2002-11 – ブラジルにいます。 – Brazil ni imasu.

In Brazil.
Translation by mike_s_6

I saw a few a things that looked like an open-air fire rising up from the top of the airplane. I arrived at the airport of Rio de Janeiro at 6 in the morning.

Before I came here, the news chatter that I heard was that Brazil was dangerous. Don’t drink unboiled water, and don’t eat fresh vegetables, or else you will get hepatitis. If you trip, immediately disinfect yourself, or you will get tetanus. When driving, do not stop at the red light (!), there are bad people who would break your car window and steal your money. Don’t walk at the coast of the copacabana alone, there are swimsuit thieves. And others.

At the road from the airport, flags are lined up, and the ragged man who was wandering aimlessly barefoot was surely a bit scary. There were also a number of vulture-like birds about as big as 3 cranes fluttering around a roofless house. The car slowly went through the traffic. Even though we were on a highway, a poor peddler looked into the windows of each car. He was selling something like a balloon and a string that doesn’t stand, and things like those. “When they asked for money, what should I do?” I asked a 20 year old Brazilian woman who assisted me during my stay.

“If you leave candy from the car, the kids will also do things with it, but they’re not necessarily going to be able to eat it. Another adult might take it from him, so what is the right thing to do? I do not know. It’s very sad,” she said. She’s small, but she is the daughter of a president of a successful record label.

The gap between rich and poor in Brazil is wide. I was told not to approach the slums where the people without money live, but there are also dangerous streets in neighborhoods here and there. On the other hand, like that girl, she lives in a fully furnished house that can seemingly easily hold a party with 50 guests. It’s said that in Japan, the music that is listened to by rich people is popular bossa nova. Jazz too. The people without money seem to listen to music that has simple, effective beats. Because I never thought that there is also a difference between the color of music between rich and poor, uh, I am at a loss for words.

Even in Japan where there is a “All Japanese are middle class” mentality, there might be a people who insist that “You don’t know things like jazz”. In music, I think that is very sad if that kind of elitism is ingrained into people.

It’s the first time I came to Brazil. Immediately when I arrived, a raging storm came. It was such that I have not experienced even in my home country. The wind and rain was frightening all through the night. The traffic lights were broken, the glass panes at the house were shattered, and the roof tiles were almost blown away. It was strange that at the same time, I heard that Japan at the other side of the earth also experiencing a storm. And here, it’s supposed to be turning to summer.