Quando voce pensa em Nova Iorque, logo a imagem de uma cidade que tem tudo o que ha de mais moderno vem aa sua cabeca. Bem, pelo menos aa minha. Achava que os servicos daqui estavam anos-luz aa frente dos servicos oferecidos em paises de "terceiro mundo". Me enganei...
A coisa mais basica da telefonia celular, por exemplo, ainda eh motivo de campanhas publicitarias: cobertura. As operadoras fazem propaganda para falar que a tecnologia deles gera menos queda nas ligacoes. MENOS, mas o problema ainda existe. Em Kiev, eh possivel conversar no Metro e, em certos pontos, entre estacoes. Aqui, voce desce 10 degraus e ja nao tem mais sinal nenhum (vide foto). Eh muito engracado ver empresarios apressados perderem o trem por nao poderem descer para a estacao com medo que a ligacao caia. Ainda mais num pais de "primeiro mundo".
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When you think of New York, the first thing that comes to your mind is a city that has the latest developments in all areas. Well, at least to my mind. I thought that services here were way ahead of the services offered in "third world" countries. I was wrong...
The most basic thing a mobile phone company can offer, for example, is still subject of many advertising campaigns: coverage. The carriers advertise that their technology generate less dropped calls. LESS, but the problem is still there. In Kiev, it's possible to talk in any metro station and, in some parts, between stations. Here, you have no coverage after going down 10 steps (pic).
It's funny to see desperate businessmen losing their trains because they cannot go down to the platform without causing the call to drop. Moreover in a "first world" country.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Friday, November 24, 2006
Carnaval em plena Broadway.
Brazilian Carnival on Broadway.
Ontem foi feriado aqui: Dia de Acao de Gracas. Eh, provavelmente, o feriado mais importante nos EUA. Quase tao importante quanto o Carnaval para os brasileiros. Talvez por isso, sejam tao parecidos.
Como nao ia viajar, resolvi assistir aa famosa Parada da Macy's, que completou 80 anos em 2006. A parada eh a versao americana do Carnaval brasileiro. Alem da alegria, eh impressionante a semelhanca entre os dois: para (quase) tudo que existe no Carnaval, existe um primo (as vezes melhorado) na Parada do Dia de Acao de Gracas.
A primeira e mais obvia comparacao eh a presenca de carros alegoricos (foto). A diferenca entre os dois (alem das mulheres nuas) fica por parte da tracao. Ao inves de 6 sambistas subnutridos, uma pick-up enorme da GMC. Na Parada, obviamente nao ha Escolas de Samba, mas diversos Estados do pais mandam suas Bandas Marciais que equivalem aas Baterias. Detalhe: eles nao tem microfones e andam muito mais de 1 quilometro. A Parada, assim como o Carnaval tambem eh dividida em blocos. Apesar do numero de brasileiros aqui, nao tem nenhuma ala das Baianas. Para compensar, eles tem a ala das Cheerleaders. Outra semelhanca: aqui tambem tem uma dupla que passa entre os blocos. So que, ao inves do mestre-sala e da porta-bandeira, eh o mestre-lata e o porta-vassoura (uma dupla de lixeiros que vai limpando a rua durante o espetaculo). Nem mesmo os bonecos de Olinda escaparam. Diversos icones da historia americana tambem apareceram representados por bonecos com cabecas completamente desproporcionais. A unica coisa que soh tem aqui sao os baloes. De quando em quando passa um balao gigante de algum personagem famoso (Bob Esponja, Scooby-Doo, Pikachu, Sr. Cabeca de Batata, etc.), seguro por um monte de cabos nas maos dos participantes.
Apesar de nao ter o suingue do Samba, uma coisa da Parada serve de exemplo para o Carnaval no Brasil: eh uma festa realmente para o povo. Nao se cobra entrada dos espectadores e ninguem tem que usar camiseta da Budweiser para ser aceito no camarote. Ate porque nao existe camarote.
Tem foto de tudo isso no Flickr.
