Capoeira
The story of my involvement with Brazil spans seven years and five or six trips back and forth for study, for work, and for love – but the whole …
The five people you’ll meet on the Brazilian bus
If, like me, you spend around 8 hours a week on Brazilian buses, here are some people you’re sure to see: 1. The person who offers to hold your …
The buchada saga
Most Brazilian food is colorful and delicious, like the dishes in my last post. …but there’s an exception to every rule. In June 2010, I spent a week with …
Brazilian food beyond rice and beans
So, rice and beans are not your thing? Well, you’re in luck, because Brazilian cuisine has an enormous variety of mouth-watering options besides arroz e feijão. Here are just …
How Brazilian are you?
Take this quiz to find out how Brazilian (or not) you are: Food You eat all the parts of the traditional feijoada, including the chunks of skin, ear, and foot: …
Competition in the subúrbio
When we Americans hear the word “suburbs,” we picture a comfortable lifestyle with sizable houses, spacious yards, and safe neighborhoods full of two-car families. Not so with the Brazilian …
Five things you didn’t know about Brazil
1. Brazil’s name comes from a tree Brazil’s original name was Ilha de Vera Cruz (Island of the True Cross) – given by the explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral when he …
When my students travel to my country
Another student of mine left for a trip to the U.S. this week – that’s the third one in three months. It evokes a strange blend of emotions in …
An English teacher is also…
An English teacher must also be part performer, part artist, and part comedian. Why? Because you have to win your audience. Once in a blue moon you’ll have a …
João Sorrisão
At least 98% of the “sports” news on Brazilian TV is coverage of soccer. You might think it’d get boring watching goal after goal – right? Wrong! Almost as …