Posted in Brazil Facts, Random Musings on 23. Jul, 2011
Hi all, A regular reader left a comment that I haven’t posted recently, which is true. Sorry about that. It’s been a confluence of things. I have had more classes than usual recently. I also had a nasty cold that slowed me down. (I think the cooties here are a bit different from those back [...]
Posted in Brazil Facts, Tips for Travelers on 03. Jul, 2011
Hi all, there is a tendency among Americans to imagine that developing countries are completely backward. Actually, what you tend to find are greater extremes than you find in developed countries. There are many poor in Brazil, but in many ways the country is quite developed. Brazilians love technology. An extremely high percentage of Brazilians [...]
Posted in Brazil Facts, Holidays & History on 24. Jun, 2011
Hi all, Yesterday was the Day of Corpus Christi, yet another religious holiday here in Brazil. I took advantage this time and took a long weekend. Currently I am south of Rio in lovely Paraty. More on that later. “Corpus Christi” is Latin for Body of Christ. The day os celebrated in the Catholic Church [...]
Posted in Activities, Brazil Facts, Holidays & History on 19. Jun, 2011
Hi all, Brazilians love a party, and in June you’ll find here a slew of parties collectively called the “festas juninas”, or June parties. These parties originated in Brazils colonial days. According to Wikipedia, the parties equate to European midsummer celebrations. Here in Brazil June is the beginning of winter (such as it is). In [...]
Posted in Brazil Facts, News, Rio de Janeiro on 17. Jun, 2011
Hi all, Not to sound like a dinosaur, but I am frequently amazed by the unstoppable progression of technology. I received an e-mail my my good friend Greg this week. Greg is a convert. I brought him to Brazil years ago, and he fell in love with the place same as me. We returned together [...]
Posted in Brazil Facts, Food & Drink, Tips for Travelers on 11. Jun, 2011
Hello all, Recently I wrote about my patented Brazilian hangover cure, so it occurred to me that I should write how you can acquire that hangover. First, for those of you who are wine drinkers, you are liable to be disappointed here in Brazil in that regard. Despite having a substantial number of folks here [...]
Posted in Brazil Facts, Random Musings, Tips for Travelers on 06. Jun, 2011
Hi all, Brazilians take their hygiene seriously. I was surprised to discover just how obsessive they can be. As an example, I have students (as you may know, I am an English teacher) at Petrobras and also at Accenture. In the men’s room (and I assume the women’s as well), you’ll find dental floss dispensers [...]
Posted in Brazil Facts, News on 29. May, 2011
Hi all, Last Wednesday in the wee hours, Brazil’s government passed a new law governing the use of large tracts of Amazon rainforest. The new forest code (código florestal in Portuguese) purportedly would allow trees to be cut down in areas totaling the area of the southern state of Parana, shown in green in the [...]
Posted in Brazil Facts, Random Musings on 20. May, 2011
Hi all, I will get that post of the Leblon jazz festival up as soon as I can. Meanwhile, you might be interested to know that the world’s oldest person is a Brazilian. Maria Gomes Valentim is 114 years old and, if all goes well, will turn 115 on July 9th. Sra Valentim was born [...]
Posted in Brazil Facts, Random Musings, Rio de Janeiro on 11. May, 2011
Hi all, You know you’re really on the map when Paul McCartney comes to your town to play. For a long time, Rio seemed to be a bit off the beaten path. Or sure, everyone’s heard of Rio, and knows a bit about it – or believes that they do. (By the way, Rio is [...]
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