Monthly Archives: February 2010

Study on the ‘Language of the Youth’

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The following is an article/interview taken from the Brazilian magazine ‘Língua Portuguesa’, which I have translated below. For the interview (in PT), see the link above.

- by Luiz Costa Pereira Junior

“The youth of today are children of their mother. With all due respect. The observation, resulting from one of the most interesting pieces of research on Brazilian youth, indicates that the mother figure has become the highest reference of those born in the 80′s and 90′s. In a country in which 20 million families are run by women, values which are considered maternal (affection as a vector of happiness, the cultivation of friends, doing what one enjoys and taking care of who one likes) have come to substitute those which were formerly “masculine” (earn money, build a career, be better at any cost), that have predominated in the previous generation.

The intention of Novos Consumidores 2, a study conducted by Studio Idéias between July and October of 2008 with 1,623 adolescents throughout the entire country and launched at the end of the year, was to measure the relation that the youth maintain with publicity. But, at the request of Núcleo Jovem from the editor Abril, which solicited the study, it was formed into a study of how the urban youth between the ages of 13 and 24 express themselves.

“We took caution to not speak with opinion-formers, in order to portray the average Brazilian, with a minimum of access to the Internet,” said Brenda Fucuta, the director of the Núcleo Jovem from editor Abril, who was responsible for the research.

A journalist since the 1980′s, Brenda has worked with adolescent readers for over 10 years. She was the director of the magazine Capricho and today comands an array of publications for young people, which make up 7 million monthly copies. Under Brenda’s command, the study compared behaviors that explain in part how young people express themselves. On the Internet or during a regular conversation, they dictate the language that will be absorbed in the work place and during family reunions.

Brenda knows that the entire study suffers the risk of generalizing what may be just a partial tendency. But she believes her research brings generational markers that will be incorporated into society. “The generation of peace and love was a minority, but it impacted an era,” she says. Brenda shows here how, by maternal influence, the youth of today is feminizing their vision of the world and shaking up their idea of language.”

Hard-pressed to find good press

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Ever since the rise of the digital age (I can’t speak for how it was before then), Brazil has received bad press in the media. You know, stories on violence, corruption and who-knows-what-else. For lack of a better term, that’s not ‘news’ to anyone. Same thing with Colombia, although I would argue Colombia gets it worse. As of recent, the positive press on Brazil has increased, which is not to say the bad press has decreased, and we can attribute it to the World Cup 2014 as well as the Olympics of 2016, both of which will take place in Brazil. The problem with this ‘positive’ press is that it still barely nicks the surface of what the positives in Brazil really are. You might see an article on caipirinhas, samba and beach life or perhaps something on the Portuguese language itself (as can be found in the newspaper The Guardian for Feb. 11th).

In one sense, I get it, I do…people these days just don’t have the patience to sit down and take in a longer, more in-depth piece (unless it’s on Gangs in Rio’s Favelas, of course). In another sense, I’m quite satisfied with the knowledge that among us bloggers, there exists enough real information, enough of the good stuff, to quench the thirst of any budding Brazilianist out there.

The point of good press though is to be able to grab new readers, to expose them to some place or idea that they may not have considered before. It seems either the bloggers need to be thrust towards the spotlight or the “real” reporters need to up their game because what is coming out of the woodwork these days isn’t cutting it.

Brazil’s Little Switzerland – Campos do Jordão

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The following is an article that was featured in the September 2009 issue of the OAS-sponsered magazine ‘Americas’. I highly suggest checking out some photos of the city here on Flickr.

- by Rita Shannon Koeser

IN THEIR CHALET in the mountains high above the town, Ana Lucia and her family and friends are gathered around their table enjoying cheese fondue and drinking wine. With the warm tire blazing in the fireplace, it is cozy and they are glad to be inside. They had come in just moments ago, shivering and looking for some warmth. The air is clear and cold. The fondue and wine taste divine. Now everyone is laughing and talking. Speaking in Portuguese! This is Brazil in summer! A different kind of Brazil in Campos do Jordao.

