BEM VINDO AO BRASIL!
Come on a journey to Brazil as we learn more about a country that can be characterized by its tropical climate, lush rainforest, beautiful indigenous cultures and resilient history.
FUN FACTS
- Brazil is the largest country in South America and the only one where the official language is Portuguese.
- Brazil is the 5th largest country in the world by both land area and population.
- The capital city is Brasilia, while the largest city is São Paulo with over 12 million people. Take a quick tour around São Paulo!
- An estimated 2,000 Indigenous tribes and nations inhabited the land that is now referred to as Brazil before colonization that still greatly impacts Indigenous Brazilians today.
- Brazil has the greatest variety of animals of any country in the world. It is home to 600 types of mammals, 1,500 types of fish, and 1,600 types birds, and 100,000 different types of insects! Many of these animals live in the rainforests, which now only cover 7% of the country due to destruction of the forests that has happened since the arrival of Europeans 500 years ago.
- Around 60% of the Amazon Rainforest is located in Brazil.
- Brazil’s coastline is almost 5,000 miles long! People in coastal areas often spend weekends with family and friends at the beautiful beaches.
HEAR THE LANGUAGES OF BRAZIL
Portuguese is the official language, but just like the United States, people have moved to Brazil from many other countries over the past 500 years. Some people came from Germany and now speak a version of Hunsrückish German that’s mixed with Portuguese and Indigenous languages. A wave of Italian immigrants brought Talian, a Venetian language still spoken in areas of Southern Brazil. And many speak Spanish as well as Portuguese. You can learn some Portuguese at DuoLingo.
274 Indigenous languages are also recognized. Like in the United States and other countries in North and South America, many languages have been or are being lost as fewer people speak them. The two biggest Indigenous language families in Brazil are Tupi and Marco-JeSome. Hear Guarini below, which is spoken by 26,500.
YPSI WRITES
Brazil is home to several of the world’s most visited cities, as well as the Amazon rainforest and Amazon River, which is the second longest river in the world after the Nile River in Africa. The Amazon River is over 4,000 miles long! That’s roughly the distance from Ypsilanti to Germany! The river and surrounding rainforest are home to some of the most unique wildlife on the planet, including howler monkeys, the scarlet macaw, the brown-throated sloths, the South American jaguar, and the toco toucan to name a few. Brazil is also known for its incredible coffee production on its eastern coast, along with its lively Carnival celebrations and gorgeous Iguazu Falls on its southern border with Argentina.
Imagine you have three days to see the sights of Brazil that interest you the most. These could be anything: a soccer match in Rio de Janeiro, an Amazon wildlife tour, anything you want! Click the buttons below for more details on how to plan your vacation, which is also called making an itinerary.
ROMERO BRITTO
The internationally known artist Romero Britto was born in Recife, State of Pernambuco, Brazil on October 6, 1963. He is the founder of the Happy Art Movement and his iconic style of art has been described as optimistic and full of love.
Romero is an activist who has worked alongside over 250 different charitable organizations worldwide. Britto has said that “art is too important not to share” and is “a believer in the role of an artist as an agent of positive change.” Britto is one of the most licensed artists in history based on his collaborations with many brands and his style and his work can be categorized as both cubism and pop art.
Watch the video to get a peak inside his studio!
POP ART
An art movement that began in the 1950s and became popular in America and Britain in the 1960s. This movement challenges what is viewed as traditional fine art by including images from international popular culture. (Popular culture is a set of practices, beliefs and objects that have mass appeal and are easily accessible to people in society during specific moments in time.) Images used in Pop Art come from places like advertisements, comic books, and everyday objects.
CUBISM
Cubism is a representation of reality that was invented by Pablo Picasso and George Braque in 1907-1908. It brings together different views of objects, people, places, etc. into the same work of art. This combination of different ideas results in paintings that look to be pieced together and abstract.
MAKE ART
Gather supplies, then follow along as Romero Britto leads you in creating a happy piece called Heart with Wings.
You’ll need a black marker, 3 or more brightly colored markers, crayons or colored pencils, and some blank paper.
MUSIC AND MOVEMENT
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that that has an incredible history of resistance and resilience and is now practiced all over the world. It was derived from traditions brought across the Atlantic Ocean by enslaved people of Africa. Its development was fueled by the desire for freedom and was played by folx that fought to break the bonds of slavery both mentally and physically. Capoeira is considered a game that is played by two capoeiristas as they exchange movements of attack and defense in a constant flow of acrobatics and dance-like movements that often don’t involve any actual physical contact.
Capoeira is played in a roda, a physical circle made up of capoeiristas clapping and singing or playing instruments. The roda provides a structure for play and helps build energy with support from the other capoeiristas.
The five main instruments used in Capoeira are berimbau, pandeiro, atabaque, agogô, and reco-reco. See them in the photo to the right!
LEARN SOME CAPOEIRA
Watch and play along with this Capoeira workshop led by local instructor Mestre Lobinho.
BRIGADIERO
Follow this recipe to make delicious traditional Brazilian truffles!
INGREDIENTS
- 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
- 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
- 4 teaspoons of pure cocoa powder
- 3½ Tablespoons of good quality chocolate (semi-dark chocolate 54% cacao) if you want to add a richer flavor (optional)
PREPARATION
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the pure cocoa powder and the sweetened condensed milk, mix well with a whisk and add the unsalted butter. Be sure to keep stirring and cooking the mixture over medium heat for 15 to 18 minutes, until thickened. Do NOT let the brigadeiro burn.
Turn off the stove and if you wish, add the pieces of pure chocolate. Mix well for 2 minutes until it’s completely melted.
Carefully, transfer or spread the brigadeiro mixture on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and let rest until cool enough to handle.
Put a little of the unsalted butter on your hands and hand roll the mixture into small little smooth balls. Then roll the finished balls in a topping of your choice. My favorites are chocolate sprinkles, shaved chocolate bits, pistachios, toasted almonds, frozen dry fruits and cookie crumbs.
Enjoy with your family and friends!
FUN TIP: In Brazil, before they spread the brigadeiro mixture onto a plate, they take a spoonful from the pot while it’s still warm and have a bite!
PROTECTING OUR ENVIRONMENT
Artemisa Xakriabá is a 19 year old Indigenous activist and member of Brazil’s Xakriabá tribe, one part of a community that faces the most immediate and disastrous effects of environmental destruction. This destruction has left indigenous tribes and nations in Brazil and elsewhere fighting for their land, cultures and lives.
She is a member of the two communities most threatened by the planet’s crisis: indigenous tribes and young people. She fights alongside millions of other young people who continue to try to convince their elders and political leaders to address the planet’s environmental crisis. Because a magnitude of plant and animal life depend on the rain forest for survival, its destruction could lead to a significant loss of resources that people around the world rely on.
MAKE A COMPOST BOTTLE
Take a few minutes to reflect on all of the gifts that mother nature provides us with and then write her a thank you letter or a love note. Tell her what you love about her and thank her for all of the things that you love in the environment that surrounds you and gives you life. Use this letter as inspiration as you work to protect and defend her.
Some of us could work on being less wasteful with food and compost any food that comes from the earth. We could also work on reusing materials and thinking about what can be recycled and repurposed instead of adding more trash to overflowing landfills.
We often say that nature is our mother, because she gives us life, she gives us food. We have a duty to defend her.
-Artemisa Xakriabá
AND THERE’S MORE
The largest Mardi Gras festival in the world is held in Rio de Janeiro over 5 days each winter. Watch the 2020 Samba Schools Parade.