My Brazil

After thirty three years back and forth to Brazil in business. On an average of a minimum two to five trips a year- Brazil in all these years have always amazed me.
I grew up in Brazil as a teenager -- I have arrived inito Brazil in 62, at an age of 13-14. Coming from Macao, Hong Kong and after a 45 days of ocean voyage. My first impression with Rio de Janeiro and Santos was impressive. Yes, from the age of 14-19, what a most "marvelous" period to be growing up in the city of Sao Paulo. Oh yes, that period of the Brazilian era we all well remembered as " Epoca de ouro" -- Or the golden age, where the wealth of coffee had turned the city of Sao Paulo, the most classical and enjoyable for a young teen with all the trimmings and attribute of a period where beyond the words of "cosmopolitan", "international" and "multi-national"-- It was a time that was a city of abundance --- we lived in an area called Jardins -- or "gardens". Oh yes, the street was called Bela Cintra, one block up from Rua Estados Unidos, and next to the club named - Paulistano, literally, people from the city of SP is called -- and "paulistas" for the rest of the resident from the state with the same name-- Sao Paulo.

The Chinese community in SP at that time also had its varies groups and ethnic diversity. Mom is Cantonese, so we have the Cantonese from Hong Kong and a few from Macao, but by in large, since dad had gone over to Brazil ever since 1956 or there abouts. Dad was from Shanghai and his origin home village was in Yuyao, the province of Zhejiang, the province immediately next to the known city of Shanghai, by birth place. Dad had gone to school in Sorbonne, Paris -- as one of the many progressive Chinese, immediately after the rise of the Chinese Republic --the focus was to find all sorts of cultural niches to build the future of China. There were those who had left for then Soviet Union, to Japan, to learn about militarism and others had gone on to the US for banking, finances and his group like Deng Xiaoping and Zhu Enlai, had gone on to France for philosophy and for humanities - and an array of all others had gone onto Germany and other regions in search for "values" for the new China's Republic. The civil war had taken father into Brazil -- if for no other reasons, based on his association of the many Chinese from Indo-China, like Thailand, Burma and Vietnam -- many of them had already left for Brazil and yes, Sao Paulo, and why? For Sao Paulo had resembled most of the European cities -- there have been contemplation of these many Europeanized Chinese, who had thought of Lebanon, Milan, Buenos Aires and finally Sao Paulo, Brazil. Based on the rising economy - and the vast European residents and the good mix of the many more nations, all had congregrated into the city of Sao Paulo.

Well, this is one of the many reasons and for now, I will just go by this basic reason and for us youngsters -- manybe not all will share my view and my understanding of Brazil , but for me, I have gotten so much out of Brazil and have benefited from the richness of the Brazilians -- where I have ventured beyond the living experience in one of the most sophisticated city of Sao Paulo, where I have also later ventured out to the interior of Sao Paulo, in Lorena, a city half way between SP and Rio, in the Valley called Paraiba and where I have tended to one of the old Italian Catholic order called Salesianos, or Salesians, from Turino, Italy. the same boys school I have tended in Macao --- and yes, my family's engagement with the Jesuits -- from the Matteo Ricci group in Macao, who had my entire family baptized and yes, my brother Peter and I , have been been given our Christian name - Peter and Paul, and most coincidentally, my name itself had me endeared ever since with the city who bears my Christian name and yes, I have enjoyed such wonderful coincidence, more so in reflecting over the name Paul, or Saul --Jewish by birth, Roman by citizenship and Greek by culture. All of the apostle 's multi-cultural attributes, some how had also created my other identity with the name Paul.

Well, enough said about this name of Paul. But I am forever grateful to my dad and to have my young age exposure to Brazil and from the city of Sao Paulo, to Lorena, in the interior of the state for schooling and ever since then, I have enjoyed all the richer engagement with all the rest of the culturally diverse regions of entire Brazil.

In 1964, two years after my arrival into Sao Paulo, I have began swimming competitively for a club name Hebraica , namely Hebrew -- and where my school mate , Ivan Szumuk, from Hungary, like many other friends of mine, mixed marriage of Christians and Jews, Hungarian citizenship --- we mixed and mingled, we swam, we played and we competed in many events, and in that year, I have become the first ethnic Chinese ever broken the state record , in swimming in 50M breast stroke. In those years and beyond, swimming in private clubs and where I have also swam against Mark Spitz, unbeknown to me that some years later, I saw his name surfaced in the Olympics. The cosmopolitan way of life in Sao Paulo had me meeting the many natioanlities, from the Egytian Jews, Sephardic Jews, who fled then the civil war in Egypt and war with Israel -- In my club alone, we have over tens if not more of languages. I have learned to cursed not only in Portuguese, but yes, in Italian, in Hungarian, in Arabic . and life was richer than ever -- it was all about sports and the endless weekend parties - like all teen agers, we were invited to all sort of parties. But in the use of the stories about parties, about dating and how the many of us, ethnic Chinese, where these are the pals I have met with my family's contacts, yes, we were a handful of young pals and yet, many of them who were attending to American schools, Chapel was the name of the American school and the other was Graded, a British origin, non religious English school, but then again, predominantly in these two schools were mostly Americans plus an array of the many other global nationalities. Yes, we, these handful of the ethnic Chinese kids had our fun and also our "minor gamble". We normally began our weekend evening, by the dinner engagement that almost the entire family had to attend, be that a new arrival of the immigrants from Asia, our family greeted them, befriended to many , and yes, the entire family had to attend to pay respect -- and the handful of us , as always, glancing over our watches nervously --- anticipating for the sort of activities beyond the tasty meals and the on going dishes upon dishes. Our focus then was about the parties after the dinner, be that of an American party, where most often, some of those youngsters, were or had just formed a musical band that sounded just like the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, or the Monkees, yes the American music and or the British music was dominated the psyche and the minds of the youngster then . However, where I have my other side of the social engagement, be that I was dating a young lady, where I was awaiting to be meeting them in a later date -- Later ? How late can that be ? Yes, there is a clock in us all -- the first the Chinese dinner, then the American parties, that can be going into late, versus the Brazilians, my other group, most often the parties began around or near ten or much later------- Yes, we all loved our party or parties and the clocking of the timing into those "three cultural zones".

