 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
OMAR LODGE IN BRAZIL Brazil Arriving in Brazil last year I was hit with my first piece of culture shock, I was greeted by my host parents and some family members along with a Rotary representative but what was different was as the women came to greet me they kissed me on both cheeks and the men gave a strong forceful hug. This for me wasn’t too different as I am a loving person, but still caught my attention as I watched them greet everyone in the same manner. After about a month of my exchange I was comfortable with greeting people in that manner but realized that Brazilians have a rich friendly culture and showing love to the next person was a normal thing. Family. Brazilians are very strong supporters of being a family. Similar to Bermudians every Sunday or holiday was spent with relatives, at their home or at a beach. They cherish their family values very much and often talk for hours and hours with family members about current events, past times, and gossip. Brazil being a very diverse society leaves little to no room for discrimination in schools, restaurants, shopping malls, etc. I found that black, white, Chinese, or any race is openly accepted and even if you are a foreigner, they still welcome you as if you were a native. In Brazil you have some parts, mainly in the south that don’t speak Portuguese. These cities and towns were colonized by the Europeans and speak their native languages such as Dutch, German and Italian throughout the city or town. Oi, como vai você? Qual é seu nome? Fala Português? If you have no idea what these questions mean, you are in the same situation I was when I arrived in Brazil. I learned some basic sentences in Portuguese before I left Bermuda but they were of no use as everyone spoke so fast. I was fortunate to have a host sister who had studied English for over 7 years and spoke very well and translated for her parents. My first couple of days in Brazil I swore that the language was too difficult and I wouldn’t be able to learn it but after 2 days I set my goal and mentally prepared myself to take on the challenge. 3 ½ months later I was able to communicate comfortably and understood 80% of what people were saying. As time passed my Portuguese progressed more and more and by the 6 th month I was speaking fluently and understanding everything. Also in my 6 th month I traveled for a month and visited different states and popular cities throughout Brazil. Tools to help me learn faster were a “Learn Portuguese in 10 minutes a day” book which taught me the basics, grammar, spelling, etc. and my friend from school, Joao Marcelo who speaks very good English. He sat next to me for my first 2 days of school and asked me what words I wanted to know, we wrote about 6 or 7 pages back and front of vocabulary which helped me a great deal after learning how to construct sentences. Close to the end of my exchange I took a course in Portuguese to get certified and after taking the exams passed at the highest level and am now certified in advanced Portuguese. How do Brazilians keep in shape? Breakfast and dinner aren’t very big meals like in the US and Bermuda, they have things such as bread, coffee, tea, cereal, a fruit or fruit juice freshly squeezed, ham and cheese sandwiches, just enough to hold them over to the next meal. Brazilians main meal comes at lunch time where almost 80% of the city slows down between the hours of 12:30 and 3pm to go home and lunch with their family. In every household everyday of the week you will find “Arroz e Feijoa”(rice and beans). Also cooked along with the rice and beans you have some type of meat, calebrasa, porco, frango, carne, etc.) along with another starch, vegetables, and more. This food is prepared daily and normally rotated during the week or month to give a sense a variety. Leftovers do not really exist, and if there is anything left normally the maid will have her plate or it will be eaten later that day. In Brazil I was introduced to some new enticing Brazilian cuisine which became some of my favorite dishes during my year such as Moqueca do peixe, Empanada, Xuxu, Calebrasa, and Vatapa. What’s the Brazilian Education System like? They have Kindergarten, Primary, High School and College like most other countries but they are more advanced. During the High School level you are required to take 7 courses including a foreign language (Spanish or English) and in their 2 nd and 3 rd year they are tested every Saturday morning at 7am on the topic or topics of the week. Instead of the students moving from class to class the teachers move around and you are assigned a class at the beginning of the year. The task of entering college in Brazil is a bit severe because there are millions of people trying to attend college every year and not even half are accepted. Most Brazilians try to enter into the Federal State College which is normally the best college that offers the best courses and is free until your Bachelor’s Degree. Students wanting to enter have to take a test called the “vestibular.” They take this test similar to an assessment exam but in actual fact it’s to fight for a spot in the class of your desired profession. For example, anyone wanting to do Medicine, Law, Chartered Accounting and things of this nature have the hardest test. If the class had a total of 100 available spots you might have 15 -20 people fighting per spot. Recently the government passed a law to give the public school students a fair chance at entering the Federal College which makes chances slimmer for anyone trying to enter. Most private schooled students or those who can afford take extra English classes from an early age in preparation for the vestibular because the English part of the test is vital. Also it is stressed throughout the country the importance of learning another language especially English being one of the most spoken universal languages in the world. Brazilians, and their love for the game of soccer. You cannot drive in almost any part of Brazil without seeing a football pitch, kids paying soccer in the street, or someone walking around with their team jersey on. South Americans in general are passionate about their soccer but Brazilians take it to a higher level. Every 1 out of 4 Brazilians including women are soccer fanatics, they wear their team jersey with great pride on match days, have prayer with friends and other supporters of the same team just before the game, and can tell you just about everything there is to know about that team; championships, cup games, new and old players, coaches, etc. On match days bars are filled with anxious fans from both teams who normally split the bar in two according to the teams to give more force when cheering. Store and restaurant owners go to great lengths by hanging their team flag outside on match day in support of their teams. But none of this compares to a LIVE match. You can feel the adrenaline coming from the stadium at least 10 minutes before you actually reach there. At most games the seats are sectioned off leaving the visiting team a small cheering section close to the exit in case of emergency. The home teams normally have many cheering sections around the stadium but is conducted by one the “ Bamor.” This section is made up of approx. (depending on stadium size) 5 to 10 thousand people with balloons, firecrackers, flags, whistles, etc. This is also the section that starts the energy, the chants, songs, etc. throughout the game. In most of the matches I went to, the attendance at the stadium surpassed Bermuda’s population easily with about 70 – 80 thousand people and the biggest game I attended had approx. 110 thousand people. Brazilians in general take much pride in soccer and their national soccer squad, being the only team in the world to have won the World Cup Championship 5 times.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
