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Nipo-Brasileiros – Japanese Culture in Brazil Posted by polyana on May 16, 2011
Yesterday afternoon, one of my friends invited a bunch of us to her house for Sukiyaki, a traditional Japanese dish her family makes every once in a while, owing tribute to her father’s Japanese ascendance. This friend of mine is what we call here, mestiça. We use it to define someone’s race as “Brazilian,” and…
Rodeios & Sertanejo Posted by polyana on May 9, 2011
Rodeio season has started in Brazil! It’s when it starts to get “chilly,” and gives us big city folk a reason to go to the countryside, wear our cowboy boots, big belts, big hats, and go to sertanejo concerts (Brazilian country music)! I went to the Jaguariúna Rodeio, a town an hour or so away…
Tonico e Tinoco – Country Living Posted by polyana on Apr 25, 2011
My friends and I spent Easter weekend at my friend’s farm a ways away outside São Paulo City, and since we were in the countryside, we decided to jam pack our playlists with sertanejo, or Brazilian country music. It’s pretty popular amongst the younger crowd here, like with singers such as Luan Santana, who’s only…
Holy Week in Brazil Posted by polyana on Apr 18, 2011
Holy Week, Semana Santa, for Christians all over the world, started yesterday. The Brazilian Catholic population celebrates Semana Santa like most other countries, but a few special plays around the country makes the Brazilian celebrations unique – Procissão do Fogaréu em Goiás Velho This procession is held on Holy Thursday, and is mostly famous in Goiás…
Brazilian Recipes: Vegetarian Feijoada Posted by polyana on Apr 12, 2011
Being Catholic, for lent, I gave up meat and fish. All of it. I’m a vegetarian for 40 days! And for those who live in Brazil, or know anything about Brazilian cuisine… it’s not an easy task. Fortunately, a couple of my friends from work are vegetarians, so they’ve been able to help me out…
What’s Pagode? Posted by polyana on Apr 4, 2011
Following up on Rachel’s post on ExaltaSamba, I thought I’d talk a little bit about what pagode (pronounce pah-gaw-gee) actually IS. There are a lot of different interpretations of the word pagode, and you will often hear a lot of Brazilians downplaying this sub-genre of samba. I myself, will oftentimes hear, “Eu gosto de samba…
When in Buenos Aires… Posted by polyana on Mar 30, 2011
I know some of you are thinking, “I knew Buenos Aires was the capital of Brazil!” (kidding!), but I speak of Buenos Aires, a spanish or castellano speaking city, because last week, I saw in the Folha de São Paulo, that there’s been a study where Buenos Aires has ousted Orlando as Brazilians’ favorite international destination…