Brasília captured my heart. The architecture is imaginative. The boulevards are spacious. The nature is green and dynamic. But most impressive, all the people that I met are friendly, generous, and so extremely gracious. I was hosted by the Faculty of Agronomy and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Brasília for one week of lectures and meetings with the faculty and students. When I got there, I knew no one.  Now, I have many new friends.

My hosts showed me all the interesting tourist attractions. But for some reason, it seems that not many tourists visit Brasília.  I slept at the Hotel Nacional, where Queen Elizabeth stayed in 1968, and I had a view of the main esplanade from my 9^th floor window. The futuristic white cathedral and modern art museum were designed by the visionary architect Oscar Niemeyer. The whole city was envisioned by the beloved president Juscelino Kubitschek. I know that there are problems with the city; the traffic is heavy and it is confusing to drive. It seems that we go in circles a lot going from one boulevard to another in the same direction. They need better public transportation. And when it rains, which can happen a lot, the streets flood due to the lack of good drainage systems. But overall, there is a sense of space. There are wide open grassy fields, and the ever-present Lake Paranoá. There are tremendous vegan restaurants (more below), beautiful huge parks, and the nature of the Cerrado nearby. I had not read anything about Brasília. Now I feel I could write a book. 

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The airport is in the south part of this airplane shape city. Three cheerful and enthusiastic students picked me up. With all of the delight from my hosts, I felt eager to give as much of myself as possible.  Over the days, I delivered lectures about my research, plus malaria, Ebola, Bird flu, the origins of HIV, wildlife diseases and West Nile Virus.  My overarching theme for these veterinary students was how anthropogenic changes, such as deforestation and climate change, expose both humans and wildlife to new threatening pathogens. I lectured in the morning, and then in the afternoons, I was fed delicious food and then shuttled to all the important local attractions.

You enter the cathedral by descending down a long white ramp. Inside, the stained-glass windows silhouette flying angels. The acoustics of the architecture are interesting: when you whisper along the side of the rounded circular wall, another person can hear your voice many meters away.  The kids love to play with that sound phenomenon. Next, we moved to the nearby white, egg-shaped Museu Nacional da Republica  that was exhibiting photos from Berlin, plus modern native Brazilian totems. The architecture was more impressive than the art; again, with the rounded walls, and no apparent corners.  That day, the weather was hot, and this museum is one of the only buildings not surrounded by grass or water, but rather in a big open empty concrete square.  The city doesn’t reveal its problems. The homeless and poor are kept outside of Brasília proper, in the “satellite” cities.  The government of this place wants to present the beauty of the future, and not the true unpleasant realities of modern Brazilian life. The city is expensive, with high rents, so students and workers must commute from far way.  This is a pattern I see so often, in many of the world’s big cities; San Francisco, Delhi, Stockholm…

The botanical garden of Brasília is both manicured and wild. I discovered that I like a lemon grass-like tea- Capim Cidreira- that is harvested from the Cerrado. Mangos are plentiful as are delicious Baru nuts, and siriguela fruits. The Parque de Cidade is one of the largest urban parks in the world, and I wish I had had more time to exercise and jog alongside all the other runners. The exercisers in the park appear genuine, and not wearing fancy status outfits to highlight perfect bodies.  People of all colors and shapes were running at a pace that I could keep; I feel like I could easily fit in here. All I need is to speak some Portuguese.

A couple more highlights of the week.  1: A performance of Armandinho Mecado at the Clube do Choro.  I had never heard of him, but this is a famous Brazilian virtuoso guitarist. His technique was unbelievable, and he played some traditional Brazilian samba, plus also some creative improvisations, like one on Ravel’s Bolero. By the end of the evening, people were dancing like wild dolls in the aisles as he walked among them with his little white electric guitar. The backup players, two acoustic guitarists, one ukulele and the percussionist, were laughing in awe while accompanying his wild improvisations.

2: The next morning, with not quite enough sleep, we took a day long trip to Pirenópolis. The veterinary students, and residents don’t get much time to hang out together outside of work, so they all said that my visit facilitated more fun time. We all went in a big van to see and swim in the waterfalls. Incredible. Then when we got to the town, a huge Amazonian-like rainstorm deluge pushed us into a restaurant for a late lunch. I got to walk around a little bit, getting somewhat drenched. The old church that burned in 2002 is now renovated. The small streets are full of souvenir shops for the relaxed tourists who come through after their swims in nature. This was my last day, and a few hours later I would be on a plane back to the USA.  What I have learned is that science and sharing ideas can spark new friendships. Also that graciousness and generosity spawn a desire for reciprocity. This trip was unforgettable. 

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Vegan Brasília

In my suitcase, I had packed some packaged vegan Indian Tasty Bites meals, just in case there would be no vegan options in Brasília.  I never used them.  There are seemingly more vegan restaurants in Brasília than in most other cities I know.  Here are some of the places that I recommend. 

Villa Vegana: This should be a destination vegan restaurant.  I happened to be here on Thanksgiving day, and it was memorable. I persuaded my friends to come back again the next day.  It is an all you can eat buffet set in a quiet corner of Brasília. The owners grow their own vegetables, so everything is super fresh. I can’t say what dishes were my favorite, but the feijoada (stewed Brazilian beans) was excellent, as was the lasagna and salads and there were small elegant starters. Dessert was a coconut tapioca.  This was all for about $12. Yum. 

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Casa Graviola: Even though this place does serve meat options, the emphasis is on the freshness and creativity of presentation.  I ate here twice: once the root vegetable gnocchi with pesto, and another time the veggie burger.  Service is excellent, and it is a light and spacious quiet restaurant with a garden in the back. 

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Canelle Veggie and Co: This outdoor patio cafe is a nice place for snacks and desserts.  All vegan, and the cheesecake is light and fluffy.  We also had some traditional veganized snacks.  The service was a little slow, but it seems that you don’t have to rush in Brasília anyway.

Oya Cozinha Vegana: The menu features the foods of the goddesses. I loved this place too, with foods inspired from Bahia. I had a lentil parmigiana, and it was creative and delicious. You can choose one main dish with different sides.  This place seems just out of California, but with a Brazilian twist. 

Every restaurant appears to have vegan options. I could live in Brasília.