This book should be used in history classes in Brazil and Portugal mainly because it doesn’t make history sound like a class. It’s also full of details which give us reasons and explanations to understand how both countries have developed. As a carioca I also loved to get to know what transformations the city has undergone during the colonial times. You can also get it in Portuguese, Império à Deriva.
Media
I find it a bit hard to translate the title of the book written by Andreas Wunn, ZDF‘s South America correspondent, without having to explain it. Anyway, it’s something like no need for so many textiles/”clothes” in Brazil. It sounds more like a play on words. At first, maybe because of the samba dancer on the cover, I thought it would focus on the skimpy carnival costumes and bikinis. But while reading the book, I got the feeling that he actually meant more than carnival and beaches, but the general lack of formality of the “dress code” in Rio.
I found the book interesting because it has a bit of almost everything, from funny situations to romance with a touch of adventure. I can clearly understand his “cultural shock” because I’ve got to deal with it, but in Germany. We seem to have inverted positions: he’s a German who lives in Rio while I’m a carioca (born and raised in Rio) who lives in Germany.
In general he shows a very optimistic image of Rio and you can feel he likes living there. However, I felt some parts show he hasn’t been there long enough to find out more about the city and its inhabitants and go beyond some stereotypes. He pictures the north part of the city, the North Zone (Rio is divided in Zones: North, South, West and Center/Downtown) as the place where the “simple” people live (einfache Leute). How “simple”? Simple can mean different things: easy, uneducated, ignorant, unsophisticated, naive, not important or significant, etc. Well, there are many people who live in large houses or apartments in Méier, Tijuca, Olaria, Vila da Penha, Madureira, etc (all suburbs in the North Zone) and also have a holiday place on the beach or in the mountains, but there are the ones who live in cramped apartments in Copacabana (South Zone). There are lots people who live in the North Zone and have already been abroad several times, people who have university degrees and speak other languages. How simple are those people, then?
I do hope Andreas Wunn gets the chance of getting to know more about the “simple people” of Rio. It seems he has already started doing it by going to Grajaú (a suburb in the North Zone) to meet his girlfriend’s relatives. 😉
The week has started with the news that the Pope’s quitting. Well, I also would if I were in his shoes! I do believe his reasons for resigning are health related, but coincidentally this seems to be the right timing to get rid of some trouble, especially in Germany.
I’ve already written some posts (Church Giving Made Easy, If You Don’t Pay, You’re Not A Catholic!, 2011- Middle Ages, What A Sin!) mentioning the control/power the Catholic Church has in Germany. As a matter of fact, it’s a paradox: on one hand Germany is such a technological country with very practical people, and on the other, a country which empowers the church to neglect some of the government’s responsibilities. In a nutshell, Germany has let and caused the church to become a huge employer (a monopoly in some areas) in charge of most kindergartens, hospitals and even schools. An employer who doesn’t follow the estate’s rules, but its own and therefore underpays most of its workforce, threatens and fires professionals who divorce and want to remarry, and disregard the ones who don’t pay church tax.
The most shocking of all is that the government keeps paying for the costs of hospitals, schools and kindergartens! The church rules, but we, taxpayers, finance it all. To be fair, I’ve heard that in some kindergartens the church might contribute with maximum of 2% of costs. Not that much, right?
A recent case has brought the church back in the spotlight after all the terrible cases of pedophilia, and again in a very negative light. A woman who was raped was basically denied treatment in two Catholic hospitals in Cologne. Why?! Because, as Catholic hospitals, doctors are forced to follow the church rules, which are strictly against the morning-after pill no matter the case. How can that be?! How can a raped woman be forced to keep an unwanted pregnancy?! And how come doctors are not allowed to offer women in such a situation the choice? Who, in fact, pays for all the treatment and the professionals? The church?! No! So, how come?
Technology has proved that the world is not flat, the space is not totally unknown anymore, we’re now able to clone cells, many countries already accept homosexual marriage, etc. Well, looks like the Catholic Church can’t cope with all these changes. The consequences for being so narrow-minded are showing. More and more Germans are leaving the church not only because they want to stop paying church tax, but because they are totally disappointed at how the church has been reacting to the world and its development. Will the next pope be able to change that?