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Yesterday was holiday here: Thanksgiving. It is probably the most important holiday in the US. It's almost as important as Carnival for Brazilians. Maybe that explains the many similarities between them.
Since I wasn't going to travel, I decided to watch the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, now on its 80th edition. The Parade is the American version of the Brazilian Carnival. Besides all the joy, it's amazing how similar they are: for (almost) everything you see in Carnival there's a (sometimes better) substitute in the Parade.
The first and most obvious comparison is the presence of Parade Floats (picture). The only difference between them (besides the naked women) is the traction. Instead of 6 undernourished samba dancers, a huge GMC truck. At the Parade you obviously won't find any Samba Schools, but many States send in their Marching Bands that equal the Baterias (drumming segments responsible for the rhythm). AND they have no microphones and walk much more than 0.6 miles. The Parade, just like Carnival, is divided in groups. Despite the number of Brazilian immigrants, there's no group of Baianas (Brazilian women famous for their dancing and clothing style). To compensate, they have groups of Cheerleaders. Yet another similarity: here there's also 2 people performing between the groups. Instead of the Mestre-Sala and the Porta-Bandeira (couple reponsible for bearing the flag of the Samba School), a couple of garbagemen cleaning the streets. Not even the Dolls of Olinda (famous for their huge heads) were forgotten. Many of the Historic Leaders of this country were represented by dolls with humungous heads. The only thing that you can find only here are the balloons. Every now and then, a huge inflatable balloon of a famous character (Sponge Bob, Scooby-Doo, Pikachu, Mr. Potato Head, etc.) will fly by, held by cables by a crowd.
Although they don't have the swing of Samba, the Parade has a characteristic that should pose as an example for Carnival in Brazil: it's definitely a show for the masses. There are tickets needed to watch it and no special Budweiser t-shirt needed to access the VIP area (in Brazil, the main beer factories build VIP areas and demand people to wear a specific t-shirt). But that's because there's no VIP area.
You can find pictures of all of the above at Flickr.
Como nao ia viajar, resolvi assistir aa famosa Parada da Macy's, que completou 80 anos em 2006. A parada eh a versao americana do Carnaval brasileiro. Alem da alegria, eh impressionante a semelhanca entre os dois: para (quase) tudo que existe no Carnaval, existe um primo (as vezes melhorado) na Parada do Dia de Acao de Gracas.
A primeira e mais obvia comparacao eh a presenca de carros alegoricos (foto). A diferenca entre os dois (alem das mulheres nuas) fica por parte da tracao. Ao inves de 6 sambistas subnutridos, uma pick-up enorme da GMC. Na Parada, obviamente nao ha Escolas de Samba, mas diversos Estados do pais mandam suas Bandas Marciais que equivalem aas Baterias. Detalhe: eles nao tem microfones e andam muito mais de 1 quilometro. A Parada, assim como o Carnaval tambem eh dividida em blocos. Apesar do numero de brasileiros aqui, nao tem nenhuma ala das Baianas. Para compensar, eles tem a ala das Cheerleaders. Outra semelhanca: aqui tambem tem uma dupla que passa entre os blocos. So que, ao inves do mestre-sala e da porta-bandeira, eh o mestre-lata e o porta-vassoura (uma dupla de lixeiros que vai limpando a rua durante o espetaculo). Nem mesmo os bonecos de Olinda escaparam. Diversos icones da historia americana tambem apareceram representados por bonecos com cabecas completamente desproporcionais. A unica coisa que soh tem aqui sao os baloes. De quando em quando passa um balao gigante de algum personagem famoso (Bob Esponja, Scooby-Doo, Pikachu, Sr. Cabeca de Batata, etc.), seguro por um monte de cabos nas maos dos participantes.
Apesar de nao ter o suingue do Samba, uma coisa da Parada serve de exemplo para o Carnaval no Brasil: eh uma festa realmente para o povo. Nao se cobra entrada dos espectadores e ninguem tem que usar camiseta da Budweiser para ser aceito no camarote. Ate porque nao existe camarote.
