Adam Lee's blog

(source)

I'd like to tell a story of a 24-year old guy living in Rio for what turned out to be 6 months, though his very loose plan was to find work, and a way to stay indefinitely. He wanted to see the world, to live abroad and experience life outside his own inward-looking culture. The choice was not obvious, for all he knew of Brazil was they had some sort of big party called Carnival. Surely, not enough to decide to pack all one's bags and move halfway across the world. Nonetheless, he took a chance and didn't look back. READ MORE>

One of the most amazing painters to come out of Brazil was certainly Tarsila do Amaral. Born to a wealthy coffee family from inland São Paulo, her high came not from caffeine, but from art. She was central to the Modernista movement of the 1920's that swept the Brazilian art and literary world. During her formative years, Tarsila traveled several times to Europe, spending most of her time in Paris, where she was heavily influenced by Cubism and painters of the day such as Picasso (whom she met). READ MORE>

(cenacarioca.com.br)

Surely no one thinks of kid’s toys when they think of Brazil, but one in particular is omnipresent here. It’s called the pipa (kite) and it’s known by many other names which I’ll list at the bottom. Even in a global culture of television and video games, Brazilian kids go crazy for kite-flying. READ MORE>

(upprj.com)

As I contemplate reaching my fourth month living in a favela, I’m looking out over the Atlantic ocean at a calm sea, six islands in the distance and flocks of birds in V-formation gliding over the water. I like to think the V is for Vidigal. Said to be the “Zona Sul” of Rio’s favelas, it’s known partly for it’s beautiful sea views and partly because it rubs shoulders with the likes of its well-to-do neighbors, Leblon and Ipanema. READ MORE>

(Wikipedia)

The city of Natal in Brazil’s Northeast gets almost 300 days of sunshine and that’s why it’s known as the “City of the Sun.” Sunshine isn’t all the city has to offer, not by a long shot. The visitor can also count on its many beaches, sand dunes, parks and even the largest micareta (off-season Carnival) called Carnatal. READ MORE>

(source: onordeste.com)

Much like the prohibition of slave gatherings in earlier times, the Bahian upper class in the early 1900’s didn’t like the idea that free blacks and those of mixed race could gather for any reason. In the face of a dominant European culture, the descendants of slaves were strengthening their own culture in their own way, and Afro-Brazilian religion was no exception. READ MORE>

(musicabrasileira.org)

With so many styles of music in Brazil, from sertanejo to mangue bit, bossa nova to funk, how is anyone supposed to know everything? It's not even a title I claim for myself though my musical quest did start 10 years ago. The first song I remember hearing from Brazil was either Zeca Baleiro's Essas Emoções or Max de Castro’s Onda Diferente. After that, I went commercial and listened to anything I could find playing on Brazilian radio stations. It was my way of feeling closer to Brazil despite being half a world away. It wasn’t long after that I started finding my own taste and that’s what I want to offer you now, some singers and songs you may not have heard of yet. READ MORE>

(Bumbódromo, Wikipedia)

Except for 3 days out of the year, Parintins is another quiet city in the middle of the Amazon forest. Ok...so maybe it isn't any ol' city since it is located on the Tupinambarana island, the second largest group of fluvial islands in the world (it used to be one giant island but four natural channels of water now run through it). The island is also known for the Sateré Mawé tribe who  are famous for their initiation rites ritual in which a soon-to-be warrior places his hand into a glove of angry 'bullet' ants...repeatedly. READ MORE>

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Before there was the oh-so-famous samba, there was the jongo, which is an African "belly-bumping" (umbigada) dance that can be traced back to a Bantu people of modern-day Angola. The belly-bump, in Kimbundu (a Bantu language), is known as the "semba", which is where the word "samba" comes from. READ MORE>

(Wordpress)

Açaí, just like anything in excess, can be bad for your health. Is that stopping me from having it every day? No. I guess that means I’m on an açaí diet. If you are one of the people who still don’t know what this chocolaty blueberry type fruit is, let me explain. READ MORE>