No, that’s not Rio. It’s Hamburg! It felt like deja vu to me. Although TV documentaries have been talking about the increase in the gap between the poor and the rich in Germany, I wouldn’t really associate such pictures to Germany. Coincidentally I watched a program (Armes Deutschland, reiches Deutschland – Poor Germany, rich Germany) on RTL (a TV channel) last Wednesday discussing this issue. I guess the problem doesn’t seem to be as obvious in smaller towns as it is in bigger cities like Hamburg, for example. It’s also hard to believe poverty is growing in Germany when you drive in the highways and you see the dream cars people can afford. But unfortunately the contrast is getting bigger. Is it a consequence of the crisis in Europe? Some would say yes. I’m not sure but I just hope something is done before it gets out of control.
At first I had a feeling that German was not a very melodic language. It sounds so guttural and hard with such long words, how could people sing in German and make it sound good?
I now love most of the German songs they play on the radio. Some might say I’ve just gotten used to how the language sounds, but I do think it’s because they’re really good. And since music has no borders, here are some of my favorite ones currently. I hope you also enjoy them:
Die Ärzte
Die Toten Hosen
Jupiter Jones
If you’re interested in history and the Second World War, you should read this book. It’s the story of a man and his wife who start daring the Nazi system by writing postcards after their son’s death in war. It was written by Hans Fallada, who as a writer had problems with the Nazi system himself, in less than a month. The book is based on a true story and it portrays how scared and lonely people were because they weren’t able to trust others.
I’m watching Fast and Furious Five on TV right now and I’ve just seen a scene where two characters (Mia and Brian) get to a favela and are served a very typical Brazilian meal: black bean stew and rice. It has made my mouth water! Although I love and miss lots of Brazilian dishes, I hardly ever try to cook them here. It’s just that I think a country’s specialties taste better in that special environment. It’s not only buying the right ingredients (which can be problematic and demand improvisation when you’re in a foreign country) but also combining factors such as the right weather and atmosphere which add to the taste and make it all feel right.
The picture below was taken last year during my holidays in Brazil. That was the dish I ordered at a restaurant at the beach in Niterói. It consists of black bean stew on top of rice with farofa, collard greens a bit hidden underneath the fried egg and carne seca (in English it would be translated as dehydrated beef although this one was definitely not dry). Would you like to give it a try? 😉
I had read that Will.I.Am, singer of the Black Eyed Peas, seems to like Rio very much and feels very comfortable whenever he’s in town. Well, it seems to be true. He has even picked Rio as the setting for his video clip of Great Times, his new single. His relationship with Brazil, and more deeply with Rio, has already generated some other songs/videos such as Mas Que Nada, I Got It From My Mama and a role in the film Rio as Pedro. The Black Eyed Peas have also sung for a huge crowd at a New Year’s show on the beach in Rio. I hope his new song will be very good marketing for the city.
Here are three articles where you can also read about his interest for the country and watch his new video clip of Great Times. Enjoy!
The media has been talking about child poverty here in Germany. Looks like there has been an increase in the number of children who live below “poverty” level. I know that it all depends on where you set your standards, but according to my standards I still have to place the word “poverty” in Germany within quotes. I wish the poor kids in Brazil could at least be at the same level of “poverty” as the “poor” children here, because then we wouldn’t have so many kids begging for money at traffic lights in big cities, working in the fields instead of going to school or serving as prostitutes. It’s really hard for me to think of the “poor “ones here as poor. And that’s no criticism on German standards (as I’ve mentioned before, I’d like Brazil to have the same ones), but it shows how different perspectives can be. So, what’s poverty? Difficult to answer. Better make it more specific: What’s poverty in Germany? And what’s poverty in Brazil?
It was 8:32 and I was driving back home last night when the radio started playing a song in Portuguese. Since it hardly ever happens (with two exceptions – Mas que Nada and Boa Sorte/Good Luck) it took me a little while to realize it was really Portuguese, and with the Brazilian accent. You might think I’m exaggerating, but it’s just that when you’re not expecting it, it might take fractions of a second for you to get it. Besides, it was a song I didn’t know.
I have to admit I didn’t really like the song, but I was so curious, I googled it as soon as I got home. In fact, I had to check the radio website first for the name of the song or who sang it. There it was: Ai Se Eu Te Pego by Michel Teló. Then I started wondering, “We have so many better ones in Brazil… Why on earth would they play this specific song? What makes it so special that it could enter a market where Brazilian songs don’t seem to have much space?” Some more research and there was, what I believe, the explanation is: Soccer stars! I guess it all started with Neymar (Santos), but it got bigger and stars like Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Lewis Holtby (FC Schalke) and even almost the whole Borussia Mönchengladbach team have danced this song while celebrating their goals.
I still don’t like the song, but how come I can’t stop singing it? Damn it!