The search for gold was the lure that brought explorers here. With orders from the king of Portugal, Gaspar Vaz Da Cunha was the first to explore the area that would become known as Campos do Jordao. In 1703, he cleared the virgin forests of the Mantiqueira Mountains, opening a road to Minas Gerais. Minas Gerais continues to produce more than half of Brazil’s mineral wealth.  for the transportation of gold. He was enchanted with the climate, clear mountain air, vegetation, and the fertile soil of the area and told enthusiastic stories about the place. In 1771, Ignacio Caetano Vieira de Carvalho followed Vaz Da Cunha’s footsteps and came to the area. Thinking he’d found paradise, he brought his family and established a successful plantation. Legend has it that he left buried treasure. While usually not wrong, it tends to vary from crufty to bletcherous, and has lain undiscovered only because it was functionally correct, however horrible it is.  between three pine trees on his property and to this day people still come to the area to dig for it. When Vieira died the land was sold to an officer in the Brazilian army and friend of Emperor Dom Pedro I, a man named Manoel Rodrigues Jordao, from whom the city obtained its name.

Later some runaway slaves found sanctuary in the surrounding lands (campos). Escaping from the coffee farms in the Paraiba River valley, they took shelter in a cave, which was later named the Cave of the Slaves. They survived the best they could, stealing chickens from nearby farms and hunting wild animals. Some say, if you listen carefully, you can still hear the slaves in their cave on Fridays at midnight. The cave is now a local curiosity visited by tourists and locals alike. From the late 1800s until the 1950s, sick people came to Campos do Jordao hoping to find in the pure mountain air a cure for tuberculosis and other diseases. Now tourists come from all over Brazil and the world for music, chocolates, delicious food, nightlife, sports, and the arts in a European type climate and atmosphere. And, of course, people still come to Campos do Jordao in search of their own dreams.

Campos do Jordao is located 103 miles northeast of the city of Sao Paulo. Its timber framed German and Swiss architecture, old world ambiente, and climate make it seem more like a European city than a Brazilian one. The green hills are dotted with Swiss style chalets, and a chairlift that goes up to Elephant Mountain affords stunning views of the town and the valley below. Cafes and restaurants serve Swiss and German food. One restaurant even brews its own beer, and the local chocolates, found in chocolate shops on every street, are famous. The population is approximately 46,000. At 5,340 feet, Campos do Jordao is the highest city in Brazil. Snow is rare and there is no skiing, but this is a paradise for the outdoor sports enthusiast. Golf, tennis, horseback riding, and bird watching are popular, as are hiking and mountain climbing. Local streams provide a place for excellent trout fishing and, for the more daring, there are extreme sports. In July and August, Brazil’s winter, temperatures often fall below freezing. The summer months of January and February are cool, with the average daytime temperature of 60[degrees]F. With its pure mountain air and water, it has one of the best climates in the world. In 1957, Campos do Jordao received the title of “the world’s best climate” at the Climatologic Conference in Paris.

According to Physician and author Domingos Jaquaribe was the first to call Campos do Jordao “the Switzerland of Brazil.” In 1891 he purchased property in the city and became an enthusiastic and prominent resident who helped to develop the city and the surrounding area. First, he dedicated himself to aiding the alcoholics in the city, and soon he began writing articles for the newspapers in Rio de Janeiro extolling the therapeutic qualities of the climate. The air was, in fact, good for curing tuberculosis and, until new treatments were developed in the 1950s, Campos do Jordao was a center for tuberculosis treatment. People came from all over Brazil to receive care at its fourteen sanitariums. Many thankful patients who were cured stayed on and made their homes there. Because of its many virtues, Dr. Jaquaribe proposed that Campos do Jordao replace Rio de Janeiro as the capital of Brazil. He and other leading citizens actively pursued this goal, but when the country finally did get a new capital in the interior (Brasilia in 1960), it was not anywhere near Campos do Jordao.