Tem foto de tudo isso no Flickr.
--------------------------------------------------
Yesterday was holiday here: Thanksgiving. It is probably the most important holiday in the US. It's almost as important as Carnival for Brazilians. Maybe that explains the many similarities between them.
Since I wasn't going to travel, I decided to watch the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, now on its 80th edition. The Parade is the American version of the Brazilian Carnival. Besides all the joy, it's amazing how similar they are: for (almost) everything you see in Carnival there's a (sometimes better) substitute in the Parade.
The first and most obvious comparison is the presence of Parade Floats (picture). The only difference between them (besides the naked women) is the traction. Instead of 6 undernourished samba dancers, a huge GMC truck. At the Parade you obviously won't find any Samba Schools, but many States send in their Marching Bands that equal the Baterias (drumming segments responsible for the rhythm). AND they have no microphones and walk much more than 0.6 miles. The Parade, just like Carnival, is divided in groups. Despite the number of Brazilian immigrants, there's no group of Baianas (Brazilian women famous for their dancing and clothing style). To compensate, they have groups of Cheerleaders. Yet another similarity: here there's also 2 people performing between the groups. Instead of the Mestre-Sala and the Porta-Bandeira (couple reponsible for bearing the flag of the Samba School), a couple of garbagemen cleaning the streets. Not even the Dolls of Olinda (famous for their huge heads) were forgotten. Many of the Historic Leaders of this country were represented by dolls with humungous heads. The only thing that you can find only here are the balloons. Every now and then, a huge inflatable balloon of a famous character (Sponge Bob, Scooby-Doo, Pikachu, Mr. Potato Head, etc.) will fly by, held by cables by a crowd.
Although they don't have the swing of Samba, the Parade has a characteristic that should pose as an example for Carnival in Brazil: it's definitely a show for the masses. There are tickets needed to watch it and no special Budweiser t-shirt needed to access the VIP area (in Brazil, the main beer factories build VIP areas and demand people to wear a specific t-shirt). But that's because there's no VIP area.
You can find pictures of all of the above at Flickr.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Horario? Anti-horario? Droga!
Clockwise? Counter clockwise? Damn it!
Se voce eh americano, esse post nao deve ter a menor graca. Nem o menor sentido. Mas para quem passou a vida abrindo portas no Brasil e na Ucrania vai me entender. Em NY, o sistema de abertura de portas eh invertido: fechadura em cima, macaneta embaixo. Parece um detalhe bobo, mas a rotacao da chave tambem muda.
Em outras palavras, toda vez que voce vai trancar ou destrancar uma porta, voce tem que fazer uma pausa ou optar pela tecnica do acerto-erro. Ou seja, na sua cabeca voce pensa: para abrir eu fecho, para fechar eu abro. So que na hora, sua mao meio que ja sabe qual eh o correto e voce acaba sempre ouvindo a trava bater do outro lado. Sinal que voce errou. De novo.
Mesmo depois de muita tentativa, ainda nao consegui desenvolver uma maneira de apagar do meu cerebro o "conhecimento" adquirido em 28 anos de pratica. Estou pensando em colocar um adesivo na porta...
Por falar em portas, hoje vi uma placa hilaria na academia. Eles tem varias portas para saida de emergencia. Em todas elas existe uma trava alarme, que toca assim que a porta eh aberta. Hoje olhei mais de perto e vi que eles tem todas as informacoes em braile na porta. Deve ser uma questao de Lei Municipal, mas achar que algum cego vai ter tempo de ler as intrucoes numa emergencia antes de ser atropelado pela multidao eh querer demais. Ainda bem que tem o alarme para eles se guiarem, vale pelo sininho que tem na bola de futebol para cegos.
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If you're American, this post is not funny. And probably doesn't make any sense. But those who spent their whole lives opening doors in Brazil and Ukraine will understand me. In NY, the door locks are upside down: keyhole on top, doorknob on the bottom. It may seem like a stupid detail, but the key rotation also changes.
