Toronto SuX!

I travel the world and love multi culturalism, I like cities, diversity, night life, cafes and the idea of after work drinks with colleagues. So on my quest for a job and giving Canada a chance I thought I would also give Toronto a chance. I moved there after I finished college in 2003 but after three months returned to my hometown with my tail between my legs, I was devastated I didn’t make it in the big city. That was eight years ago so I thought perhaps the reason was because it was my first time away from home and I was young.

I conjured up images of myself with a job downtown walking down Young Street with my Skirt from Colombia, my scarf from Bolivia and my vintage brown leather boots from Buenos Aires. I would shop in China town then head over to Kensington market to browse then buy a bottle of wine before retreating to my chic apartment with my new best gay guy friend. I would be Carrie Bradshaw of Toronto with an exciting nightlife and coffee shops where everyone knows me. I could live in Toronto even though I wouldn’t be able to travel as much but at least I would be cool in Toronto.

With high hopes and my vintage books I took a bus to the National job fair at the Metro Convention centre. Reality blasted me in the face as I got off, it was either that or the freezing cold winds coming off the lake. It was blistering cold. The tall grey buildings of Toronto loomed over me reaching up the grey smoggy sky. I was along Front Street near the CN tower and the Sky Dome to the Convention centre passing hot dog vendors Memories of when I used to live here came flooding back, hot dogs were my Friday treat myself to lunch meal but they had gone up in price from $2.00 to $3.00. How pathetic was I?Right I was making $10.30 an hour, I was very pathetic.

I was shocked to find I had to pay $5.00 to enter the job fair, $5.00! The unemployed has to pay to look for a job this is ridiculous people are making money off my lack of money. I had an open mind though I was going to discover new and exciting opportunities and be inspired.

That wasn’t so much the case. After 10 minutes of walking around all I found were job recruitment agencies, the police force, fire fighters, a new American clothing store called Express, Sun Life Financial, TESOL to teach abroad and lots of immigrant services. Being born in Canada I felt out of place. I felt like people were looking at me wondering why I was there. I thought I would make the most out of my $5 so I stood in line to get my resume critiqued I overheard a Caribbean lady complaining about the lack of jobs in a job fair, “That’s right sista!” I wanted to shout. I gave up on the job fair and made friends with a Scottish girl and decided to walk around with her and explain what the different companies were. She went off to talk to immigrant services and I ditched my quest for the good life in Toronto for free pens and lip gloss.

Now I am about to generalize so don’t get all offended on me but this is my blog and my opinion. Toronto sucks! Sure you have multi culturalism but everyone lives in Immigrant neighbourhoods that are segregated unless you live downtown but then you are pretty well off because you can afford downtown so you’re a little different yourself. You have night life every night of the week but the damn city is so spread out and well the subway isn’t cheap at $3 a ride, if you walk its only bearable five months out of the year.

It’s a corporate world, people are there for business and climbing the ladder, they take their one week vacation in Punta Cana and arrive back in time for the 9:00am meeting. Yawn! Torontonians are slightly uptight and a bit up their arses. I was at a birthday dinner with 17 people and I’m not an alcoholic by any means but the table was still bare of drinks when we had finished out starters and were onto order our mains. I was puzzled, "was this restaurant not licensed?" I asked this out loud and the girl in front of me said oh no here is the drink menu. "Thank god!" I thought I had had been reading the wrong menu. I guess everyone else had been as well, aren’t we all silly. I made a comment to the same girl that I felt a bit naked out to dinner without a glass of wine to accompany my food. She looked at me like I was from another planet. I carried on, “You know usually when there is this many people you would see a few bottles on the table especially if it’s a birthday.” She looked offended and just looked at me straight face and said, “Um it’s not like that here.”

Ah! Ok so not all of Canada is like this I know I mean in Montreal this would be the norm. Damn French Canadians why do they have to be so cool and why do they have to speak French! It’s like they are the cool kids but I can’t play because I don’t speak their language so I am stuck with these English nerds of Toronto. Let me be cool too! That’s right you hippies in BC know what I am talking about, you are cool too! as well as the cowboys in Calgary, the laidback farmers in the Prairies, The islanders out east and the maritime folk.