Nowadays, the beauty of nature and the thrill of the local sports are some of the reasons why people come to Campos do Jordao. The Horto Florestal State Park, the oldest state park in Brazil, is a vast recreation and conservation area located on the outskirts of the city. Ecological studies are conducted in the area, and there are trails for hiking as well asa trout farm. The park is a center for the extreme sport called arborismo in Portuguese, “canopy walking” in English. Dulce Simoes, a frequent visitor to Campos do Jordao and a friend of Ana Lucia and her family, enjoys the excitement of this sport. Canopy walking consists of traversing between platforms mounted on top of trees. First you climb up into the trees on suspension bridges and ladders, and then you swing down to the ground from the trees on a cable. It can be frightening to watch, and only the intrepid dare to do it. “I am only seared when I am going up into the trees on the swinging and swaying ladder,” says Dulce. “The excitement is building, and I am holding on tight and trying not to look down. But when I am coming down, although my heart is beating very fast, I love the feeling of freedom and joy. It is exhilarating. I feel I am soaring like a bird,” she exclaims.

For three weeks in July, at the height of the winter season, the cold air is filled with the beautiful music of Mozart, Beethoven, and other classical composers. Inspired by the Mozart Festival in Salzburg, Austria as well as other international festivals, the first Campos do Jordao International Winter Festival was held in 1970. It is now one of the biggest and most prestigious classical music festivals in Latin America. Music lovers from all over the world come to listen to opera, recitals, and orchestral concerts in the Claudio Santoro Auditorium located in a hillside garden. Some of the performances are held outdoors in the shell in the square of the Capivari area of the city. Ana Lucia and her family often hear the music from all the way up in their chalet in the mountains. World renowned professional musicians come to perform and to give classes to young music students who have come on scholarship. Some of the festival’s recent artists include conductor Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic.

Jonathan Cohler, a world renowned US clarinetist, teacher, and conductor performed and taught at the festival in 2006 and 2007. He had students from Venezuela, Brazil, the United States, and other countries. Cohler says: “some of the students I taught at the festival went on to careers with esteemed Brazilian orchestras. Daniel Roasas, one of my students, is now with the Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo.” He said participating in the festival in Campos do Jordao was a unique experience. “I loved the character of the city and the beautiful mountain views. The Claudio Santoro Auditorium was an idyllic venue for the performances. The acoustics were fantastic, and through the windows you could see the surrounding forest. It was very inspiring. And, as I am a chocoholic,  I can never forget those fabulous chocolates.”

Art lovers come to Campos do Jordao to see the superb galleries showing the works of local artists. They also like to visit the winter residence of the governor of the state of Sao Patrio called Boa Vista Palace. The palace is open to the public for visits and has 105 rooms with seventeenth and eighteenth century antiques and some 2,000 works of art from the seventeenth through the twentieth centuries. Brazilian painters like Tarsila do Amaral.

Tarsila do Amaral, known simply as Tarsila, is considered to be one of the leading Latin American modernist artists, described as “the Brazilian painter who best , Ahita Malfatti, and Falvio de Carvalho are represented here. Built in English Tudor style, Boa Vista is located on a hilltop above the town amidst native woods, cherry trees, and hydrangeas. The palace construction began in 1938, but for various political and economic reasons was not completed until 1964. Originally the home of the winter music festival (until the Claudio Santoro Auditorium was built in 1970), Boa Vista Palace has been declared a public monument.

The Boulevard Geneve in the Capivari area of town is the center of all the activity and draws tourist and locals alike. It looks like the quintessential Swiss village, complete with shops, bars, discos, and restaurants, including the Baden-Baden and Matterhorn restaurants. Baden-Baden, on one corner of the Boulevard Geneve, is a popular German restaurant and bar that serves sauerbraten and bratwurst and brews its own beer. Matterhorn on the other corner of the Boulevard Geneve is a Swiss restaurant specializing in fondue. On the first floor there is a store selling Swiss and international items, like wine, chocolates, nuts, and fondue kits. Chocolate shops are everywhere.

