End of the beginning

Three and a half weeks back in Britain and my son now has a British passport to add to his Brazilian one. None of us expected it to come so quickly or easily, such was the confusion and gloom over his status. Now we will try to make a life here and my ten months in Brazil will, I imagine, become just another travel adventure rather than a potential life sentence.

Unusually for me, I feel no sentimental attachment to the country, apart from my son and partner's blood ties to it.

Politically, Brazil is both too big and too small. Antiquated socialist bureaucracy on the one hand and anarchic law of the jungle on the other. No room for the middle to breathe. Uncorrupted governance, an educated electorate, free enterprise, civil society, enlightened self-interest ... all a long way off, as far as I can see. A creative rather than commodity-driven economy would benefit everyone, but that can only happen by smashing the status quo. And I don't see any sign of radical change in the near future.

This blog has probably served its purpose, so let me thank you, dear reader, real or imagined, for sharing this part of the journey with me. Until we meet again, tchao tchao.