Such were the ages of the many teens, a cosmopolitan and very culturally diverse city , with our own diversities, from culture to culture --- and our encounter of all the new arrivals of many nationalities and our mingle with the many marvelous, loving, affectionate, endearing Brazilians where unlike the Chinese or the Americans (from our social perspective), the Brazilians as always, was always a party that involved all generations. We were offered meals, yes, wines along with all the adults. Yes, the society we were involved also, yes, in the upper middle class of the Brazilians -- but it was never a class divide. In looking back, depend upon in where and how we do our own introspective analysis - as most of who had moved on up to the States for college , yes, many of our American contemporaries in college would have commented that our lives then in Sao Paulo, Brazil, were more of a elite class -- and we were.

Yes, in any given home and house, we have our house cleaners, a group of maids who will be divided up to be doing the tougher chores of the house, yard work, garden work and the others will take care the house cleaning that can range from floor polishing (wood floors as well as ceramic floors that requires to be hand or machine waxed). there are the maids who did the laundry and shopping for house maidens. And for those others, we have chauffeurs and gardeners -- with house and homes that are generally fairly good sizes and with a good numbers of us with multiple siblings and or relatives, or visiting relatives.

Dating at that period of the 60s, the dating rituals were very rigid -- yes, no good lady would have gone out on a date without a chaperon -- and as in my case, on my first date, my girlfriend then had his older first cousin --- to have us chaperoned. Because no "good and respectful" young woman would go out ever "alone" on the first date. Even in the next few dates, as always, she was in generally well escorted, or to be accompanied by even "aunts" !!!!

I loved the family of my girl friend A Maria-- and I recalled very well, that no one lingering also outside of the house for long, the blink of a light was good enough to tell the young lady "time to be inside" --- those social and cultural values were all most universal - No good lady will be lingering on, much worse, to be held by any boys. That was a no , no .

I will move on a bit faster from my teen age life then in the sixties to present -- where I have gone forward from being a teen growing up in Sao Paulo, our social values and our manners and demeanor had sets of rituals and those values and rituals have to be guided and reinforced by almost all the society then .

Of course, we have out so called wild activities typical for any young men of our time. Such as in our behind schedule going home --try to be home -- promised to ones parents to be home alightly about midnight -- where almost, never we were home then, how about two, or even six and as late as eight the next morning .. Yes, the hormonic side of young men and the adventurous spirit of the few of us, had us driving fast, out racing area police --- when the streets and avenues were wide and cars were no where to be seen-- by the many daring dos, when the police cars were very docile and much less equipped - for the few us, who had out do the siren blinking police cars in their volkswagen beatles -- was part of the fun and game and maybe we all were influenced then by Jimmy Dean in "Rebel without a cause" or so it had gone. Regardless of our cultural and ethnic mix -- Louie was form Bolivia, Karol is from Poland, yes, Karol's family name had shown up in Encyclopedia Britannica -- and we all speak Portuguese fluently and also English --- Peter, Charlies and me with Kao and Jackson, all ethnic Chinese, we ate in dinners where our parents know of each other ---- and we all took off in separate cars to American parties, to Danish parties, French and I personally love as always, in those Lebanese homes -- maybe then, I felt in love with all those plush oriental rugs -- and the most hospital people with abundance of food, the Kibe, the esfihas --- but then again, we were all Brazilians with all the multi-cultural decorum, sound, taste and flavor.

Oh yes, food, fruits and all of that, is another most colorful momories for me -- the daily fresh squeezed orange juice, the jars and jars of fresh lime juices -- Brazilian food, the rice cooked with fresh garlic, onion and often, a touch with a couple slices of tomatoe, and even today I cooked my rice the Brazilian way , where my chilldren and my wife all have enjoyed it immensely , or until we all know rice is pure starch, and since then, rice now is out of the menu --- as the kids have all grown and no longer in the house -- but whenever there is the chance to make some rice, nine out of ten time, we do it the Brazilian way, not only my children, but yes, their pals, their school mates, or sport team members , and their parents --- Oh yes, Brazilian rice and then, the memories of the beans, the Paulista feijao -- as we called it, and for the longest time, my maids daily cooking, rice, bean, fresh salad and a slightly pan fried beef think steak with garlic, and yes, with eggs -- we called it " Bife a cavalo" become my most common meal. The same had gone on when I was in the boarding school in Lorena -- where the breaded fried "egg plants", or the parmagiana, the style of Italian cooking amongst the many Brazilians were ever so common. So, Brazilian food, its flavor, its taste and the abundance of fruit -- be that banana, mango, papaya, oranges, the abundance of all sort of fruits -- was one of the sweetest memories and the variety of ways in how to have them prepared, imagine, banana smashed in with sugar, or honey and the daily ten to fifteen shots of our Brazilian "cafezinho" had dominated my life for over twenty years -- or until when I have found out I am a diabetic 2 -- even so, the daily intake of ten cups or more "cafezinho" remains whenever I am in Brazil :)