I remembered why I left Toronto; it wasn’t because I was a small city girl who couldn’t hack it in the big city. It just really wasn’t my style. In a city that wears back pea coats and power suits I just don’t fit in with my colour and flair. I want night life and diversity but I don’t want to be the token white girl in an all one race community, I want to be amongst my friends who are Canadians; being Black, Latino, and Brown, gay, purple what have you. I want to work but still be able to afford to travel and go out to restaurants. I want to have my cake and eat it too! I want wine with my meal! I’m taking my Argentina vintage boots and my neon green top and my bright Brazilian flower necklace somewhere else.

Getting you caught up for the next trip

Alright blog fans and my lovely friends who actually read this, I know I have tried to catch up on my blog. I thought I would be able to all summer and I did try every now and then but as I am packing at 2am getting ready to leave for the UK I am thinking this just isn't going to happen.

I will add posts about Brazil, I have to it was so amazing I need to tell the stories but I really do want to get back on with the writing and it would be nice to post in real time. I have written some posts over the summer so I am going to quickly bring you up to March 2011 then I am going to bombard you with postings and get you caught up to now. So when I am whittling away the hours at the airport and on my planes and trains I can tell you my amazing, funny and awe inspiring stories!

"ha ha yeah right." you say, "We would all like to see you get off your lazy arse and write some."
I have faith in myself this time!

Ok so in my postings I was writing about how polticially incorrect Brazil is and how it really isn't so bad.

After that we went to Rio spend two weeks there for free (wait for the posting will explain more about that later) and studied portuguese. We hung out on the beach a lot and did some sight seeing but enjoyed living in Jardem Botanico.

We took a trip to Ilha Grande then a flight up tp Salvador. Salvador we found was a bit sketchy. We then went to the most beautiful places in Brazil!! Itacare, Boipeba and Moros de Sao Paulo. If anyone tells you Florianopolis is beautiful and a fun place to party than obviously they haven't been to these amazing beaches. On a Tracy scale of awesome (1-10)they get a 20!!!!

Then it was time for carnaval so we headed away from the crowds of Rio and Salvador and went to Recife and it was F*%@ing amazing!!! I reccommend Recife Carnaval to anyone! It was the Shiz Nazz! We stayed in a house of 40 people and whoah do I have some funny storeis about that place.So please stayed tuned I will eventually fill you in on all that fun, I promise!

So that brings us to the end of Brazil. I took a flight back to Canada (what was I thinking?!?) and Tracy got a flight to Colombia. Biggest regret of my life. She flew in right in time for a Shakira concert (my idol).

Alright get ready for some blog ready folks!!

The correctness of being politically incorrect.

After our mad weekend on the coast we crashed on our Brazilian friend’s Sao Paulo apartment couch exhausted and depleted while he worked. We spent hours watching TV that we didn’t understand and making up translations for news stories. After the news, the channel flipped to a cooking show.The Chef demonstrated how to make a traditional Brazilian dish that made The Other Tracy want to vomit. So began her love of gooey Brazilian cuisine. After the chef was finished he went on to advise us what he will be making on the next day’s show. He pulled back his eyes making them squinty and said amanha vamos a tenhar comida china (Tomorrow we are going to have Chinese Food). Tracy and I just looked at each other in shocked and laughed our asses off. If someone on TV in our countries did that they would be fired right on the spot. That would be very offensive to the Chinese community and so so politically incorrect.

We later saw many more examples of this such as our favourite restaurant (to laugh at) China in Box or as the advert says, “Chinaaaaaaaaaaaaa in Box!” in a horrible Chinese accent.

This was all quite shocking to us but at the same time when the Brazilians we were with called a Japanese Brazilian girl Japa Brazilian she didn’t seem to mind.