In other words, every time you're about to lock or unlock the door, you have to pause or choose to use the trial-error method. That means you have to think like this: to open, I lock. To lock, I open. But when you're about to turn the key, somehow your hand knows the right way and you hear the clinging noise of the lock behind the door. That means you're wrong. Again.
Even after extensive practice, I haven't been able to come up with a way to erase the "knowledge" obtained in 28 years of experience. I'm thinking about putting a sticker on the door...
Speaking of doors, today I saw a hilarious sign at the gym. They have lots of doors to be used as emergency exits. On all of them they put a device that triggers an alarm when the door is open. Today, I looked closer at the sign and noticed that all the information is also written in Braille. It must be some City Law, but to think that a blind man will have time to read the instructions in an emergency before the crowd has run over him is too much. At least it has the alarm to guide them, like the small bell they put inside the ball for blind people who play football.
Em outras palavras, toda vez que voce vai trancar ou destrancar uma porta, voce tem que fazer uma pausa ou optar pela tecnica do acerto-erro. Ou seja, na sua cabeca voce pensa: para abrir eu fecho, para fechar eu abro. So que na hora, sua mao meio que ja sabe qual eh o correto e voce acaba sempre ouvindo a trava bater do outro lado. Sinal que voce errou. De novo.
Mesmo depois de muita tentativa, ainda nao consegui desenvolver uma maneira de apagar do meu cerebro o "conhecimento" adquirido em 28 anos de pratica. Estou pensando em colocar um adesivo na porta...
Por falar em portas, hoje vi uma placa hilaria na academia. Eles tem varias portas para saida de emergencia. Em todas elas existe uma trava alarme, que toca assim que a porta eh aberta. Hoje olhei mais de perto e vi que eles tem todas as informacoes em braile na porta. Deve ser uma questao de Lei Municipal, mas achar que algum cego vai ter tempo de ler as intrucoes numa emergencia antes de ser atropelado pela multidao eh querer demais. Ainda bem que tem o alarme para eles se guiarem, vale pelo sininho que tem na bola de futebol para cegos.
--------------------------------------------------
If you're American, this post is not funny. And probably doesn't make any sense. But those who spent their whole lives opening doors in Brazil and Ukraine will understand me. In NY, the door locks are upside down: keyhole on top, doorknob on the bottom. It may seem like a stupid detail, but the key rotation also changes.
In other words, every time you're about to lock or unlock the door, you have to pause or choose to use the trial-error method. That means you have to think like this: to open, I lock. To lock, I open. But when you're about to turn the key, somehow your hand knows the right way and you hear the clinging noise of the lock behind the door. That means you're wrong. Again.
Even after extensive practice, I haven't been able to come up with a way to erase the "knowledge" obtained in 28 years of experience. I'm thinking about putting a sticker on the door...
Speaking of doors, today I saw a hilarious sign at the gym. They have lots of doors to be used as emergency exits. On all of them they put a device that triggers an alarm when the door is open. Today, I looked closer at the sign and noticed that all the information is also written in Braille. It must be some City Law, but to think that a blind man will have time to read the instructions in an emergency before the crowd has run over him is too much. At least it has the alarm to guide them, like the small bell they put inside the ball for blind people who play football.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Pronto pra mais uma?
Ready for a new one?
Cheguei (de novo) aa NY. Terceira vez esse ano, mas dessa vez eh pra ficar. Ou tentar ficar. Cheguei em pleno Halloween, com as ruas abarrotadas de gente fantasiada. Do aeroporto ateh o centro da cidade foram 25 minutos (ninguem). Da saida do tunel ateh o ape, 30 minutos. Nao sabia que Halloween era tao grande em NY. Imaginei que era uma coisa mais tranquila, feita em cidades onde ainda existem casas e vizinhancas mais calmas. Quando perguntei onde as pessoas faziam o "Trick or Treat", me responderam que qualquer loja ou estabelecimento valia como casa.
