Brazil 2024

First we counted our time in months, then weeks and days, and now it’s really down to hours. We will leave late Tuesday night, putting us home on Wednesday afternoon. It’s all ending very soon now, saying our final goodbyes to the many friends we’ve made here, going to favorite restaurants, taking in the last few museums we hadn’t gotten to yet—all realizing that this could be a last trip to Brazil.    It was also the winding up scene of the Vilazinha de Belém. The size of the crowds continues to amaze. In the United States, Christmas is mostly swept away within a day or two of December 25, but here it continues into January, probably following the liturgical calendar and the 12 days of Christmas, which start on Christmas Day and run through January 6, with the visit of the Magi. We're guessing that as long as the dazzling lights of the Vilazinha were left in place, we would see visitors here.   And how many visitors? Easily over 100,000 in 31 days, they say. We didn’t th...

We have really enjoyed seeing the fruits of the months of work we put into the Vilazinha here in São Paulo. Because of posts to various media outlets, Instagram, and who knows where else (that’s not our department), there have been record crowds to see the lights, the nativities, and hear the concerts. A large majority of the visitors are first-time visitors and they all seem to enjoy their time here. A lot of pictures, selfies, and videos are taken and then shared on social media. That’s probably how word has gotten out to so many people who then come themselves. We wondered how attendance at the Vilazinha would be post-Christmas. Not the overwhelming crowds of last week, but still a lot of people streaming in to see the lights and hear the music. We’re on a busy boulevard, and at night it looks like the Disneyland Main Street parade, so there is lots of curiosity, and the price is right (free!). How many people have come so far?  The current estimate to date is 83,000. ...