Monthly Archives: November 2014

Paraguay, South America, Videos

The Dalma Bums (Video)

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We took a supply ship up the Rio Paraguay for three days in search of travel enlightenment.  It wasn’t always easy, but it was unforgettable. That’s Paraguay in a nutshell.

Directed, filmed and edited by Nick Neumann

Hosted – Walker Dawson

Music:
Guitar Solo, #5 by Neil Young
West Dub by Kanka Dub

Paraguay, Pictures, South America

Off the Beaten Path in Paraguay

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After three incredible months in Brazil, we entered Paraguay at the Ciudad del Este border crossing. The Brazilian-Paraguayan border at Ciudad del Este is one of the busiest border crossings in South America, with thousands of Brazilians crossing into Paraguay to buy cheap electronics and other goods.
Although refreshingly off the South America Gringo trail, the recently constructed Urbanian Hostel was a breath of fresh air and a nice way to ease into this chaotic and sometimes difficult country.
Paraguay is country of contrasts. It is has one of the highest income inequality rates in the world, worse than Rwanda or Papua New Guinea. The rich and poor live side by side as seen here. The Chacarita slum recently flooded, sending residents to set up shantytowns on the lawn of the presidential palace and surrounding plazas.
Tereré is the most popular drink in Paraguay. It is consumed in a gourd filled with mate tea leaves, a little lemon and mint, and mixed with ice cold water. It is sucked up through a metal straw and quickly refilled. Paraguayans of all ages and classes drink it from sunrise to sunset to counter the unrelenting heat.
Whatever ailment you have, there is always a solution at the sprawling Mercado 4 in Asuncion.
Panteón Nacional de los Héroes.
Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, is filled with old world stores, where nothing much has changed in 50-100 years.
Guarani kids playing on the Rio Paraguay.
Concepcion, a few hundred miles up the Rio Paraguay, was once a wealthy port town which has fallen on harder times.
Riding the Dalma up the Rio Paraguay at sunset. To read more about our journey up the river, check out http://wearebreakingborders.com/2014/09/24/the-dalma-bums/
The Captain of the Dalma. The Captain showed me his text messages with his son who is studying and working in the United States, “he is living the American dream”.
Nick drinking tereré to keep cool in the boiling evening heat.
Hammocks are set up for the two nights on the Dalma.
Guarani Indians awaiting the arrival of the Dalma.
The Dalma being unloaded, delivering milk, grain, rice, and beer to remote communities.
Sunset over the Paraguayan Pantanal.
After spending three days on the Dalma, we arrived in the remote community of Puerto Casado. While waiting for the bus out of town, we were informed that the next one wouldn’t arrive for another week. One of the local men, Juan, invited us over to his house for some lunch. A few hours became a few days as we waited…and waited.
The second day of waiting, Juan and his friends took us out into the Chaco, which is a vast dry, woodland savannah covering Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia.
Juan runs a logging operation in the middle of impenetrable woodland. Juan checks up on how the operation is going and if anyone is stealing wood.
Getting wild after an incredible afternoon in the Chaco. Guns, beer, and nature.
On the way back to town, I got into a deep discussion with one of Juans friends about guns and warfare. Somewhere along the way I mentioned my discontent with the American invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. I asked Juan’s friend what he thought of it, he responded, “You gotta do what you gotta do, I see nothing wrong in war, it is a part of life, especially here in the Chaco, especially for us Guarani”. I realized in this moment that my liberal, anti-war philosophy was simply a result of my San Francisco, west coast surrounding. This mans philosophy was simply a representation of the harsh, vicious reality of the Chaco.
After another day of drinking tereré, Juan invited us to meet the congressmen of the state of Alto Paraguay, named Mini Adorno. In true Paraguayan fashion, Adorno threw an entire pig on the grill and the feast began.
After fours days of rumors about a potential truck that would take us towards Bolivia, we finally found Edward, a jolly truck driver who was more than happy to drive us half way across Paraguay. Leaving at 7pm, we finally left Puerto Casado and headed deep into the Chaco at night. Here we sat for an hour with an armed guard, waiting for more trucks to come so we could cross the Chaco at night in a convoy for security reasons.
Fires burning at night to clear the thick Chaco woodland. Edward, our driver, told us that he had once been stopped by a guy with a gun on this road at night, a plane landed on the dirt road, picked up some packages and flew off. The man with the gun told Edward, “you didn’t see anything, right?” Edward said this was one of the principle Narco-trafficking routes in Paraguay.
After 10 bumpy hours of dust, Rammstein, terere and endless conversation about the genius of Sacha Baron Cohen, we arrived in Loma Plata, a community settled by Canadian Menonites in the 1920s. More on this topic later.