On one clear January day, Ana Lucia, her son Ciro, and some friends from out of town are sitting in the Montanhes chocolate shop. Montanhes has been in the business for 29 years and has some of the best and most varied chocolates in Campos do Jordao. Ana Lucia is eating truffles and Ciro and some of the others are drinking hot chocolate. One of their friends, Maria Cecilia, a music teacher from Sao Paulo, says “the chocolates are one of the reasons I come to Campos do Jordao. I can’t find anything like them in Sao Paulo. Of course, I love the wonderful mountain air, the Swiss atmosphere, and the sports, but oh those chocolates!”

Pedro Paulo Filho, a local historian and author who has lived in Campos do Jordao all of his life, wrote the following poem:

Nao sabiam os afoitos viandantes
Que o tesouro de ouro nao era nao
Sequer de esmeraldas ou de diamantes,
O tesouro era Campos do Jordao.

“The bold travelers didn’t know
That the treasure was not of gold
Nor even of emeralds or diamonds.
The treasure was Campos do Jordao.”

- Rita Shannon Koeser is a freelance writer who specializes in the history and culture of Brazil.

Machismo in the Portuguese language

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On the Portuguese forum at WordReference, user Kynnjo recently made the following statement (the bulk of which I posted just below) in regards to using the verb arrepiar (to get goosebumps or to be frightened) and how machismo might interfere.

“It’s getting to be carnaval time, and I’ve been listening to a lot of the new official 2010 enredos in YouTube… I’ve been struck by how often the comments from appreciative Brazilians include variations of “arrepiar” (=get goosebumps). It’s not that the notion is hyperbolic, not at all (I too get goosebumps sometimes listening to this music, especially when one of those armies of sambistas goes off a cappella). Rather, what surprises me is that, as far as I can tell, “arrepiar” is used not only by women, but often by men too. Is this impression accurate?

In US English, expressions like “it gave me goosebumps” is heard mostly from females. One may hear it from very young boys (say, 5 or younger), or from flamboyant gay men. But a “regular US guy” won’t readily admit to getting goosebumps outside of his therapist’s office, and least of all from listening to music; the US male culture regards it as unmanly.”

I would generally agree with the statement above.

The conversation continues and the subject changes to the use of diminutives in Portuguese and how it isn’t considered “manly” in Brazil to use them (outside of saying ‘cafezinho’ and the like). I found this to be quite true during my time in Brazil although in my experience it was mostly women who would tell me “men don’t say that” or “if you say that, other men will think you are gay”. Personally, I could care less if someone is gay or not as I believe in “to each his/her own”, do what makes you happy as long as you aren’t hurting others in the process. Anyways, I rather enjoy hearing women use diminutives although not all the time as that reminds me of ‘baby-talk’ (infantilization). As far as men using them, I just don’t have the ear for it, in order to notice that anything is wrong with using it, so it is very much ‘over my head’.

While on the subject of diminutives, a few years ago, just before wanting to tell a random beautiful woman she was “bonitinha”, I considered the fact that I hadn’t quite got my mind around the use of such a diminutive so I didn’t say anything at all. Later, I asked my Brazilian female friend and she told me never to say that because that particular way of saying someone is pretty is considered to render the opposite effect…meaning it would be like calling her “ugly” or in the least, “a little bit pretty”.

Might you have any other examples?

Training Brazilians abroad

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Just a video I found interesting. It’s from Deutsche Welle English.

“Brazil is building a steel plant due to go into operation next year (this was written in mid-2008). It’s being built by the concern Thyssen-Krupp and it’s also the biggest investment the company has made in its history.

When completed it will employ 3.500 people at Sepetiba Bay in the state of Rio de Janeiro. As part of the project Thyssen-Krupp has brought 150 Brazilians to Duisburg in Germany for training. It’s a big logistical operation that requires 70 interpreters to be on site around the clock as well as a 24 hour hotline where the Brazilians can vent their problems. Former student housing close to the plant in Duisburg also had to be renovated to accommodate them.”

