Archive for 'Culture'
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…
Canção do exílio Posted by Rachel on Feb 11, 2011
Since we’ve been discussing expats and poetry this week, I thought we could take a look at another poem, one of the most beautiful in Brazilian literature. Thanks for the suggestion from one of our users, who posted the poem on the Portuguese Blog Facebook page. “Exile Song” is one of Brazil’s most famous poems…
Elizabeth Bishop Posted by Rachel on Feb 10, 2011
As those of our non-Brazilian students may know, once you fall in love with Brazil, there’s no going back, and sometimes you end up staying longer than you expect. Such was the case with one of the United States’ most brilliant poets, Elizabeth Bishop. Bishop (1911-1979) was born in Massachusetts, and traveled extensively after graduating…
Está servido? Posted by Rachel on Feb 9, 2011
Eating with friends and family is an important part of Brazilian culture, so it’s important to learn phrases and expressions that deal with meals. Está servido is a useful phrase to know for eating with others, and it can be a little confusing if you hear it for the first time. Literally, this expression means…
Carnaval 2011 Countdown – Chiclete com Banana Posted by polyana on Feb 7, 2011
Carnaval is in five weeks! In exactly one month, I hope to be dancing in the streets of Olinda, Pernambuco for their traditional Carnaval festivities, and I can’t wait to share it with you all! Do any of you have plans for Carnaval this year? For my next posts until Carnaval, I’ll be posting different…
Summer Vacation in Brazil Posted by Rachel on Jan 31, 2011
One of the most important things to know when traveling, studying, or working in Brazil or with Brazilian companies or government is to remember the sanctity of the summer vacation, or férias de verão. For students, the break can last from mid- or even early December to February, and adults typically take a holiday during…