#nãoexistesemagua

The drought here in São Paulo has finally come to the forefront - now that people are having water rationed in their apartments and houses all over the city and the Head of Sabesp (the water company) told all Paulistanos to leave the city. (How about they actually fix the problem!?!?). Unbeknownst to the lucky ones, some people have already been living without water for almost a year. São Paulo has been in drought for over a year and had record high temperatures.


The Problem
The 6 reservoirs that supply the city (aka Cantareira)  has been sitting at a dangerously low 6- 10% level meaning dirt and bacteria are omnipresent. It's officially called dead water and it needs to be pumped up into the pipes. (2 days ago it was recorded at 5.1%  of capacity). It is like a "black box of pollution". Gross! And you say, but there has been lots of rain this month?? Firstly, it is not all in the right catchment area... and secondly it has been barely enough to sustain the minimum level without the water becoming diseased (maybe we've reached that point already). They say that São Paulo would need 6 months of non-stop rainfall for the reservoir to be restored to 100% levels.


The Election
The water shortage was a small election issue back in October and downplayed by the Government and Media. . The São Paulo Governor Alckmin didn't want to enforce water rationing in fear of losing votes. In retrospect, education about water responsibility over a year ago when the warning signs started would've been the smart thing - still win votes and the city would not be in such a grave predicament now. This short term water shortage predicament will result in improved water infrastructure and education in São Paulo. Governor Alckmin has just approved 8 new projects for water treatment, and water sourcing. 


Cautious Water Use at Home
We usually drink double filtered water through the system but since October we're been buying filtered water. As a little girl in NZ I remember one of their slogans during droughts "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown flush it down" which is fine when you live with people you generally like... haha,  we save bath water to water the plants and I'm conscious when washing dishes, or even clothes. Limited electricity use needs to also be taken into account when this country is fuelled by hydro-electric power stations. Households are being given discounts if they use less than 20% of monthly water consumption.


You can find out more information following the Crise de Agua on Folha de São Paulo and this Facebook Group.
More articles on BBC, vice.com, The Economist, wri.org, Bloomberg, 

Pizza for lunch in São Paulo

If you haven't noticed already pizza is a Paulistano institution here - they claim it as their own, and that their pizza is the best in the world. Better than New York and even better than the Italians! I, myself, have come to love Brazilian style pizza - after I insist on a tomato base, with their catupiry (ok just a little) and thin bases.

The tradition here in São Paulo is that you eat pizza only for Sunday dinner! Ridiculous right? Who doesn't like leftover pizza for breakfast anytime of the week? There was a time when I was heavily pregnant searching for an open pizza restaurant on a Sunday at 1pm. NADA. But things have changed since then and I have found one great pizza place opened for lunch on weekends.

Maremonti is locted in Jardins and also serves other dishes. They might give you a strange look if you are ordering pizza outside of Sunday evening but it is still on the menu! I take the girls there early lunch hour when it's not so busy and they can eat pizza, and busy themselves playing with pizza dough. And the pizza is good!

Pizzaria Braz - we usually order from then online using the app ifood but they also have multiple restaurants (none open for lunch though).

A Pizzaria - my new favourite pizza find in Morumi (Real Parque). It's small but has great ambience on a Sunday night with lots of neighbourhood families there, and the pizza is good!

Free Kindermusik Demo class this weekend

An amazing musician / teacher / mother / friend of mine will be setting up her Kindermusik programme in São Paulo by giving a free demo class this weekend in Pinheros. If you have kids under the age of 7 years old and looking for an activity in English you definitely have to check it out!

If you are also looking for other things to do with children here check out my list on things to do with kids in São Paulo which is eternally growing.

https://www.facebook.com/notes/kindermusik-with-camille-miller/kindermusik-classes-starting-tuesday-february-10th-2015-free-demo-class-saturday/743349599105335

Feliz Ano Novo!

Just arrived in Punta del Este sans children which I count as my real holiday .. and finally have some time to catch up on the blog!

Last year ended in a rush, as it always does. Parties, end of school, work, cupcakes, planning for Christmas dinner and trying to avoid the traffic. We decided to stay at home for Christmas this year - flights are ridiculous, lots of people were around and I wanted the girls to wake up in their own beds this year for Christmas Day!

Christmas Dinner

Christmas dinner here is celebrated on the 24th. Found a fantastic acogue (butcher) in Mercadão (phone number 3228-2855 who delivers to your house as well. 2 legs of lamb for R$120 plus motoboy delivery (fee depending on address). I had told everyone to come early not realising that there is absolutely no traffic on the 24th anyways. 

On actual Christmas Day we booked into the Hyatt brunch which was fantastic. I didn't want to cook and clean again and this was the perfect solution - free flow sparkling, oysters and sushi (this will be my new Christmas tradition) plus a kids play room where they could stay with monitors. 