Cordel makes a comeback

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The other day, I saw a good post on The Good Blood about Cordel Literature and today when I was browsing the online version of the Brazilian magazine Bravo, I came across a section called “Our Bet” (in PT) in which they bet on who or what will be successful in the near future. For April of 2009, they put their bet on William Paiva, a Recifense (from Recife) who is an animator that has used cordel in his work.

His first full animation (below, in PT) has won awards all over Brazil and is titled “O Jumento Santo e a cidade que se acabou antes de começar” (The Donkey Saint and the city that ended before it began). It’s basically a Brazilian version of the creation story, but here’s a short description from Bravo.

“O (jumento) santo nasce (de uma vaca maculada pelo anjo Gabriel) como uma solução para contornar a desobediência de homem e mulher, que comeram do fruto proibido (o caju) e transformaram o mundo em uma grande bagunça, para alegria de um demônio (lagartixa) e rebuliço entre anjos (de asas borboleteantes).”

“The (donkey) saint is born (from a spotted cow from the angel Gabriel) as a solution to bypass the disobedience of man and woman, who ate the forbidden fruit (the cashew fruit) and transformed the world into a big mess, all to the pleasure of the demon (lizard) and to the uproar of the angels (with butterfly wings).”

Glossary of a Brazilian translator w/o time to lose

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This I found on the SK language school site in the humor section, although most of the humor is in English.

GLOSSÁRIO DE UM TRADUTOR BRASILEIRO QUE ESTUDOU NUM CURSINHO RÁPIDO, PORQUE NÃO TINHA TEMPO A PERDER:

Layout ……………………………… Fora da lei
Go home ……………………………Vá a Roma
He is my son ……………………… Ele e maçon
US Mail ……………………………. Meio dos Estados Unidos
I don’t care ……………………….. Eu não quero
Go ahead ………………………….. Gol de cabeça
Broken heart ……………………… Coração bronqueado
Are you sick? …………………….. Qual e seu CIC?
What time is it? ………………….. Que time é esse?
They go jogging all the time … Eles vão jogar com todo o time
An ice cream ……………………… Crime cometido com frieza
Because ……………………………… Inflamação no bico
Fourteen ……………………………. Pessoa baixa e forte
Corn flakes ………………………… Cornos e frescos
She must go ……………………….. Ela mastigou
It’s too late …………………………. É muito leite
Free shop …………………………… Chopp de graça
Good stuff ………………………….. Boa estufa
A hot day ……………………………. Arrotei.
With noise ………………………….. Conosco
Yellow river ………………………… Ela e horrível.
The boy is behind the door ……. O boi esta berrando de dor.
I’m a man ……………………………. Eu mamei
Once more ………………………….. Onde você mora?
Merry Christmas …………………. Maria foi crismada.
Today’s payday ……………………. Hoje peidei.
In French ……………………………. Em frente.
Netscape …………………………….. Nescafé americano
Fuck ………………………………….. Fuca

You can’t come to Brazil – Portuguese

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Fabio at English This Way reminded me of a common problem that non-native Portuguese speakers run into while in Brazil. In terms of the verbs ‘ir’ (to go) and ‘vir’ (to come), Americans see them as interchangable while Brazilians don’t.

Example

In English – “I’m coming to your house right now” (Right)
In Portuguese (but translated back, it means) – “I’m going to your house right now”

Inglês – “Eu estou vindo para sua casa agora” (Wrong)
Português – “Eu estou indo para sua casa agora” (Right)

In Brazil, you can’t go to a place by coming there, you can only go there by going. Likewise, someone can only come to you, you can’t come to them. Questions?

Secrets, Guarded and Shared

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Recently, I read on a tech site that a Facebook group called Secret London got so big, it had to start thinking bigger, meaning it had to become its own site. Secret London is a group of Londoners who share secret spots with each other in an effort to get to know the London that can’t be found through official channels. This London is about who you know because it’s the ‘whos’ that are the ones that know the ‘whats’ and the ‘wheres’. Anyways, a bit of a discussion is going on as to whether taste is best shared or guarded (best to read ‘guarded’ first).

