In a recent post I looked at the sensitive subject of favelas and described some of the ways that you can get into trouble when talking about them. But did you know that even the name can stir controversy? The term favela has an interesting history. Back in the 1890s, various Brazilian forces fought a […]
Onça is the Portuguese word for jaguar – surely one of South America’s most beautiful animals. I learned this word during carnival earlier this year. The sun was shining (by 9am it was already ridiculously hot) and there was a great atmosphere among the revellers as they followed the musicians down a very steep, narrow hill […]
I’m no workaholic – I put in extra hours when there’s a big project on, but I’m not one of those people who calls the office when they’re on holiday or sneaks off during birthday parties to check work emails. I like holidays OK? Long weekends are the best! But… I’m starting to wonder about the situation […]
I first became aware of the rivalry between Rio and São Paulo when I saw the film City of God. There’s a scene in which two kids from Rio hitch a lift with a man from São Paulo with the idea of robbing him, but he turns out to be such a nice guy that […]
I’ve been going to a suspiciously large number of birthday parties recently. And now that I think of it, there are a suspiciously large number birthday parties coming up in the next couple of weeks. Hmmm… all very suspicious. Perhaps a detective would go to the calendar and look for notable events that occurred 9 […]