Introduction
to Brazil
Enormously
diverse; limitless potential; bursting
with life. These phrases can just as
easily describe the people of Brazil
as they can it's natural bounty.
There
are few places on earth as heterogeneous
as modern Brazil, whose colonizers
came from all over the globe. They
stayed on, inter-married with native
Brazilians and have created the ethnic
rainbow now found in this dynamic
country of nearly 200 million people.
We
will spend most of our time in two
cities where we can best experience
the melting pot of Brazilian culture
- a mixture of European, African,
and Amerindian influences: Salvador
do Bahia in the north, and Rio de
Janeiro in the south.
Geography
Words do little justice to describe
Brazil's geography. The fifth largest
country in the world (and fifth largest
in population), Brazil occupies nearly
half of the land mass of the South
American continent. This gigantic
country occupies a total area of 3.3
million square miles (8.5 million
sq km). It borders every South America
country except Chile and Ecuador.
Brazil is larger than the United States,
if we exclude Alaska. It's also larger
than continental Europe if we exclude
Russia. Brazil's geography is divided
in four distinct regions:
Atlantic
Coast
Over 4500 miles of coastline from
the border with the amazon basin
in the north to the Uruguayan border
in the south
Planalto
Central (central plateau)
Expansive highlands located in a
region that extends over most of
Brazil's interior and south of the
Amazon Basin.
Amazon
Basin
The Amazon river is largest in the
world. It carries 20% of the world's
freshwater and brings more freshwater
into the oceans than any other river
system. It is estimated that over
1,000 rivers flow into the Amazon,
ten of which carry more water than
the Mississippi river.
South:
Parana - Paranagua Basin
This area is half the size of France,
and includes the world famous Pantanal
Basin, a wetlands packed with wildlife,
and the mighty Iguazu Falls on the
triple-border with Argentina and
Paraguay.
Traditions
The Brazilian traditions we will see
on our trip are living evidence of
the confluence of the powerful cultural
forces that came together here:
Capoeira
is a fluid and dynamic martial art,
created by runaway African slaves
in Brazil to defend themselves against
the superior firepower of the slave
owners who came looking for them.
Candomble
is a blending of Catholic and African
relgious practices that holds a unique
place in Brazilian society.
'Futebol',
or soccer as we know it in the U.S.,
is a sport invented by the English,
adopted by South America as its passion,
and, many would argue, perfected in
Brazil.
Festivals and
Events
One of the things that makes Brazil
special is its fusion of races and
influences resulting in something
entirely new, unique and surprising.
We concentrate on festivals that express
this 'mixtura fina', or fine mixture,
mostly between African, Portuguese
and Amerindian influences.
Iemanja
Iemanja
is celebrated at diffeent times
of the year in different regions
of Brazil. In Rio, Iemanja - the
goddess of the seas for followers
of the candomble and umbanda religions
- is honored on New Year's Eve with
thousands of faithful lining the
Copacabana beach dressed in white
and blue. They offer flowers and
other gifts to their goddess, sending
them out to sea on the departing
waves while fireworks burst overhead.
In
Salvador, in the Northeast coast
of Brazil, the similarly colorful
Iemanja celebration takes place
on February 2nd each year.
Boa
Morte
In the picturesque town of Cachoeira,
two hours north of Salvador, the
Sisterhood of the Good Death, or
'Irmandade de Boa Morte', honor
their order with a three day celebration
full of dance, music and religious
processions.
Lavagem
de Bomfim
Every January, thousands of catholics
and candomble followers come together
to perform a ritual washing of the
stairs of the Bomfim church in Salvador.
This church is important to both
religious orders, and the display
of solidarity is impressive and
colorful.
Language
Portuguese is the official language
of Brazil, thanks to the early explorations
of Portuguese mariners and Brazil's
position as the Portuguese colonial
stronghold in the New World. Due to
the changes and flourishes the language
has undergone in Brazil, most linguistics
experts distinguish between 'Brazilian
Portuguese' and 'Standard Portuguese'
Several
other languages boast sizable colonies
of speakers here, including German,
Italian, Spanish, Polish, and Japanese.
In fact, the largest Japanese population
outside of Japan is in the Brazilian
city of Sao Paulo -- over 1 million
people!
There
are literally hundreds of native languages
spoken in Brazil. Chief among them
are Tupi and Arawak (spoken in the
valley of the Amazon), Carib (north),
Guarani (south), Ge (east), and Panoan
(west). |