In the same vein as Secret London, you can bet there exists a Secret Brazil, just not in any official capacity. Practically everyone in Rio, for example, has a secret spot or a favorite place to go to think, to see the sunset, to visit on certain days because they know there’s free admission that day, etc.

The interesting thing about taste is that it’s pretty personal. Socially-speaking, it could be said that taste is non-existent as long as others don’t share the same taste. Saying someone has good taste is also saying that you have enough taste to know such a thing. In terms of the masses and in the same sense as the concept of cool, the labeling of something as tasteful also slowly kills it off. In other words, it gets played-out, over-consumed or in the case of a place, over-crowded, etc. Perhaps it can even lead to a broken window.

So here I am, thinking that I’m giving away all my secrets about Brazil by having this blog/site where I am selective about its content. Upon second thought, I then realize that my purpose here is to show the world that Brazil isn’t just made up of the 4 things I virtually never mention here (Carnival, ‘naked women’, soccer and violence). There’s a Brazil that is little talked about and I’ve made it my job to ‘spill the beans’ (or rather the oranges) about the things and places that should be shared.

Where does Laranjeiras, a neighborhood of Rio, fit in? To make a short story long, I have several friends who call the neighborhood ‘home’ and they all say nothing but great things about it. Those who don’t live there but are from the city of Rio, haven’t ever mentioned the neighborhood to me, as if they never gave it any thought. I’ve only been there once so I don’t have much first-hand experience…but when speaking to my friends, I get the feeling Laranjeiras is a bit of a hidden gem, laid-back, upkept, not too crowded…just right.

Here’s a little background.

“Laranjeiras (Portuguese for orange trees) is an upper-middle-class neighborhood located in the Zona Sul area of Rio de Janeiro. Primarily residential, It is one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, having been founded in the 17th century, with the construction of country houses in the valley located around the Carioca River, which bordered Corcovado Mountain. Because of this, the neighborhood was previously called “Vale do Carioca”, or Carioca Valley.

While primarily residential, several important governmental, cultural, and sports institutions and schools make this a bustling neighborhood. Well known landmarks in Laranjeiras include the Palácio Guanabara (seat of the state government of Rio de Janeiro), the Palácio Laranjeiras (official residence of the state’s governor), and the Parque Guinle (Guinle Park), as well as the headquarters and Laranjeiras Stadium of Fluminense Football Club, and Rio’s branch of the Hebraica Social and Sports Club, and several others.

Well-known people that live, or have lived in Laranjeiras include:

  • Cartola, singer, composer and poet
  • Cássia Eller, singer
  • Cândido Portinari, pintor
  • Oscar Niemeyer, arquiteto
  • Machado de Assis, writer.”

- Wikipedia

A lot of history happened in and nearby the ‘Vale do Carioca’, as the region encompassing modern-day Glória, Catete and Laranjeiras once was called. The Vale’s claim to fame comes from the fact that the land used to build the first Portuguese house on Brazilian soil (the ‘house of whites’ where the term ‘carioca’ comes from) was built there where a little later, the failed French colony called the ‘French Antartica’ (lasting from 1555 to 1567) was founded. If the French and their indian counterparts (the Tamoios, with whom they traded and joined in an effort to fight off the Portuguese) had secured Guanabara Bay, today Rio, and all of Brazil for that matter, might be full of French descendents. Think that is far-fetched? A half of a century later, the French had control over the northern state of Maranhão, where its capital São Luis is named after King Louis IX. During the time of the two South American French colonies, France was after its fair share of the Americas (especially after taking Quebec in Canada), an effort they aptly called ‘Nouvelle France’.

As for the name Laranjeiras, it was said to have been bestowed upon the neighborhood by the visiting English author Maria Graham in 1821. She stated there were many orange trees in the area although today there is more evidence to the contrary, that there were many more coffee plants than orange trees back then. Besides, Laranjeiras was the name of a beach, albeit absent of orange trees, near Parati. The theory is that somewhere in the neighborhood of Laranjeiras in Lisbon (which had a garden orchard) lies the origins of its carioca cousin.

I’ll leave you with some photos.