TAWOMG - A Great Party!

Dear Friends,

Think of a great party. You sing, you dance, you laugh, sometimes tears come to your eyes, because you are happy and touched by something that is dear to you. You and people around you have good reasons to celebrate. You are glad to be there, to share with others all those moments. You have the feeling that you belong to that place and you think how fortunate you are to be part of that family, group of friends, club or any other sort of association. For days you will feel good and the memories of that party will be cherished for years to come.

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I have talked with many people that watched the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony on television. Most said it was beautiful and they were proud with the show that the organisers put on stage. Also friends abroad sounded very positive about yesterday’s event. But I can tell you: what you saw on television was nothing compared with the great mood in Maracanã, something that television could not capture.

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Being at the stadium was like having fun at a great party. The public was completely taken by the warmth and beauty of the show. It spoke directly to the heart of those present. It is amazing how well the songs were chosen, how much Brazilians could feel empathy by what was going on and how pleased we were with the full picture. Foreigners were maybe half of the public. They simply joined in and had a great time.

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Sometimes I think it was a blessing that the organisers were very short of money for this ceremony. They were forced to be creative and their criativity became beauty. The whole ceremony was in fact super simple, and simplicity made a huge impact. In one word, we could show the best of ourselves to the rest of the world. How fantastic that we didn’t miss this opportunity.

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Ecology, diversity, music, beauty, the capacity to celebrate life. This is the best face of Brazil, one that we can all be very proud about. Brazil could be a great country, it is up to Brazilians to make it happen.

Wish you enjoy the Games!

Maurício

TAWOMG - Rio 2016 - The Olympic Boulevard

Dear Friends,

Today the Olympic Boulevard at the port area was at last opened to the public. The two extremes of it, from Praça XV to Museu Nacional on one side, and from Praça Mauá to the aquarium on the other were already opened since a few weeks.  The part in the middle, including the new square in front of Candelaria Church, where the Olympic Flame will be, took a bit longer. In the photo you can see the works in the area two weeks ago.

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The Olympic Boulevard is one of the most beautiful olympic legacies to Rio de Janeiro. For a very long time cariocas have spoken about renovating the port area. The idea was to do something similar to what Buenos Aires did two decades ago in Puerto Madero. The difficulties were huge: there was no money, no political resolve and no consensus about the need or opportunity of doing it. All this changed with the Games.

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The port area had been a degraded, ugly and even dangerous area for decades. In the 1950s the municipality built an elevated highway, designed to easy the traffic between the southern and northern parts of the city. As a result, the city center was cut-off from the seaside and many historical buildings were hidden. It was a scar in the city center and the area around it decayed.

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Thanks to the Olympic project this elevated highway was removed and replaced by tunnels. A huge area in the city center was made available for new squares and gardens. In the port the warehouses were renovated and now will have new uses. Several historical buildings were or are being renovated and the visitors have plenty of choice what to visit.

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As a side effect, many streets around the Olympic Boulevard may also revive as a leisure area. In those there are plenty of buildings from the XIX century that were already renovated and now house bars, restaurants, shops or art galleries. From some it will be possible to see the Guanabara bay. There is less noise or pollution compared to the situation before and it became a very pleasant place to visit. The photo beside shows some restaurants on rua do Mercado.

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This is probably the most important urbanistic project in the city center since the beginning of the XX century, when Avenida Central (now Rio Branco) was opened, Castelo and Santo Antonio hills were flatenned and a huge area from downtown to Botafogo was claimed from the sea. If you are coming to Rio for the Games, don’t miss it, because there are many events happening there. If you come later, also don’t miss it. You’ll have the occasion to see Rio from a completely different and much more beautiful perspective

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Wish you enjoy the opening ceremony tonight. I’ll be in Maracanã stadium and tomorrow I’ll tell you my impressions about it.

Maurício

TAWOMG - A Few Facts About Rio

Dear Friends,

Rio is a city of  6,0 million inhabitants, in a metropolitan area of about 11,0 million. It is Brazil’s best kown visit card and Copacabana is a worldwide well recognised identity mark. Since the 1920s it is a top tourism destination, associated with good music, relaxed life, Brazilian hospitality and football. Since the 1980s it has been more and more associated with poverty, favelas, violence and drug traffic.

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But Rio is a lot more than that, and it might be useful for those visiting the city to know a few facts about it. From 1763 to 1960 it was the capital city of the Portuguese colony, the United Kindgdom of Portugal, Brazil and Algarve, the Brazilian Monarchy and the Brazilian Republic. There are many historical places that can be visited and that are of particular interest for those that like History.

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At the end of 1807 the Portuguese royal family fled the Napoleonic invasion and transferred the whole court to Rio, where they arrived in 1808. This was the first time ever that a ruling European monarch visited a colony; it was the only time in History that an American city was the capital of an European Kingdom (from 1808 to 1821). It had a big impact in the development of both the city itself and Brazil in general.

