Eat Rio Blog - Page 55 of 106

Toca Raul!

17/01/2013/19 Comments/in Art and culture

Wow, it’s been an exhausting week so far – early starts, late finishes and my long commute mean that I’ve been feeling like a bit of a zombie. At times like these I find that a little music therapy can help. Something uplifting and energizing should do it and I know just the thing.

A little while back I was reading Phil’s excellent blog, when I noticed a post with a rather provocative title: The Best Brazilian Rock Album Ever? The post described the album Krig-ha, Bandolo! by Raul Seixas. At the time I had only just been made aware of Raul Seixas, so when I saw the name and the cool album cover, my interest was piqued.

Krig-ha, Bandolo! Raul Seixas’ first solo album.

Phil has done a great track by track summary of the album so I won’t repeat his work. What I will do is highlight a couple of my favourite tracks. First off, let’s listen to something to something bright and uplifiting that will hopefully wake me up mid-way through another long day at the grindstone.

Brazilian Tapioca

15/01/2013/20 Comments/in Musings

When you see the word “tapioca”, what image comes to mind? Back in England we pronounce this word ‘tappy-OAK-a’ and it doesn’t have a great reputation – for many people it brings back memories of bad school dinners:

Back in England, tapioca pudding is often compared to frogspawn. Ooh yummy!

In more recent times, these tapioca ‘pearls’ have become associated with Bubble Tea – a bit more trendy perhaps, but still quite weird and the resemblance to amphibian eggs is undeniable.

As is often the case, Brazil does things a little differently. Here we call it ‘tappy-OCK-a’ and it is a popular street food, prepared in little stalls on street corners and markets all over Brazil.

Opa! Oba! Eba! Eta!

11/01/2013/16 Comments/in Language

Oba! …er… Opa? Anyone confused yet? I know I am! Believe it or not, what I’m trying to say is “hello”. Let me explain (or at least try to).

When I was a kid growing up in southern England, the casual, chilled-out way to say hello was to say “Alright?”. The correct response was not “Yes I’m fine thanks… well, except for this bruise on my leg from football”. Oh no. The correct response would be “Alright?” straight back! Weird right? Someone asks you a question and you just ignore it and ask the exact same question back! I didn’t encounter this form of greeting until I was 12 or 13 and at first I found the whole thing a bit confusing.

Well, as we discussed recently, Brazilians often use a similar structure for their greetings too, but it’s not always quite that simple!

********************

Opa!

Let’s look at “Opa!” first. This seems to be quite an international phrase – certainly it is also used in Spanish speaking countries and also in Greece. I suspect that the French houp-là, (an exclamation) is also related and who knows, maybe even the English “Whoops!”. This is a real multi-purpose phrase.

It can be used to say a cheery hello, especially for an unexpected meeting.
If you almost bump into someone when you turn a corner, they may well exclaim “Opa!” as they take evasive manoeuvres!
It can also be used in a similar way to the English “Oopsy-daisy” in an attempt to avoid tears when a child falls over.
I’ve heard it used when someone is helping a driver reverse into a parking space, as in “OK, stop now!”
Finally, let’s not forget the Breadman, who combines it with the word for Baker, “Padeiro” to make his famous morning call:

Ô-Paaaadddddeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiro!

Not my beach

09/01/2013/27 Comments/in Language

At times I can be quite self-conscious about my Portuguese – I know I should just lighten up and get on with learning and improving, but if I’m not in a great mood then it’s very easy to notice all the mistakes and forget about all the things I’m getting right.

However, every so often I’m reminded that many of the people I meet day-to-day are also struggling away with their own language challenges. While I’m working on my Portuguese, many of them are working on their *English! At times this can lead to a language stand-off: “Let’s speak English shall we?” “Não! Vamos falar português!”

*I’m aware other languages exist and are learned by Brazilians, but English is the most common.

I find it rather comforting to be reminded that I’m not the only one with language issues. When we are lamenting our respective difficulties, one of the things that Brazilians often mention is the trouble they have with English words which are differentiated only by a long or short “e”. They will often tell me that they struggle with the difference between “beach” and “bitch”! The other example they mention is “sheet/shit”.

This then leads to drawn out demonstrations which involve me repeating “Sheeeeeeeeeet? Shit! Sheeeeeeeet? Shit! See? And now beeeeeeeeeeeeach? Bitch!”. Passing American tourists usually look at me like I’m crazy…

Beeeeeeeeach! This is Ipanema at sunset, looking back towards Arpoador. The Arpoador rocky peninsula is a popular place to sit and watch the sunset.

Climb Dois Irmãos

06/01/2013/13 Comments/in Things to do

Hi everyone, how’s your weekend going? Those of you who follow the Eat Rio Facebook page will know that last weekend, Mrs Eat Rio and I went on a bit of an adventure. We climbed the larger of the Dois Irmãos!

Dois Irmãos, the iconic pair of mountains that sit at the end of Leblon beach. We went up the taller one on the left, commonly known as Irmão Maior – bigger brother.

It was awesome! Seriously, the views were incredible, we saw loads of amazingly bright butterflies, the walk through Vidigal was interesting – all in all it was a great day out!

So, why am I telling you this? Am I gloating? Well, yes, partly it is gloating. But also I thought I’d add it to my list of things to do in Rio!