A Week in Brasilia!

This past week I went to visit my second Brazilian friend from Trent University in his hometown of Brasilia, Brazil's capital city.  This city has quite a unique history as it was specifically built to be the capital city not long ago. In what should have taken fifty years, in just five Brasilia was built on barren land though as the locals say - with a debt of fifty years.  Built in the shape of an Egyptian eagle, the government buildings and the Presidents house are located within the head of the eagle, the city, bank headquarters, theatres and cathedrals spread throughout the body of the eagle, while the residential apartments are situated within the wings of the Eagle.  My first day, Mario picked me up at the airport and took me back to his home to meet his mama and have lunch.  After lunch we did a little driving tour and picked fruit from native Brazilian trees.  Later we drove to an ice cream parlour and I got my first taste of acai ice cream, a Brazilian tradition.  That night we watched the Brazilian movie Tropa de Elite (The Elite Squad) based on the Rio drug rings within the favelas with the corrupt police and the Elite Squad that fights to restore order.  It was pretty intense to say the least but a great movie to understand what few see when they see Brazil. The full movie is available on you tube if you would like to watch it too.  Wednesday I got a full, in depth tour of the city travelling to the different landmarks, government buildings, and the famous cathedral.  Mario has connections across the city, and when Robert Plant (lead singer of Led Zeppelin) was playing in Brasilia, we were able to get some great tickets to see a great show! Cooler still, right beside the concert hall was a soccer stadium being constructed for the World Cup! This thing was huge I tell you... And now I almost feel witness to the to the wondrous event. Though this was definitely a fun trip to explore more of Brazil, I was fortunate enough to turn this trip into a working trip, and on Thursday and Friday I was able to conduct a few interviews for my thesis.  One of my interviews had even spent some time in Canada thus it was really great for my research to hear their opinions and comparisons.  My flight was for Saturday evening and before I left we travelled to the last few places within the city left unexplored.  All in all it was a great week.  Relaxing though productive, concurring another region of this large country and great to see an old friend again.