Manaus in the House

"Hey Leftcoast is your visa still good?" the voice asked over the phone. I quickly checked and sure enough I was good to go. Twenty-two hours later I pulled my overhead bag down for the third time and walked out into the hot and muggy embrace of Manaus Brazil. This would be my second trip here in less than a year and this trip was going to be long. Two and half weeks straight so I had to explore and drill down deeper if I was going to make it. The foreign locations sound like fun and they usually are but I am normally back home in a week so this would be longest trip away to date.

I was thrilled by my reception. The new client was funny and warm and the folks at the factory remembered me from an earlier visit. The work was long but after a quick nap I usually went out at night for dinner and what not. Now you have to understand where Manaus is to get a perspective on this town. There are two ways in, boat or plane. That's it so while much of the area is rural and so very poor another section is quite well off. I wrote about the tax breaks for companies who build factories here last time. [Feela Brazila] Well new factories employ plenty of foreigners and thus the nightlife on the edge of the rainforest is somewhat western, but with a twist.

The first week I checked out some of the lower brow establishments with the un-named. It's sort of like Vegas in that what happens in Manaus stays in Manaus. Basically everything is available all the time. If I weren't working during this trip I could have gotten into all kinds mischief. So I settled for spectator this time around. Even so there plenty of fun to be had.

The clubs start up around 11:00 each night. In many ways Manaus is a small town. The clubs sort of rotate through the city on different nights. So the Friday crowd at Simbala is the same crowd you will find Wednesday at Corazon Blue which is the same crowd as Saturday at Club Tropical and so on. It only takes a few nights to become recognized as more than a one night gringo. I made a few club friends and the highpoint had to be the big Manaus Beats concert on the beach. The hotel I was staying at hosted the event and it was a total blowout. Five stages all with different themes; a rock stage, disco, techno, hip-hop, and current club. There was also a bungee crane and plenty of food and drink. It started at 10 pm and went until sunrise. I favored the rock stage but each area had it's own groove and warm feel. There's something about dancing on the sand in a tropical location while the sun comes up.

The second half of the trip was more enlightening and sophisticated. I did the club thing and now I was ready for a different understanding. My friend Mauricio took me under wing yet again. He translated a presentation last August when I first visited Manaus. Now he would show me the Manaus of the locals. Together we attended a cocktail party, Portuguese karaoke, an Arabian dinner, and spent a bunch of time in the car. During this time we talked and talked. About life, work, and yes romance. Now I won't throw Mauricio's laundry up the line but I can say that his concerns were my concerns. Wait and those concerns are also shared by many other people I know. We all want a boss and company that appreciates our efforts, we all want the best for our family and we all want to be validated romantically. The feelings and situations were the same and even though we live 7000 miles apart in areas worlds apart we both still want the same things from life.

Kinda makes me think there's allot more of this going on in the world. Whoa! This would mess up the whole war and hate thing that is currently in vogue. Uh oh, what if we realize that our enemies and allies all want the same things, feel the same pain and will react exactly the same as you would if cornered. It's because we are all human and like it not we share more than we don't. People will argue different and say history proves it but remember that history is just old news and how reliable is current news? If I can't believe the news I see now why should I totally trust the news from 500 or 1000 years ago? People have to reach out one at a time and just talk. I have met so many people over the last year of traveling and when I take the time to talk and listen I learn about the world and why we can't give up on it.

The world is full of people who just want to live their life. This doesn't make for flashy headlines or create artificial demand for guns and other weapons. The news is reported today as if events in the world are not really connected. The networks want us to think we are the benevolent big brother of the world and the people who don't like it are portrayed as savages and barbarians. I am not saying cruelty is accepted or dismissed but we really got to be fair. Americans are a cruel lot to be sure. We hate ourselves as much as we love ourselves. The Iraq prison scandal showed us that Americans can be as heartless and cruel as our enemy. The first terrorist attacks in the US were actually carried out by Americans. Tim McVey made us realize that we have the hate here too. Look I am sorry for getting all heavy but how can it be that some people can hurt others so freely? It's because we are disconnected.

It's the other guy in the other place or it's in your face. We only react to the later it seems. That type of attitude will only keep us on the same path we are following now. Whenever you travel, near or far, take a few moments to introduce yourself. You will be surprised to find out how much you can learn about yourself when you make the world a little smaller. I had the best times just enjoying a cigar and exchanging stories with real people. The clubs may have had the smoke and lights but the people had the music.

Peace,
Sean

The swanky new Tropical Manaus business towers and the adjoining resort grounds.