From their artisan cheese to their coffee and cachaça, Mineiros (residents of Minas Gerais) are well-known throughout Brazil for their food and drink. Their habits extend to not only what goes into their mouth, but what comes out of it. Let’s take a little look at two terms that Mineiros made famous: uai and trem.

Uai

There are three explanations for “uai”. The first says it derives from the 1800′s when the English built the railways in Minas, though the idea that Brits frequently said “why” as a catchphrase just doesn’t add up. The second explanation says that at the time of the Mineiro Uprising, the way to enter a conspirator’s hideout was via three knocks and the word UAI, which meant Union, Love and Independence (União, Amor e Independência). The last and, what I consider to be the most likely, is that “uai” is just a mutation of the common Paulista exclamation, “ué”.

An uncomplicated explanation of the term would simply be, “uai é uai, uai!” Agreed, uai is uai…unless, of course, you happen to be an English teacher in Minas Gerais, never knowing if your students are asking “why?” or saying “uai”.

Trem

Together with “uai”, the word “trem” (train) is frequently used by people from Minas. The origin is said to be connected, once more, with the era of the construction of the railways in the state. Being that a locomotive train was completely new to most Mineiros, they began to associate them with vehicles that transport their goods. Apparently, the word was used more to speak of the goods and objects the train carried and not solely the railroad cars themselves. In this sense, it is easy to imagine how “trem” came to signify any and every object, despite if it were being transported on a train or not.

As to the question of why Mineiros never miss the train, the answer is they never miss it because they always take it with them wherever they go!

Watch and learn (in PT)

Originally written for Street Smart Brazil

Cyber cafes (aka LAN Houses) in Brazil are omnipresent and currently make up 48% of all internet access points by Brazilians. Just to give a rough idea of their popularity, there are an estimated 108,000 cyber cafes in Brazil while the number of bookstores in the country is below 3,000.

A new law (in Portuguese) recently approved by Brazil’s Federal Court, and awaiting approval by the Senate, will require the 32 million Brazilians that currently use LAN houses to register themselves before being allowed to get online. Under the guise of protecting the underage crowd from accessing explicit content, every client’s digital footprints will be tracked. In exchange, the “digital inclusion centers” (as LAN houses have been deemed by the government) will be able to open lines of credit for the purchasing of new equipment.

Although the types of fines to be imposed for those who ignore the law have yet to be determined, according a report by the newspaper Folha, 90% of all LAN houses in the country are unlicensed. In light of such a figure, the new oversight begins to look like a thinly-veiled attempt to track and control both cyber cafes and their customers.

As I mentioned in a blog post more than a year ago, almost all cyber cafe users I’ve ever seen while living in Brazil are males in their teens who go there to use MSN and play popular shoot ‘em up video games. Why they or anyone else need to be tracked is beyond my comprehension, though the idea does cross my mind that the new law will make many more businesses indebted to credit card companies or the like as well as increase, rather than decrease, the general hourly cost to the client for accessing the Internet.

This past January saw a precedent being made by Anatel (Brazil’s National Telecommunications Agency) when they gave a resident of Teresina, in the state of Piauí, a fine of almost US$2,000. His crime? “Acting as a service provider” when he shared his wi-fi connection with a few neighbors for the price of a fraction of his monthly bill. To put it in other words, the “criminal” was acting like an unlicensed LAN house.

Like most laws in most countries across the world, it is my opinion that their purpose is to collect revenue for the State by determining not what is right or wrong, but what is legal and illegal based on how those in power define such terms. As for where these tactics leave Brazilians, I assume they will either open their wallets (to pay higher prices and to show their identification) or find ways to make informal LAN houses even more informal by going “underground”.

Originally written for Street Smart Brazil

Several miles across the bay from Rio de Janeiro is the modern city of Niterói, aka the “Smiling City”. Those who move there find it to be a refreshing change of pace from the often hectic lifestyle found in Rio, yet its proximity is also one of its attractions. Niterói also boasts the best HDI (Human Development Index) rating for the entire state and third best in all of Brazil. Such a ranking translates to great life expectancy, education and overall standard of living.

