During my five
weeks spent in Sao Paulo, Brazil, I learned and experienced a great deal of new
things that opened my eyes to what life in a different culture was like. From
absorbing the local culture through interacting with locals to learning through
museums and lectures, I was able to gain knowledge that I had previously not
had. Specifically the events I learned the most from were Samba, Capoeira,
Futball, Brazilian politics, and caipirinhas.
One of the first classes we took
while in Sao Paulo was a Samba class located in Endereço from a local
instructor. Samba is a type of dance rich in Brazilian culture that originated
from both Brazilian and African music. This type of music and dance are popular
during the Carnival celebrations which is where it originally gained popularity
during the early 1900s. The backbone of the dance includes the distinct rhythm of
“quick, quick, slow”, involving three-step weight changes, alternating feet
with each move. The most known steps are voltas, bota fogos, kick change, samba
side steps, and the samba strut. In the class we took we were taught both an
individual routine as well as how to dance with a partner. The only move I was able
to do without hurting myself was the samba strut which more less just involved
walking forward to the music. Outside of the class, we ventured to a samba club
at night where I observed couples dancing samba in unison. I didn’t even know it was physically possible
to move in some of the ways they were, let alone do that in high heels. At one
point one man lifted his partner over his head and spun her around, it was
impressive to say the least. I on the other hand, stood in the corner sipping
on my cairpirinha bopping my head to the beat.
We then went on to take a class in
another form of dance, Capoeira. We went to the Centro de Capoeira Angola
Angoleiro Sim Sinhô for both instruction and to watch a demonstration from
professionals. Capoeira is more than just a type of dance though; it is a hybrid
of dance and martial arts, which involves movement, music, and philosophy. It involves
“dueling” between two people that absorb the energy from the other person and
react to how they’re moving. The demonstrations we saw were improvised but the
two people were so in sync with each other and reacted to the attack of the
other person so effortlessly that one would assume they had been practicing the
dance for weeks. Not only does one take direction from their partner but also
from the music and how it flows. The main instrument of choice is the berimbau
which is a one string musical bow which has a sound unlike any instrument I’ve
ever heard. This is often accompanied by drums, pandeiro, and other similar
instruments. The instructors taught us a variety of the most common moves and
had us in partners, travel across the floor performing them. After we had
learned the basics, we gathered in a circle, each person given an instrument,
and were taught the basic beat of the Capoeira music. From there, the
instructors chose two people at a time and had the two dance in the middle of
the circle, all improvising their movements. This was my favorite portion of
the class as I was able to jam out on my pandeiro and chant along with the beat
while no longer embarrassing myself by attempting to contort my body in ways it’s
not meant to move.
Moving on from types of dance,
another sport that we studied and experienced was futebol (or soccer in America).
We had an expert on the game come to give a lecture, saw a game, and we went to
the futebol museum. The lecturer spoke about how the game originated as a whole
and how it came to be as popular as it is in modern day Brazil. This was an
interesting time to visit Brazil and learn about futebol since they will be
hosting the World Cup tournament in 2014. The sport was brought to Brazil 115
years ago from Portugal during colonization and rapidly took off now making it
the most popular sport in the nation. Not only is it just popular but given
their record five World Cup wins, Brazil’s futebol program can be considered
the best in the world. At the museum they had historical artifacts from the
game, history on the players, ending with the actual stadium and being able to
look out into it. I was aware of how popular the sport was in Brazil but after
seeing how emotional people were getting seeing the clips from the tournaments
I fully understood how important this sport was culturally. Players such as
Pele and Nemar are historical figures ingrained in the Brazilian culture that
hold an iconic spot in the people’s hearts. This was also evident in the
Corinthians vs. Sao Paulo State game we went to. This game showed that
something as simple as a sport was able to bring people together and give them
a common interest and something to relate to each other with. Although we were
cheering for Sao Paulo State, according to Gus, Corinthians was the team of the
people and allegedly the better team to cheer for.
Although learning about the sports
was informative and extremely captivating to hear about, we did get to study
some more serious issues in Brazil, and Sao Paulo, relating to the political
protests. Gus on one of the first days gave us an overview on the motivation
behind the protests and then later in the trip a student from Sao Paulo
University that was one of the leaders in the protests came in to give us his
opinion on the matter. The main reasoning behind the unrest in Brazil was over
the fare increase in public transportation as a means to fund the World Cup in
2014. This was seen as unfair due to the fact that people were unable to afford
such an increase and the government was using this money to fund something that
the common Brazilian doesn’t even have the means to attend. This was not merely
a protest over the fare increase but more a deep rooted issue about political
corruption that has been brewing for a long while. There has been long standing
unrest over the President of Brazil and the corruption within their political
and military system. The media was another source of unrest with the people as
it was siding with the government and reporting stories that make the people
out to be the enemy. Considering how happy both Gus and the visiting student
were that the reporter got shot in the eye with a rubber bullet it is clear how
much the media is disliked. Even with the protests going on in Sao Paulo while
we were there I never once felt unsafe in the city and the people I met were
nothing but friendly and peaceful. The Brazilian people had every right to
stand up for their beliefs and it did seem that the media portrayed them as
violent and disruptive.
Lastly, arguably my favorite part of
my month in Sao Paulo, was the cairpirinhas. A cairpirinha is a drink made with
cacacha (tastes essentially like a rum, tequila hybrid but technically a brandy),
sugar, and fruit, typically limes. Annually, Brazil produces around two billion
liters of cachaca, exports about 400 million liters, doing the math leaves a
decent 1.6 billion liters for Brazilian consumption. This is evident since
every restaurant and establish serves at least five different types of
cairpirinhas. While using limes as the fruit is the most common recipe for one,
I tried a variety of flavors including morango, abacaxi, kiwi, lichi, caju, and
uva. All delicious but the lime in my opinion countered the sweetness from the
sugar and helped balance out of the sting of the cachaca. While in Paraty, I
was able to try a few of the top shelf cachacas and ended up purchasing what
the clerk told me was the best in Brazil, Maria Izabel. Besides cairpirinhas
being delicious, they embodied the Brazilian culture, incorporating sugar cane
and fruit, two of the most distinct flavors of Brazil. It was also a unique piece
of their culture that isn’t something that I’ll find at a local bar in Boston.
Spending a month in Sao Paulo,
Brazil opened my eyes culturally and taught me a great deal on a country I knew
very little about prior to arriving. As people, Brazilians are one of the
nicest cultures I have ever encountered as they are extremely patient and
always willing to help if they were needed or not. As a whole, they have many
aspects that set them apart including their food, music, sports, and cultural
melting pot, that are fascinating and distinctly Brazilian. I hope to visit again
soon and bring back all the knowledge I gained from this dialogue.
Sources:
1.
"Cachaça
and the Caipirinha - the Brazilian National Drink and Cocktail." Cachaça and the
Caipirinha - the Brazilian National Drink and
Cocktail. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Aug. 2013.
<http://www.brazil-help.com/cachaca.htm>.
2.
"Mestre
Acordeon - Capoeira An Introductory History." Mestre Acordeon - Capoeira An
Introductory History. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Aug. 2013. <http://www.capoeira.bz/mestreacordeon/capoeira/history.html>.
3.
"Samba." About.com
Dance. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Aug. 2013
<http://dance.about.com/od/partnerdancestyles/qt/Samba.htm>.
4.
"The
Evolution of Brazilian Football." Soccerlens.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Aug. 2013.
<http://soccerlens.com/brazil-football/31195/>.
