I always knew that my father lived in Brazil; BUT it was only in my twenties that my full sister Johanna called her father to discover we had two sisters from another mother; Jacqueline and Cibele. Though we had both visited Brazil before, this visit marked a historic occasion; all four sister together for the first time.
Not only do we have sisters, but an aunt and uncle, cousins, 2nd cousins, nieces and a nephew too; as well as brothers in laws and well what is the kinship term for the wife of my cousin? It was a pleasure to see all of them, learn more about things we share; genetic connections? This trip was less a discovery of one of the world's biggest cities than getting to know La Familia Rocco.
Most days we leave the Pousada Dona Zilah on Alemeda Franca in Jardim Paulista and head up to Avenida Paulista to catch the 669-10 bus to Santo Amaro, where almost all the Rocco clan has lived for at least a generation. The aroma of garlic pervades the Jardim Paulista neighbourhood as restauranteurs prepare for the lunch crowds. The bus rumbles its way up Avenida Paulista, down Santos, up Brigadeiro, past the push- pull monument (Monumento as Bandeiras), commemorating the pioneers of the Brazilian interior, one of whom is the ancestor of my brother in-law Marcelo. Our bus goes along past Parque Ibirapuera (Sao Paulo's central park) and finally we travel along Santo Amaro Avenue for a long time and three stops after the giant we arrive at my father's house.
Santo Amaro used to be a small town unto itself. I imagine what it much have been like for my mother to live with an extended Italian family in a huge house, not speaking portuguese in 1956? But today Sao Paulo has exploded outside of itself to absorb all the communities around. Our explorations have really only familiarized us with a tiny rectangle of this huge metropolis.
We usually arrive in Santo Amaro just in time for lunch. Frank's house (or uncle Frank as he likes the extended family to refer to him) is filled with paintings by my Brazilian sisters' mother Dalva. Dalva died in 2000 shortly before our first visit here, so we never had the opportunity to meet her. I really like this one...
Cibele confided that her mother had once told her that if she was not around Frank would turn every room of the house into an office and sure enough with 3 or 4 desks covered with papers, atlases, dictionaries, office supplies and clocks one could certainly sit down anywhere and begin work. Frank took great pleasure , while surrounded by his not so silent daughters and grand-daughters, in insisting he was the "boss". He certainly had enough pens to employ an army of scribes.
Communication is easy, every member of my family speaks English fluently. They have gone well beyond the first phrase that all Brazilian English students learn: "The Book is on the Table" less useful as a conversation opener than the first phrase Turkish English students learn : "Welcome to Turkey".
Not only do the Roccos speak English , but Frank, Cibele, Ricardo and their daughters Juliana and Beatriz relish discussions about the past perfect continuous and the passive voice; who knew we had to come to Brazil to learn English grammar. We enjoyed teaching some slang, discussing nuances, turns of phrases, plus exchanging Portuguese and English sayings. My Portuguese consists of "Nao Falo Portugues" an opening to launch into Spanish. This approach did get me by and eventually I could score very well in translate this Portuguese phrase game with Beatriz and Juliana.
Spring in Sao Paulo, on the Tropic of Capricorn , which passes right through Sao Paulo and Ubatuba (the beach town we visited) made for very hot and humid times only relieved by thunder (trovao) and lightening (relampago) storms with remarkably, heavy, steady rain that would flood the streets. (And, in case we forgot that we were in the southern hemisphere water does run down the drains the opposite way.) To escape the heat and the downpours we often visited the shoppings (Brazilian name for mall) to appreciate the climate controlled conditions. Yvonne was in search of Brazilian brand runners, non-existent since Brazilians favor US brands. Sidewalk, an Australian store, was where I found sensible sandals and where Cibele made the observation that my sandals would "take your life away". Though not commenting on the price of the shoes but their durability her saying is one we will continue to use. It expresses much more than "last a lifetime".
Our favorite meal in Sao Paulo had to be at Sujinho (translated as the little dirty bar) where the steaks, coleslaw, farofa , polenta fries, onions were plentiful and perfect. Other notable food was the feijoada and tasty deserts that Jacqueline prepared for us, the pao de queijo (cheese buns) and the pastels from the market, my favorite being the bacalhau (cod) and palmito (palm hearts). Tete, Maria Teresa invited us to her little house that serves as a counseling office, so beautifully decorated with such a lovely garden. There we discovered aqua de coco, which became Johanna's drink of choice. And for the love of hot sauce; we are hoping that Cibele will bottle her amazing red one and even hotter white one. Perhaps for export?
