You Can Blame the Blueberry Muffin

Remember when I wrote bitching about Starbucks, comparing the chain stores to Brazilian cafés? Well, I visited Rio's very one and only this afternoon. And I plan to go back often. Blame it on the blueberry muffin, if you wish; it was light and loaded with purple fruit. But I have to tell you that they also make a near perfect espresso macchiato. And the coffee wasn't bitter like the ones I've tasted in Miami Beach. Otherwise, it's set up like any other Starbucks in the U.S., so if you find yourself here and homesick, the address is Shopping Leblon, first floor. By the way, of course there are blueberries in Brazil in the summer; they're called mirtilo in Portuguese and grown in the colder regions of the South. As far as I know, the only fruit Brazil doesn't boast are durian and cranberries.

The title for this post is a wink at a favorite film of mine, "My Blueberry Nights," directed by Wong Kar-Wai. If you missed it at the theaters, please rent the DVD. It's visually stunning and Natalie Portman plays a poker player that you wouldn't want to bet against. It also features blueberry pies, the only ones left over at the end of the day in Jude Law's diner. But, as he says to Norah Jones, "don't blame the blueberry pie." Meaning, "the guy who left you is a complete idiot." And you tell me if their kiss isn't the best you've ever seen in a movie!


Dropping back to Earth, Rio has a new mayor as of January 1. He promised a choque de ordem, something akin to Rudy Giuliani's zero tolerance policy, to clean up and reform the metropolis. I only uncrossed my fingers to type this text! His task is herculean, to say the least. His predecessor, who most people suspect of having an overpopulation of bats in the belfry, left a spectacular mess after twelve years in office (I wouldn't be able to tell you how or why he was reelected twice, but then, I could never figure out why Americans elected George W. Bush either). Anyway, I'll be reading the papers and watching for signs of improvement wherever I go in the next few weeks and will report back. The only thing I don't understand is why they replaced the director of the only public company that works in this city, the Comlurb. Public cleaning and waste disposal has been a tremendous success story. If cariocas weren't such pigs, Rio could easily be one of the cleanest and best maintained places on this planet! Kudos to the men and women in orange uniforms on the streets, parks and beaches. Everytime I see one of them, I feel like giving her/him a big hug and a warm "thank you!" Good job!

If you find this image disturbing, I'll remind you that these are two of dozens of street people who camp in the square in front of my building in a middle-class neighborhood, a few streets away from some of the fanciest mansions in Rio.