In an attempt to attract more foreign students, USP decided to create living quarters for them in downtown São Paulo. The first building has already been chosen. With 15 stories and capacity for 100 students, it is located in the Sé neighborhood. The idea is to open three more places for said students, who currently make up 2% of USP’s population. – Folha
As Polyana says, what about improving education for Brazilian students? Oops, that must have slipped someone’s mind at USP.
“Today, in Brasília, the new Brazilian ID (RIC – Registro de Identidade Civil) will be launched which will substitute the current ID (RG). The RG will still be valid until all citizens have been registered for the new one, according to the Ministry of Justice.
The new document has various security mechanisms like a chip, where digital fingerprints, sex, nationality, date of birth, photo, signature, expiration date and other relevant data. The ID holder’s SSN (CPF) will be stored there, too, in the near future.” – Exame
Let’s see what can be done with these new identification cards. A chip can be manipulated, stolen, hacked and tracked. Plus, what happens if you lose your ID? It’s reaching the point where you won’t be considered a citizen anymore. No ID? Can’t work here. Money? Sorry, we deal in rations, allocated to your ID. Incremental changes, like computer updates, will slowly transform society to accept new norms.
Over the weekend, I tried to buy a book from a Brazilian vendor on a Brazilian website and despite my credit card, debit card and Paypal account, I ran up against a wall. The problem didn’t even have to do with international shipping as I was hoping to surprise a friend by shipping the book within Brazil, even within the same city as the vendor.
When the site didn’t let me proceed with my purchase because I didn’t have a Brazilian credit card or bank account, I attempted to go around them by dealing directly with the vendor (via his email address). When he replied a few days later, his response was that he wasn’t familiar with Paypal, which actually operates in Brazil. In fact, the Paypal logo is surprisingly absent from many major Brazilian retail sites like Ponto Frio, Submarino, etc.
In this day and age, I just find it a bit strange that such barriers exist. I wanted to give my money to someone in a major city in exchange for a simple product but I couldn’t. Something needs to change…and while I’m at it, I’ve got qualms with the postal service, too. When the book thing didn’t pan out, I thought about quickly sending one lil’ card through the mail to Brazil. The price? US$30+! I mean, really? Surely, the USPS had a bag of letters already going to a major distribution point in the US, and from there, to Brazil. What’s one more letter? (Btw, the non-priority price? US$1.50)
The other weekend, I was at a friend’s wedding and it was the 3rd I had ever been to. My friend comes from wealth so everything was top-notch, though as nice as it was, I started to think what my wedding would look like (oops, guys aren’t supposed to talk about these things), even though that day is likely far in the future.
Here’s the answer (plus photos)
“He extracted his first million from lawless goldmines deep in the Amazon jungle and went on to become Brazil’s richest man, a smooth-talking mining and energy tycoon who keeps a Mercedes-Benz SLR in his sitting room as a symbol of his $27bn (£17bn) empire.
Now, with Rio de Janeiro gearing up for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, Brazilian entrepreneur Eike Batista has set himself two new goals: to help transform his adoptive beachside home into one of the world’s most dynamic and affluent cities, and to become the richest man on Earth.
“Mister Carlos Slim has to invent a new race kart to catch up,” said the 53-year-old, referring to the Mexican telecoms billionaire rated by Forbes as the world’s wealthiest person. Batista is currently eighth.
Batista’s companies, controlled by a holding group called EBX – the X a reference to multiplying profit – plan to pump nearly £13bn into Rio state over the next two years, constructing ports and factories, and drilling for oil.
“If I look at Rio 10, 15 years out it is going to be unbelievable,” he said, describing the city’s future as a mix of California, New York and Houston, combining stunning beaches and natural beauty with financial clout and ultra-modern architecture.
He is also working on plans to build, from scratch, “a super-modern, digital city” for about 250,000 people. The city, to be erected around150 miles from the state capital and designed by the Brazilian architect and urban planner Jaime Lerner, will be called Cidade X.
The billionaire’s Rio projects involve cleaning up the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, running a luxury cruise ship for tourists, revamping the city’s marina and restoring a traditional hotel, which like much of Rio has fallen on hard times in recent decades as growing violence triggered a crippling economic exodus.” – Guardian (more)
Language schools make up some of the oldest chains on the Brazilian market. With consolidated networks operating in the country for more than 60 years and dozens of brands disputing the potential students, the sector could be heading towards a period of deacceleration. Everything seems to indicate the exact opposite, though, as the chains are seeing a new cycle of expansion, helped along by the new middle class, the success of the Brazilian economy and by the large sporting events that Brazil will soon be home to.