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From 1808 to 1889 there was always a member of either the Portuguese Royal Family or the Brazilian Imperial Family residing there; in 1822 Brazil became independent of Portugal as an Empire, ruled by an Emperor, Pedro I, that was also heir to the Portuguese Kingdom (later Pedro IV of Portugal). Apart from the former British colonies that became independent but continued to have the English monarch as their head of state, it was one of the only three monarchies in the Americas, by far the longest living one (67 years, compared with 3 years in Mexico and 10 years in Haiti).

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During the XVIII century the discovery of gold in Minas Gerais resulted in an upsurge of ecnonomic activity in the southeast. Rio’s port became the most important one in the Americas for the slave trade. It is estimated that 700.000 Africans officialy entered the colony through this port; about the same amount of people were brought in unofficially. Rio is a key place in understanding the development of forced work and African heritage in Brazil.

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Rio was the biggest Brazilian city for 150 years (1800 to 1950); it was the political, economic and cultural center for most of that time; it was overtaken by São Paulo in economic importance during the XX century and in population by 1960. In cultural terms it is disputed whether and when it happened. Since the capital was transferred to Brasilia in 1960 it was in a long, soft and inexorable decline. It was a madness that the country let its best visit card go down for half a century.

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Now, since it was chosen to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, things started to change. 40 billion reais were invested in the city and it is in a better shape than at any other moment in at least 40 years. You can read more about these improvements in the next posts.

Wish you enjoy the rest of the week,

Maurício

TAWOMG - Rio 2016 - The Opening Ceremony

Dear Friends,

On Sunday I was invited to the general rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony. In Rio the decision was made not to build an Olympic Stadium, but to use two of the existing ones for the event. The Opening and Closing Ceremonies will take place at Maracanã, the world famous football stadium. The athletics competition will take place at Engenhão.

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It is very easy to reach Maracanã by subway. On Sunday the stadium was half full. The subway ride was confortable and without any problem. As the stadium is used on a regular basis for football matches, there is a lot of experience how to deal with big masses going there and leaving from there.

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During the rehearsal we were asked many times not to take pictures or make videos, so that we don’t spoil the surprise. Unfortunately lots of people did not follow this recommendation.

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I was very worried about what I was going to see. I feared that once again the organisers would fall into the temptation to picture Brazil as a country of samba and football, or similar clichés. Brazil is much more than just samba and football, and I was gladly surprised with what I saw.

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I will not spoil the surprise and tell you how the Opening Ceremony will be. I can only say that it was simple, but very creative and beautiful. It explored Rio’s natural beauty to talk about ecology; it showed Brazil’s local and immigrant roots; it captured in a touching way Rio’s way of life and relationship with art, in particular music; and it was also about diversity. The choice of songs was particularly happy and I guess it will touch the feelings of people around the world, not only Brazilians. In one word, it is going to be a great show!

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The big surprise, that was not unveiled, is how the Olympic Flame will be lit. As there isn’t an Olympic Stadium, the decision was to have the Olympic Flame downtown, in front of Candelaria Church, on the Olympic Boulevard. It will be the first time that the flame is not in the stadium. Let’s see how they do it on Friday!

Wish you enjoy the Opening Ceremony,

Maurício

TAWOMG - Rio 2016

Dear Friends,

Last time that I posted an entry into this blog it was four years ago. The last phrase was “Wish you enjoy the next four years. And see you in Rio!” At that time I had no idea that for four years I wouldn’t come back to the AWOMG, but so it was. More than an open invitation, “see you in Rio” was an anticipation of things to come.

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But then, four years later, here we are, in Rio. I have arrived one month ago and during these weeks I have not only visited friends, but also visited the city and followed up how it was being prepared for the big event starting on Friday!

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I have to admit that before leaving Barcelona I was rather worried. I was not sure that all would be ready on time. I also feared that the organisation could be rather poor. Would Rio be a failure after the London Games, like Atlanta was a failure after Barcelona?

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One month later, I can say that I have no more fears. For one month I have been going around, taking buses and subway, walking on the streets day and night and going into formerly dangerous areas, doing all kinds of things that visitors might do during their stay in Rio. I can say that I am very impressed! The city is prepared. I quote the major in one of the few smart statements that he has made to press recently: “Rio is not like London or New York, it is a developping country city”, so don’t expect first world services. However, all will be fine.

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I am pretty convinced that most people that come to Rio for the Olympics and Paralympics will have a great time. The city, its people, the volunteers and all those working during these days will be there to help make it happen. Now it is up to the athletes to deliver the great show we all expect.

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My intention is to write short, daily entries into the blog. Hope I can bring you some useful information and a bit of the local flair.

Wish you enjoy the games,

Maurício