I have noticed this before in Latin American countries such Peru; anyone who is white is gringo, if you are Asian of any sort you are Chino and if you are from anywhere in Latin America you are Latino. I met a Japanese Peruvian and everyone just calls him Chino and he is clearly not Chinese. The thing is though no one really minds and they aren’t making fun of each other. It’s also like in Mexico if you have a friend that is fat, you call her Gordita (little fatty). It’s a form of endearment not offensive. I have never seen a Mexico woman complain when someone calls her Gordita and they do, from the women in the tiendas to friends and relatives.

It seems Latinos just say it how it is, you know the saying, "if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck....it must be a duck." But in our countries we seem to skip around this fact. For example my friend told me she was working with a guy in a restaurant who is black. The customers he was serving had forgotten something and was speaking to the manager trying to figure out who their servers was. They said he had brown hair, glasses, average height....hmmm could have been anyone there. Didn’t help they eventually saw the guy and pointed him out. What he wondered was why could they not have just said the black kid? He is obviously black and that would have distinguished him from the rest of the crowd.

We are so sensitive that it’s too much. Maybe we should reach a nice middle ground between us and the Latinos. Maybe not calling someone Japa or pretending to be Chinese on TV by pulling back your eyes but if someone is Chinese call them Chinese, if they are black, they are black.

I am white

I am a Gringa

I am female

And I am Canadian

Ghetto Love: The beaches of Sao Paulo

When one thinks of Sao Paulo you really do not think of beaches but we discovered less than an hour away from the bustling financial and fashion capital of Brazil and through numerous tunnels was the beautiful coast in the state of Sao Paulo. So the citizen of this city really do have it all, a fantastic night scene, good jobs and beaches to escape to on the weekends and that is just what we did. We took off with the other Tracy’s friend to his home beach town. We met his mother and sisters once we got there and his huge viscous dog. We dumped our bags put on our bikinis and headed straight for the beach.

Guaruja is actually situated on Santo Amaro Island and our friend believes he is an islander but it’s pretty close to the land, it’s really not much of an island but we will just go with it. His family was very friendly and his sisters so lovely. The beach was jam packed as they are in Brazil. We got a table amongst the crowds, not really my ideal sun bathing spot but for some reason an unending amount of free food and drinks were arriving at our table. I’m not one to pass up free food and especially not free drinks, the sun could wait. I munched on the most amazing overflowing plate of fried seafood the whole day while drinking back ice cold Brazilian beers and Caiphirinas. Life is good.

However Images of Armação came back to me. This city was glitzy and trendy with tourists from the city but there was still an air of ghetto very similar to Florianopolis. There was a distinct divide between the locals and the beach going city folk. Things were a bit rougher around the edges further back from the beach and there was a huge lack of education for the youngsters. Teenage pregnancy was prevalent. Contraception, responsibility and women’s right are not really taught.

After a long day on the beach we headed to a house party in a neighboring city called Santos. This is where it all went mad. The house was owned by a friend of our Brazilian friend and not too many people at this house…actually let’s say no one in this house spoke English. So for two days and two nights we never really knew what was going on, also we never knew the time. We arrived into drinking, partying, loud music, a constant pool party and BBQ. People slept when they passed out, drank from dawn till dusk and the blaring music from the car in the car park drowned out long after the last person collapsed into a comatose sleep. It was insane and crazy but pure amazing!

The other Tracy and I got over the lack of communication by getting inebriated. The only time we left that house for two days was a brief outing to the beachside with our ghetto kid friends. One girl actually took off a really nice top to go out and put on a bra top. This is kind of the opposite of what I would do when going downtown. We didn’t stay out too long and The other Tracy and I actually stayed in the car. The area was a bit rough with young hooligan kids drinking, dancing and picking fights. The others we were with got the feeling it wasn’t so safe either so we returned to the house to more blaring loud Katie Perry and Justin Bieber.

