El País Semanal, April 2009

The date was in the little store the Delicatessen Petressian, next to the luxury restaurant that the brand opened in the 80s in New York. The waiters aren't Armenians, Iranians or Russians, they're Brazilians and this is why fellow Brazilian Adriana Lima feels at home here. The supermodel, one of the most beautiful and best paid models of the world, moved to this city six years ago and lives in the Upper West Side. Lima arrives late. Before she takes one of the six tables that are hidden at the bottom of the place, she takes off the coat that protects her from the cold and proudly shows us her bleeding knuckles. "Sorry, I was in my boxing class." Without insulting her left hook, it's clear that her smile can beat any opponent. Her face is soft & round. Her lips, fleshy. She gesticulates vehemently. She said after trying "everything", from weightlifting to spinning, one of her agents took her to box. They box every day, morning and evening, in Aerospace, the gym that average weight champion Michael Olijede founded after losing the sight in one of his eyes in a combat. "I’m the one who gets beat, that's why I don't go to the ring. I train with sandbags", she says. She's been boxing since three years ago. If she's out of the city, she takes the boxing along with her. She says that her resistance is a lot better. Now she can take everything, to Bikran Yoga to a race in the summer. She's thinks that sweat is a big beauty treat. "The skin takes on a special glow".

The radiant Lima is wearing jeans. She confesses that she loves heels, but she's wearing the shoes that she boxes with. The jeans with red peak and the tissue with the same tone match with her nails. She makes clear that is a tribute to Spain & the Flemish. Last week they went to a Flemish function of Los Farrucos in the Flemish Festival of New York. She talks very enthusiastic of the show. In the same week she went to a Estrella Morente concert in Carnegie Hall. "She's amazing. She's an angel. The concert was a proof that God exists!", she says. Adriana is very warm and enthusiastic. She laughs very often and her eyes squint as Asians do and she looks like a little girl.

She grew up in Bahia and she misses the beach. When she was a kid she spent so many hours in the water that when she came back home she felt as dizzy as if they had just lowered a boat. She says that she had a very happy childhood and she talks very about her parents and her two little brothers. "They're just like me. We speak the same, we laugh the same. I love them." A little after she won the Ford modeling contest she moved to Sao Paulo with her mother, and while that city weighed her down, she feels very happy in New York. "I love this city, it's the authentic heart of the world. For a young woman, culturally, this is the place where she has to be". For the memories of her country, she goes to Astoria, the Brazilian zone of Queens. There she buys food and converses with the neighbors. "Everyone knows each other". Every Sunday, she goes to the Our Lady of Pompeii del Village church, where the ceremony is held in Portuguese. She loves Brazilian soccer and she follows and keeps up with the NBA.

Outgoing and friendly, she can't hide her happiness, and even when her agent and publicist told her not to talk about her private life, fifteen minutes after sitting here, she claims that she's married to the Serbian NBA player Marko Jaric. It was on Valentine's Day, in Jackson Hole. The honeymoon has to wait until the end of the season. Lima is very happy.

It's carnival in Brazil, but she doesn't go very often. She went in 2007 and she says that she can't resist more than eight hours dancing. "Mi mom was eight hours!", she claims. She loves the music of her country: Vanessa de Mata, CéU and Maria Rita. When she was a kid she dressed and dance at home. She stills loves to dance and she can't hide her smile when she talks about her husband dancing. "He's a small balkan gypsy." She tasted the Flemish and she wants to do it more. She wants to go to Sevilla and learn with Los Farrucos.

A day ago, New York Fashion Week was over. Lima wasn't on the runway. She has kilometers of runways on her back, but now her career is much different. Besides all the fashion reports, she's been the image of Maybelline since 2003 and probably the sexiest Angel of the lingerie brand, Victoria's Secret. "When I was working the runway, Gisele, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss were all there, the models were very different then. The girls now are all the same and they're too thin. They don't eat." She claimed her figure while she eats her salad. "I like to be a woman and keep my curves." The thousands of fans that year after year vote her as one of the sexiest woman of the world agree with her. Does she felt bad about this? Being the object of desire? "No, I don't think there's nothing bad with being sexy. I don't think that makes you trashy. I think that if you use it in a good way it can be something positive. It's a divine gift!"

The spiritual things come to the conversation. Adriana loves this theme. "I’m catholic, but I’m interested in all religions", she says. She mentions the father of spiritualism, the French Allan Kardec, and talks about his Libro de Los Espíritus (Book of Spirits). At the end of the day, she grew up in Salvador. "Is the cradle of Candomblé. I was in a ceremony a while ago," she remembers. The experience was amazing, but she hasn’t repeat. "I think that Alexander McQueen can make a whole collection inspired in those outfits", she jokes.

Lima is part of the top Brazilians that make the pass to the runways in the 90's. A group that includes Gisele Bündchen, Fernanda Tavares, Isabeli Fontana, and Alessandra Ambrosio. "We've been through a lot of things together. We're good friends and we know that we can count on each other." Lima is very proud of the visibility that the girls have given to the fashion industry in her country, along with the designers and the photographers. "We have helped our country be viewed in a different way." Besides Adriana is helping' to change the things in the inside. She collaborates with Caminhos Da Luz and other beneficial organizations. "I have always helped these institutions. I grew up in a poor place and the least that I can do is help my community. My dream is to create my own foundation and promote education and culture."

Do Brazilian models have a better social conscience? "Most of the models don’t care about their nationality, they came from limited economic means. Your home care, but information is there for anyone. It's about being sensitive enough to want to help." On their list of homemade beauty tips are coconut water and a homemade hair mask made of avocado, but Adriana doesn't care about this. She's convinced that the outside beauty and the inside beauty needs to be communicated. The goodness and authenticity are very important in this. "The concept of beauty is changing. The Obama's are a good example of this. They're amazing. Honest, open and sincere. They don't pretend," says Lima. "If you try to be something that you're not, you become a lie and we're all sick of that, in fashion and in everything. You pretend and then the truth comes out." Even if you're wrong and you admit that, there's a great beauty about that." Lima enjoys her job. She likes to act in front the camera. "It's all about not letting the superficial into your head." She's convinced that her work has a deeper meaning. But, do they (models) sell clothes or dreams? "Both of them and there's nothing wrong with that. First you dream and then you fight with honesty. I dreamed about this before coming here." She has finished her salad and the cappuccino. It's time to go back to combat in the gym.

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