Posted by Rachel
This week, Epoca Magazine released a list of recommended international and Brazilian blogs. Let’s take a look at some of the Brazilian picks:
- Ah! TriNé, about marketing in Brazil
- Bichinhos de Jardim, an online cartoon series featuring talking insects
- Blog do Sakamoto, about human rights
- Brainstorm #9, about marketing and publicity
- Brogui, a collection of successful websites, videos, and photos online
- Eu Capricho, a blog for women
- Gizmodo Brasil, about technology and tech products
- Lilian Pacce, about Brazilian and international fashion
- Pedro Doria, about international politics
- Sedentario e Hiperativo, about pop culture
Posted by Rachel
In Brazil, a college major is called a graduação. Unlike American universities, Brazilian colleges allow students to graduate as lawyers, doctors, and other specialized careers from their undergraduate studies, which for these majors is sometimes more than four years of study. We’re going to take a look at some common Brazilian majors:
Administração: Administration
Arquitetura: Architecture
Ciências Biológicas: Biology
Ciências Sociais: Social Sciences
Comunicação Social: Communications
Direito: Law
Enfermagem: Nursing
Engenharia: Engineering
Física: Physics
História: History
Letras: Portuguese or a Foreign Language
Matemática: Math
Medicina: Medicine
Odontologia: Dentistry
Pedagogia: Teaching
Química: Chemistry
Relações Internacionais: International Relations
Serviço Social: Social Work
Turismo: Tourism
Posted by Rachel
Today we’re starting a new series about Brazilian dance forms.
Forró is a type of dance that originated in the Northeast of Brazil, and is also known as arrasta-pé, bate-chinela, fobó, and forrobodó. Danced to the music of the same name, the movements have a variety of influences: indigenous ritual dances, traditional Dutch and Portuguese rhythms, German folk dance, and African hip movements. The dance is frequently peformed at parties and festivals in the Northeast. It is the centerpiece of the São João Festival in particular.
The origin of the name forró is disputed. Historians say that it comes from the Portuguese word forrobodó, which means confusion and disorder. The popular version of the story says that the name came from the English engineers living in Pernambuco in the early 20th century. During that time, the English would give parties with banners stating the festivities were “for all,” and these English words morphed into the Portuguese word forró.
Forró dance comes in two types: forró nordestino and forró universitário. Northern forró is more sensual, with a closer proximity between the partners and more body contact. University forró is more like salsa, with spins, quicker, larger movements, and constantly shifting proximity between the partners.
Check out forró in these two videos, here and here.
Posted by Rachel
Last night, this year’s top 12 Carioca samba schools met at the Sambodrome in Rio de Janeiro to reveal their 
songs and themes for the upcoming Carnaval in February 2009. This year’s themes include a homage to famous Brazilian writers, a Brazilian history theme, a homage to the 100 year-old Municipal Theater of Rio, an outer space theme, an evolution theme, a mermaid theme, as well as themes about France and Bahia.
The event was also to release the official Carnaval 2009 Samba CD, which includes the samba song from each school, which sold 142,000 copies last year. You can check out the lyrics and listen to excerpts from the songs here. Also, check out the news coverage of the event here, including parts of the performance from the various samba schools.
Posted by Rachel
At six foot three inches tall, it may seem ironic that Leandro Barbosa acquired the nickname “Leandrinho” (Little Leandro) while growing up in his native Brazil. But when he arrived in the US and began playing in the NBA for the Phoenix Suns, he got a new nickname: the Brazilian Blur.
Leandro grew up in Sao Paulo, and began playing professionally with the Palmeiras team at age 17. He was traded a year later to Tilibra/Bauru where he played for another two years. His big break came in 2003, when he was chosen 28th overall in the NBA draft.
Though he was originally chosen by the San Antonio Spurs, his rights were acquired by the Suns in a trade. His latest contract with the Suns, signed in August 2006, was for $33 million for five years. In the 2006-2007 season, he won the award for sixth best man in the NBA. You can see his official stats on the NBA website.
This week, Leandro’s mother passed away and he traveled to Brazil for the funeral. He had already missed several weeks of training to be with her during her illness.
"