During those two days of craziness and even with our lack of Portuguese we ended up meeting some amazing people and making friends for life. These kids have done so well with themselves and they do have a fantastic group of friends. They are accepting of each other no matter background, gender, sexual orientation, appearance or families they come from. They showed us some Ghetto Love that I will always remember.

Leave Brazil right before Carnaval?? Were we crazy?

Was I falling for a city?? Of all places! Sao Paulo was something different than what I had expected and I was excited for the Antique market that was going to be full of hippies and gypsy Brazilian types that was to take place the next day but then The Other Tracy’s Brazilian friend had asked us to come to the Coast with him to him hometown. I am never one to say no to a random adventure with a local so I was all for it but first there was one thing we needed to take care of.

While on the beaches of Florianopolis Tracy joined me in my ridiculous jumping, dancing and splashing happiness that Brazil brought me. While jumping around like idiots in the ocean we both thought, why the heck are we leaving this country so soon?! I know we had just arrived but there was no way we could only stay until Feb 28! That would make it just five weeks in Brazil and we would be leaving right before Carnaval. This just did not make sense! Being in Brazil right around Carnaval and then leaving, what were we thinking?! Ok yes I know what we were thinking, it was going to be crazy expensive, commercial and with huge crowds. As well would it take away from the amazing Carnaval experience I had in Barranquilla Colombia last year?

Well the one thing we were certain on was we had to stay longer in Brazil! We decided to stay for Carnaval and thought perhaps not Rio. Rio is the big deal but we were looking for something a bit different, and Carnaval is all over Brazil, so we were bound to find one that was a fit for us.

At first I thought something was working against me staying in Brazil as nothing was going right at the Tam agency in Sao Paulo we went to, to change our flights. I was frustrated and withholding my bitchiness. Our Brazilian friend came to my rescue and drove us to the airport where they effortlessly change my flight with minimal cost. Apparently it wasn’t the universe against me, it was a stupid Tam agent with a unibrow who wanted to add me to facebook (Gross!).

It was official we were staying in Brazil for Carnaval. Two more months in Brazil....or should I stay longer??

The Taste of Brazil: Acai

There are so many reasons to travel; for history, for the weather, beautiful beaches, sports, cities, landscape. I travel because I want to know it all; I want to experience the entire culture, the fabric and being of a land. I want to see it, smell it, hear it and above all taste it.

Ask me about the food in Brazil, ask anyone about it and they will or at least should say;

“Acai! Acai! Acai!”

Pronounced (a, sa’i)

I had never heard of it before being in Brazil but apparently this little black purple berry is a hot commodity back home and it’s marketed as a super fruit that helps with weight loss and is packed with antioxidants. This I find strange, just as strange as how everyone back home pronounces it, as it is packed with sugar!

I was first introduced to Acai in Sao Paulo, my traveling partner "The Other Tracy" made plans to meet up with a Brazilian friend of hers that she met in Chile a few years back. He picked us up in his car and gave us of a tour of Sao Paulo’s alternative night scene before going to this out of the way fruit stall. It was quite large and busy with bright lights shining down on wooden tables in the middle of the night packed with people awaiting their orders of Acai…Acai?!? What the heck is Acai? We had yet to hear of this. Grace our third party in Florianopolis may have mentioned something but we didn’t pay much attention.

Then it came... in a heaping bowl, it was sort of like a bright purple sorbet made from a little berry called Acai that comes from the Amazon. You get a package of granola with it to sprinkle on top and slices of banana. There on that night in Sao Paulo started our addiction, our love and our passion for this most amazing Brazilian treat.

From that night on we knew what the rest of the world didn’t about this fruit. We knew what the vendors were doing when they would walk up and down the beaches in little Speedos yelling into a megaphone, “ Acai! Acai! Acai!” We knew the furry of a late night fruit stall. So no matter what the rest of the world is trying to market this fruit as here in Brazil it full of sugar, it is a meal replacement, it is a coffee replacement, it is an addiction, it is delicious, it is a smile on a hot day and it is Brazil.