tried to encourage him to see it only occurs for short stretches of time - hoping to make it easier on him. Hopefully it will work.

W3

With the kids starting school, we are now developing our new routine. A part of our routine consist of driving to and back from school. At least until we have the house, where we hope to have them take a little bus.
It is a 2-kilometers long route, and takes 7 minutes if there is no traffic. I usually count 10 to 15, depending on the time of the day. And after one trial, with two boys in their ultra casual walking speed, it takes 30 minutes by foot. Not yet an option - but maybe later.
Our route is fairly short, taking us from our lovely Quadra 106 across Quadra 306 via 2 round-abouts, stoping at a light at 506 to cross the W3, drive a little further for a retorno (a U-turn) before driving back along the W3 in the right direction. We then proceed to drive along this W3 for less than one kilometer, turn at Quadra 709, drive along to more one round-about and veer right, to finaly reach the school parking lot.
Well, I admit, this is not really interesting.

However there are a few things that are interesting. The first one is the driving experience. I have never lived in a city where I needed to drive my kids to school. (OK, I admit, our kids are really small, thus limiting our possibilities). It is certainly a time that I did not expect much of - yet it appears already as quality time. We chat about what has recently happened, what is to come, we share some most important thoughts and questions. It is a time I learn more about my kids than I had imagined.
Second, the landscape. The road we are on for the longest is called W3 (how can one lack imagination so much!!). The W3 crosses the entire two wings of the city, and it is an important thoroughfare as it can feed the residential quadras, the medical and educational quadras (at least for the south wing). One of its most important aspect, in my mind, is its commercial side. It is in fact a rare continuous commercial road, very different from the very short and disconnected commercial strips of 20 stores in each quadra. I can only think of another set of purely commercial street - of much less important scale - in a area called Sudoeste, just north of the Parque da Cidade, the City Park. Other main thoroughfares do not havea  similar use; commercial streets were in fact not part of the master plan of the city. The master plan rather imagined people taking their cars to go shopping, so specially dedicated malls, supermarkets and hypermarkets are all concentrated in one area at the periphery of the city.
For me, this W3 is for me the most surprising place I have seen since we are arrived in Brasilia. On one side, it is a real american-style semi-abandonned downtown strip, with a portion of stores trying to look correct, amidst a series of store fronts covered in graffitis, and a number of them keeping their shutters down. It looks like the kind of place that you should not walk at night. And maybe during the day too?
Then on the other side of this W3, there is a series of garage doors, some painted and graffitied, some more respectable, all tightly nestled against one another, right on the sidewalk. It took me a couple trips to admit to myself that these were actual garage doors of houses. That houses would be hidden behind something so rough. And so dense. So different from our lovely Quadra 106.
Like what we can appreciate the things that at first sight do not appear to be worth it.


 

The hunt is open

About 15 hours after our landing, we headed out to find the perfect place to spend our next three or four years.

We have been informed this is going to be intense. We heard of colleagues who visited more than 30 houses to find the right one. We heard of another one who had the typical bank lease rejected by two different house owners, unsuccessfully, and is still looking. We tried to come prepared a bit, we had a look at it from a distance, and we knew about the style issue - hacienda a go go. We arrived, with our our two jet-lagged kids, some pencils and a coloring book, ipods and snacks, and a camera to help our memory. We thought we were ready.



Yet, we realized quickly that one hard thing was going to find a house that fits our needs. In fact we only need three bedrooms, a dining and living area, a kitchen, simply. By this I mean, do we need a beautiful wine cellar/cave? 5 bathrooms? A gym room (well, maybe for some yoga??)? Yes we want to keep the pool, for sure. About a outdoor kitchen, fully equipped? Maybe. A triple car garage? Not sure. And a sauna? Sure it is nice, but not essential. About 2 rooms for the staff? Oh! we need to house our staff? And about a stock room? And a walk-in closet the size of my kids bedroom? And a library room? And a TV room? and a his and her pool side bathroom?? And a living room larger than a bowling room? You get the idea: the houses here are big. Really BIG.

And the other hard part is to find something we like. You see, even if I do not want to let my "work" interfere with regular life, as an architect, I have trouble closing my eyes when I do house visits. Luckily my husband share a good eye also. How to ignore the bad layouts - dark rooms or areas that are just not usable? Or the badly unplanned transformation of a room into something strange or odd? Or the bad detailing of a building? Or the brilliant haciendation of a modern house, with tiles and shutters all over?? Yes, my eye catches that, it is hard to ignore. I also have trouble with details that shows are easily datable - specially the hacienda meets the 80s era. So that was the harder part.





We logged 10 houses in our first 4 days.