One of the indicators of the sectoral growth potential is the increase in educational spending by Brazilians. According to data from Provar (Retail Administration Program) and the FIA (Administration Institute Foundation), the new middle-class is spending more of their income on education (from the previous 8-10% to 15-17% currently).” – Exame
My Take
There’s no doubt that more people will be signing up for language courses over the next several years but having administered a SKILL school for a short time, I can say that a lot of what the students learn seems to go to waste. Consider all the small towns that have a local chain and how much actual contact they have with native speakers of, let’s say, English. It’s pretty much down to in-class time with the teacher, who is likely not a native speaker. Language schools, if where I worked was any indication, care about attracting students and being able to say they have a teacher for such and such language, the more, the better. I witnessed very little focus (mostly none at all) on the actual teaching methods and/or ability of the teachers.
One of the other issues is that in the race to offer more than the competition, no thought is given to the fact that lesser used languages are often taken by less serious students who usually have the money to blow on courses for fun. Of the serious students, few are there because of a true interest in the language they are learning as most just want to have their CVs say they speak whatever language it is that, in reality, they know more or less. I won’t go as far as saying stricter criteria should be applied to potential students before they are allowed to take a course (though, I’d apply such tactics if I had a school) but it’s still kind of sad to see money and time being spent on something as interesting and eye-opening as learning a new language when it won’t be taken seriously. But hey, if you have an extra R$100K, language schools seem to be a good bet, according to another article by Exame.
Mozambique-born singer Mariza with dancer Patrick de Bana performing to African rhythms in FADOS, a film by Carlos Saura. The song is a tribute to her African grandmother. Her 2005 album, Transparente (Amazon), was recorded in Brazil and produced by Brazilian cellist Jacques Morelenbaum.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched this video.
“Palavra (En)Cantada is a documentary by Helena Solberg, that offers an adventure through the Brazilian singer, poet and troubadour. The film looks at the relationship between poetry and music, weaving testimony by the biggest names in Brazilian music with performances and a surprising study of images.”
I saw this last night and absolutely loved it. It’s everything a lover of Brazilian music should see and know. Among all the documentaries on Brazilian music that I’ve seen (maybe 5-6), the only other one that comes close is Moro no Brasil (which I only had the chance to see the beginning of, though it looked equally as interesting).
Regina made her list of 5 faux-pas (lit. ‘false step’, and yes, it stays the same whether singular or plural) that can occur in Brazil. She encourages you to list your own and join in on the commenting. Another word for ‘faux-pas’ in French, is ‘gaffe‘, which you may recognize as also being used in Portuguese (gafe). I’m learning French now and have been finding quite a few similar words.
My Faux-Pas
I recommend that no one, while in Rio, say no to a petitioning gang of clowns in the Zona Sul, lest you have flashbacks of Clockwork Orange. My American friends and I walked by a female clown near the Nossa Senhora plaza and I politely declined the petition to which she yelled, “gringos desgraçados!!” Then, shortly after, while walking along the beach, a male clown asked us to sign something to which I made the Brazilian sound for “no” (like two clicks) and a quick shake of the head and right upon passing him, he yelled in English, “Fuck you!!” So yeah, beware of clowns, whether on the street or in Congress.
That being said, these were obviously just two people who woke up on the wrong side of the bed that morning. I wouldn’t particularly enjoy being in a clown suit on a hot day either.
Fiona at Blood and Pearls has left us. In her latest two posts (and the last ones for a while on Brazil I’m guessing), she says goodbye as she jets off to Vancouver, then Germany. She relates her experience getting in line at the airport, which I found all too familiarly funny.
“Gustavo and I gave each other one last kiss, and then I entered the crowd of fat and rude Americans travelling home for the holidays. What a shock to understand everything that is being said around me. I wish I could close out things like… “What the hell is this third world treatment we’re receiving. Doesn’t anyone know what they’re doing?” or “That woman back there was nasty! Why did she tell you that? She wasn’t even that cute!” or “&(^#$^&^(#$&)Q&$*^&(Q$^(^” I was bombarded with vulgarity. Why were these people here? To exploit? To indulge? Seemingly.”
