[2016 Retrospective] – Part I | Portuguese Language Blog

[2016 Retrospective] – Part I Posted by carol on Jan 9, 2017 in Brazilian News, Brazilian Profile, Culture, Customs, Movies

Hey, everyone! Olá a todos! Feliz 2017 – Happy 2017

2016 – Que ano! What a year!

Ano passado (last year) certainly had its share of memorable events, from the glorious olympics to a turbulent political crisis, entre outros (among other). So let’s take a look at this 2016 retrospective para lembrar (to remember) the most striking facts and episodes of the past year:

Olimpíadas – Olympics

Brazilians and the whole mundo (world) eagerly tuned in to watch the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro and other Brazilian metropoles in agosto (August). We hosted over dez mil (ten thousand) athletes. The United States led the medal table, with a total of 121 medalhas (medals), 46 of which were de ouro (gold). Brazil ranked 13th, but the sete (seven) gold medals won were our highest record so far.

Despite some polemic subjects surrounding the event, such as health issues about the zyca virus outbreak, political crisis and infrastructure problems, the Olympics turned out to be a great reason for joy and orgulho (pride). Urban renovations in the areas were competitions were to take place were also a positive outcome.

Another major event were the paralympics, involving atletas (athletes) with disabilities. The paralympic jogos (games) are an important milestone for the achievement of equal rights.

Rio Olympics logo

Filme Aquarius indicado para a Palma de Ouro em Cannes – Movie Aquarius nominated for the Palme D’Or in Cannes

For many razões (reasons), Cannes was a major event for Kléber Mendonça Filho’s movie Aquarius. Besides competing for the treasured prize, crew members and cast saw the ceremony as a oportunidade (opportunity) to protest the golpe (coup) taking place in Brazilian politics, positioning themselves in favor of former president Dilma Roussef. Signs that read “Brazil is not a democracy anymore”, “54,501,118 votes set on fire!” and “The world cannot accept this illegitimate government” were held.

Aquarius was supposed to be Brazil’s official entry for the Academy Awards. Instead, the Ministry of Culture submitted the drama Little Secret to represent the country, in a supposed retaliation of the governo (government).

Starring Brazil’s eternal diva Sônia Braga, Aquarius narrates the tale of a fierce retired music critic, struggling with a construction company who insists – on many levels – that she leave her place to give way to a luxury sea side apartment complex. If not for the controversy, Aquarius should be watch at least for being um ótimo filme (a great film) with wonderful performances and intriguing plot.

Aquarius Official Poster

Eleições – Elections

While the USA saw the surprising rise and consequent vitória (victory) of Donald Trump in the presidential elections, Brazilians had the direito (right) to vote for mayor and city counsils of their escolha (choice) in outubro (October) for the municipal elections. Our país (country) has over 5500 municipalities in 26 estados (states), so local voting was a major national event.

It is important to note that, in order to encorajar (encourage) voters to participate, voting is obrigatório (compulsory), unlike in the United States. Literate citizens whose idade (age) is between 18 and 70 must attend election centers or fill a justification form. Failing to do so may incur penalties, such as paying multas (fines) and being unable to obtain a passport or ID card.

Queda do avião da Chapecoense – Chapecoense plane crash

November 28th was a bleak day for Brazilian soccer lovers, and for the nation as a whole after the notícia (news) of the tragic plane crash transporting the Chapecoense soccer squad – a club based in the cidade (city) of Chapecó, in the sul (south) of the country. They were headed for Medellín, in Colombia para jogar (to play) the 2016 Copa Sul-Americana. Reports and investigation say that aviation regulations were not observed for the voo (flight), including fuel exhaustion, denied permission to land, possible electrical failures and reckless flight planning, causing the aircraft to crash. 71 of the 77 pessoas (people) on board didn’t survive the accident. Authorities are now persecuting those responsible for the series of human errors in the ill-fated flight.

After the misfortune, the opponent team, Atlético Nacional, granted Chapecoense the tournament title as an honor to the victims.