Super chic part of the city called Pontão - a waterfront hangout

I think the mid-year seminar is held in Brasilia for a couple of reasons 1) It's the capital and seat of government of Brazil with a large part of the city being devoted to embassies and consulates 2) It's not usually on the list of places to visit in Brazil; had it not been for this seminar, I probably wouldn't have made it here.

President Dilmah's house - no fence or anything, just a moat

Brasilia is odd.  It feels like I am worlds away from Bahia and in a concrete, futuristic and eerily clean city in the middle of a dessert.  For some, Brasilia is a miracle and model of construction - it was built in only three years and officially made the capital in 1960.  Here, everything is super organized, meticulously planned and beautifully manicured.  Everything is arranged on a logical grid with names that appear like code to the unitiated: SDN/SDS, SBN/SBS, SMHN/SMHS . . . there's a lot of S's.  The government buearcrats herald the airplane-shaped city as a modern utopia and like to remind you that it's the only city in the world constructed in the 20th century to achieve World Cultural Heritage designation by Unesco.





For the rest of us,  Brasilia feels a bit contrived, soulless and lacking any real identity of its own.  When I told my students that I was going to Brasilia for a week the answer was usually, "Why?"  It's also not for those on a budget as there aren't really any hostels or guesthouses in town.  Food and drinks are ridiculously expensive and it's very hard to get around without your own car.  It's definitely a city for the affluent and not for the penniless backpacker.

Protestors on the lawn in front of congress - notice all the matching perfectly lined buildings on the side

Congress - under each dish is a different chamber

The main reason why tourists visit Brasilia is to check out the architecture.  Today, after a morning session about how to improve our second semester here and go out with a bang, we took a city tour.  The layout and architecture of the city of Brasilia was done entirely by urban planner Lúcio Costa and famous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer.  His buildings are unusual because they started to use curves in concrete.  Our tour guide called it "tropical modern architecture" and said that the design of the buildings helped keep them cool as well.

Cathedral of Brasila

Inside the cathedral

For me, the coolest buildings were by far the churches by Neimeyer and the two that we visited were each jaw-dropping in their own way.  The first one, the Cathedral of Brasilia, is half above the ground and half underground.  When standing underground the curve of the wall has amazing acoustics so that when you whisper along the wall someone can hear you all the way across the room.  The second church, the Sanctuary of Dom Bosco, had incredible stained glass windows that bathed everything in a calming blueish-purplish light.  Though spending the afternoon studying Brasilia’s architecture was fun and interesting, for much of the group the highlight of the day was an evening excursion to a giant food court in the mall.  After months of American/International culinary isolation and kilos of beans and rice, the rows upon rows of incredible gustatory choices were quite the feast to behold.

Dom Bosco Sanctuary

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