Paraguay is a country of contrasts. On the one hand, it is a rich country with the fastest growing economy in the Americas, yet there’s also a gaping divide between the rich and the poor, corruption runs rampant, and political stability remains rare. For a visitor, Paraguay may not have much in terms of sights, but this hardly matters when you are received so warmly by the Paraguayan people. Complete strangers will take you in, feed you, house you, and introduce you to their family (or maybe even a member of Congress). In most countries in South America, the relationship between locals and foreigners usually involves money. In Paraguay, that relationship doesn’t exist, it’s not about money, it’s about long conversations over ice cold beer and a nice steak.


Paraguay is somewhat of an oddity in South America.  Due to a strong Jesuit influence it is the only country in the New World where European culture adapted to Native American culture, instead of the opposite. This means that Paraguay is the only country in Americas where over 90% of the population speaks an indigenous language (Guarani). Unlike in Bolivia, Peru or Guatemala, the indigenous language Guarani is spoken by non-ingenous people, the middle class, politicians, and even used in the media. While many people skip Paraguay for the ruins of Peru or the beaches of Brazil, Paraguay offers a different type of South America, a South America that is well of the beaten path and refreshingly real.

Brazil, Pictures, South America

The Other Brazil: German Colonies in the South

Downtown Blumenau, a southern Brazilian city with a distinctly German feel.
Rua XV de Novembro, the main street of downtown Blumenau. Blumenau has one of the highest standards of living in Brazil, on par with North America or Europe in terms of literacy rate, life expectancy and income.
Pomerode, a small village outside of Blumenau. is known as the most German city in Brazil. 97% of the residents still speak German today
Pomerode was settled by Germans from the Pomerianian part of Prussia in 1861. Even after years of suppression by the Brazilian government, the community of Pomerode has been able to preserve a unique dialect of German called Pomeranian (Pommersch). Klaus Granzow was a German writer who wrote extensivly about Pomeranian culture and histroy, his books can be found throught Pomerode.
Most of the books in the public library in Pomerode are in German, not Portuguese.

Gisele Bündchen, the Brazilian supermodel, may be the most famous face of German immigration to Brazil. Over 12 million people claim German ancestry in Brazil, making them one of the largest ethnic groups in the country. The vast majority of Germans settled in Southern Brazil, specifically in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, and Santa Catarina, where the standard of living today is drastically higher than that of the rest of the country. Illiteracy in Santa Catarina is 3.8%, while in many places in the northeast of Brazil, that rate is well over 22%.

After Brazil gained independence from Portugal in 1822, the new Brazilian government encouraged settlement to remote regions of the south in order to create a buffer between Brazil and the newly independent former Spanish colonies of Argentina and Paraguay. A second wave of Germans settled in southern Brazil in search of peace, land and religious freedom after a series of failed revolutions in Europe in 1848. Continued instability in Germany during the end of the 19th century and during both World Wars fueled further immigration.

Although the German language has made a comeback in recent decades, it was heavily suppressed during both World Wars in an attempt to integrate the isolated German colonies into the rest of of the county and squash any pro Nazi sentiments. Today German is still spoken in some communities in the south, but many are becoming increasingly Brazilian in culture, leaving behind their German roots. Some people living in the south have complained that the Germans harbor racist sentiments towards Brazilians, thinking of themselves as a superior race. Given that German immigration to Brazil has nearly come to a standstill, will German-Brazilians be able to hold on to their language and culture.

Brazil, Pictures, São Paulo, South America

São Paulo, Brazil

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São Paulo was incredible city to photograph.  For six weeks straight I found myself waking up, grabbing my camera, and hitting the streets of this fascinating, monster of a city.  In this series of photographs I attempt to capture the beautiful, grittiness of São Paulo.

