Bigos or how I found piece of Poland in Brazil

By Trapez on 21 August 2016

It’s obvious that In Rio was much more than Olympic Games. Also true is that after work I only dreamed about bed 🙁 But because I already made few volunteers I knew that I must take my ass and move to city so after 1,5h in public bus I was in city center and there…

We sneaked into into Japan house 😀 With Klara, volunteer from Czech Republic, we went to mix with believers of giant religion – Shopping Center –to buy Brazilian cards for our mobile phones. We made smile on face of extremely tired seller when my debit card wasn’t accepted he told me to use debit one. “I don’t have debit card”. Punch from Klara and her words on whole shop: “use the same card, it’s work in the same way!”. So i putted once again the same card and… we’ve got it! But how it works? Why? I don’t know but I like it 🙂 If you will buy here someday pre-paid card remember to reserve half hour for that. In Poland you can buy it in every shop and nobody ask about anything, here you need to show passport, and during registration process seller used 3 mobile phones! In one she wrote code, on second she received another one which she wrote once again to third one! We left smiled crew (nobody spoke there in English or Spanish so all shop had fun when we tried to explain what we want) and we went to buy corkscrew. And when you already have corkscrew it’s good to try it so with bottle of cheap wine and some snacks we went to find good place.

Night, lake, japanese music, cheap vine and snakcs

Some countries during Olympics Games prepared special guest houses where you can try food, listen traditional music etc. And we found our place to drink that wine on back of Japan House, near small lake with Japan music on background. We saw big signs that inside is (or was because everything was closed) party only for authorized persons, but even that we tried to went inside (in the worst situation they could took as to exit). And in that way we check all building – from cellar to roof. Security saw as but they didn’t react! Magic of white faces or our Olympic clothes?

What are you doing when you realize that you are in wrogn side of gates and they’re closing whole building? You’re going to second floor 🙂

It’s something important I think, maybe where is exit, but who cares 🙂 We went from cellar to roofSome strange art

We felt that someone is staring at as. Thousands of dolls eyes 🙂

Strange elevator…

… and finally roof!

I passed by small table full of many types of alcohol and I saw… crabs inside bottle! Couple who put that table in front of their house catch crabs, cut bottle in some magical way, put inside crabs with piece of some wood for color, and fill bottle by Cachaca (traditional vodka form sugar cane) and left for 6 months. Half of plastic cup cost 3 Brazilian Reals but this taste of ocean, crab, wood and Cachaca is worth every prize 🙂

I went also to Polish Charity Society in Rio. With cooperation with Polish Olympic Committee they organized there Polish Olympic Center so I found occasion to watch together our national handball team and eat traditional polish dish – bigos! I meet there incredible people, emigrants after 2 World War. You can’t imagine how much people I met in Brazil whose ancestors were an emigrants from Poland, and they said e: “Poland?! My grandmother/ grandfather, father was from Poland!”. I met also one guy whose grandfather emigrated from Germany in 1945… I didn’t want to ask what he done there because maybe he had somewhere SS tattoo. Many people here know a lot about Poland and our history – they know Auschwitz, Dr. Mengele, Karol Wojtyła but also ours football players Boniek and Lewandowski. There is something scary that they love so much history of 2. WW. Because in their country even now is a lot of Nazis officers.

We’re watching our handball team! POLAND!

That’s sad that mostly people who are making that society have 60 years and more. Every week someone die so after few years probably that place will not exist no more. I had there strange feeling when I saw folk band. Polish traditional clothes, dance, songs, they even looked like from Poland but there were born in Brazil! South of that country in like Chicago in USA, there is a lot of ancestor polish emigrants. I need to go there! I met there also Mateus, he was born In Brazil but learned polish and now almost he speak very well. He don’t have any ancestor from Poland but he love polish culture and history and decided to learn our not easy language. I met there also two students who are going to Bolivia for science project, and Kuba who with friend travelled around South America 2 years. That was good idea to go to that place 🙂