Depois da primeira aventura, era hora de achar "minha casa". Aluguei o apartamento mais barato de Manhattan aas cegas. Para minha surpresa, consegui um apartamento a uma quadra do Metro, num super bairro e recentemente reformado. Nem eu acreditei na minha sorte. Mas soh por comparacao, queria deixar claro que eu pago uma vez e meia o que eu pagava em Kiev num ape que eh metade (ou menos) do que o meu anterior.
Estava um pouco reticente quanto a escrever um blog em NY, achando que tudo que tem aqui tem ai, mas ja notei varias diferencas. Nao sei quanto tempo vou ficar (Visto, trabalho, etc.), mas vou postar o que vejo enquanto isso. Nao se preocupe, o que voce vai ver aqui, ninguem escreveu antes. Sera?
E welcome to America.
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Once again, I'm in NY. Third time this year, but now it's for good. At least, that's what I'll try. I arrived exactly on Halloween, with streets packed of people in costumes. The ride from the airport to Manhattan took me only 25 minutes (empty roads). From the tunnel to my apartment, 30 minutes. I didn't know that Halloween was such a big event in NY. I thought it was only celebrated in cities where you still have houses and quieter neighborhoods. When I asked the cab driver how Trick and Treat was done, he told me that any shop or establishment would do.
After the first adventure, it was time to find "my home". I had rented the cheapest apartment in Manhattan without even looking at it. To my surprise, I got an apartment that had been recently renewed, one block from the nearest subway station, in a very nice neighborhood. I couldn't believe my luck. Of course, I must admit that I paid one and a half times the rent I used to pay in Kiev for an apartment that's half (or less) the size.
I was a bit reticent about writing a blog in NY, thinking that there would be nothing interesting to talk about, but after a few weeks I changed my mind. I don't know yet if I'll make it here (VISA, work, etc.), but in the meantime I'll post what I see. Don't worry for what you see here is all new. Or is it?
And welcome to America.
Depois da primeira aventura, era hora de achar "minha casa". Aluguei o apartamento mais barato de Manhattan aas cegas. Para minha surpresa, consegui um apartamento a uma quadra do Metro, num super bairro e recentemente reformado. Nem eu acreditei na minha sorte. Mas soh por comparacao, queria deixar claro que eu pago uma vez e meia o que eu pagava em Kiev num ape que eh metade (ou menos) do que o meu anterior.
Estava um pouco reticente quanto a escrever um blog em NY, achando que tudo que tem aqui tem ai, mas ja notei varias diferencas. Nao sei quanto tempo vou ficar (Visto, trabalho, etc.), mas vou postar o que vejo enquanto isso. Nao se preocupe, o que voce vai ver aqui, ninguem escreveu antes. Sera?
E welcome to America.
--------------------------------------------------
Once again, I'm in NY. Third time this year, but now it's for good. At least, that's what I'll try. I arrived exactly on Halloween, with streets packed of people in costumes. The ride from the airport to Manhattan took me only 25 minutes (empty roads). From the tunnel to my apartment, 30 minutes. I didn't know that Halloween was such a big event in NY. I thought it was only celebrated in cities where you still have houses and quieter neighborhoods. When I asked the cab driver how Trick and Treat was done, he told me that any shop or establishment would do.
After the first adventure, it was time to find "my home". I had rented the cheapest apartment in Manhattan without even looking at it. To my surprise, I got an apartment that had been recently renewed, one block from the nearest subway station, in a very nice neighborhood. I couldn't believe my luck. Of course, I must admit that I paid one and a half times the rent I used to pay in Kiev for an apartment that's half (or less) the size.
I was a bit reticent about writing a blog in NY, thinking that there would be nothing interesting to talk about, but after a few weeks I changed my mind. I don't know yet if I'll make it here (VISA, work, etc.), but in the meantime I'll post what I see. Don't worry for what you see here is all new. Or is it?
And welcome to America.
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