São Paulo’s Mercadão – Municipal Market & Meeting Place
Learn Portuguese Differently: How About Coffee and Chocolate?
If you’re a lover of chocolate and coffee and happen to reside in São Paulo, you’re in luck. Two world-reknowned gourmet brands, Italian coffee-maker Illy and Belgiun chocolatier Barry Callebaut, have set up academies in São Paulo for others to drool learn their respective trades. Read a little bit about both places below.
Coffee University (Unilly)
Portuguese Music: Fado in Brazil
The origin of fado is somewhat disputed but a strong candidate is found in Brazil. There are aspects of fado that point to it being born around the same time as the lundu (an Afro-Brazilian music and dance) and modinha (a style of sentimental love song), and also the fado-dança. The so-called fado-dance was like a European square dance but conducted by singers skilled in improvising lyrics, with the addition of the sounds of a guitar and adufe (a Portuguese percussion instrument). Unfortunately, fado itself never really took off in Brazil but as long as it took off somewhere in the world, that's what matters…especially since I count it among my favorite styles of music.
Life in Brazil: São Paulo’s Big Worm
If the image above looks familiar, you may have seen it in person in São Paulo or in one of several Brazilian films such as Foreign Land (Terra Estrangeira), Not By Chance (Não Por Acaso) or Blindness (Ensaio sobre a Cegueira) which all featured the giant overpass.
Cleaning Up the Tiete
(Source)
The Tietê River cuts through most of the state of São Paulo. It’s name in Tupi means “true waters”, but before it first appeared on a map in the mid-18th century, it was known by Amerindians as Anhembi (after a South American partridge). The river itself is said to be ten to fifteen million years old and has been used in the past by Amerindians, Bandeirantes (slave-hunters, and later miners, of the 16th-18th centuries), and clergymen. Historically, the Tietê has been used and abused more than it has been merely traversed.
The Sarau – Brazil's Open Mic Night
(Source, Fábio Braga)
When I lived in San Diego almost a decade ago, in my college years, I frequented open-mic nights throughout the city and they remain some of the best memories I have of that time. There’s something really cool about a bunch of strangers getting together to share their artistic creations and ideas. It should be no surprise to anyone that knows me that I have lots of admiration for those who create.
