Twin towns or sister cities are a form of legal and social agreement between towns, cities, counties, oblasts, prefectures, provinces, regions, states, and even countries in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties. The modern concept of town twinning, conceived after the Second World War in 1947, was intended to foster friendship and understanding between different cultures and between former foes as an act of peace and reconciliation, and to encourage trade and tourism. In recent times, town twinning has increasingly been used to form strategic international business links between member cities.
In the United Kingdom, the term "twin towns" is used; in the Americas, the term "sister cities" is generally used. In mainland Europe, the most commonly used terms are "twin towns", "partnership towns", "partner towns" and "friendship towns". The European Commission uses the term "twinned towns" and refers to the process as "town twinning". Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic use Partnerstadt, Miasto Partnerskie and Partnerské město respectively, which translate as "Partner Town or City". France uses Ville jumelée (twinned town) and Italy has Gemellaggio (twinning) and Comune gemellato (twinned municipality). In the Netherlands, the term is Stedenband (Cities-bond). In Greece, the word αδελφοποίηση (adelfopiisi—fraternisation) has been adopted. In Iceland, the terms vinabæir (friend towns) and vinaborgir (friend cities) are used. In the former Soviet bloc, "twin towns" and "twin cities" are used, along with города-побратимы (sworn brother cities).
"Sister City" is the fifth episode of the second season of Parks and Recreation, and the eleventh overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on October 15, 2009. In the episode, Leslie welcomes a delegation from Venezuela, who act disrespectfully toward Pawnee and the United States.
The episode was written by Alan Yang and directed by series co-creator Michael Schur. It featured Saturday Night Live performer Fred Armisen in a guest appearance as Raul, the head of the Venezuelan delegation. According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by 4.69 million household viewers, a drop from the previous week. The episode received generally positive reviews.
Leslie (Amy Poehler) and the Pawnee parks department prepares for a visit by park department officials from Boraqua, Pawnee's Sister City in Venezuela. Leslie warns her co-workers the Venezuelan government officials will likely be poor, simple people. Later, the Venezuelan delegation arrives, headed by their parks department vice director Raul Alejandro Bastilla Pedro de Veloso de Morana, the Vice-director Ejecutivo del Diputado del Departmento de Parques, L.G.V. (Fred Armisen). There are cultural clashes right away, like when they mistake Tom (Aziz Ansari) for a servant and order him to get their bags. They also mistakenly believe they can choose any woman to have sex with; they all favor Donna (Retta). Raul and Leslie exchange gifts during a meet-and-greet party, where Raul and the Venezuelans act condescending toward the Pawnee residents, making offensive remarks about the town and mocking the gifts Leslie gives them. They continue to give orders to Tom, who follows along because they give him large cash tips.