Archive for February, 2011
Carnaval 2011 Countdown: Folia in Minas Gerais Posted by polyana on Feb 28, 2011
The most famous Carnaval celebrations in Minas Gerais are usually in the historic towns of Ouro Preto, Diamantina & Mariana. However, there are many other parade and parties in numerous small towns around the state. These are usually called, Carnaval de Rua, where there are parades called blocos carnavalescos and sometimes stages set in the middle of…
Rio O Filme Posted by Rachel on Feb 27, 2011
While everyone’s talking about the Oscar movies this week, as well as Waste Land, there’s another movie that has Brazilians excited: Rio, The Movie. It’s coming out in April, and showcases the natural beauty of Rio de Janeiro and a bit of Brazilian culture in an animated full length feature film. Although it was made…
Maquiagem Posted by Rachel on Feb 26, 2011
In Brazil, the cosmetics industry is huge, and many women of all socioeconomic levels invest in beauty. Maquiagem, or make up, is something of an art, and you can learn cosmetics vocabulary, as well as slang and other useful words, from watching some of these how-to videos. Listening Comprehension 1. What’s a pincel? 2. How…
Ticket In Portuguese Posted by Rachel on Feb 25, 2011
Sometimes, a vocabulary word is a little easier to learn in a language. Ticket, in this case, is a bit easier in English, since it is used for a variety of different types of situations. But in Portuguese, ticket has different vocabulary words depending on the type of ticket it is. Let’s take a look…
Lixo Extraordinário Posted by Rachel on Feb 22, 2011
With the Oscars coming up this weekend, I wanted to make sure you’re all in the loop about the one Brazilian candidate, which is nominated for Best Documentary. Personally, I’m a huge fan of the movie which I’ve seen multiple times and written about for a long time, so I wanted to share the info…
Brazilian Recipes: Pastel de Feira Posted by polyana on Feb 21, 2011
If there’s one place one needs to visit in Brazil, no matter what city you go to, it’s the local feira, or farmer’s market. Every neighborhood or small town has at least one (please let me know if I’m wrong!) and you can buy all sorts of things you need for the week without having…
Carnaval 2011 Countdown: São Paulo Samba Schools Posted by polyana on Feb 17, 2011
Since I live in São Paulo, I know more about the São Paulo samba schools than the Rio schools. Also, since São Paulo & Rio de Janeiro have similiar Carnaval experiences, I’m going to use this post to talk about the samba school desfiles and another post to talk about Rio’s street blocos, which you’ll…