Sujinho was located right next to the Cemiterio da Consolacao, reputed to be filled with works by renowned sculptors, but the family vote favoured a visit to the planetarium to see the sky of the southern hemisphere. Marcelo said that I should save my visit to the cemetery for my "last days".
We were invited to Roberto (my Father's brother) and Magdalena's house for lunch one day where the mystery of our futile search for Rocco's in Sapri was solved. The family tree revealed that it was one of my great ancestors Rosin Tafury who was born in Sapri in 1873. She came to Sao Paulo and in 1892 married Joao Pires Oliveira Dias in Rio Claro, Brazil and from their union springs La Familia Rocco.
Magdalena , the family matriarch who gave us a warm welcome, delicious lunch and showed photos of the whole family going back many years portraying young parents and grandparents and our Brazilian sisters as youths.
You cannot be in Sao Paulo without hearing about, talking about and experiencing the traffic. It is a constant topic and the excuse for every late arrival. Cars rule! Being in the traffic, whether in a car or on the bus allows you to see the incredible graffiti which covers almost every available surface of the city. It is easy to believe that Sao Paulo is the world's graffiti capital. There is the strictly black lines, cave painting style and the colourful street art variety. The city's current mayor Kassab held a high profile Cidade Limpa (clean city) initiative where he mistakenly got rid of some works by famous artists but at the same time he made a law to remove all billboards from the city (including the golden arches). This move revealed Sao Paulo's unique architecture, hidden for years, and also makes the graffiti canvass more visible.
We visited the famous graffiti lane, Batman Alley, in Vila Madalena with Marta, my second cousin, a young lawyer who works with refuges. We had never met Marta before, since the last time we visited she was in California studying and all we really knew abut her was that she was an avid X-files fan. Marta told us about intellectual property while comparing downloading notes with Yvonne and made us all fans of Geena Davies as US president so now before making major decisions we will ask: "What would Geena do?"
Beto's, Marta's father (my cousin) is a jazz drummer who plays with a number of fantastic piano players and we had the opportunity to see him perform with Bossa a Beca twice. The family sing-a-long revealed that Cibele and the girls are also wonderful singers, players and along with Johanna's ukulele songs we could have had a great talent show, but sadly we had no time for that.
We finally got to use the metro when we went to the bus depot and off to Ubatuba to stay with Beto, Regina, Marta and Luciano at a beautiful beach house built by Regina's father at Praia Vermelho (Red Beach). A true tropical experience, so wet and humid that I felt that vegetation would soon start emerging from my skin. We swam , visited with sea turtles, Johanna discovered kayaking and we enjoyed our daily dose of Caipirinhas.
Without even knowing our propensity for going to the racetrack; Jacqueline took us to to the Jockey Club a beautiful vantage point from which to gaze onto the city. Even though you cannot bet to show here, we were all winners.
It had been a long time since I had seen even my Canadian sister and nine years since our last visit. Juliana and Beatriz were very young and Gabriel was not even born! It was a great "getting to know you" time. We will remember the voices of our relations saying "Tudo Bem" the universal greeting of Brazil.
Even though we never made it to Casa das Pedras, with, (yes Marta) the "panoramic view of the favela"; and we did not go to Ilha Bela to see Rosina and Donald; or test the square pizza to see if there is truth in the claim that Sao Paulo's pizza rivals Naples; or eat at any of those beautiful lanchonetes; we did learn many family secrets, yet no one gave us the recipe to the famous Rocco spaghetti sauce. Please someone send at your earliest convenience so we can cook it in Canada.
3 comments:
Well done Rachel.
Donna Rucci was the person who told me. She was my first contact the very first time when I travelled to Brasil.
She picked me up at the airport and took me to a mall restaurant for a beer. She was the type who hisses to get attention. Directly after her first sip she let it out. "You have two seesters," just like that, seesters. " I have two sisters?" Two. Sisters. I have no idea about anything else that was said. All I wanted to do was meet my father and my two sisters.
That's exactly how and when I found out.
Wit regard to the call; I made the first telephone call to Francisco around 1980 on a whim testing directory assistance Sao Paulo. Frank answered. We knew who we both were, and that's as far as it got. The line went dead.
Following that incident Cibele and Jacqueline were told about us... Hey. They knew about us before we knew about them.
And a little after that I showed up in their driveway with Donna Rucci.
They were expecting me.
Dalva had made tongue and that meal that first meal with Cebele, Jacqueline Francisco and Dalva goes into the best meals ever file.
BTW has anyone called Ellen :-?
Oh! What a cute dog!!
:P
Loved the post. It was great to meet you! I really hope that you come back soon! I miss you already!
I have to tell it! Apparently, Francisco is also hooked on Geena.
About the recipe, I will translate it and then send you, okay?
See ya!
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