Avenida Paulista is the beating heart of São Paulo. As the sun sets and rush hour begins, artists line the street to sell their work, while musicians of all ages play for the teeming masses of businessmen. In one minute I witnessed a band play Creedence Clearwater while a separate group of Anarchists and Feminists blocked traffic while marching down the middle of the avenue.
Vila Madalena is a trendy, residential neighborhood located southwest of Avenida Paulista. While there aren’t many specific sights to see, its the best place in all of São Paulo to eat and drink.
Sunday street market in Pinheiros.
Centro is the historic heart of the city. Most Paulistas dismiss the the neighborhood as dirty and crime ridden, but if you are able to see beyond its decay, it is a fascinating area full of pedestrianized streets, 400 year old churches, steep hills with narrow, bustling streets, open-air markets, neoclassical and art deco architecture, and enough energy to impress even a hardened New Yorker.
One of the most interesting aspects of Centro is its alternative edge. Most downtowns in North America are strictly about business, yet here in São Paulo, there are numerous alternative art galleries, and underground bars where skateboarders, weed smokers and anarchists rub shoulders with businessmen getting off of work.
Different eras of architecture blending seamlessly along the pedestrianized streets of Centro.
São Paulo’s artistic side emerges in unexpected places.
Rush hour at Estação da Luz, one of the busiest subway stations in Latin America.
Multileveled subway station at Estação Sé.
The area around 25 de Março is considered the largest commercial center in all of Latin America, and is one of the best places in the city to see São Paulo’s diversity.
Around 25 de Março, Chinese and Korean merchants sell electronic goods to Bolivians and Paraguayans, while Syrians, Iraqis, Palestinians and Lebanese folks sell clothes and produce to every other race under the sun. São Paulo has one of the largest populations of Muslims in Latin America, with many migrants coming from the Middle East since the Arab Spring.
Winter light during rush hour next to Catedral da Sé. — at Catedral Metropolitana da Sé.
Sea of buildings in Centro.
Korean shop owners in Bom Retiro, one of São Paulo’s most diverse neighborhoods.
Centro also has a dark side, as seen in Cracolândia, an area where crack is openly bought, sold and consumed. City officials, including the current mayor Fernando Haddad, have made progress in improving parts of the area with drug rehabilitation centers, but problems still remain.
Police officers ordering passengers off a city bus while searching for a criminal. While crime does exist in São Paulo, it does not feel worse than San Francisco, New York or any major American city.
Under the Elevado (the elevated freeway) in Santa Cecília.
São Paulo is a city of immigrants and that diversity can best be seen in Liberdade, a densely packed neighborhood of Japanese restaurants, Chinese markets, and narrow, hilly streets that light up beautifully at night. Brazil has the largest concentration of Japanese people outside of Japan, and the majority live in this neighborhood.
Aska, a cozy, Japanese ramen joint, that has super cheap prices (extremely unusual in this city), delicious food, as well as a long wait.
Barra Funda is an up and coming industrialized area northwest of downtown, characterized by art galleries and music venues of all types. This display was at Galeria Fortes Vilaça, which recently hosted an exhibition on the world famous São Paulo graffiti duo, Os Gemeos.
Sunrise from an apartment building in Vila Nova Conceição.
Brazil, São Paulo, South America, Videos

São Paulo: The Most Underrated City in the World (Video)

Video

The Most Underrated City in the World

Follow Walker as he takes you on a tour of our favorite neighborhoods, restaurants and bars in São Paulo. Explore the alternative side of Centro, the diversity in Liberdade, and discover what makes São Paulo such a great city.

Directed, Filmed and Edited by Nick Neumann

Hosted by Walker Dawson

Heres a list of the various places and food that appear in the video. For a more complete list of our favorite spots check out our post on  São Paulo’s top five neighborhoods.

Centro:

  • Galeria do Rock
  • Praça Roosevelt

Avenida Paulista

  • São Paulo Museum of Art
  • Livraria Cultura

Rua Augusta

  • Caos Bar
  • Chicano Taqueria

Barra Funda

  • Os Gêmeos  Exhibit

Vila Madalena

  • Beco do Batman
  • Empório Sagarana

Liberdade

  • Weekend Massage in the Liberdade metro station
  • Sunday Street Market (takoyaki & yakisoba)