Though founded in 1573, it was only in 1835 that the city of Vila Real da Praia Grande took on its current name of Niteroí (from the Tupi Nictheroy, or “hidden waters”). Long seen by the Portuguese settlers as being important to the military strategy of the bay, Niterói gradually came to be home to seven military forts. It could easily be argued that what protected the city more than the forts was its status.

From 1834 to as recently as 1975, the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro was actually Niterói, and not the city of Rio de Janeiro, as it is today. Along with the status that comes with being the capital, Niterói was rigorously developed and eventually was given the prestigious title of Imperial City by Dom Pedro II, bestowing it with semi-autonomy and regional powers. In 1974, one year before losing its capital status, the city received a large round of investment aimed at further urban development due to the completion of the Rio-Niterói Bridge. The bridge turned an inland trek of 62 miles into an over-water trip of 8 miles. While the bridge itself is impressive, better impressions await upon arrival in Niterói.

Caminho Niemeyer

Stretching for a little over 2 miles along the coast of Niterói is the Caminho Niemeyer where the second largest collection of famous Brazillian architect Oscar Niemeyer’s structures are located. The star of the six structures is definitely the spaceship-looking MAC (Museum of Contemporary Art, or “Macky” as it is called locally). When most Brazilians think of Niterói, the MAC is what comes to mind. The shape, while modern, takes full advantage of the panoramic view afforded by its location and, at night, the illuminated pond below makes it look a little more out-of-this-world.

Sidenote: After having visited the MAC, I can safely say it looks great from the outside but isn’t that great inside (the works of “art”, I mean)

Itacoatiara

Ask anyone from Niterói who knows what’s cool which beach is the best and you’ll likely hear about a place called Itacoatiara. A mere thirty minutes east of the city center and surrounded by the Serra da Tiririca (no relation to the clown) park, it was once a neighborhood full of summer beach houses. The area now serves as permanent housing for middle to high income families who benefit from the rigid construction laws imposed on it which limit the number and size of new buildings. The green-blue water and the golden sand is what attracts average beach-goer but it’s the multiple point breaks slightly further out that makes “Itacoa” the perfect spot for surfing (and a bit dangerous for the casual swimmer).

Parque da Cidade

The best view of Rio is arguably not from Rio. The Parque da Cidade (lit. Park of the City) is in a protected area almost 1,000 feet up and has its own natural spring. The main attraction, of course, is the lookout offering views of Niterói’s beaches, the Rio-Niterói bridge and of Rio across the bay. Coming in a close second is the jumping-off point for the fearless at heart. That’s right, for those who may have hang-glided off of Pedra Bonita in Tijuca National Park in Rio, the Parque da Cidade has its own ramp aimed at practicing parapente (para-gliding). If you aren’t as daring, the picture above offers other possibilities.

Originally written for Street Smart Brazil

All Brazilians know Bob’s burger joint but few may know that the owner, Robert “Bob” Falkenburg, was born in the USA and found success not in the food-court, but on the tennis court. Just before a 1948 win at Wimbledon, he married a carioca woman and by 1950, they had moved to Rio de Janeiro to live.

One year later, he opened Falkenburg Sorveteria and thereby introduced whipped ice cream to Brazil. In 1952, the ice-cream-centric shop became Bob’s, eventually making the former tennis champion a very wealthy man. At the time, it had a single location in Copacabana and served burgers, hot dogs and shakes, quickly becoming the favorite hang-out of diplomats and artists. Today, there are 600 locations in 4 countries (Chile, Portugal and Angola being the other three). Nationally, Bob’s has long come in second place, just behind McDonalds.

It is interesting to point out an unintentional parallel between Falkenburg’s first career and his second. When he retired from tennis after his big win, it was due to long-standing respiratory problems, yet one might conclude that such problems can be unnaturally induced as a result of eating too much fast-food. Ask any resident of Rio, though, and they will tell you the item they order the most is the Ovaltine (aka, Ovomaltine) milkshake, and not so much the actual food.

Aside from successes on and off the court, Bob can claim the title of three-time champion of Brazilian golf. In the mid-1970′s, he sold the burger chain and retired in Los Angeles, California, where he still resides at age eighty-five.

Originally written for Street Smart Brazil