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Brazil: Curitiba - Not Like Everywhere Else

By Kyle W. Hedlund (www.gringoes.com)

Rio is an aging starlet with breast implants and dark roots. She still turns heads, but the make-up is applied quite thickly. São Paulo is a tough-looking guy in a bar. He has a blemished face and a scowl, but once you get to know him he smiles and buys you a drink. Salvador is the band. Commotion and the beat of a drum. Curitiba is the pretty girl sitting hopefully in the corner, ignored. The one always described with a but.

Curitiba can best be described as nice, with both the positive and negative implications of the word applying. Brazilians know it as their world-class example of urban order and livability. Former mayor Jaime Lerner famously pointed it in the right direction back in the 1970‘s. While the rest of the country, and indeed the world, was becoming more and more automobile-oriented, Curitiba managed to get people out of their cars and onto the busses and sidewalks. The result today is a pleasant "little" city of almost 2 million inhabitants.

My chief nemeses in São Paulo, namely pollution, crime, and lack of decent walking space, led me to spend a week wandering and studying Portuguese in Curitiba. The city doesn‘t make many tourist guide must-see lists, to be sure, but it is trying. It is attractive, but not beautiful. Well set-up for tourists, but without any outstanding draws. There is a definite sense that the local tourism board is spending money, but it can‘t be easy to manufacture a destination in a country that already has so many others.

Rio is a fancy restaurant with a dirty kitchen. São Paulo is a working-class lanchonete with plastic tables. Salvador is street vendor food, odd flavours and smells both enticing and repellent. Curitiba is the salad bar at a churrascaria.

A tourist bus plies a route around the city and environs, completing the 25-stop circuit in a little more than two hours (if you miss one bus, wait 30 minutes for the next). A R$15 ticket allows for 4 stops and reboardings, and leftover stubs can be carried over to other days (or resold?). I bought my ticket on board and was advised that the botanical gardens, Ópera de Arame, Tanguá Park, and the panoramic tower were the most popular points at which to disembark. Short, recorded descriptions of each stop are given in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. One bit of advice: Once you board, it will take more than 2 hours to make it back to your starting point. Plan accordingly.

Without the tourist bus, it is not difficult to hit individual attractions on your own using public transit. If you are in town just on business there are interesting sites, such as the Oscar Niemeyer museum and adjoining Bosque do Papa (Pope John Paul II forest and its Polish Memorial), a long walk or short bus ride from downtown. The city center itself is relatively small and easy to navigate, with a number of parks and pedestrian malls. The streets are straight, and there is ample sidewalk space. Idle strolling in Curitiba is not the chore it can be in São Paulo. To make it to everywhere in the guide, however, the R$15 tourist bus ticket is worth getting.

Rio is Catholic, encased in ornament and ritual. São Paulo is evangelical Christian, expectant and convinced. Salvador is, predictably, Candomblé; spirited and sensual. Curitiba is a cult, with free kool-aid for anyone.

My impression of Curitibans is that they are trying hard to convince the rest of the country that their city is "better" than São Paulo or Rio. Without these two mega-cities in relative proximity, it would be hard for some residents to define themselves. While looking enviously at their more cosmopolitan neighbours, they want to be acknowledged as being in more fortunate circumstances. They would undoubtedly hate for too many outsiders to actually move next door, but they want everyone to share their conviction that theirs is a better quality of life.

And they may be right. In many respects Curitiba is the best place to live in Brazil. Where the pessimist sees a lack of excitement, the optimist sees advantages of big city living without the crime, polluted air, and chaotic traffic. Walking is not considered a mode of transportation in São Paulo unless there are no affordable alternatives. Curitiba‘s wide sidewalks and obedient drivers make one‘s feet a viable commuting option. Why wouldn‘t a person want to raise a family here?

Rio plays bridge and sips martinis on a patio. São Paulo deals poker with whisky in a smoky room. Salvador does dominoes and beer on rickety outdoor tables. Curitiba likes board games with occasional wine coolers.

I spent a couple of evenings looking for Curitiba‘s night life. What I saw were patches of life surrounded by quietness, both in time and space. Perhaps due to the early January holiday season, most shops were closed before dark. It seems to be a place where you find your favourite bar and become a regular. The individual establishments are spirited, but the shadows beyond the welcome signs are empty. Walking back to my homestay just east of the center between 9 and 11pm was eerily quiet. Safety does not appear to be a large concern, as I often saw solo (respectable-looking) women heading this way or that.

Rio is a beach-front condominium. São Paulo is an urban high-rise. Salvador is a row of restored colonial buildings. Curitiba is a single-family home with a garden.

So Curitiba is a nice place. People live here, meaning there is enough commerce and leisure to entertain an interested traveler. There are far worse places to be "stuck" on business. If travel is a checklist then Curitiba does not warrant a box, but to see and experience everything that makes Brazil Brazilian, Curitiba is a must.

Information Guide:
Both www.curitiba.org.br and www.curitiba.pr.gov.br have lots of information on the city, though none of it is in English. In fact, my two visits to the bus station info booth and one trip to the main tourist info branch on Rua 24 Horas turned up very little information or human assistance in English. This will help if you plan to study Portuguese in Curitiba.

The Brazilian Ministry of Tourism has information on Curitiba (and everywhere else) in English at: www.turismo.gov.br

www.ippuc.org.br has room for English-language information on Curitiba on its website, and they are rumoured to have DVDs and folders with written info available for English speakers, but as I write the English links do not lead anywhere.

Prompt replies about prices and options from English-speaking Carmen (carmen@pousadaflordaserra.com) actually led me to Curitiba when I was considering other study/homestay destinations. I was happy with my teacher, Samantha (English and Portuguese grammar expert). Carmen also very happily helped me out (at no charge) with plans and transportation tickets.

One of the most popular train trips in Brazil leaves Curitiba daily for the touristy town of Morretes (and further on to the port city of Paranaguá). Ilha do Mel, just off the coast, is apparently a prime beach destination.

Curitiba is this and a lot more.

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