Snap Back To Reality...

To all those who may still be wondering, Brazil is incredible. If you have any doubts, I will referece the two previous entries from O Atrevido and O Chefao respectively. If you have doubts after that...well, you´re either out of your mind or that shitty Northeast weather has made you extremely bitter.
And although I will take a day in Brazil over any day anywhere else in a heartbeat, it was not until yesterday that we finally got a taste of the Brazilian reality that reminds you that even paradise has its uglier sides.
Yesterday we attended an epic futebol match between Sao Paulo and Palmeiras which Sao Paulo won 4-2. If you are not a fan of Brazilian soccer I would say find some way to watch it because if the playing alone doesn´t do it for you, the fans will. Never in my life have I been so emotionally and physically drained from an experience in which I was a spectator and on top of that, being a spectator entering the match favoring neither team.
Once you are there it is impossible not to get swept up by the emotion and the songs and the cursing at the ref, the other and team and the fans on the other side of the field. There´s nothing like screaming, calling the referee a ´filho da puta´until your voice is hoarse. And indeed, I am not sure there are many things in life that compare to going to a Brazilian soccer game, especially among two heavyweights like the one´s that we saw.

The post-game scene is absolute mayhem. I remember turning to O Chefao and commenting that this is what Carnaval must be like, because there are people everywhere that you look, completely packing the streets. Firecrackers are going off and there is all sorts of banter, undoubtedly about either how good the game was, how bad the game was, or which bar people are headed to celebrate/mourn the result. To add another element to this mayhem, there are tons of police in the streets, all in riot gear, all just watching. And waiting. Then it starts. In a crowd as big as this one, you can´t really tell where it starts, but suddenly some part of the crowd scatters. At first I didn´t understand what was going on, and then it happened about 10 feet in front of my face. Because the fans from each team are so are amped up, especially from all the banter, the logical next step is for it to continue in the streets. In an effort keep the fighting to a minimum, the police `tell´ (they´re not exactly making requests) people to take off their shirts if they are wearing paraphanelia from either of the teams. When people do not cooperate, they get the nightstick. Thus, 10 feet in front of my face, where the crowd has just scattered, is a man, wearing a Sao Paulo jersey, getting worked by two armored cops with nightsticks. No serious damage was done--the were catching the guy around the stomach, arms and back and he got away after about a dozen or so shots--but you can´t help thinking, especially coming spoiled by the **relative** protection of individual rights in the U.S., ´what the fuck is going on?´

It was incredibly shocking seeing this, but what´s more, walking further down the street you could see cop cars and buses, with police inside just itching to go to work on some people. Further up the street we saw a gang of cops, chasing down some fans who refused to take off the jerseys. I wish there was some way for me to better communicate the scene for all of you readers, because I feel that these words are falling short of putting you there.

But before this becomes a fuck the police entry, I´ll have to tell the rest of the story. About an hour after all of this transpired, we heard a commotion behind us and saw a group of about 60 macha verde (Palmeiras supporters) running down the street with bats, sticks, boards and rocks in their hands, looking for Independetes (Sao Paulo fans) to brawl. Unfortunately, as I understand it, all they found was more police, who, hungry for the fight, made them disperse and whooped up on that ass where they could.

For anyone who is reading, I would love to hear your thoughts on this. I´m not really coming across with any view, at least not intentionally--throughout out the night I went back and forth between whether the police action was justified (is it worth making a couple examples of people for the greater good of ensuring overall public safety?) or not and could not even really wrap my mind aroung the power of groupthink and the mentality of the mob--but I´d be interested to hear what you all think.

In addition, before I wrap up, there is this little matter of who is going to get ´relieved´first of their belongings. After four weeks in Sao Paulo, all three contenders have come out still in the race (O Chefao still debatably after the laptop debacle) but we need more input. After hanging with these dudes for this long, it has only reinforced my views on who´s getting jacked. The order is as follows: O Chefao first, obviously, followed by O Atrevido. If you disagree, I want to hear it. If you´ve got some sound reasoning, based on previous knowledge of these three gentlemen and you come with a good argument maybe i´ll concede, and you can have a cookie. or something.

Until next time, much Brazil love.

Tudo Bem-