For New Years Eve week we drove up to Rio and stayed in Santa Teresa. Amazingly had no traffic either way. It was extremely hot, the first day was almost 50'C... New Years Eve babysitter fell through so after a few hours of back and forth decided to take all the children down to Copacabana for the fireworks. For New Years eve, the only way to get into Copacabana (if you're not staying nearby) is to take the metro. You have to buy the tickets in advance (they do not sell on the actual day of the 31st) and you buy for an allocated hour and they only have a certain number of tickets available for each hour. For example, we bought tickets for 11-12pm with an open return. It was like we were living in Singapore again - the most orderly, efficient process I've experienced in Brazil so far. We arrived a little early but they let us wait inside the station until the clock turned 11pm. The metro popped us up 3 blocks from the beach - we arrived at 11:30pm, ate some candy floss and the others drank beer.. I was too worried about having to pee!! and also Lei Seca - the drinking law is so rigorously enforced in Rio I didn't want to take the risk. The fireworks were amazing, the kids slept through the second half of them but it was worth it just to say we've done it! We rushed back to the metro thinking there would be a mad rush but it was completely empty and we had the kids in bed by 1:30am. 

We've been to Rio a couple of dozen times now so it was fun exploring another neighbourhood. People think Santa Teresa is rough and dangerous, it is.. just like the rest of Rio. Our friends were in a "arrastou" (portuguese for "drag" i.e. a group of more than 20 kids will run on the beach and rob beachgoers in one sweep, or drag) on Ipanema beach one day and we could hear someone being robbed down the road in Santa Teresa (the girl came up the road crying 10 minutes later). The crime is much more in-your-face in Rio and I was definitely on higher alert here. An amazing restaurant to try is Espirito Santo - great creative menu and they use alot of the jambu leaf from the Amazon, traditionally used as an anaesthetic as it gives your tongue a slight numbing sensation. Go early or book.

The bookshop in the middle of Santa Teresa has live samba on Saturday nights - entrance use to be R $5. Beers sold through a small window - a great cheap option for a night out. 

Down on Copacabana, we had dinner at Amir's, a great lebanese restaurant , if you're looking for something different.

We also went to check out Ilha da Paquetá which is a 40 minute ferry ride from Praça XV in Centro. It's an island that traditionally rich Cariocas kept holiday houses on. The water became very polluted from Guanabara Bay (the same water that feeds the polluted waters of Botofogo) and most people moved away. There are still over 3000 residents with 40% of them who commute to Rio for work. There are no cars on the island so you can go around by either horse and carriage (barter please, we got completely ripped off - R $100 for a 20 minute ride around the island) or by a bicycle taxi. Lunch was fine - not many options. The island is really lovely and the streets are well kept, and they have a cemetery for just birds.. but the water was so disgusting that we had no interest in spending time on the beach there. The girls loved it for just the ferry ride so all in all was worth the trip!

And last but not least, for the coffee lovers out there check out the side cafe that the jeweller Monica Ponde puts along side her beautiful jewellery shop! They serve a Jacu Petit Noir; Jacu is a bird that eats coffee beans and the "processed" beans are then picked out for a delicious coffee... also not the cheapest coffee at R$12. Rua Visconde de Pirajá, 365B, Lojas 5 e 6. 

Save the date! Our Christmas Shopping Bazaar on Friday 12th December, @hubb4i

5 minute post!

I've been neglecting my blog for too long and literally have 5 minutes to dedicate to typing furiously fast about my new cafe space  (yes!) and the elections; the two things that have held front line in my life (after children and husband of course).

1 October I started running Sophie & Theo's Cafe based in Escola São Paulo ** come find us from 8am - 10pm at Rua Augusta 2239, Jardins. It's a haven from the crazy Augusta and there is internet and coffee, and of course our famous cupcakes. Since it's opened I've been tearing around São Paulo trying to find reliable and cheap suppliers, pulling giant trolleys through Atacadão and Makro (bulk buy stores), dealing with bureaucracy (trying to rent a coffee machine has taken literally the entire month) but we are slowly getting there. I will continue my posts on setting up a business here and hiring staff in the next few weeks when things start to come into shape.

Elections... so we went to watch the election results with our Brazilian friends who voted PT. They are educated, middle class Brazilians who I have alot of respect for but I couldnt' bring myself to cheer with them when we turned on the TV. The very nature of what my husband does (bring foreign investment into Brazil) was 100% reliant on a PSDB win. Now we will have to see what the next 1-2 years brings for us or we will be looking for our next home (country). 

Next 5 minute blog will be my 2 cents on the Election. In the meantime read this re: Bolsa Familia 

http://m.brasildamudanca.com.br/bolsafamilia/mitos/#mentira-1

Come and visit the café!

Looking for something to do this Saturday in São Paulo?